Francis Bacon Timeline

(1561 – 1626)

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, and author who served as Lord Chancellor of England. Often called the 'Father of the Scientific Method,' he championed empiricism and inductive reasoning, arguing that knowledge should be built through systematic observation and experimentation rather than relying on ancient authority. His major works, including Novum Organum and The Advancement of Learning, laid the intellectual groundwork for the modern scientific revolution. More Less

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Early Life and Education

Birth of Francis Bacon in London

Jan 22, 1561

Francis Bacon was born at York House near the Strand in London, the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and his second wife Anne (Cooke) Bacon, daughter of Renaissance humanist Anthony Cooke.

Image source: Francis Bacon

Enters Trinity College, Cambridge

Apr 5, 1573 - 1576

At age 12 Bacon entered Trinity College, Cambridge, living there for three years with his older brother Anthony under the tutelage of John Whitgift, future Archbishop of Canterbury.

Image source: Trinity College, Cambridge

Admitted to Gray's Inn with his brother Anthony

Jun 27, 1576

Bacon and Anthony entered de societate magistrorum at Gray's Inn on 27 June 1576, beginning his legal training.

Image source: Gray's Inn

Takes up residence in law at Gray's Inn

1579

To support himself after his father's death, Bacon took up residence in law at Gray's Inn, his income supplemented by a grant from his mother: the manor of Marks near Romford in Essex, generating a rent of £46.

Death of Sir Nicholas Bacon

Feb 1579

The sudden death of his father in February 1579 prompted Bacon to return to England from abroad, leaving him without a substantial inheritance.

Failed application for a post at court

1580

Through his uncle Lord Burghley, Bacon applied for a post at court that might enable him to pursue a life of learning, but his application failed.

Arrested for debt

1598

In 1598 Bacon was arrested for debt, a low point during his years of struggling finances.

Marriage on 10 May

May 10, 1606

Bacon married on 10 May 1606; among letters written about this period were ones composed during his courtship and one on his wedding day.

Death of Francis Bacon at Highgate

Apr 9, 1626

Bacon died of pneumonia at Highgate outside London on 9 April 1626, at Arundel House, the country residence of his friend the Earl of Arundel. William Rawley's biography records he died in the early morning of Easter Sunday, aged about 65. Having no heirs, both his titles became extinct on his death.

Parliamentary Career

Elected MP for Bossiney

1581

Bacon's parliamentary career began when he was elected MP for Bossiney, Cornwall, in a by-election in 1581.

MP for Melcombe Regis

1584

In 1584 Bacon took his seat in Parliament for Melcombe in Dorset.

MP for Taunton and urges execution of Mary, Queen of Scots

1586

Bacon took his seat for Taunton in 1586, and in the Parliament of 1586 he openly urged execution for the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots. He also became a bencher at Gray's Inn that year.

Image source: Mary, Queen of Scots

MP for Liverpool

1588

In 1588 Bacon became MP for Liverpool; he would later sit for Middlesex in 1593.

MP for Middlesex

Feb 1593

Bacon took his third parliamentary seat for Middlesex when Elizabeth summoned Parliament in February 1593 to investigate a Roman Catholic plot against her.

Image source: Middlesex (constituency)

Prince's Parliament objects to Bacon

Apr 1614

The so-called Prince's Parliament of April 1614 objected to Bacon's presence in the seat for Cambridge University and to various royal plans he had supported.

Image source: Addled Parliament

Legal Career

Admitted as an outer barrister

1582

After working quietly at Gray's Inn for two years following his failed court application, Bacon was admitted as an outer barrister in 1582.

Elected a Reader at Gray's Inn

1587

Bacon was elected a Reader in 1587, delivering his first set of lectures in Lent the following year.

Denied Attorney General post; Coke appointed instead

1594

When the office of Attorney General fell vacant in 1594, Lord Essex's influence proved insufficient to secure it for Bacon, and it went to Sir Edward Coke.

Image source: Edward Coke

First Queen's Counsel designate

1597

In 1597 Bacon became the first recipient of the Queen's Counsel designation when Elizabeth I reserved him as her legal counsel. He was also given a patent giving him precedence at the Bar that year, and first sat as MP for Ipswich.

Image source: King's Counsel

Prosecutes Carr and Howard for murder

1616

Bacon and Gray's Inn had produced The Masque of Flowers to celebrate the wedding of Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, and Frances Howard, and in 1616 he successfully prosecuted them both for murder.

Image source: Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset

Political Rise and Fall

Appointed reversion to Clerkship of the Star Chamber

1589

In 1589 Bacon received the valuable appointment of reversion to the Clerkship of the Star Chamber, worth £1,600 a year, though he did not formally take office until 1608.

Image source: Star Chamber

Confidential adviser to the Earl of Essex

1591

By 1591 Bacon acted as the Earl of Essex's confidential adviser, though Essex's later influence would not be enough to secure Bacon high office.

Image source: Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

Writes Certain Observations Made upon a Libel

1592

Commissioned in 1592 to answer Jesuit Robert Parsons' anti-government polemic, Bacon titled his tract Certain Observations Made upon a Libel, identifying England with democratic Athens against belligerent Spain.

Snubbed for Solicitor General

1595

Bacon likewise failed to secure the lesser office of Solicitor General in 1595, with the Queen pointedly appointing Sir Thomas Fleming instead.

Image source: Thomas Fleming (judge)

Severs ties with Essex before Essex's execution

1601

Bacon improved his relationship with the Queen by severing ties with Essex, a shrewd move as Essex was executed for treason in 1601. Bacon also sat again for Ipswich that year.

Knighted by James I

1603

After the accession of James I in 1603, Bacon was knighted, beginning his rise under the new king.

Image source: Knight Bachelor

Appointed Solicitor General

Jun 1607

In June 1607 Bacon was at last rewarded with the office of Solicitor General, and in 1608 he began working as Clerk of the Star Chamber, finally taking up the post promised in 1589.

Report on The Virginia Colony and Newfoundland charter

1609 - 1610

Bacon submitted his government report on 'The Virginia Colony' in 1609, and some scholars believe he largely drafted charters of government for Virginia in 1609 and 1612. In 1610 he received a charter forming a company of adventurers that sent John Guy to found a colony in Newfoundland.

Image source: Cuper's Cove

Appointed Attorney General

1613

In 1613 Bacon was finally appointed Attorney General, after advising the King to shuffle judicial appointments.

Image source: Attorney General for England and Wales

Temporary Regent of England

Mar 1617 - Apr 1617

Continuing to enjoy the King's favour, Bacon was appointed in March 1617 as temporary Regent of England for a period of about a month.

Created Lord Chancellor and Baron Verulam

Jul 12, 1618

In 1618 Bacon was made Lord Chancellor, and on 12 July 1618 King James created him Baron Verulam of Verulam in the Peerage of England; he then became known as Francis, Lord Verulam.

Fall from grace and censure by Parliament

1621

Bacon's public career ended in disgrace in 1621 amid charges of corruption; his censure by Parliament was recorded by Simonds D'Ewes in a diary entry for 3 May 1621.

Elevated to Viscount St Alban

Jan 27, 1621

Mediating between throne and Parliament, Bacon was further elevated in the same peerage as Viscount St Alban on 27 January 1621.

Image source: Francis Bacon

Legacy

Publishes New Atlantis

1626

New Atlantis, Bacon's unfinished utopian work depicting a society devoted to scientific discovery, was published in 1626. It has been linked by scholars to Johann Valentin Andreae's Description of the Republic of Christianopolis (1619).

Image source: New Atlantis

Invoked as guiding spirit of the Royal Society

1660

During the Restoration, Bacon was commonly invoked as a guiding spirit of the Royal Society founded under Charles II in 1660, cementing his reputation as a father of modern science.

Image source: Royal Society

Voltaire presents Bacon as father of the scientific method

1733 - 1750

During the 18th-century French Enlightenment, Bacon's non-metaphysical approach to science became more influential than Descartes' dualism. In 1733 Voltaire introduced him to a French audience as the 'father' of the scientific method, an understanding widespread by the 1750s.

Image source: Voltaire

Inductive philosophy revived by William Whewell

1800 - 1900

In the 19th century, Bacon's emphasis on induction was revived and developed by William Whewell, among others, reaffirming his importance to the philosophy of science.

Image source: William Whewell

Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship emerges

1850

First proposed in the mid-19th century, the fringe Baconian theory contends that Bacon wrote at least some, possibly all, of the plays conventionally attributed to William Shakespeare.

Image source: Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship

Hofmannsthal publishes The Lord Chandos Letter

1902

In 1902 Hugo von Hofmannsthal published a fictional letter addressed to Bacon and dated 1603, about a writer experiencing a crisis of language.

Newfoundland commemorative postage stamp

1910

In 1910 Newfoundland issued a postage stamp commemorating Bacon's role in establishing the colony, describing him as 'the guiding spirit in Colonization Schemes in 1610'.

Image source: Postage stamps and postal history of Newfoundland

Key Facts

Francis Bacon was born on January 22, 1561, in London, England, to Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
He served as Lord Chancellor of England under King James I from 1618 until 1621, when he was dismissed after being charged with taking bribes.
Bacon is widely regarded as the father of the scientific method for advocating empirical, inductive reasoning over reliance on Aristotelian deductive logic.
His influential works include The Advancement of Learning (1605), Novum Organum (1620), and the utopian New Atlantis (published posthumously in 1627).
He died on April 9, 1626, reportedly after catching a cold while experimenting with stuffing a chicken with snow to test its preservative effects.

Source

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