John de Foxton

John de Foxton (born 1369, 1388–1434) was a clergyman and author from Yorkshire. He was a subdeacon from 1388; a vicar from 1406; a chaplain, probably in an aristocratic household, from 1408; and a rector from 1430 to 1434. He passed his entire career in Yorkshire.

Between 1385 and 1408, Foxton worked on an encyclopaedic compilation with a scientific focus, the . It survives today in a single illustrated manuscript.

Author Foxton identifies himself as author of the by means of a cryptogram, citing modesty. His name probably indicates that he hailed from a place named Foxton, either the hamlet near Osmotherley or another hamlet in the North Riding.

In 1388, Foxton was ordained a subdeacon in York Cathedral. Since the usual age for such ordination was 19, he was probably born in 1369. He held a "title" from, that is, was sponsored by, Jervaulx Abbey in the archdeaconry of Richmond, although this probably meant only that the abbey vouched for his character and did not provide him an income.

Incomplete or lost registers prevent the tracing of Foxton's career. In 1406, he was appointed vicar of Fishlake with an income of thirteen pounds per year. By 1408, as indicated in the colophon of the , he was a chaplain of some sort, probably in a noble household, possibly the Nevilles. He is described the same way in a document of 1420. In 1430, he exchanged Fishlake for Laughton en le Morthen, which had an income of only six pounds, and received the rectorship of Dinnington. He resigned Dinnington in 1434 for reasons unknown. The record of his resignation still refers to him as a chaplain and he may have resigned to focus on his chaplaincy. After his he disappears from the record. He was probably dead by 1450.

Contents The is "a compendium of popular science in 104 chapters" written in Latin prose. Its topics include mythography (angels, gods), history (classics, British history), medicine (obstetrics, menstruation, diet), prognostication (astrology, kalandologion), cosmography (constellations, planets, eclipses, comets) and meteorology (dew, thunder, tides, weather forecasting).

Foxton enciphers many words in a unique substitution alphabet, probably of his own devising. The purpose of it was to make chapters on prognostication inaccessible to the casual reader. According to John B. Friedman, who edited the text, Foxton's central idea is that "the planets influence the four elements and four humours". In an effort to save the orthodoxy of his position, Foxton acknowledges the role of human will. The stars and planets determine humanity's natural state, but humans can will good or evil. The motion of the spheres is responsible for tides (moon) and heat (sun), but their influence is, like magnetism, invisible. Since the fall of man, the humours have been out of balance. As a result, diet, medicine and prognostication are necessary to offset the imbalance. This is the reason Foxton devotes chapters to diet, physiognomy, cheiromancy, phlebotomy and lunaries.

An important influence on Foxton's outlook may have been his fellow Englishman, , who taught at Paris before 1371.

Composition Foxton began work on the in 1385, as indicated by a coded poem within, when he was only about sixteen years old. Although the prologue of the work does not name a patron, it is probable that the work was made for John Erghome, who was master regent and prior of the Augustinian Friary in York in 1385. The completed work may never have been presented to Erghome on account of his death.

Most of the work was completed by 1396. Foxton had access to the Durham Dean and Chapter Library and shortly after 1396 made use of the manuscript Arundel 507 for its anthology of proverbial poetry. The was not completed until 1408, since it mentions the battle of Bramham Moor that took place that year.