Méric Casaubon

Meric Casaubon (14 August 1599 – 14 July 1671) was an English classical scholar. He was the first to translate the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius into English. He was the son of Isaac Casaubon.

Although biographical dictionaries (including the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition) commonly accentuate his name to Méric, he himself did not do so.

Life Meric Casaubon was born in Geneva to a French father, scholar Isaac Casaubon; he was named for his godfather Meric de Vic. After education in Sedan, at an early age he joined his father in England, and completed his education at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford (B.A. 1618; M.A. 1621; D.D. 1636).

His defence of his father against the attacks of certain Catholics (Pietas contra maledicos patrii Nominis et Religionis Hostes, 1621), secured him the notice and favour of James I, who conferred upon him a prebendal stall in Canterbury Cathedral (stall IX) which he held from 1628 to his death. He also vindicated his father's literary reputation against certain impostors who had published, under his name, a work on The Origin of Idolatry (Vindicatio Patris adversus Impostores, 1624).

During the English Civil War he was deprived of his benefices and his prebendal stall at Canterbury Cathedral and retired to Oxford refusing to acknowledge the authority of Oliver Cromwell, who, notwithstanding, requested him to write an impartial history of the events of the period. In spite of the tempting inducements held out, he declined, and also refused the post of inspector of the Swedish universities offered him by Queen Christina. After the Restoration, he was reinstated in his benefice and his stall in Canterbury

Benefices

1626–1630: rector of Bleadon, Somerset 1628–1671: prebendal stall IX at Canterbury Cathedral 1630–1634: rector of St Mary in the Marsh, Kent 1634–1634: rector of Old Romney, Kent 1634–1662: vicar of Minster, Kent 1634–1662: vicar of Monkton with Birchington, Kent 1643/44: ejected from his benefices by Parliament 1660: reinstated to the living at Minster 1662–1671: rector of Ickham, Kent

Family Casaubon married Frances Harrison of Hampshire in about 1628. His wife's grandfather was William Barlow, who had been a canon of Winchester Cathedral since 1581. The couple had seven children, most of whom were born in Canterbury, but only two lived to maturity: John Casaubon (1636-1692) was a country 'surgeon' who practised in and around the Canterbury area. He kept a diary of some of his cases and family matters. It ends with the self-diagnosis of the oesophageal cancer which finally caused his death. The diary is kept at Southampton Archives. Anne Casaubon (c. 1649-1686) was the last child to be born. She married a country parson named John Dauling, who was also the executor of Casaubon's will. Frances Casaubon died on 24 February 1652 in London. Her poor health and death was one of the reasons Meric gave for not complying with Oliver Cromwell's request.

Works Pietas contra maledicos patrii Nominis et Religionis Hostes (1621) Vindicatio Patris adversus Impostores (1624) As translator: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus the Roman Emperor, his Meditations Concerning Himself (1634, 1673) A treatise of use and custome (1638) De quatuor linguis commentationis, pars prior: quae, de lingua Hebraica: et, de lingua Saxonica (1650) A Treatise Concerning Enthusiasme (London: Thomas Johnson, 1655). A Treatise Concerning Enthusiasme, facsimile ed., introd. Paul J. Korshin, 1970, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints. A true and faithful relation of what passed for many years between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits (1659) Of the Necessity of Reformation (1664) On Credulity and Incredulity in Things natural, civil and divine (1668) A Letter of Meric Casaubon to Peter du Moulin Concerning Natural Experimental Philosophie (1669). Facsimile ed., introd. David J. Lougee, 1977, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints. A Treatise Proving Spirits, Witches, and Supernatural Operations, by Pregnant Instances and Evidences: Together with other Things worthy of Note (London: Brabazon Aylmer, 1672) Generall Learning: A Seventeenth-Century Treatise on the Formation of the General Scholar (ed. Richard Serjeantson, 1999)