Francis Tregian the Younger facts for kids
Francis Tregian the Younger (1574–1618) was an English recusant. This means he was a Roman Catholic who refused to attend the services of the Church of England. For a long time, people thought he copied some very important music manuscripts. However, whether he was involved in music is now a topic of debate.
Contents
A Young Life in Difficult Times
Francis Tregian was born in 1574. His father, Francis Tregian the Elder, was a Roman Catholic. In 1577, his father was arrested for being Catholic and hiding priests. He was put in prison and lost his family home in Probus, Cornwall.
Francis's mother and her children traveled 200 miles to London. She hoped her brother could help her husband. The family faced many challenges because of their faith.
Young Francis was sent to France between 1582 and 1586. This was against a law made by Queen Elizabeth I. This law punished religious people who sent their children to schools overseas. On September 29, 1586, Francis joined the English College, Douai in Douai, a Catholic stronghold. He likely studied Latin and Greek there.
After college, Francis worked for Cardinal William Allen in Rome. He later moved to Brussels. A document from 1603 shows he was with Archduke Albert. Some people thought he might have met the composer Peter Philips there, who was the Archduke's organist.
Return to England and Imprisonment
Things got a little better for the Tregian family when James I became king. Francis's father was released from prison.
In 1606, Francis the Younger returned to England. He wanted to get back his family's land. He bought back part of his family estate, "Golden," for a lot of money in 1607. But he was also found guilty of being a recusant. This meant the Crown took two-thirds of his property as a fine.
By 1608 or 1609, Francis was in Fleet Prison in London. The exact reason for his imprisonment isn't clear. It seems he couldn't pay back the large sums of money he borrowed to buy back the family estate. This, combined with his recusancy, led to his imprisonment.
Francis Tregian died before May 28, 1619. Even in prison, he had a large library of "many hundred books." After his death, his mother and another relative accused him of financial problems. It seems his imprisonment was more about money issues than just his religion.
How Francis Tregian Became Linked to Music
For a long time, Francis Tregian's name was strongly connected to music. This was mainly because of four important old music books:
- The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
- Egerton 3665 (in the British Library)
- Drexel 4302, also called The Sambrook Book (in the New York Public Library)
- Music MSS 510-14A (in Christ Church, Oxford)
The Story of the Music Manuscripts
Ruby Reid Thompson, an expert from the University of Cambridge, carefully studied these four music books. She looked at over 2,200 pages! She wanted to find out how Tregian's name became so linked to them.
The connection seems to have started with William Chappell in 1855. He wrote about the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and mentioned Tregian's name. He saw some short notes and one full name, "Mrs Katherin Tregians Pauern," in the book. Chappell didn't say Tregian wrote or copied the music, just that he was connected to it.
Later, a musicologist named William Barclay Squire expanded on Chappell's notes. In 1889, he suggested that Francis Tregian the Younger might have copied the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. He even said Tregian studied "philosophy, music and Latin." Squire thought Tregian might have copied the book while in Fleet Prison.
Thompson points out that Squire became very set on this idea. He believed a Tregian family member had to be involved, even without strong proof. Because Squire's ideas were published in a famous music dictionary, many people started to believe Tregian was the copyist.
Other researchers, like Bertram Schofield, Thurston Dart, and Elizabeth Cole, also believed Tregian was the copyist. They thought the handwriting in some of the manuscripts looked the same. Cole even found what she thought was proof in Tregian's signatures.
However, Thompson's detailed study showed something different. She found that while the writing styles had similarities, none of the books could be proven to be in the same exact handwriting. She concluded that the idea of Tregian copying these manuscripts was "little more than an attractive legend."
What the Books Themselves Tell Us
Thompson looked closely at the physical details of the music books.
The Paper Clues
She found that the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and the Christ Church manuscript used a special, high-quality paper from Switzerland. This paper was rare in England. It seemed like these books were professionally planned. The Egerton and Drexel manuscripts used different paper, and they showed signs of being put together from smaller parts over time.
Thompson noted that both types of paper were rare in England. The paper types were often found in documents connected to the royal court. This made her think that the music manuscripts might also be linked to the English court's musical activities.
How the Music Was Written
Thompson also looked at how the music was laid out on the pages. She found that the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and the Christ Church manuscripts had very neat and consistent layouts. This suggested they were "fair copies" or "presentation copies," meaning they were made to look good.
She also studied the "music script," which is the style of the musical notes themselves. She found many different styles of writing the notes in the four manuscripts. For example, the way half notes were drawn varied a lot. If one person copied all the music, their style would be much more consistent.
Thompson counted many changes in the writing style in the Egerton and Drexel manuscripts. She identified at least seventeen different "hands" or scribes. This led her to a clear conclusion: many different people copied these music books, not just one person like Francis Tregian.
The Final Conclusion
Thompson's research strongly suggests that the idea of Francis Tregian copying these famous music books is a myth. She believes the paper and writing styles show that a group of professional scribes made these manuscripts. These scribes likely worked for important people at the royal court.
While some, like David J. Smith, still argue for Tregian's role, many experts now agree with Thompson. For example, James Haar, a music historian, says that Thompson's findings have "demolished" the old idea.
CD
- Byrd, William: Pieces from "The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book" / Ursula Duetschler [Cembalo]. - Thun : Claves Records, 1990. - 1 CD (70 Min.) : Stereo, DDD
See also
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