Thomas Starkey facts for kids
Thomas Starkey was an important English thinker who lived a long time ago (from about 1498 to 1538). He was a "humanist," which means he studied human ideas and culture. He also worked as a royal servant, helping the King of England.
Thomas Starkey's Life
Thomas Starkey was born around 1498 in a place called Cheshire, England. His family was quite well-off, which meant they could afford to send him to school.
He went to the University of Oxford and earned a special degree in 1521. Later, in 1523, he traveled to Padua in Italy with his friend, Thomas Lupset. While there, he studied the ideas of an ancient Greek thinker named Aristotle. He also admired how the city of Venice was governed.
By 1529, Thomas Starkey started working for Reginald Pole as his secretary. They traveled together to Avignon in 1532, where Starkey studied law. After that, he returned to Padua.
Starkey came back to England in late 1534. Soon after, he caught the attention of Thomas Cromwell, who was King Henry VIII's main advisor. Cromwell used Starkey to gather important information from Italy. He also asked Starkey to write things that supported the King's ideas.
However, Starkey's close friendship with Reginald Pole caused some problems for him. Pole wrote a book that strongly criticized King Henry VIII. When this book arrived in England in 1536, it made things difficult for Starkey. Because of his ties to Pole, Starkey was investigated in 1538. He passed away on August 25, 1538, possibly due to an illness like the plague.
Thomas Starkey's Writings
Between 1529 and 1532, Thomas Starkey wrote a very important book called A Dialogue between Pole and Lupset. This book is also known as Starkey's England. It was written as a conversation between his friends, Reginald Pole and Thomas Lupset. This Dialogue is one of the most important books about political ideas written in English during the early 1500s.
In 1536, he published another work called An Exhortation to the People instructing them to Unity and Obedience. King Henry VIII's advisor, Thomas Cromwell, asked Starkey to write this book. It supported the King's new law, called the Acts of Supremacy, which said the King was the head of the church in England.
