John Donne

Abstract

John Donne was born into a Roman Catholic family in London. He was educated at home by Catholic tutors. At the age of twelve he entered Hart Hall, Oxford, which had no chapel and was therefore suitable for Catholics. He did not take a degree, as he could not subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles or the Oath of Supremacy, both of which were obligatory. After three years at Oxford Donne migrated to Cambridge, where he was not attached to a college (the oaths in Cambridge were administered by colleges, not by the university as in Oxford) and did not take a degree. From 1589 to 1591 he probably travelled in Spain and Italy, and on his return studied law at Lincoln’s Inn for four years, during which time he renounced Roman Catholicism. He served as a soldier on expeditions to Cadiz (1596) and the Azores (1597). In 1597 he became secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and later entered Parliament. In 1601 he secretly married Ann More, Lady Egerton’s niece. Ann More’s father strongly disapproved of the marriage, and marriage without the consent of the bride’s father was an offence against both canon law and social decorum. Donne was dismissed from his post as Egerton’s secretary, imprisoned for a short period, and for the next fourteen years suffered irregular employment.