John Stow Sixteenth Century Historiographer

Abstract

John stow (1525 - 1605) is widely acknowledged as being one of the most prolific English historians of the sixteenth century. A Londoner originally trained in the tailoring trade, Stow privately pursued his true calling in literature and historical research which brought him into contact with some of the brightest intellects of his day. Since Stow's scholarly career spanned a crucial period of religious and social upheaval, his writings offer important insights into both contemporary society and the responses of an individual to his changing religious, social and intellectual context. It is therefore surprising that Stow's many histories have long been ignored by modern historians. The work carried out by Charles L. Kingsford at the turn of the twentieth century, was until recently the only research which approached a thorough investigation of what is a significant body of work. Subsequent accounts have invariably been derivative, based upon Kingsford's findings and interpretative framework. According to the dominant Kingsford view, stow was a man who favoured the "Old Religion" yet was also a loyalist who came in time to an accommodation with the Elizabethan Settlement. In Kingsford's view, Stow was able to suppress any faint religious sympathies and impartially record not only 'The Past' but his own times. Consequently in twentieth-century accounts, a dichotomous view of stow emerged, miscasting him as either a 'Catholic'(or a closet Catholic), or more recently, depicting Stow as a secularist layman and early forerunner of the modern objective historian, who lacked both an interest in and understanding of, the great religious questions of his day. Since Stow regularly revised his histories, his changing beliefs and ideas can be clearly traced. Close scrutiny of these changes reveal both the crystallisation and consolidation of a distinct set of religious beliefs and social attitudes and the scholarly maturation of a contemporary historian. This dissertation, based upon a careful reading of Stow's large body of published and unpublished writings, confirms that Stow's religious and other personal views influenced his handling of historical material and his professional judgement. Stow's writings reveal that he inhabited a reformed religious framework which became more pronounced and clearly defined in successive versions of his writings. Moreover, Stow's contemporaries recognised him as a Protestant historiographer. The major aim of this dissertation has been to use Stow’s own words to present this new interpretation of his thought. However, when all is said and done, stow has remained himself but our view of him after inspecting his legacy afresh has changed.