View source for Francis Bacon

{{short description|English philosopher and statesman (1561–1626)}}
{{hatnote group|
{{other people}}
{{distinguish|Roger Bacon|Francis Bacon (artist)}}
}}
{{use British English |date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Viscount St Alban
| honorific-suffix    = {{postnominals|country=GBR|PC|size=100%}}
| image               = File:Somer Francis Bacon.jpg
| image_size          = 
| caption             = Portrait, 1617
| office1             = [[Lord Chancellor|Lord High Chancellor of England]]
| term1               = {{start and end dates|1617|03|07|1621|05|03|df=y}}
| monarch1            = [[James VI and I|James I]]
| predecessor1        = [[Sir Thomas Egerton]]
| successor1          = [[John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln|John Williams]]
| office2             = [[Attorney General of England and Wales]]
| term2               = {{start and end dates|1613|10|26|1617|03|07|df=y}}
| monarch2            = [[James VI and I|James I]]
| predecessor2        = [[Sir Henry Hobart]]
| successor2          = [[Sir Henry Yelverton]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1561|01|22|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Strand, London|The Strand]], London, England
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1626|04|09|1561|01|22|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Highgate]], Middlesex, England
| resting_place       = {{nowrap|[[St Michael's Church, St Albans]]}}
| mother              = [[Lady Anne Bacon]]
| father              = [[Nicholas Bacon (Lord Keeper)|Sir Nicholas Bacon]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Alice Barnham]]|1604}}
| education           = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]<br />[[Gray's Inn]]
| blank1              = Notable works
| data1               = [[Works by Francis Bacon|Full list]]
| signature           = Francis Bacon Signature.svg
| module              = {{Infobox philosopher|embed=yes
 |era = {{ubl|[[Renaissance philosophy]]|[[17th-century philosophy]]}}
 |region = [[Western philosophy]]
 |school_tradition = [[Empiricism]]
 |other_names = Lord Verulam
 |main_interests = {{ubl|[[Natural philosophy]]|[[Philosophical logic]]}}
 |notable_ideas = {{collapsible list|{{ublist
|[[Baconian method]]
|''[[Idola fori]]''
|''[[Idola theatri]]''
|''[[Idola specus]]''
|''[[Idola tribus]]''
|[[Knowledge is power]]
|[[Salomon's House]]
}}
}}
 |notable_works = ''[[Novum Organum]]''
}}
}}
'''Francis Bacon''', '''1st Viscount St Alban'''{{Efn|name=title|There is confusion over the spelling of Bacon's title. Some sources, such as the 2007 ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' and the [[Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th edition|9th edition]] of the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'', spell it "St Alban";{{sfn|Peltonen|2007}}{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=200}} others, such as the ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (1885) and the [[Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition|11th edition]] of the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', spell the title "St Albans".{{sfn|Fowler|1885|p=346}}{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=135}}}} {{postnominals|country=GBR|PC}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|eɪ|k|ən}};<ref>[http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/bacon "Bacon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615032613/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/bacon |date=15 June 2018 }} entry in ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]''.</ref> 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney General]] and [[Lord Chancellor of England]] under [[James VI and I|King James&nbsp;I]]. Bacon argued for the importance of [[natural philosophy]], guided by the [[scientific method]], and his works remained influential throughout the [[Scientific Revolution]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Klein |first=Jürgen |title=Francis Bacon |date=2012 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/francis-bacon/ |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |edition=Winter 2016 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=17 January 2020}}</ref>

Bacon has been called the father of [[empiricism]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Partner |editor1-first=Nancy |editor2-last=Foot |editor2-first=Sarah |title=SAGE Handbook of Historical Theory |chapter=Empiricism and its configurations in the history of epistemology |date=31 January 2013 |quote=The first philosopher who developed an empiricist programme of scholarly knowledge was Francis Bacon (1561–1626), whose arguments were systematised by his followers. |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|Sage]] |isbn=9781412931144}}</ref> He argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon [[inductive reasoning]] and careful observation of events in [[Nature (philosophy)|nature]]. He believed that science could be achieved by the use of a sceptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves. Although his most specific proposals about such a method, the [[Baconian method]], did not have long-lasting influence, the general idea of the importance and possibility of a sceptical methodology makes Bacon one of the founders of the scientific method. His portion of the method based in scepticism was a new rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, whose practical details are still central to debates on science and [[methodology]]. He is famous for his role in the scientific revolution, promoting scientific experimentation as a way of glorifying God and fulfilling scripture.

Bacon was a patron of libraries and developed a system for cataloguing books under three categories&nbsp;– [[history]], [[poetry]], and [[philosophy]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The classification of Harris: Influences of Bacon and Hegel in the universe of library classification |url= https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/nasko/article/download/15230/12688 |publisher=University of Washington |date=2017}}</ref>&nbsp;– which could further be divided into specific subjects and subheadings. About books he wrote: "Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some few to be chewed and digested."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Stuart |title=The library : an illustrated history |date=2009 |others=Nicholas A. Basbanes, American Library Association |isbn=978-1-60239-706-4 |publisher=Skyhorse Pub. |location=New York |oclc=277203534}}</ref> The [[Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship]], a [[fringe theory]] which was first proposed in the mid-19th century, contends that Bacon wrote at least some and possibly all of the plays conventionally attributed to [[William Shakespeare]].<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last1=Dobson |first1=Michael |title=The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=33}}</ref>

Bacon was educated at [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] at the [[University of Cambridge]], where he rigorously followed the medieval curriculum, which was presented largely in [[Latin]]. He was the first recipient of the [[Queen's counsel]] designation, conferred in 1597 when [[Elizabeth&nbsp;I]] reserved him as her legal advisor. After the accession of [[James VI and I|James&nbsp;I]] in 1603, Bacon was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]], then created [[Baron Verulam]] in 1618{{sfn|Adamson|1878|p=200}} and Viscount St Alban in 1621.{{sfn|Peltonen|2007}}{{efn|Contemporary spelling, used by Bacon himself in his letter of thanks to the king for his elevation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Birch |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Birch |title=Letters, Speeches, Charges, Advices, &c of Lord Chancellor Bacon |volume=6 |year=1763 |publisher=Andrew Millar |location=London |pages=271–272 |oclc=228676038}}</ref>}} He had no heirs, and so both titles became extinct on his death in 1626 at the age of 65. He is buried at [[St Michael's Church, St Albans]], Hertfordshire.<ref>Scott Wilson, ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3rd ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 2105–2106). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.</ref>

==Biography==
===Early life and education===
[[File:18-year old Francis Bacon.jpg|thumb|upright=1|A young Francis Bacon depicted in a [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] painting; the inscription around Bacon's head reads: ''Si tabula daretur digna animum mallem'', [[Latin language|Latin]] for "If one could but paint his mind".]]
[[File:york Water Gate.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]] entry to [[York House, Strand|York House]], built around 1626 in [[Strand, London|Strand]], the year of Bacon's death]]
Francis Bacon was born on 22 January 1561<ref>{{Cite ODNB |last=Peltonen |first=Markku |date=23 September 2004 |title=Bacon, Francis, Viscount St Alban (1561–1626) |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/990 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/990 }}</ref> at [[York House, Strand|York House]] near [[Strand, London|Strand]] in [[London]], the son of [[Nicholas Bacon (Lord Keeper)|Sir Nicholas Bacon]] ([[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal]]) by his second wife, [[Anne Bacon|Anne (Cooke) Bacon]], the daughter of the noted [[Renaissance humanism|Renaissance humanist]] [[Anthony Cooke]]. His mother's sister was married to [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley]], making Burghley Bacon's uncle.{{sfn|Pollard|1911|p=816}}

Biographers believe that Bacon was educated at home in his early years owing to poor health, which would plague him throughout his life. He received tuition from John Walsall, a graduate of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] with a strong leaning toward [[Puritans|Puritanism]]. He attended [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] at the [[University of Cambridge]] on 5 April 1573 at the age of 12,<ref>{{acad|id=BCN573F|name=Bacon, Francis }}</ref> living there for three years along with his older brother [[Anthony Bacon (1558–1601)]] under the personal tutelage of [[John Whitgift]], future [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. Bacon's education was conducted largely in Latin and followed the medieval curriculum. It was at [[Cambridge]] that Bacon first met [[Queen Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth]], who was impressed by his precocious intellect, and was accustomed to calling him "The young lord keeper".<ref>{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Arthur |title=The English Baronetage: Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the English Baronets, Now Existing: Their Descents, Marriages, and Issues; Memorable Actions, Both in War, and Peace; Religious and Charitable Donations; Deaths, Places of Burial and Monumental Inscriptions |publisher=Printed for Tho. Wotton at the Three Daggers and Queen's Head |year=1741 |page=5 }}</ref>

His studies brought him to the belief that the methods and results of science as then practised were erroneous. His reverence for [[Aristotle]] conflicted with his rejection of [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian philosophy]], which seemed to him barren, argumentative and wrong in its objectives.<ref>Crosbie, Christopher. “Francis Bacon and Aristotelian Afterlives,” in A Companion to British Literature, ed. Robert DeMaria Jr., Heesok Chang, and Samantha Zacher, vol. 2. (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014), 231–248.  https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:58062/datastreams/CONTENT/content {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114163930/https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:58062/datastreams/CONTENT/content |date=14 November 2023 }}</ref>

On 27 June 1576, he and Anthony entered ''de societate magistrorum'' at [[Gray's Inn]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=de Montmorency |first=J.E.G |date=1905 |title=Francis Bacon |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/752041 |journal=Journal of the Society of Comparative Legislation |volume=6 |issue=2 |page=264 |jstor=752041 }}</ref> A few months later, Francis went abroad with Sir [[Amias Paulet]], the English ambassador at Paris, while Anthony continued his studies at home. The state of government and society in France under [[Henry III of France|Henry III]] afforded him valuable political instruction.{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=136}} For the next three years he visited [[Blois]], [[Poitiers]], [[Tours]], Italy, and Spain.<ref name="travels">[[Stephen Gaukroger]] (2001). ''Francis Bacon and the Transformation of Early-Modern Philosophy''. Cambridge University Press, p. 46.</ref> There is no evidence that he studied at the [[University of Poitiers]].<ref>Francis Bacon, ''The Advancement of Learning'', Clarendon Press, 1876, p. ix.</ref> During his travels, Bacon studied language, statecraft, and civil law while performing routine diplomatic tasks. On at least one occasion he delivered diplomatic letters to England for [[Francis Walsingham|Walsingham]], Burghley, [[Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester|Leicester]], and for the queen.<ref name="travels" />

The sudden death of his father in February 1579 prompted Bacon to return to England. Sir Nicholas had laid up a considerable sum of money to purchase an estate for his youngest son, but he died before doing so, and Francis was left with only a fifth of that money.{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=136}} Having borrowed money, Bacon got into debt. To support himself, he took up his residence in law at Gray's Inn in 1579,{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=136}} his income being supplemented by a grant from his mother Lady Anne of the manor of [[Marks (manor house)|Marks]] near [[Romford]] in Essex, which generated a rent of £46.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Spall |first = JEH |title = Francis Bacon's connections with Marks Manor House |journal = Romford Record |volume = 4 |pages = 32–37 |publisher = Romford and District Historical Society |location = Romford |date = 1971}}</ref>

===Parliamentarian===
[[File:Statue of Francis Bacon (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1|Bacon's statue at [[Gray's Inn]] in London's South Square]]
Bacon stated that he had three goals: to uncover truth, to serve his country, and to serve his church. He sought to achieve these goals by seeking a prestigious post. In 1580, through his uncle, [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|Lord Burghley]], he applied for a post at court that might enable him to pursue a life of learning, but his application failed. For two years he worked quietly at [[Gray's Inn]], until he was admitted as an [[outer barrister]] in 1582.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ellis|first1=Robert. P.|title=Francis Bacon: The Double-Edged Life of the Philosopher and Statesman|year=2015|publisher=McFarland|page=28}}</ref>

His parliamentary career began when he was elected [[Member of Parliament (UK)|MP]] for [[Bossiney (UK Parliament constituency)|Bossiney, Cornwall]], in a [[by-election]] in 1581. In 1584 he took his seat in [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] for [[Melcombe Regis (UK Parliament constituency)|Melcombe]] in Dorset, and in 1586 for [[Taunton (UK Parliament constituency)|Taunton]]. At this time, he began to write on the condition of parties in the church, as well as on the topic of philosophical reform in the lost tract ''Temporis Partus Maximus''. Yet he failed to gain a position that he thought would lead him to success.{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=136}} He showed signs of sympathy to Puritanism, attending the sermons of the Puritan chaplain of Gray's Inn and accompanying his mother to the [[Temple Church]] to hear [[Walter Travers]]. This led to the publication of his earliest surviving tract, which criticized the English church's suppression of the Puritan clergy. In the Parliament of 1586, he openly urged execution for the Catholic [[Mary, Queen of Scots]].<ref>Jardine, L. (1986), ''Francis Bacon: Discovery and the Art of Discourse'', Cambridge University Press.{{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=December 2024}}</ref>

About this time, he again approached his powerful uncle for help; this move was followed by his rapid progress at the bar. He became a [[bencher]] in 1586 and was elected a [[Reader (Inns of Court)|Reader]] in 1587, delivering his first set of lectures in Lent the following year. In 1589, he received the valuable appointment of [[Reversion (law)|reversion]] to the Clerkship of the [[Star Chamber]], although he did not formally take office until 1608; the post was worth £1,600 a year.{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=136}}{{sfn|Peltonen|2007}}

In 1588 he became MP for [[Liverpool (UK Parliament constituency)|Liverpool]] and then for [[Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency)|Middlesex]] in 1593. He later sat three times for [[Ipswich (UK Parliament constituency)|Ipswich]] (1597, 1601, 1604) and once for [[Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)|Cambridge University]] (1614).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/bacon-francis-1561-1626 |title=History of Parliament |access-date=2 October 2011 |archive-date=11 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111143750/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/bacon-francis-1561-1626 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He became known as a liberal-minded reformer, eager to amend and simplify the law. Though a friend of the crown, he opposed feudal privileges and dictatorial powers. He spoke against religious persecution. He struck at the House of Lords in its usurpation of the Money Bills. He advocated for the union of England and Scotland, which made him a significant influence toward the consolidation of the United Kingdom; and he later would advocate for the integration of Ireland into the Union. Closer constitutional ties, he believed, would bring greater peace and strength to these countries.<ref name="letters">{{cite journal |last=Spedding |first=James |title=The letters and life of Francis Bacon |year=1861 }}</ref><ref name="ecc.015">{{cite web |url=http://publish.ucc.ie/celt/docs/E600001-015 |title=Sir Francis Bacon's Letters, Tracts and Speech relating to Ireland |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807142316/http://publish.ucc.ie/celt/docs/E600001-015 |access-date=24 January 2013 }}</ref>

===Final years of Elizabeth's reign===
[[File:StatueOfFrancisBacon.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Memorial to Bacon in the chapel of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]]]
Bacon soon became acquainted with [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex]], Queen Elizabeth's favourite.<ref name="Hammer" /> By 1591 he acted as the earl's confidential adviser.{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=136}}<ref name="Hammer">Paul E. J. Hammer (1999). "The Polarisation of Elizabethan Politics: The Political Career of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, 1585–1597". p. 141. Cambridge University Press</ref> In 1592, he was commissioned to write a tract in response to the [[Jesuit]] [[Robert Parsons (Jesuit)|Robert Parson]]'s anti-government polemic, which he titled ''Certain Observations Made upon a Libel'', identifying England with the ideals of democratic [[History of Athens|Athens]] against the belligerence of Spain.<ref>Gustav Ungerer (1974). "A Spaniard in Elizabethan England: The Correspondence of Antonio Pérez's Exile, Volume 1". p. 207. Tamesis Books</ref> Bacon took his third parliamentary seat for [[Middlesex]] when in February 1593 Elizabeth summoned Parliament to investigate a [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] plot against her. Bacon's opposition to a bill that would levy triple subsidies in half the usual time offended the Queen: opponents accused him of seeking popularity, and for a time the Court excluded him from favour.<ref>Weir, Alison ''Elizabeth the Queen'' Pimlico 1999 p. 414</ref>

When the office of [[Attorney-General for England and Wales|Attorney General]] fell vacant in 1594, Lord Essex's influence was not enough to secure the position for Bacon and it was given to Sir [[Edward Coke]]. Likewise, Bacon failed to secure the lesser office of [[Solicitor-General for England and Wales|Solicitor General]] in 1595, the Queen pointedly snubbing him by appointing Sir [[Thomas Fleming (judge)|Thomas Fleming]] instead.{{sfn|Peltonen|2007}} To console him for these disappointments, Essex presented him with a property at [[Twickenham]], which Bacon subsequently sold for £1,800.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bunten|first1=Alice Chambers|title=Twickenham Park and Old Richmond Palace and Francis Bacon: Lord Verulam's Connection with The, 1580–1608|publisher=R. Banks|page=19}}</ref>

In 1597 Bacon became the first [[Queen's Counsel]] designate, when Queen Elizabeth reserved him as her legal counsel.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of English Law|last=Holdsworth|first=W. S.|year=1938|pages=vi 473–474}}</ref> In 1597, he was also given a patent, giving him precedence at the Bar.<ref>''[[Patent Rolls]]'', 2 Jac I p. 12 m 10.</ref> Despite his designations, he was unable to gain the status and notoriety of others. In a plan to revive his position he unsuccessfully courted the wealthy young widow Lady [[Elizabeth Hatton]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Curious Case of Lady Purbeck; A Scandal of the XVIIth Century|last=Longueville|first=Thomas|publisher=Longmans, Green and Co|year=1909|location=London|page=4}}</ref> His courtship failed after she broke off their relationship upon accepting marriage to Sir Edward Coke, a further spark of enmity between the men.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Aughterson|first=Kate|title=Hatton, Elizabeth, Lady Hatton [nee Lady Elizabeth Cecil] (1578–1646)|journal=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|via=Oxford University Press}}</ref> In 1598 Bacon was arrested for debt. Afterward, however, his standing in the Queen's eyes improved. Gradually, Bacon earned the standing of one of the learned counsels.{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=137}} His relationship with the Queen further improved when he severed ties with Essex{{snd}}a shrewd move, as Essex would be executed for treason in 1601.<ref>{{cite book|title=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia|date= 2008|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.|page=636}}</ref>

With others, Bacon was appointed to investigate the charges against Essex. A number of Essex's followers confessed that Essex had planned a rebellion against the Queen.<ref name="Character Assassination">Nieves Matthews, ''Francis Bacon: The History of a Character Assassination'' (Yale University Press, 1996)</ref> Bacon was subsequently a part of the legal team headed by the [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney General]] Sir Edward Coke at Essex's treason trial.<ref name="Character Assassination" /> After the execution, the Queen ordered Bacon to write the official government account of the trial, which was later published as ''A DECLARATION of the Practices and Treasons attempted and committed by Robert late Earle of Essex and his Complices, against her Majestie and her Kingdoms ...'' after Bacon's first draft was heavily edited by the Queen and her ministers.{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=138}}<ref>Matthews (1996: 56–57)</ref>

According to his personal secretary and chaplain, [[William Rawley]], as a judge Bacon was always tender-hearted, "looking upon the examples with the eye of severity, but upon the person with the eye of pity and compassion". And also that "he was free from malice", "no revenger of injuries", and "no defamer of any man".<ref name="Rawley">{{cite book |last=Rawley |first=William |title=The Life of the Right Honorable Francis Bacon Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban |year=1670 |publisher=Thomas Johns |location=London |url=http://hiwaay.net/~paul/bacon/biographies/rawley.html |access-date=4 February 2012 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805052919/http://hiwaay.net/~paul/bacon/biographies/rawley.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===James I comes to the throne===
[[File:Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban from NPG (2).jpg|thumb|upright=1|Portrait of Sir Francis Bacon by John Vanderbank, oil on canvas © 1731 based on work (artist unknown  {{circa}} 1618) ]]

The succession of [[James I of England|James I]] brought Bacon into greater favour. He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in 1603. In another shrewd move, Bacon wrote his ''Apologies'' in defence of his proceedings in the case of Essex, as Essex had favoured James to succeed to the throne. The following year, during the course of the uneventful first parliamentary session, Bacon married [[Alice Barnham]].{{sfn|Adamson|Mitchell|1911|p=139}} In June 1607, he was at last rewarded with the office of Solicitor General{{sfn|Peltonen|2007}} and in 1608 he began working as the Clerk of the [[Star Chamber]]. Despite a generous income, old debts still could not be paid. He sought further promotion and wealth by supporting King James and his arbitrary policies. In 1610 the fourth session of James's first [[James I of England and the English Parliament|Parliament]] met. Despite Bacon's advice to him, James and the Commons found themselves at odds over royal prerogatives and the King's embarrassing extravagance. The House was finally dissolved in February 1611. Throughout this period Bacon managed to stay in favour with the King while retaining the confidence of the Commons.

In 1613 Bacon was finally appointed [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney General]], after advising the King to shuffle judicial appointments. As Attorney General, Bacon, by his zealous efforts{{snd}}which included torture{{snd}}to obtain the conviction of [[Edmund Peacham]] for treason, raised legal controversies of high constitutional importance.<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle= Peacham, Edmond |volume= 44 |last= Lee |first= Sidney |author-link= Sidney Lee |pages= 131–133 |short= 1}}</ref> Bacon and [[Gray's Inn]] produced ''[[The Masque of Flowers]]'' to celebrate the wedding of [[Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset]] and his wife, [[Frances Howard, Countess of Somerset]],<ref>Christine Adams, 'Francis Bacon's Wedding Gift of A Garden of a Glorious and Strange Beauty for the Earl and Countess of Somerset', ''Garden History'', 36:1 (Spring 2008), p. 45.</ref> and he successfully prosecuted them for murder in 1616.

The so-called Prince's Parliament of April 1614 objected to Bacon's presence in the seat for [[University of Cambridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Cambridge]] and to the various royal plans that Bacon had supported. Although he was allowed to stay, Parliament passed a law that forbade the Attorney General to sit in Parliament. His influence over the King had evidently inspired resentment or apprehension in many of his peers. Bacon, however, continued to receive the King's favour, which led to his appointment in March 1617 as temporary Regent of England (for a period of a month), and in 1618 as [[Lord Chancellor]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Principe |first=Lawrence M. |title=The Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0199567416 |edition=1st |page=128}}</ref> On 12 July 1618 the King created Bacon [[Baron Verulam]] of [[Verulamium|Verulam]] in the [[Peerage of England]]; he then became known as Francis, Lord Verulam.{{sfn|Peltonen|2007}}

Bacon continued to use his influence with the King to mediate between the throne and Parliament, and in this capacity he was further elevated in the same peerage as [[Viscount St Alban]] on 27 January 1621.<ref>{{cite book|title=CSPD James I, 1619–1623|page=116}}</ref>

===Lord Chancellor and public disgrace===
[[File:Bacon vs Parliament.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Bacon and members of [[Member of Parliament (UK)|Parliament]] on the day of his 1621 political fall]]
Bacon's public career ended in disgrace in 1621. After he fell into debt, a parliamentary committee on the administration of the law charged him with 23 separate counts of corruption. His lifelong enemy, Sir [[Edward Coke]], who had instigated these accusations,<ref>{{citation |first=Ian |last=Ousby |year=1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=43oBE1nJXaMC |title=The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Literature in English |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=22 |postscript=. |isbn=978-0-521-43627-4 }}</ref> was one of those appointed to prepare the charges against the chancellor.<ref>{{citation |first=Perez |last=Zagorin |year=1999 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IoKwR_8FBYcC |title=Francis Bacon |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=22 |postscript=. |isbn=978-0-691-00966-7 }}</ref> To the lords, who sent a committee to enquire whether a confession was really his, he replied, "My lords, it is my act, my hand, and my heart; I beseech your lordships to be merciful to a broken reed." He was sentenced to a fine of £40,000 and committed to the [[Tower of London]] at the king's pleasure; the imprisonment lasted only a few days and the fine was remitted by the king.<ref name="mpkm">{{cite book |last1=Parris |first1=Matthew |author1-link=Matthew Parris |author2-link=Kevin Maguire (journalist) |last2=Maguire |first2=Kevin |title=Great Parliamentary Scandals |publisher=Chrysalis |location=London |year=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatparliamenta0000parr/page/8 8–9] |chapter=Francis Bacon – 1621 |isbn=978-1-86105-736-5 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/greatparliamenta0000parr/page/8 }}</ref> More seriously, parliament declared Bacon incapable of holding future office or sitting in parliament. He narrowly escaped undergoing [[Cashiering|degradation]], which would have stripped him of his titles of nobility. Subsequently, the disgraced viscount devoted himself to study and writing.

There seems little doubt that Bacon had accepted gifts from litigants, but this was an accepted custom of the time and not necessarily evidence of deeply corrupt behaviour.<ref name="pz">{{cite book |last=Zagorin |first=Perez |author-link=Perez Zagorin |title=Francis Bacon |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |year=1999 |pages=22–23 |isbn=978-0-691-00966-7 }}</ref> While acknowledging that his conduct had been lax, he countered that he had never [[bribery|allowed gifts to influence his judgement]] and, indeed, he had on occasion given a verdict against those who had paid him. He even had an interview with King James in which he assured:
{{Blockquote |The law of nature teaches me to speak in my own defence: With respect to this charge of bribery I am as innocent as any man born on St. Innocents Day. I never had a bribe or reward in my eye or thought when pronouncing judgment or order... I am ready to make an oblation of myself to the King|17 April 1621<ref>Campbell, John; Baron Campbell (1818), J. Murray. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=8GMoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA404 The Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of England]"</ref>}}

He also wrote the following to [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham]]:
{{Blockquote |My mind is calm, for my fortune is not my felicity. I know I have clean hands and a clean heart, and I hope a clean house for friends or servants; but Job himself, or whoever was the justest judge, by such hunting for matters against him as hath been used against me, may for a time seem foul, especially in a time when greatness is the mark and accusation is the game.{{sfn|Fowler|1885|p=347}} }}

As the conduct of accepting gifts was ubiquitous and common practice, and the Commons was zealously inquiring into judicial corruption and malfeasance, it has been suggested that Bacon served as a scapegoat to divert attention from Buckingham's own ill practice and alleged corruption.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Express |first=Britain |title=The Duke of Buckingham and Sir Francis Bacon |url=https://www.britainexpress.com/History/Buckingham-Bacon.htm |access-date=31 October 2022 |website=Britain Express |language=en}}</ref>

The true reason for his acknowledgement of guilt is the subject of debate, but some authors speculate that it may have been prompted by his sickness, or by a view that through his fame and the greatness of his office he would be spared harsh punishment. He may even have been blackmailed, with a threat to charge him with [[sodomy]], into confession.<ref name="pz" /><ref>[[A. L. Rowse]], quoted in Parris; Maguire (2004: 8): "a charge of sodomy was... to be brought against the sixty-year-old Lord Chancellor".</ref>

The British jurist [[Basil Montagu]] wrote in Bacon's defense, concerning the episode of his public disgrace:
{{Blockquote |Bacon has been accused of servility, of dissimulation, of various base motives, and their filthy brood of base actions, all unworthy of his high birth, and incompatible with his great wisdom, and the estimation in which he was held by the noblest spirits of the age. It is true that there were men in his own time, and will be men in all times, who are better pleased to count spots in the sun than to rejoice in its glorious brightness. Such men have openly libelled him, like Dewes and Weldon, whose falsehoods were detected as soon as uttered, or have fastened upon certain ceremonious compliments and dedications, the fashion of his day, as a sample of his servility, passing over his noble letters to the Queen, his lofty contempt for the Lord Keeper Puckering, his open dealing with Sir Robert Cecil, and with others, who, powerful when he was nothing, might have blighted his opening fortunes for ever, forgetting his advocacy of the rights of the people in the face of the court, and the true and honest counsels, always given by him, in times of great difficulty, both to Elizabeth and her successor. When was a "base sycophant" loved and honoured by piety such as that of Herbert, Tennison, and Rawley, by noble spirits like Hobbes, Ben Jonson, and Selden, or followed to the grave, and beyond it, with devoted affection such as that of Sir Thomas Meautys.<ref>{{cite book |last=Montagu |first=Basil |title=Essays and Selections |year=1837 |isbn=978-1-4368-3777-4 |pages=325–326 |publisher=Kessinger }}</ref>}}

===Personal life===
====Religious beliefs====
Bacon was a devout [[Anglican]]. He believed that philosophy and the natural world must be studied inductively, but argued that we can only study arguments for the existence of God. Information about God's attributes (such as nature, action, and purposes) can only come from [[special revelation]]. Bacon also held that knowledge was cumulative, that study encompassed more than a simple preservation of the past. "Knowledge is the rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator and the relief of man's estate," he wrote. In his Essays, he affirms that "a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."<ref name="EssayesOrCovnsels">{{cite book |last1=Bacon |first1=Francis |title=The Essayes Or Covnsels, Civill and Morall, of Francis Lo. Vervlam, Viscovnt St. Alban |date=1625 |location=London |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdsAYAAACAAJ |access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref>

Bacon's idea of [[Novum Organum#The Idols (Idola)|idols of the mind]] may have self-consciously represented an attempt to Christianize science at the same time as developing a new, reliable scientific method; Bacon gave worship of [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]] as an example of the [[idola tribus]] fallacy, hinting at the religious dimensions of his critique of the idols.{{sfn|Josephson-Storm|2017|pp=48–49}}

Bacon was against the splintering within Christianity, believing that it would ultimately lead to the creation of atheism as a dominant worldview, as indicated with his quote that "The causes of atheism are: divisions in religion, if they be many; for any one main division, addeth zeal to both sides; but many divisions introduce atheism. Another is, scandal of priests; when it is come to that which St. Bernard saith "One cannot now say the priest is as the people, for the truth is that the people are not so bad as the priest". A third is, custom of profane scoffing in holy matters; which doth by little and little deface the reverence of religion. And lastly, learned times, specially with peace and prosperity; for troubles and adversities do more bow men's minds to religion."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bacon |first1=Francis |title=Essays, Civil and Moral. The Harvard Classics |date=1909–1914 |publisher=PF Collier and Son |location=New York |edition=Vol III. Part 1 |url= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/reference/of-atheism/ |title=XVI Of Atheism |work=Francis Bacon. (1561–1626). Essays, Civil and Moral. The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |date= 2022 |access-date=8 April 2023}}</ref>
[[File:VerulamHouse.jpg|alt=Engraving of a three-storey house with many tall windows & a small rooftop lantern.|thumb|236x236px|Engraving of Verulam House in St Albans (17th cent.)]]

====Architectural projects====
Bacon built [[Verulam House, St Alban's (17th century)|Verulam House]] in St Albans to his own designs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Old Gorhambury Water Gardens |url=https://www.gardenvisit.com/gardens/old_gorhambury_water_gardens |access-date=8 July 2023 |website=www.gardenvisit.com}}</ref> It has been suggested that this building was derivative of [[Rowland Hill (MP)|Sir Rowland Hill]]'s building at [[Soulton Hall]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Garnet as Emblem of Goodness {{!}} Philosophical architecture from Henry III to George III | date=19 August 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhV4z4eRklw |access-date=20 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

====Marriage to Alice Barnham====
{{see also|Alice Barnham}}
When he was 36, Bacon courted [[Elizabeth Hatton]], a young widow of 20. Reportedly, she broke off their relationship upon accepting marriage to a wealthier man, Bacon's rival, Sir [[Edward Coke]]. Years later, Bacon still wrote of his regret that the marriage to Hatton had not taken place.<ref name="Dodd-Life-Story">Alfred Dodd, ''Francis Bacon's Personal Life Story', Volume 2 – The Age of James'', England: Rider & Co., 1949, 1986. pp. 157–158, 425, 502–503, 518–532</ref>[[File:Alice Barnham.gif|thumb|upright=1|Engraving of [[Alice Barnham]]]]At the age of 45, Bacon married [[Alice Barnham]], the 13-year-old daughter of a well-connected London [[alderman]] and MP. Bacon wrote two sonnets proclaiming his love for Alice. The first was written during his courtship and the second on his wedding day, 10 May 1606. When Bacon was appointed lord chancellor, "by special Warrant of the King", Lady Bacon was given precedence over all other Court ladies. Bacon's personal secretary and chaplain, William Rawley, wrote in his biography of Bacon that his marriage was one of "much conjugal love and respect", mentioning a robe of honour that he gave to Alice and which "she wore unto her dying day, being twenty years and more after his death".<ref name="Rawley" />

However, an increasing number of reports circulated about friction in the marriage, with speculation that this may have been due to Alice's making do with less money than she had once been accustomed to. It was said that she was strongly interested in fame and fortune, and when household finances dwindled, she complained bitterly. Bunten wrote in her ''Life of Alice Barnham''&nbsp;<ref>Alice Chambers Bunten, ''Life of Alice Barnham, Wife of Sir Francis Bacon'', London: Oliphants Ltd. 1928.</ref> that, upon their descent into debt, she went on trips to ask for financial favours and assistance from their circle of friends. Bacon disinherited her upon discovering her secret romantic relationship with [[John Underhill (courtier)|Sir John Underhill]], rewriting his will (which had generously planned to leave her lands, goods, and income) and revoking her entirely as a beneficiary.

====Sexuality====
Several authors believe that, despite his marriage,{{efn|In ''[[New Atlantis]]'', Bacon's Joabin writes of men who "marry late, when the prime of strength and their years is past". "[W]hat is marriage to them but a very bargain; wherein is sought alliance, or portion, or reputation", he argues, since they continue to visit "dissolute places" for "meretricious embracements (where sin is turned into art)", a custom "no more punished ... than in bachelors".{{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=17–18, quoting ''New Atlantis'' 281–283}} Literature and sexuality scholar Joseph Cady noted that Bacon may have written this from a personal perspective, as his own marriage was "'late', childless, and {{lang|lt|pro forma}}".{{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=18}}}} Bacon was primarily attracted to men.<ref>A. L. Rowse, ''Homosexuals in History'', New York: Carroll & Garf, 1977. p. 44</ref><ref>Jardine, Lisa; Stewart, Alan. ''Hostage To Fortune: The Troubled Life of Francis Bacon'' Hill & Wang, 1999. p. 148</ref> Forker,<ref>Charles R. Forker, "'Masculine Love', Renaissance Writing, and the 'New Invention' of Homosexuality: An Addendum" in the ''Journal of Homosexuality'' (1996), Indiana University</ref> for example, has explored the "historically documentable sexual preferences" of both Francis Bacon and [[James VI and I|King James I]] and concluded they were both oriented to "masculine love", a contemporary term that "seems to have been used exclusively to refer to the sexual preference of men for members of their own gender."<ref>''Journal of Homosexuality'', Volume: 31 Issue: 3, 1996, pp. 85–93, {{ISSN|0091-8369}}</ref> Bacon's sexuality has been disputed by others, who point to lack of consistent evidence and consider the sources to be more open to interpretation.<ref name="Character Assassination" /><ref>Ross Jackson, ''The Companion to Shaker of the Speare: The Francis Bacon Story'', England: Book Guild Publishing, 2005. pp. 45–46</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Bryan Bevan, ''The Real Francis Bacon'', England: Centaur Press, 1960</ref><ref>Helen Veale, ''Son of England'', India: Indo Polish Library, 1950</ref><ref>Peter Dawkins, ''Dedication to the Light'', England: Francis Bacon Research Trust, 1984</ref>

The Jacobean antiquary and Bacon's fellow parliament member Sir [[Simonds D'Ewes]] implied there had been a question of bringing Bacon to trial for buggery,<ref>Fulton Anderson, ''Francis Bacon: His career and his thought'', Los Angeles, 1962</ref> with which his brother Anthony Bacon had also been charged.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Golden Lads: A Study of Anthony Bacon, Francis and Their Friends|last = du Maurier|first = Daphne|publisher = Gollancz|year = 1975|isbn = 978-1-84408-073-1|location = London}}</ref> (Bacon's brother "apparently also was homosexual", according to literature and sexuality scholar Joseph Cady.){{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=14}} In his ''Autobiography and Correspondence'' diary entry for 3 May 1621, the date of Bacon's censure by Parliament, D'Ewes describes Bacon's love for his Welsh serving-men, in particular his servant Mr. Henry Godrick or Goodrick,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ellis|first1=Robert. P.|title=Francis Bacon: The Double-Edged Life of the Philosopher and Statesman|year=2015|publisher=McFarland|page=33}}</ref> a "very effeminate-faced youth" whom he calls "his [[catamite]] and bedfellow".<ref>{{cite book|title = Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History Vol.1: From Antiquity to the Mid-Twentieth Century|first1 = Robert|last1 = Aldrich|first2 = Gary|last2 = Wotherspoon|page = 33|publisher = Routledge|location = London and New York|isbn = 978-0-415-15982-1|year = 2005}}</ref> Bacon's own mother complained to Anthony on Bacon's affection for another servant of his, named Percy, whom she wrote Bacon kept as "a coach companion and bed companion."<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Sasso |first=Beatrice |date=2022 |title=Queer Elements in Renaissance English Poetry |url=https://thesis.unipd.it/handle/20.500.12608/44186?mode=simple |degree=Lauree triennali |chapter=Homosexuality in the English Renaissance: Religion, History, Society, and Science |publisher=[[University of Padua]] |access-date=11 September 2024}}</ref>

In his ''[[Brief Lives]]'' sketches (likely composed during 1665–1690 and published as a book in 1813), the antiquary [[John Aubrey]] wrote that Bacon was a [[pederast]]{{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=14, 35n9}} "whose Ganimeds and Favourites tooke Bribes".<ref>Oliver Lawson Dick, ed. ''Aubrey's Brief Lives. Edited from the Original Manuscripts'', 1949, ''s.v.'' "Francis Bacon, Viscount of St. Albans" p. 11.</ref> While pederast strictly denoted "boy-lover" in earlier times, Cady wrote that Aubrey deployed the term discreetly in the original Greek to signify "male homosexual".{{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=14, 35n9}} The figure of [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]], he continued, was another of many common ways of referring obliquely to homosexuality.{{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=35n13}}

In ''[[New Atlantis]]'', Bacon described his [[utopian]] island as being "the chastest nation under heaven", with "no touch" of "masculine love".<ref name="Atlantis1627">Bacon, Francis. ''The New Atlantis''. 1627</ref> Cady argued that Bacon's reference to male homosexuality in the ''New Atlantis'' deliberately gave the appearance of coming from "outside the phenomenon" due to prevalent opposition.{{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=15}} It contrasted deliberately with "veiled" praise of the topic elsewhere in Bacon's work, he asserted.{{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=15}} Cady offered several examples, including that Bacon discussed only male beauty in his short essay "Of Beauty".{{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=15}} He also noted that Bacon ended his monologue ''The Masculine Birth of Time'' with an older man asking a younger one (from his "inmost heart") to "give yourself to me so that I may restore you to yourself" and "secure [you] an increase beyond all hopes and prayers of ordinary marriages".{{sfn|Cady|1992|loc=15}}

===Death===
[[File:20040912-001-francis-bacon.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Monument to Bacon at his burial place in [[St Michael's Church, St Albans|St Michael's Church]] in [[St Albans]]]]
On 9 April 1626, Bacon died of [[pneumonia]] at [[Highgate]] outside London, specifically at Arundel House, a country residence of his friend the [[Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel|Earl of Arundel]],{{efn|Not to be confused with [[Arundel House|his central London residence of the same name]].}} though Arundel was then imprisoned in the [[Tower of London]].<ref name="death">{{cite book|title=The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Prose|year=2001|publisher=Broadview Press|page=18}}</ref> An influential account of the circumstances of his death was given by John Aubrey's ''Brief Lives''.<ref name="death" /> Aubrey's vivid account, which he says was told to him by "Mr Hobbs" ([[Thomas Hobbes]]), portrays Bacon as a martyr to experimental scientific method. It has him journeying to High-gate through the snow with the King's physician when he is suddenly inspired by the possibility that "flesh [meat] might not be preserved in snow, as in Salt":{{blockquote|They were resolved, they would try the Experiment presently. They alighted out of the Coach and went into a poore woman's howse at the bottome of Highgate-hill, and bought a Hen, and made the woman [[wikt:exenterate|exenterate]] it.}}

After stuffing the hen with snow, Bacon contracted a fatal case of pneumonia. Some people, including Aubrey, consider these two possibly coincidental events as related and causing his death:{{blockquote|The Snow so chilled him, that he immediately fell so extremely ill, that he could not returne to his lodging ... but went to the Earle of Arundell's house at High-gate, where they putt him into ... a damp bed that had not been layn-in about a yeare before... which gave him such a cold that in two or three dayes, as I remember he [Hobbes] told me, he dyed of Suffocation.<ref>Aubrey, John. ''Brief Lives'', Penguin Books, 2000, p. 30.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bowen|first1=Catherine|title=Francis Bacon: The Temper of a Man|url=https://archive.org/details/francisbacontem000bowe|url-access=registration|year=1993|publisher=Fordham University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/francisbacontem000bowe/page/225 225]}}</ref><ref>[[Lucy Hughes-Hallett|Hughes-Hallett, Lucy]] (2024). ''The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham'', London: 4th Estate; New York: HarperCollins Publishers, pp. 482-483.</ref>}}

Aubrey has been criticized for his evident credulousness in this and other works; on the other hand, he knew Thomas Hobbes, Bacon's fellow-philosopher and friend. Being unwittingly on his deathbed, the philosopher dictated his last letter to the Earl:{{blockquote|My very good Lord,{{snd}}I was likely to have had the fortune of [[Pliny the Elder|Caius Plinius the elder]], who lost his life by trying an experiment about the burning of [[Mount Vesuvius]]; for I was also desirous to try an experiment or two touching the conservation and in-duration of bodies. As for the experiment itself, it succeeded excellently well; but in the journey between London and High-gate, I was taken with such a fit of [[Cough|casting]] as I know not whether it were the Stone, or some surfeit or cold, or indeed a touch of them all three. But when I came to your Lordship's House, I was not able to go back, and therefore was forced to take up my lodging here, where your housekeeper is very careful and diligent about me, which I assure myself your Lordship will not only pardon towards him, but think the better of him for it. For indeed your Lordship's House was happy to me, and I kiss your noble hands for the welcome which I am sure you give me to it. I know how unfit it is for me to write with any other hand than mine own, but by my troth my fingers are so disjointed with sickness that I cannot steadily hold a pen.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bacon|first=Francis|title=The works of Francis Bacon, lord chancellor of England|publisher=W. Pickering|year=1825–1834|editor-last=Montagu|editor-first=Basil|volume=12|location=London|pages=274}}</ref>}}

{{anchor|William Rawley}}Another account appears in a biography by William Rawley, Bacon's personal secretary and chaplain:{{blockquote|He died on the ninth day of April in the year 1626, in the early morning of the day then celebrated for our Savior's resurrection, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, at the Earl of Arundel's house in Highgate, near London, to which place he casually repaired about a week before; God so ordaining that he should die there of a gentle fever, accidentally accompanied with a great cold, whereby the defluxion of [[rheum]] fell so plentifully upon his breast, that he died by suffocation.<ref name="Rawley-bio">{{citation |last=Rawley |first=William (Bacon's personal secretary and chaplain) |title=Resuscitatio, or, Bringing into Publick Light Severall Pieces of the Works, Civil, Historical, Philosophical, & Theological, Hitherto Sleeping; of the Right Honourable Francis Bacon ... Together with his Lordships Life |year=1657 |quote=Francis Bacon, the glory of his age and nation, the adorner and ornament of learning, was born in York House, or York Place, in the Strand, on the two and twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord 1560. }}</ref>}}

He was buried in [[St Michael's Church, St Albans|St Michael's Church]] in St Albans. At the news of his death, over 30 great minds collected together their eulogies of him, which were then later published in Latin.<ref>{{citation |editor-first=W.G.C. |editor-last=Gundry |title=Manes Verulamani}} This important volume consists of 32 eulogies originally published in Latin shortly after Bacon's funeral in 1626. Bacon's peers refer to him as "a supreme poet" and "a concealed poet", and also link him with the theatre.</ref> He left personal assets of about £7,000 and lands that realised £6,000 when sold.<ref name="BGL">{{cite book |last=Lovejoy |first=Benjamin |title=Francis Bacon: A Critical Review |publisher=[[T. Fisher Unwin|Unwin]] |location=London |year=1888 |page=171 |oclc=79886184 }}</ref> His debts amounted to more than £23,000, equivalent to more than £4m at current value.<ref name="BGL" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/ |title=Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to Present |last1=Officer |first1=Lawrence |last2=Williamson |first2=Samuel |publisher=Measuring Worth |access-date=1 December 2021 }}</ref>

==Philosophy and works==
{{main|Works by Francis Bacon|Francis Bacon bibliography}}
{{see also|Essays (Francis Bacon)|History of the Reign of King Henry VII|New Atlantis|Novum Organum|Salomon's House|The Advancement of Learning}}
[[File:Bacon - Sylva sylvarum, 1658 - 3887855 301161 00006.tif|thumb|upright=1|''Sylva sylvarum'', Bacon's history of ten centuries]]
[[File:Sylva sylvarum - or, A naturall history.jpg|alt=Front page text of the book Sylva Sylvarum, with black text on a white page|thumb|upright=1|Front page of a 1651 copy of ''Sylva sylvarum'']]
Francis Bacon's philosophy is displayed in the vast and varied writings he left, which might be divided into three great branches:
* ''[[Works by Francis Bacon#Scientific works|Scientific works]]'' in which his ideas for a universal reform of knowledge into [[scientific method]]ology and the improvement of mankind's state using the scientific method are presented.{{Sfn | Farrington | 1964}}{{Page needed | date = January 2014}}<ref name="The Great Instauration">{{Cite wikisource|title=The Great Instauration|date=1620|first=Francis|last=Bacon}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Bacon | first = Francis | title = [[s:Essays, civil and moral (Harvard Classics)|Essays, civil and moral]] | contribution = [[s:Essays, civil and moral (Harvard Classics)/Of Superstition|Of Superstition]]}}.</ref>
* ''[[Works by Francis Bacon#Religious and literary works|Religious and literary works]]'' in which he presents his moral philosophy and theological meditations.{{Efn | Ben: "son"; Salem: "peace", "peaceful" or "at peace".<ref>{{Citation | title = Meaning | contribution = Ben | contribution-url = http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Ben.html | publisher = Abarim}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Meaning | contribution = Salem | contribution-url = http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Salem.html | publisher = Abarim}}.</ref>}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Bacon|first=Francis|title=Meditationes Sacrae|year=1996|publisher=Kessinger |isbn=978-1564596413|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ieO2NjBGmewC&q=meditationes+sacrae+francis+bacon}}</ref>
* ''[[Works by Francis Bacon#Juridical works|Juridical works]]'' in which his reforms in English law are proposed.<ref name="Jurisprudence"/>

[[File:Francisci Baconi, baronis de Verulamio Novum organum scientiarum.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Front page of a 1779 copy of Bacon's ''[[Novum Organum]]'', authored in 1620]]
Some of the more notable works by Bacon are:
* ''[[Essays (Francis Bacon)|Essays]]''
** 1st edition with 10 essays (1597)
** 2nd edition with 38 essays (1612)
** 3rd/final edition with 58 essays (1625)
* ''[[Advancement of Learning|The Advancement and Proficience of Learning Divine and Human]]'' (1605)
* ''Instauratio magna'' (The Great Instauration) (1620) – a multi-part work including ''Distributio operis'' (Plan of the Work); ''[[Novum Organum]]'' (The New ''[[Organon]]''); ''Parasceve ad historiam naturalem'' (Preparatory for Natural History) and ''Catalogus historiarum particularium'' (Catalogue of Particular Histories)<ref>{{Citation|last=Alban|first=Francis Bacon, Viscount St|chapter=Instauratio magna preliminaries|year=1620|pages=2–495|editor-last=Rees|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-924792-9|doi=10.1093/oseo/instance.00007240|title=The Oxford Francis Bacon, Vol. 11: The Instauratio magna Part II: Novum organum and Associated Texts|url=https://zenodo.org/record/2470477}}</ref>
* ''De augmentis scientiarum'' (1623) – an enlargement of ''The Advancement of Learning'' translated into Latin
* ''[[New Atlantis]]'' (1626).

==Influence and legacy==
===Science===
{{see also|Baconian method|Idola fori}}
[[File:Loc-bacon-highsmith cropped.jpg|thumb|Statue of Bacon in the [[Library of Congress]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
[[File:Frontispiece to 'The History of the Royal-Society of London'.jpg|thumb|upright=1|[[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] painting of the front cover of ''The History of Royal-Society of London'', picturing Bacon (right) among the founding influences of [[Royal Society]]]]
Bacon's seminal work the ''[[Novum Organum]]'' was highly influential in the 17th century among scholars, in particular Sir [[Thomas Browne]], who in his encyclopedia ''[[Pseudodoxia Epidemica]]'' (1646–72) frequently adheres to a Baconian approach to his scientific enquiries. This book entails the basis of the scientific method as a means of observation and induction.  Also [[Robert Hooke]] was highly influenced by Bacon, using Baconian language and ideas in his book, "[[Micrographia]]."

According to Bacon, learning and knowledge all derive from inductive reasoning. Through his belief in experimentally-derived data, he theorised that all the knowledge that was necessary to fully understand a concept could be attained using induction.  "Induction" in this context can be thought of as "reasoning from evidence," as opposed to "deduction," or "top-down reasoning," which can be thought of as "reasoning from a pre-existing premise, or hypothesis." In order to get to the point of an inductive conclusion, one must consider the importance of observing the particulars (specific parts of nature). "Once these particulars have been gathered together, the interpretation of Nature proceeds by sorting them into a formal arrangement so that they may be presented to the understanding."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Turner|first=Henry S.|date=2013|title=Francis Bacon's Common Notion|journal=Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies|volume=13|issue=3|pages=7–32|doi=10.1353/jem.2013.0023|s2cid=153693271|issn=1553-3786}}</ref> Experimentation is essential to discovering the truths of Nature. When an experiment happens, the data is used to form a result and conclusion. Note that this process does not involve a pre-existing hypothesis. On the contrary, inductive reasoning starts with data, not a prior premise or hypothesis. Through this conclusion of particulars, an understanding of Nature can be formed. Now that an understanding of Nature has been arrived at, an inductive conclusion can be drawn. "There are and can be only two ways of searching into and discovering truth. The one flies from the senses and particulars to the most general axioms, and from these principles, the truth of which it takes for settled and immovable, proceeds to judgment and to the discovery of middle axioms. And this way is now in fashion. The other derives axioms from the senses and particulars, rising by a gradual and unbroken ascent, so that it arrives at the most general axioms last of all. This is the true way, but as yet untried." (Bacon's axiom XIX from the Novum Organum) <ref>{{Cite book|last=Bacon|first=Francis|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/17510|title=Novum Organum|editor-last=Devey|editor-first=Joseph|date=1902|publisher=Collier|location=New York|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.17510}}</ref>

Bacon explains how we come to this understanding and knowledge because of this process in comprehending the complexities of nature. "Bacon sees nature as an extremely subtle complexity, which affords all the energy of the natural philosopher to disclose her secrets."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Brooks|first=Christopher|date=1993|title=Daniel R. Coquillette. Francis Bacon. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. 1992. pp. x, 358.|journal=Albion|volume=25|issue=3|pages=484–485|doi=10.2307/4050890|issn=0095-1390|jstor=4050890}}</ref> Bacon described the evidence and proof revealed through taking a specific example from nature and expanding that example into a general, substantial claim of nature. Once we understand the particulars in nature, we can learn more about it and become surer of things occurring in nature, gaining knowledge and obtaining new information all the while. "It is nothing less than a revival of Bacon's supremely confident belief that inductive methods can provide us with ultimate and infallible answers concerning the laws and nature of the universe."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nisbet|first=H. B.|date=1967|title=Herder and Francis Bacon|journal=The Modern Language Review|volume=62|issue=2|pages=267–283|doi=10.2307/3723840|issn=0026-7937|jstor=3723840}}</ref> Bacon states that when we come to understand parts of nature, we can eventually understand nature better as a whole because of induction. Because of this, Bacon concludes that all learning and knowledge must be drawn from inductive reasoning.

During the [[English Restoration|Restoration]], Bacon was commonly invoked as a guiding spirit of the [[Royal Society]] founded under Charles II in 1660.<ref>{{cite book |first=Julian |last=Martin |title=Francis Bacon: The State and the Reform of Natural Philosophy |year=1992 |place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-38249-6 }}{{Page needed|date=January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Byron |last=Steel |title=Sir Francis Bacon: The First Modern Mind |place=Garden City, NY |publisher=Doubleday, Doran & Co |year=1930 }}</ref> During the 18th-century [[French Enlightenment]], Bacon's non-metaphysical approach to science became more influential than the dualism of his French contemporary [[René Descartes|Descartes]], and was associated with criticism of the ''[[Ancien Régime]]''. In 1733 [[Voltaire]] introduced him to a French audience as the "father" of the [[scientific method]], an understanding which had become widespread by the 1750s.<ref>Hundert, EJ. (1987), "Enlightenment and the decay of common sense", in: Frits van Holthoon & David R. Olson (Eds.), ''Common Sense: The Foundations for Social Science'' (pp. 133–154 [136]). Lanham, MD: University Press of America. </ref> In the 19th century his emphasis on [[Induction (philosophy)|induction]] was revived and developed by [[William Whewell]], among others. He has been reputed as the "Father of Experimental Philosophy".<ref>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Urbach |title=Francis Bacon's Philosophy of Science: An Account and a Reappraisal |publisher=Open Court Publishing Co |place=La Salle, Ill. |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-912050-44-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/francisbaconsphi0000urba }} p. 192. "Bacon's celebrity as a philosopher of science has sunk since the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when he earned the title of 'Father of Experimental Philosophy{{' "}}.</ref>

He also wrote a long treatise on Medicine, ''History of Life and Death'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Bacon |first=Francis |title=History of Life and Death |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dW5lJ9-LeBAC |isbn=978-0-7661-6272-3 |year=2003 |publisher=Kessinger }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> with natural and experimental observations for the prolongation of life.

One of his biographers, the historian [[William Hepworth Dixon]], states: "Bacon's influence in the modern world is so great that every man who rides in a train, sends a telegram, follows a [[steam plough]], sits in an easy chair, crosses the channel or the Atlantic, eats a good dinner, enjoys a beautiful garden, or undergoes a painless surgical operation, owes him something."<ref>{{cite book |last=Hepworth Dixon |first=William |title=The story of Lord Bacon's Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zd05AAAAcAAJ&pg=PP1|year=1862}}</ref>

In 1902 [[Hugo von Hofmannsthal]] published a fictional letter, known as ''[[The Lord Chandos Letter]]'', addressed to Bacon and dated 1603, about a writer who is experiencing a crisis of language.

===North America===
[[File:Lord Bacon - the guiding spirit of colonization scheme.jpg|thumb|upright=1|A [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] stamp, which reads: "Lord Bacon – the guiding spirit in colonization scheme"]]
Bacon played a leading role in establishing the [[British colonies in North America]], especially in [[Virginia]], [[the Carolinas]], and [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]]. His government report on "The Virginia Colony" was submitted in 1609. In 1610 Bacon and his associates received a charter from the king to form ''the Tresurer and the Companye of Adventurers and planter of the Cittye of London and Bristoll for the Collonye or plantacon in Newfoundland'', and sent [[John Guy (governor)|John Guy]] to found a colony there.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/lab4/labvol4_1701.html |year=1701 |volume=4 |place=NF, [[Canada|CA]] |publisher=Heritage |title=Lab |type=law |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021163440/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/lab4/labvol4_1701.html |archive-date=21 October 2013 }}</ref> [[Thomas Jefferson]], the third President of the United States, wrote: "Bacon, [[John Locke|Locke]] and [[Isaac Newton|Newton]]. I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the [[Physical science|Physical]] and [[Moral science]]s".<ref>{{cite journal |publisher=RUG |quote=Bacon, Locke and Newton, whose pictures I will trouble you to have copied for me: and as I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the Physical & Moral sciences |place=Netherlands |title=The Letters of Thomas Jefferson: 1743–1826 |author=Bacon, Locke, and Newton |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/jefl74.php |access-date=13 June 2009 }}</ref>

In 1910, Newfoundland issued a postage stamp to commemorate Bacon's role in establishing the colony. The stamp describes Bacon as "the guiding spirit in Colonization Schemes in 1610".<ref name="Dodd-Life-Story" /> Moreover, some scholars believe he was largely responsible for the drafting, in 1609 and 1612, of two charters of government for the Virginia Colony.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.fbrt.org.uk/pages/essays/essay-fb-life.html |type=essay |title=FB life |publisher=FBRT |place=UK |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131131208/http://www.fbrt.org.uk/pages/essays/essay-fb-life.html |archive-date=31 January 2012 }}</ref> William Hepworth Dixon considered that Bacon's name could be included in the list of Founders of the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hepworth Dixon |first=William |title=Personal History of Lord Bacon from Unpublished Papers |page=200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BE4dalMQX-cC&pg=PA200 |isbn=978-0-7661-2798-2 |year= 2003 |publisher=Kessinger }}</ref>

===Law===
Although few of his proposals for law reform were adopted during his lifetime, Bacon's legal legacy was considered by the magazine ''[[New Scientist]]'' in 1961 as having influenced the drafting of the [[Napoleonic Code]] as well as the law reforms introduced by 19th-century British Prime Minister [[Sir Robert Peel]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Crowther |first=J. G. |title=Article about Francis Bacon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODBtWGjxXH8C&pg=PA146 |work=New Scientist |date=19 January 1961 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The historian [[William Hepworth Dixon]] referred to the Napoleonic Code as "the sole embodiment of Bacon's thought", saying that Bacon's legal work "has had more success abroad than it has found at home", and that in France "it has blossomed and come into fruit".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hepworth Dixon |first=William |title=Personal history of Lord Bacon: From unpublished papers |publisher=J. Murray |year=1861 |page=[https://archive.org/details/personalhistory00dixogoog/page/n57 35] |url=https://archive.org/details/personalhistory00dixogoog}}</ref>

[[Harvey Wheeler]] attributed to Bacon, in ''Francis Bacon's Verulamium{{snd}}the Common Law Template of The Modern in English Science and Culture'', the creation of these distinguishing features of the modern [[common law]] system:
* using cases as repositories of evidence about the "unwritten law";
* determining the relevance of precedents by exclusionary principles of evidence and logic;
* treating opposing legal briefs as adversarial hypotheses about the application of the "unwritten law" to a new set of facts.

As late as the 18th century, some juries still declared the law rather than the facts, but already before the end of the 17th century [[Sir Matthew Hale]] explained modern common law adjudication procedure and acknowledged Bacon as the inventor of the process of discovering unwritten laws from the evidences of their applications. The method combined empiricism and inductivism in a new way that was to imprint its signature on many of the distinctive features of modern [[English society]].<ref>Wheeler, Harvey. ''Francis Bacon's 'Verulamium': the Common Law Template of The Modern in English Science and Culture''</ref> [[Paul H. Kocher]] writes that Bacon is considered by some jurists to be the father of modern [[Jurisprudence]].<ref name="Jurisprudence">{{cite journal |last=Kocher |first=Paul |author-link=Paul H. Kocher |year=1957 |title=Francis Bacon and the Science of Jurisprudence |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia|volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=3–26 |doi=10.2307/2707577 |jstor=2707577  |issn = 0022-5037}}</ref>

Bacon is commemorated with a statue in [[Gray's Inn]], South Square in London where he received his legal training, and where he was elected Treasurer of the Inn in 1608.<ref>[https://www.graysinn.org.uk/history/timeline/sir-francis-bacon "Sir Francis Bacon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402172004/https://www.graysinn.org.uk/history/timeline/sir-francis-bacon |date=2 April 2016 }}. GraysInn.org. Retrieved 21 August 2015</ref>

More recent scholarship on Bacon's jurisprudence has focused on his advocating torture as a legal recourse for the crown.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hanson |first=Elizabeth |title=Torture and Truth in Renaissance England |journal=Representations |date=Spring 1991 |volume=34 |pages=53–84 |doi=10.1525/rep.1991.34.1.99p0046u |doi-broken-date=6 July 2025 }}</ref> Bacon himself was not a stranger to the torture chamber; in his various legal capacities in both Elizabeth I's and James I's reigns, Bacon was listed as a commissioner on five torture warrants. In 1613(?), in a letter addressed to King James I on the question of torture's place within English law, Bacon identifies the scope of torture as a means to further the investigation of threats to the state: "In the cases of treasons, torture is used for discovery, and not for evidence."<ref>{{cite book |last=Langbein |first=John H. |title=Torture and the Law of Proof |year=1976 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |page=90 }}</ref> For Bacon, torture was not a punitive measure, an intended form of state repression, but instead offered a modus operandi for the government agent tasked with uncovering acts of treason.

===Organization of knowledge===
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2023}}
Francis Bacon developed the idea that a classification of knowledge must be universal while handling all possible resources. In his progressive view, humanity would be better if access to educational resources were provided to the public, hence the need to organise it. His approach to learning reshaped the Western view of knowledge theory from an individual to a social interest.

The original classification proposed by Bacon organised all types of knowledge into three general groups: history, poetry, and philosophy. He did that based on his understanding of how information is processed: memory, imagination, and reason, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Simpson |first1=David |title=Francis Bacon (1561–1626) |url=https://iep.utm.edu/francis-bacon/ |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=22 December 2023 |quote=Bacon outlines his scheme for a new division of human knowledge into three primary categories: History, Poesy, and Philosophy (which he associates respectively with the three fundamental “faculties” of mind – memory, imagination, and reason).}}</ref> His methodical approach to the categorization of knowledge goes hand-in-hand with his principles of scientific methods. Bacon's writings were the starting point for [[William Torrey Harris]]'s [[Library classification system|classification system for libraries]] in the United States by the second half of the 1800s.

The phrase "{{lang|la|scientia potentia est}}" (or "{{lang|la|scientia est potentia}}"), meaning "[[knowledge is power]]", is commonly attributed to Bacon: the expression "{{lang|la|ipsa scientia potestas est}}" ("knowledge itself is power") occurs in his ''Meditationes Sacrae'' (1597).{{sfn|Josephson-Storm|2017|pp=46–47}}

==Historical debates==
===Bacon and Shakespeare===
{{main|Bacon's cipher|Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship}}
{{See also|Prince Tudor theory}}
The Baconian hypothesis of [[Shakespeare authorship question|Shakespearean authorship]], first proposed in the mid-19th century, contends that Francis Bacon wrote some or even all of the plays conventionally attributed to [[William Shakespeare]].<ref name="auto"/>

===Occult theories===
{{main|Occult theories about Francis Bacon}}
{{see also|Idola theatri}}
[[File:Bacon-Rose.jpg|thumb|upright=1|An old volume of Bacon and a rose]]
Francis Bacon often gathered with the men at Gray's Inn to discuss politics and philosophy, and to try out various theatrical scenes that he admitted writing.<ref>Frances Yates, ''Theatre of the World'', London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969</ref> Bacon's alleged connection to the [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucians]] and the [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]] has been widely discussed by authors and scholars in many books.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> However, others, including [[Daphne du Maurier]] in her biography of Bacon, have argued that there is no substantive evidence to support claims of involvement with the Rosicrucians.<ref>Daphne du Maurier, ''The Winding Stair, Biography of Bacon'' 1976.</ref> [[Frances Yates]]<ref>Frances Yates, ''The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age'', pp. 61–68, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979</ref> does not make the claim that Bacon was a Rosicrucian, but presents evidence that he was nevertheless involved in some of the more closed intellectual movements of his day. She argues that Bacon's movement for the advancement of learning was closely connected with the German Rosicrucian movement, while Bacon's ''New Atlantis'' portrays a land ruled by Rosicrucians. He apparently saw his own movement for the advancement of learning to be in conformity with Rosicrucian ideals.<ref name="Yates">Frances Yates, ''The Rosicrucian Enlightenment'', London and Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972</ref>

The link between Bacon's work and the Rosicrucians' ideals which Yates allegedly found was the conformity of the purposes expressed by the [[Rosicrucian Manifestos]] and Bacon's plan of a "[[Works by Francis Bacon#The Great Instauration|Great Instauration]]",<ref name="Yates" /> for the two were calling for a reformation of both "divine and human understanding",<ref group="lower-alpha">"Howbeit we know after a time there wil now be a general reformation, both of divine and humane things, according to our desire, and the expectation of others: for it's fitting, that before the rising of the Sun, there should appear and break forth Aurora, or some clearness, or divine light in the sky" – ''[[Fama Fraternitatis]]'' ([http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/rhr/rhr06.htm sacred-texts.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214062121/http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/rhr/rhr06.htm |date=14 February 2012 }})</ref><ref>[[s:The Advancement of Learning|Bacon, Francis. Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human]]</ref> as well as both, had in view the purpose of mankind's return to the "state before the Fall".<ref group="lower-alpha">"Like good and faithful guardians, we may yield up their fortune to mankind upon the emancipation and majority of their understanding, from which must necessarily follow an improvement of their estate [...]. For man, by the fall, fell at the same time from his state of innocency and from his dominion over creation. Both of these losses however can even in this life be in some part repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by arts and sciences. – Francis Bacon, [[s:Novum Organum|Novum Organum]]</ref><ref group="lower-alpha">"We ought therefore here to observe well, and make it known unto everyone, that God hath certainly and most assuredly concluded to send and grant to the whole world before her end ... such a truth, light, life, and glory, as the first man Adam had, which he lost in Paradise, after which his successors were put and driven, with him, to misery. Wherefore there shall cease all servitude, falsehood, lies, and darkness, which by little and little, with the great world's revolution, was crept into all arts, works, and governments of men, and have darkened most part of them". – ''[[Confessio Fraternitatis]]''</ref>

Another major link is said to be the resemblance between Bacon's ''New Atlantis'' and the German Rosicrucian [[Johann Valentin Andreae]]'s ''Description of the Republic of Christianopolis'' (1619).{{sfn|Andreae|1619}} Andreae describes a utopic island in which Christian [[Theosophy (Boehmian)|theosophy]] and applied science ruled, and in which the spiritual fulfilment and intellectual activity constituted the primary goals of each individual, the scientific pursuits being the highest intellectual calling{{snd}}linked to the achievement of spiritual perfection. Andreae's island also depicts a great advancement in technology, with many industries separated in different zones which supplied the population's needs{{snd}}which shows great resemblance to Bacon's scientific methods and purposes.<ref name="Farrington">{{cite book |last=Farrington |first=Benjamin |title=Francis Bacon, philosopher of industrial science |year=1951 |location = New York |isbn=978-0-374-92706-6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Literary criticism of Johann Valentin Andreae |url=http://www.enotes.com/johann-valentin-andreae-criticism/andreae-johann-valentin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515102314/http://www.enotes.com/johann-valentin-andreae-criticism/andreae-johann-valentin |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 May 2012 |publisher=Enotes.com |access-date=21 October 2013 }}</ref>

While rejecting occult [[conspiracy theories]] surrounding Bacon and the claim Bacon personally identified as a Rosicrucian, intellectual historian Paolo Rossi has argued for an occult influence on Bacon's scientific and religious writing. He argues that Bacon was familiar with early modern [[Alchemy|alchemical]] texts and that Bacon's ideas about the application of science had roots in [[Renaissance magic]]al ideas about science and magic facilitating humanity's domination of nature.{{sfn|Rossi|1968|loc=Chapter 1}} Rossi further interprets Bacon's search for hidden meanings in myth and fables in such texts as ''The Wisdom of the Ancients'' as succeeding earlier occultist and [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] attempts to locate hidden wisdom in pre-Christian myths.{{sfn|Rossi|1968|loc=Chapter 3}} As indicated by the title of his study, however, Rossi claims Bacon ultimately rejected the philosophical foundations of occultism as he came to develop a form of modern science.{{sfn|Rossi|1968|loc=Chapter 1}}

Rossi's analysis and claims have been extended by [[Jason Josephson-Storm]] in his study, ''The Myth of Disenchantment''. Josephson-Storm also rejects conspiracy theories surrounding Bacon and does not make the claim that Bacon was an active Rosicrucian. However, he argues that Bacon's "rejection" of magic actually constituted an attempt to purify magic of Catholic, demonic, and esoteric influences and to establish magic as a field of study and application paralleling Bacon's vision of science. Furthermore, Josephson-Storm argues that Bacon drew on magical ideas when developing his experimental method.{{sfn|Josephson-Storm|2017|p=46}} Josephson-Storm finds evidence that Bacon considered nature a living entity, populated by spirits, and argues Bacon's views on the human domination and application of nature actually depend on his spiritualism and personification of nature.{{sfn|Josephson-Storm|2017|pp=50–51}}

Bacon's influence can also be seen on a variety of religious and spiritual authors, and on groups that have utilized his writings in their own belief systems.<ref>Saint Germain Foundation. ''The History of the "I AM" Activity and Saint Germain Foundation''. Schaumburg, Illinois: Saint Germain Press, 2003</ref><ref>Luk, A.D.K.. ''Law of Life – Book II''. Pueblo, Colorado: A.D. K. Luk Publications 1989, pp. 254–267</ref><ref>''White Paper – Wesak World Congress 2002''. Acropolis Sophia Books & Works, 2003.</ref><ref>Partridge, Christopher ed. ''New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities'' Oxford University Press, United States, 2004.</ref><ref>Schroeder, Werner ''Ascended Masters and Their Retreats'' Ascended Master Teaching Foundation, 2004, pp. 250–255</ref>

==Arms==
{{Emblem table
|name = Sir Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fbrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Bacon_Heraldry.pdf |title=Bacon Heraldry |last=Dawkins |first=A. Peter |date= May 2020 |website=Francis Bacon Research Trust|publisher=|access-date=25 July 2024  |quote=}}</ref>
|image={{center|[[File:Coronet of a British Viscount.svg|150px|centre]] [[File:Arms of Sir Francis Bacon.svg|150px|centre]]}}
|escutcheon = Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Gules a Chief Argent with 2 mullets Sable (Bacon); 2nd and 3rd, Barry of 6 Or and Azure, a Bend Gules (Quaplode). A Crescent Argent in fess point for difference.
|coronet = A [[Coronet#British coronet rankings|Coronet of a Viscount]]
|crest = A Boar passant Ermine, a Crescent for difference. 
|supporters =On either sides, a Roman Centurion.
|motto = Mediocria Firma
|symbolism = 
|notes = 
| previous_versions = 
}}

==See also==
* ''[[Cestui que]]'' (defence and comment on Chudleigh's Case)
* [[Romanticism and Bacon]]
* ''[[Scientia potentia est]]''

==Notes==
{{Notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
===Primary sources===
* Bacon, Francis. ''The Essays and Counsels, Civil and Moral of Francis Bacon: all 3 volumes in a single file.'' B&R Samizdat Express, 2014.
* {{cite web|last=Andreae|first=Johann Valentin|title=Christianopolis|url=https://archive.org/details/christianopolis00andr |work=Description of the Republic of Christianopolis|year=1619|publisher=New York, Oxford university press, American branch; [etc., etc.]}}
* {{cite book|last1=Spedding |first1=James |author-link=James Spedding|first2=Robert Leslie |last2=Ellis |author-link2=Robert Leslie Ellis |first3=Douglas Denon |last3=Heath |author-link3=Douglas Denon Heath |title=The Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St Albans and Lord High Chancellor of England (15 volumes) |location=London |date=1857–1874 |url=http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/metabook?id=worksfbacon <!--Index at UPenn of Archive.org holdings-->}}

===Secondary sources===
* {{cite EB9 |mode=cs2 |last=Adamson |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Adamson (philosopher) |wstitle=Francis Bacon |volume=3 |pages=200–218|short=1}}
* {{EB1911 |mode=cs2 |last=Adamson |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Adamson (philosopher) |last2=Mitchell |first2=John Malcolm |wstitle=Bacon, Francis |volume=3 |pages=135–152|short=1 }}
* {{EB1911|last=Pollard |first=Albert Frederick |author-link=Albert Pollard |wstitle=Burghley, William Cecil, Baron |volume=4 |pages=816–817|short=1}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Cady|1992}}|reference=Cady, Joseph. 1992. "'Masculine Love', Renaissance Writing, and the 'New Invention' of Homosexuality". ''Homosexuality in Renaissance and Enlightenment England: Literary Representations in Historical Context'', ed. and intro. [[Claude J. Summers]], 9–40. Research on Homosexuality. Originally published in a special issue of ''Journal of Homosexuality'', 23(1–2):9–40, ed. [[John Paul De Cecco]], by Haworth Press. {{PMID|1431077}}. {{doi|10.1300/j082v23n01_02}}. Reprinted, New York and London: Routledge. 2013. {{ISBN|978-1-56-023019-9}} (pbk).}}
* {{Schaff-Herzog|title=Bacon, Francis|volume=2}}
* {{Cite book|last=Crease|first=Robert P.|title=The Workshop and the World: What Ten Thinkers Can Teach Us About Science and Authority|date=2019|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-29244-2|location=New York|chapter=One: Francis Bacon's New Atlantis|author-link=Robert P. Crease|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIxgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20}}
* {{cite DNB|last=Fowler |first=Thomas |wstitle=Bacon, Francis (1561-1626) |display=Bacon, Francis (1561–1626)|volume=2|pages=328–360}}
* {{ODNBweb|last=Peltonen |first=Markku |origyear=2004 |year=2007 |title=Bacon, Francis, Viscount St Alban (1561–1626) |id=990}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Agassi |first=Joseph |year=2013 |author-link=Joseph Agassi |title=The Very Idea of Modern Science: Francis Bacon and Robert Boyle |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-94-007-5350-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01XWIlpsknAC&q=The+Very+Idea+of+Modern+Science%3A+Francis+Bacon+and+Robert+Boyle%2C+Boston+Studies+in+the+Philosophy+and+History+of+Science+volume+29&pg=PR3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Farrell |first=John |year=2006 |chapter=6: The Science of Suspicion |title=Paranoia and Modernity: Cervantes to Rousseau |publisher=Cornell University Press |location = Ithaca, NY |isbn=978-0-8014-7406-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Farrington |first=Benjamin |year=1964 |title=The Philosophy of Francis Bacon |publisher=University of Chicago Press}} Contains English translations of
** ''Temporis Partus Masculus''
** ''Cogitata et Visa''
** ''Redargutio Philosophiarum''
* {{cite book |last=Josephson-Storm |first=Jason |title=The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xZ5yDgAAQBAJ |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-226-40336-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Heese |first=Mary |year=1968 |chapter=Francis Bacon's Philosophy of Science |title=Essential Articles for the Study of Francis Bacon |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/essentialarticle0000vick |chapter-url-access=registration |editor-first=Brian |editor-last=Vickers |location=Hamden, CT |pages=[https://archive.org/details/essentialarticle0000vick/page/114 114–139] |publisher=Archon Books|isbn=978-0208006240 }}
* {{cite journal|last1 = Lewis|first1 = Rhodri|jstor=10.1086/676154|doi=10.1086/676154|title = Francis Bacon and Ingenuity|journal=Renaissance Quarterly|volume=67|issue=1|pages=113–163|year = 2014|s2cid=170420555}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roselle |first1=Daniel |last2=Young |first2=Anne P |title=Our Western Heritage |chapter=5: The 'Scientific Revolution' and the 'Intellectual Revolution'}}{{full citation needed|date=August 2012}}
* {{cite book |last=Rossi |first=Paolo |year=1968 |title=Francis Bacon: From Magic to Science |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}
* Serjeantson, Richard. "Francis Bacon and the 'Interpretation of Nature' in the Late Renaissance," ''Isis'' (December 2014) 105#4 pp.&nbsp;681–705.

==External links==
{{Sister project links|Francis Bacon|wikt=no|v=no|n=no|author=yes|b=no|d=Q37388}}
* {{cite SEP |url-id=francis-bacon |title=Francis Bacon |last=Klein |first=Juergen}}
* {{cite IEP |url-id=bacon |title=Francis Bacon}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=296}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Francis Bacon}}
* {{Librivox author |id=1041}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* [http://www.earlymoderntexts.com Contains the New Organon, slightly modified for easier reading]
* [[Lord Macaulay]]'s essay ''Lord Bacon'' (''[[Edinburgh Review]]'', 1837) [https://archive.org/details/lordbacon00mac/page/n6 Lord Bacon]
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924029010219 ''Francis Bacon of Verulam. Realistic Philosophy and its Age''] by [[Kuno Fischer]], translated from the German by [[John Oxenford]] London 1857
* [https://archive.org/details/bacon00fowlgoog ''Bacon''] by [[Thomas Fowler (academic)|Thomas Fowler]] (1881) public domain at Internet Archive
* [http://francisbaconsociety.co.uk/ The Francis Bacon Society]
* [http://www.sixdegreesoffrancisbacon.com/ Six Degrees of Francis Bacon]
* [https://archive.org/details/baconiana  Journals of the Francis Bacon Society from 1886 to 1999]
* [http://depts.washington.edu/vienna/documents/Hofmannsthal/Hofmannsthal_Chandos.htm English translation of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's fictional ''The Lord Chandos Letter'', addressed to Bacon]
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/coll/073.html The George Fabyan Collection] at the [[Library of Congress]] is rich in the works of Francis Bacon.
* [https://www.fbrt.org.uk Francis Bacon Research Trust]
* [http://www.sirbacon.org Sir Francis Bacon's New Advancement of Learning]
* {{cite book |last= Montmorency |first=James E. G. |chapter= Francis Bacon |editor-last1= Macdonell |editor-first1= John |editor1-link = John Macdonell (judge) |editor-last2= Manson|editor-first2= Edward William Donoghue |title= Great Jurists of the World |place= London |publisher= John Murray |year= 1913 |pages= 144–168 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.13326/page/n161|access-date= 11 March 2019 |via= Internet Archive}}
* [https://findingaids.library.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_4079293#description Letterbook and correspondence by Sir Francis Bacon at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.]

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{{Francis Bacon}}
{{philosophy of science}}
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