, a learned Hollander, was born, in 1511 or 1512, at Hoorn, of which
, a learned Hollander, was born, in
1511 or 1512, at Hoorn, of which place his father had been
secretary, and five times burgomaster. Having passed
through his first studies at Haeriem and Louvain, he fixed
Upon physic for his profession, and, for his improvement,
resolved to travel abroad. Accordingly, going first to
France, he put himself under the care of James Houlier,
a celebrated physician at Paris. Thence he went to Bologna in Italy, where he was admitted M. D. and afterwards, passing through several parts of Germany, arrived
in England, and became physician to the duke of Norfolk
in 1543, and was afterwards retained in that quality by a
certain great lady. He continued in England several years,
and wrote many books there; among others, a Greek and
Latin lexicon, to which he added above 6500 words. He
dedicated this work, in 1548, to Edward VI. with the title
of king. Edward not being acknowledged such by the
pope> our author, who was of that religion, fell under the
displeasure of the court of Rome for his dedication, and
was prosecuted for it a long time after. His works were
put into the “Index Expurgatorius,
” where he was branded
as a Calvinist, and an author “damnatae memories,
” of
condemned memory; a disgrace which gave him great
uneasiness and concern; and, in order to be freed from it,
having laid his case before cardinal Granville, he applied,
by the advice of Arias Montanus, directly to the pope,
and prepared an apology, shewing the indispensable necessity he was under of giving Edward the title of king,
and at the same time protesting he had always been a good
catholic.