, an Irish Roman ecclesiastic and writer, the son of capt. Garret Fleming, nearly related to the lords of
, an Irish Roman ecclesiastic and
writer, the son of capt. Garret Fleming, nearly related to
the lords of Slane, was born in the county of Louth, April
17, 1599. Being dedicated by his parents to the church,
they sent him at the age of thirteen to Flanders, and placed
him under the care of his maternal uncle Christopher Cusack, who was president of the colleges of Doway, Tournay, and other seminaries, founded in those parts for the
education of Irish youth in the popish, religion. Having'
studied at Doway for some time, he removed to the college
of St. Anthony, at Louvaine, where he became a Franciscan, and changed his baptismal name (Christopher) to
Patrick, according to a custom then very frequent. In
1623, after completing his philosophical and theological
studies, he removed to Rome, but in his way through
Paris, happening to become acquainted with Hugh Ward,
he prevailed on the latter to undertake writing the Lives of
the Irish Saints, and when he arrived at Rome he made
large collections from Mss. for the same purpose, which
he sent to Ward. At Rome he continued his studies in
the Irish college of St. Isidore, and both there and afterwards at Louvaine, was appointed to lecture on philosophy.
From Louvaine, where he continued for some years, he
removed to Prague, and was appointed first superior and
lecturer of divinity, and here he remained until the city
was besieged by the elector of Saxony in 1631, when he
was obliged to fly with his companion Matthew Hoar; but
they had scarcely escaped the Saxon forces, when they
were met by some peasants in arms who murdered them,
both, Nov. 7. A third companion, Francis Magenis, also
a Franciscan, who made his escape on this occasion, wrote
an account of Fleming, which is prefixed to his “Collectanea Sacra,
” under the title “Historia Martyrii venerabilis fratris Patricii Fleming!,
” &c.
, the son of capt, Robert Knox, commander of the Anne frigate, in
, the son of capt, Robert Knox,
commander of the Anne frigate, in the East India service,
was born about 1641, and probably brought up to the sea
service. He went with his father to Fort George in 1657,
and returning thence to England in 1659, put into Ceylon
on account of a storm, where he, his father, and fourteen
others were made prisoners, and his father died in this captivity, Feb. 9, 1660. After a servitude of nineteen years and a
half, the subject of this memoir escaped from the inland
parts of the island, where he was prisoner at large, to
Areppa, a Dutch settlement on the north-west coast. Here
he was hospitably received, and carried in one of their ships
to Batavia, and thence, in an English ship, to England.
Many of his companions whom he left at Ceylon, had become reconciled to their fate, married, and had families;
but captain Knox, although often solicited, preserved his
repugnance to such connexions, and his love of liberty.
After his return he wrote “An historical relation of the
Island of Ceylon, in the East Indies,
” with an account of
his captivity and escape; illustrated with plates and a map
of the island, London, 1681, fol. The preface is by Dr,
Robert Hooke, who probably had some share in the compilation. It was long esteemed a book of authority, It is
uncertain when captain Knox died. He was cousin to
Strype the historian.