Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury (Q58576)

Edward Herbert is best known as a philosopher and metaphysical poet, but he was also a diplomat, soldier, political satirist, country gentleman, adventurer, courtier, linguist, historian, musician, dramatist and flamboyant socialite. He contributed significantly to the bridging of the gulf between Renaissance thought and that of the Enlightenment.Herbert was born at Eyton-on-Severn, Shropshire, on 3 March 1583, the eldest son of Richard Herbert (d. 1596), the Member of Parliament for Montgomery and sheriff of Montgomeryshire; among his six brothers were the poet George Herbert (1593-1633) and Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels. Edward was famously handsome, vain, impetuous and quarrelsome, but he was also highly culturally sophisticated. Although he received little formal education as a young boy, he came into contact with the poet John Donne (1572-1631), who was employed as a tutor for the Herbert children, and also the autodidact Edward Thelwall (d. 1610). As well as being fluent in Latin and French, and at least competent in Greek, Italian, Spanish and Welsh, he acquired a knowledge of astronomy, geography, history, botany and medicine, while his financial and military responsibilities at Montgomery encouraged him to master arithmetic and geometry.After leaving Oxford in 1599, Herbert married his cousin Mary, through whom he acquired the Castle Island estate in County Kerry. He remained in debt from his lavish lifestyle on the continent, however, and this worsened when he became involved in a protracted dispute with his son, Richard, over possession of the Irish estate after the death of Mary Herbert in 1634. He died in London on 20 August 1648, and was buried in Middlesex at the church of St Giles in the Fields.