Fanshawe, Sir Richard

(1608-1666)

   Born at Ware Park, Hertfordshire, the fifth son of Sir Henry Fanshawe, he was educated at Thomas Farnaby's school in Cripplegate, London, then at Jesus College, Cambridge. He studied languages in Europe and in 1635 became secretary to Lord Aston, English ambassador to Spain. He supported Charles in the Civil War, and his journey to Spain in 1650 to seek assistance, though unsuccessful, resulted in his being knighted. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Worcester and after the Restoration was appointed ambassador to Portugal and later to Spain, where he died. Some of his poetical works: The Pastor Fido (The Faithfull Shepheard), 1647 (translated from the poem of the Italian Baptista). A selection from Horace, 1652. Os Lusíadas, 1655 (a translation from the Portuguese poem of Luis Vaz de Camões of 1572, which documents the voyages of Vasco da Gama of 1498). He also translated Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher's Faithful Shepherdess (?1610) into Latin. Some of his poems: "A Nightingale," "That Louelie Mouth, Which Doth to Taste Invite," "The Praise of the Winde," "Vpon the Report of Fowre Kings Dead at Once."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica. Electronic Edition, 2005. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Vasco Da Gama: 1498, North Park University (http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/WestEurope/DaGama.html).