Brian Twyne

Brian Twyne (c. 25 July 1581 – 4 July 1644) was an antiquarian and an academic at the University of Oxford. After being educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and becoming a Fellow of the college in 1606, he published his one main work, a history of the university, in 1608. This was designed to prove that Oxford was older than Cambridge University, and has been described by a modern writer as a "remarkable achievement for a young scholar of twenty-eight." His main accomplishment was to play a leading role in the revision of the university statutes under William Laud (Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Archbishop of Canterbury). He was rewarded by appointment in 1634 to the new position of Keeper of the Archives, in which role he obtained a new royal charter for Oxford to confirm its rights and privileges, and helped the university in its disputes with the city authorities.

Brian Twyne was born on or near 25 July 1581 in Southwark, Surrey (now part of London). His father was the translator and doctor Thomas Twyne, and his grandfather was the schoolmaster and antiquarian John Twyne. He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford (his father's college), probably after attending the grammar school in Lewes, Sussex, where his father then lived. He matriculated on about 6 February 1596, taking a place normally kept for a scholar from the county borough of Southampton as there was no vacancy for one from the county of Surrey (under the system at Corpus Christi for admitting students). Taking another county's vacancy was not unusual, however. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree on 23 July 1599. Despite the assistance of his father's patron Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (Lord High Treasurer and Chancellor of the University), he failed to be elected to a fellowship at Merton College, Oxford. He studied with the mathematician Thomas Allen, encountering modern developments in astronomy and navigation, and also learned French, Italian and Hebrew. He became a Fellow of Corpus Christi in 1606, and was ordained in the following year; although he later became vicar of Rye, Sussex, he stayed in Oxford and the parish duties were undertaken by curates.

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