ABSTRACT
One of the first hurdles addressed in nearly every significant scholarly discussion of Joseph Glanvill, Chaplain in Ordinary to Charles II and Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), is the lack of biographical material. For this reason, Chapter 1 navigates the minefield of piecemeal information and nineteenth-century confusion to provide a reliable and verifiable account of what can be said about Glanvill’s life. Based on this revised biography, this chapter identifies and explores a series of key relationships and intellectual networks that have had minimal impact on previous scholarship, but which enable a new layer of contextualization for Glanvill’s thought, in particular his interest in witchcraft. This includes Glanvill’s connections to: William Brereton, 3rd Baron Brereton and President of the Royal Society of London; Francis Rous, Provost of Eton; Henry and Mary Somerset, third Marquess and Marchioness of Worcester and first Duke and Duchess of Beaufort; Robert Hunt, a Somerset Justice of the Peace; Sir James Thynne, landowner and politician; Henry More, FRS, Cambridge philosopher and theologian; and Robert Boyle, FRS and father of chemistry. This chapter also examines contemporary characterizations of Glanvill by colleagues including John Worthington and Anthony Wood, and his early adversary, Thomas White.
