Francis Bacon, Shakespeare and Secret Societies | Europeana Francis Bacon, Shakespeare and Secret Societies | Europeana has loaded Skip to page contents Home Collections Stories For professionals Log in / Join Home Collections Stories For professionals For teachers About Help Log in / Join BlogFrancis Bacon, Shakespeare and Secret Societies Blog post Francis Bacon, Shakespeare and Secret Societies Published January 22, 2013 by Beth Daley (opens in new window) (Europeana Foundation) Share Sir Francis Bacon, first Viscount of St Albans, was born on 22 January 1561. He is well-known for his contribution to science. In fact, science and research is what it is today because of Bacon. The methodology of science and research, something we may not even think about as having an origin, of ever not existing, was Bacon's brainchild. He is the father of empiricism. Bacon championed the need for inductive reasoning. That means being able to gradually generalise findings based on accumulated data - the more data you investigate, the more convincing your hypothesis. So, Bacon has played his part in all of our educations - science experiments would not be the same without him. But did you know that some would say the same about English lessons? A theory first published in the mid-19th century suggests that Sir Francis Bacon was the real author of some or even all of the plays that most of us believe were written by William Shakespeare. Baconian theory holds that Shakespeare was merely the front man, taking all the glory so that the important statesman would not be criticised as being a lowly public playwright. By finding another man to take the credit, Bacon's high ambitions to hold high office in government could remain achievable. Scholars came up with this theory after perceiving similarities in the philosophies of Bacon as seen through his correspondence and the ideas put forward in Shakespeare's plays. Some also find codes and ciphers in the plays that point to Bacon. But it has to be said that the vast majority of Shakespeare scholars reject this theory. This isn't the only unusual claim about Bacon's life. He is also thought to have been a member of secret societies. He is alleged to have had connections with the fraternity of Freemasons and German secret philosophical society, the Rosicrucians. While there are scholars who don't believe this, others think that he was part of other closed intellectual movements, which he joined motivated by his passion for the advancement of learning. His motto certainly bears this out: bene visit qui bene latuit - one lives best by the hidden life. His death, aged 65, has a touch of irony to it. One day in April 1626, Bacon took a walk in the snow. Whilst on this walk, he had the idea of freezing meat to preserve it. He immediately bought a fowl and stuffed it with snow, whereupon he contracted pneumonia and died just a few days later. In a letter, Bacon wrote on his deathbed to his friend Lord Arundel, he said, 'As for the experiment itself, it succeeded excellently well.' So to conclude, we wish Sir Francis Bacon a happy birthday and thank him for research methodology, Shakespeare's plays and frozen food. Discover related stories literature science Discover related collections History Our mission Europeana empowers the cultural heritage sector in its digital transformation. We develop expertise, tools and policies to embrace digital change and encourage partnerships that foster innovation. Find us elsewhere (opens in new window) (opens in new window) (opens in new window) (opens in new window) (opens in new window) More Info About For developers Become a data partner (opens in new window) Subscribe to our newsletter (opens in new window) Help Help Terms of use Privacy policy Accessibility Cookies Frequently asked questions Customise website language English Български Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Eesti Euskara Suomi Français Gaeilge Hrvatski Magyar Italiano Lietuvių Latviešu Malti Nederlands Polski Português Română Slovenčina Slovenščina Svenska Europeana is an initiative of the European Union, financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility and European Union Member States. The Europeana services, including this website, are operated by a consortium led by the Europeana Foundation under a service contract with the European Commission. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the information and accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the information on this website. Neither the European Commission, nor any person acting on the European Commission’s behalf, is responsible or liable for the accuracy or use of the information on this website. Feedback Send feedback Your feedback has to consist of 5 words at minimum Cancel Next Go to frequently asked questions Hi! Could we please enable some additional services for analytics and security? You can always change or withdraw your consent later.Let me chooseI declineOkay