imported>Johnpacklambert at 16:39, 18 May 2025

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{{Short description|English diplomat and political commentator}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
'''Sir Isaac Wake''' (1580/81 – 1632<ref name=ODNB>Vivienne Larminie, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28407 ‘Wake, Sir Isaac (1580/81–1632)’], ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2004. Retrieved 10 November 2008</ref>) was an English diplomat and political commentator. He served as ambassador to [[Savoy]] for sixteen years, and later as ambassador to France. His brother '''Lionel Wake''' was a merchant in Antwerp.

== Early life ==
Isaac Wake was the second son of Arthur, son of John Wake of [[Hartwell, Northamptonshire|Hartwell]], Northamptonshire, a descendant of the lords of [[Blisworth]]. His father, a [[Canon (priest)|canon]] of [[Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford|Christ Church]] and master of St. John's Hospital in [[Northampton]], was rector of [[Great Billing]] in Northamptonshire until 1573, when he was deprived for [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformity]];<ref>G. Baker, ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Northampton'' (John Bowyer Nichols, London 1822-30), I, pp. [https://archive.org/details/HistoryAndAntiquitiesOfTheCountyOfNorthamptonBakerVol1/page/n23 23], 25 (Internet Archive).</ref> he afterwards lived for many years in [[Jersey]]. Born in 1580 or 1581,<ref>[[William Wake|Archbishop Wake]], a relation of Isaac Wake's, claimed he was born in 1575; but he is entered as only twelve years old at his [[Oxford University]] matriculation on 25 May 1593</ref> Isaac Wake entered [[Christ Church, Oxford]] in 1593, and graduated B.A. in 1597; he was elected fellow of [[Merton College, Oxford]] in 1598, and graduated M.A. in 1603. In 1604 he became a student at the [[Middle Temple]], and on 14 December 1604 was elected [[public orator]] of [[Oxford University]].<ref>A. à Wood, ed. P. Bliss, ''Athenae Oxonienses and Fasti Oxonienses'' (F.C. & J Rivington, London 1815), II (Athenae), [https://archive.org/details/athenaeoxoniense02wooduoft/page/275 pp. 539-41] (Internet Archive).</ref> He took part in the reception of [[James I of England|King James]] in 1605, delivering an oration "at the Hall-stair's foot in Christ Church."<ref>J. Nichols, ''The Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities, of King James the First'', 4 Vols (J.B. Nichols, London 1828), I, [https://archive.org/details/progressesproce01nichgoog/page/n634 p. 546] (Internet Archive).</ref> The king seems to have thought his oratory polished, if soporific.<ref>It was King James's joke, that whereas Wake the orator sent him to sleep, (Anthony) Sleepe the deputy orator kept him awake. Wood, ''Athenae Oxonienses'', II (Fasti), [https://archive.org/details/athenaeoxoniense02wooduoft/page/637 p. 345] (Internet Archive).</ref> In 1607, he delivered a funeral oration on [[John Rainolds]].

==Diplomatic career==
In 1609, Wake travelled in France and Italy, and soon afterwards became secretary to [[Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester|Sir Dudley Carleton]] at [[Venice]]. In March 1612, his leave of absence from Merton College was extended for three years; but in the following November he came to England for a few months, during which he pronounced a funeral oration on Sir [[Thomas Bodley]]. He returned to Venice in March 1613, and stayed there, and afterwards at [[Turin]], as Carleton's secretary until the latter left for England in July 1615. Wake then became British representative at the court of [[Savoy]], and retained that office for nearly sixteen years. In 1617 he went to [[Bern]], at the request of [[Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy]], to mediate an alliance between Savoy and the Swiss states. At the end of 1618 he came to London, being "much courted" by the French ministers on his way through Paris, and was knighted on 9 April 1619 at [[Royston, Hertfordshire]], where the king lay ill in bed. Immediately afterwards he was sent back to Turin with an offer of support to the duke in his candidature for the imperial crown, and at the same time with an informal mission to [[Frederick V, Elector Palatine]], whom he saw at [[Heidelberg]] on his way out. On the death of Sir [[Henry Savile (Bible translator)|Henry Savile]], in February 1622, [[Prince Charles]] tried to secure Wake's election as warden of Merton; but he was beaten by (Sir) [[Nathaniel Brent]], the influence of the Abbots, combined perhaps with Wake's constant absence from England, proving too strong.

Wake was in England again in December 1623, when he married Anna, daughter of Edmund Bray of [[Barrington, Gloucestershire|Barrington]], and stepdaughter to Sir [[Edward Conway, 1st Viscount Conway|Edward Conway]], the secretary of state.<ref>'443. Letter of John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, 20 December 1623', in N.E. McClure (ed.), ''The Letters of John Chamberlain'', 2 vols, American Philosophical Society Memoirs XII Part II (Philadelphia 1939), II, [https://books.google.com/books?id=syIJAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA533 p. 533] (Google).</ref><ref>D.S. Smith, ''John Donne and the Conway Papers: Patronage and Manuscript Circulation in the Early 17th Century'' (Oxford University Press 2014), [https://books.google.com/books?id=RxbVBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 pp. 91-92] (Google).</ref> He was returned M.P. for [[Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford University]] in January 1624, and attended parliament closely<ref>R.E. Ruigh, ''The Parliament of 1624: Politics and Foreign Policy'' (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1971), [https://books.google.com/books?id=sRH4GZF19PsC&pg=PA85 pp. 85-86] (Google).</ref> until his departure in May as ambassador to Savoy and Venice, with special instructions to endeavour to gain the assistance of those states for the recovery of the [[Electoral Palatinate|palatinate]]. Towards the end of 1626 he was employed on a mission to Bern and Zurich on behalf of the [[Graubünden|Grisons]]; and in 1627 he endeavoured to mediate, at the king of [[Denmark]]'s request, between that monarch and the Duke of Savoy. After narrowly escaping the [[Black Death|plague]] which ravaged [[Piedmont]] in 1630, he was appointed ambassador to the French court, and had audience of [[Louis XIII]] in May 1631.

Isaac Wake was spoken of as likely to succeed [[Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester|Viscount Dorchester]] as secretary of state when the latter died in February 1632; but before the appointment was made he died himself, from an attack of fever, at Paris in June 1632. His body was brought to England with the ceremony due to his rank, and buried in the chapel of [[Dover Castle]]. His widow petitioned the king for a pension, and for the payment of about £1,400 due to her husband at the time of his death, representing herself as destitute. The arrears at any rate seem to have been paid ultimately, for in 1633 Lady Wake bought an annuity from her half-brother, Lord Conway, for £1,450. She is mentioned in company with her kinswoman Lady Vere in the ''Diary'' of Samuel Rogers.<ref>T. Webster and K. Shipps (eds), ''The Diary of Samuel Rogers, 1634-1638'' (Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2004), [https://books.google.com/books?id=fTvQBBb5-skC&pg=PR42 p. xlii] (Google).</ref>

[[John Aubrey]] calls him "a very witty man", and describes a trick he played upon a preacher who was given to eavesdropping.<ref>John Aubrey, ed. R. Barber, ''Brief Lives'' (Boydell Press, Woodbridge 1982), [https://books.google.com/books?id=J57Irdoky70C&pg=PA187 p. 187] (Google).</ref> An example of his armorial bearings shows ''Two bars in chief three torteaux'', in a book-binding held at Toronto.<ref>'British Armorial Bindings', [https://armorial.library.utoronto.ca/stamp-owners/WAK001 University of Toronto Libraries website].</ref> The crest is a knot "commonly called [[Wake knot|Wake's Knot]]".<ref>J. Burke and J.B. Burke, ''Encyclopædia of Heraldry, or General Armory of England, Scotland and Ireland'', 3rd, enlarged edition (Henry G. Bohn, London 1851), [https://archive.org/details/encyclopdiaofher00burk/page/1000 sub nomine] (Internet Archive).</ref>

== Lionel Wake ==
Isaac Wake had a cousin, Lionel (or Leonard) Wake, who was an English merchant in [[Antwerp]]. He also maintained correspondence with Sir Dudley Carleton in 1617-18 and 1624.<ref>The National Archives (UK), State Papers, SP 84/80/69; SP 84/84/18, 25, 27, 30; SP 77/17/151. See also his suit with Sir William Calley of Burderop; Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/29a90d49-50e3-41e4-b409-69df9d225a86 ref. 1178/334] (Discovery Catalogue).</ref> He was a close friend of the diplomat [[William Trumbull (diplomat)|William Trumbull the elder]] (died 1635).<ref>S.P. Anderson, 'The Elder William Trumbull: A Biographical Sketch', ''British Library Journal'' (1993), [https://www.bl.uk/eblj/1993articles/pdf/article9.pdf pp. 115-32, at p. 121]</ref>

Lionel Wake converted to Catholicism in Antwerp and lived there for much of his life. He was involved the painting trade, exporting works by [[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]] and his circle into England.<ref>M.F.S. Hervey, ''The Life, Correspondence & Collections of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel'' (Cambridge University Press, 1921), [https://books.google.com/books?id=fdc8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA301 pp. 301-02] (Google).</ref> A letter to Trumbull from April 1618 mentions pictures for the [[Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel|Earl of Arundel]], one large and fragile requiring a special case for transport.<ref>G. Dyfnallt Owen & Sonia Anderson, ''HMC 75 Downshire'', vol. 6 (London: HMSO, 1995), p. 404.</ref> Wake was also involved in the dispatch of a suite of six pieces of old tapestry and a satin canopy for the [[Mary Sidney|Countess of Pembroke]].<ref>G. Dyfnallt Owen, ''HMC 75 Downshire'', vol. 5 (London: HMSO, 1995), pp. 503 no. 1067, 517 no. 1094.</ref>

He was the father of four sons and six daughters, of whom the eldest, Anna Wake (1605-before 1669) married the Antwerp merchant and art-collector Peeter Stevens.<ref>R.C. Rittersma ed, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jJQ8cgcjn1UC&pg=PA128 ''Luxury in the Low Countries: Miscellaneous Reflections on Netherlandish Material Culture, 1500 to the Present'' (Brussels, 2010), pp. 127-28]:J. Briels, '"Amator Pictoriae Artis": De Antwerpse Kunstversamelaar Peeter Stevens (1590-1668) en zijn Constkamer', ''Jaarbock ven het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen'' (1980), pp. 137-226.</ref> The portraits of Peeter Stevens (1627) and Anna Wake (1628), by [[Anthony van Dyck]], are in the [[Mauritshuis]] in [[The Hague]], Netherlands.<ref>Mauritshuis [https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/explore/the-collection/artworks/portrait-of-peeter-stevens-c15901668-239/detailgegevens/ Accession 239] and [https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/explore/the-collection/artworks/portrait-of-anna-wake-1605before-1669-240/detailgegevens/ Accession 240].</ref> The second daughter was the wife of the Catholic translator [[Edward Sheldon (translator)|Edward Sheldon]]. The fourth, Margaret (born 1617), is said to have entered the English Carmelite convent in Antwerp in 1633 and made her professions to [[Anne Worsley]] in 1634,<ref>'Appendix', in T. Hunter, ''An English Carmelite, the life of Catharine Burton'' (Burns & Oates, London 1876), [https://books.google.com/books?id=3mcBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA278 at p. 278]</ref> becoming Mother Mary Margaret of the Angels.<ref>N. Hallett, ''Lives of Spirit: English Carmelite Self-Writing of the Early Modern Period'' (Ashgate Publishing, 2013), [https://books.google.com/books?id=xLuZAjhBKT4C&pg=PA33 p. 33] (Google).</ref>

==Works==
Wake's published works are:

* ''Rex Platonicus'', 1607. A description, in Latin, of the king's entertainment at Oxford in 1605. It is referred to by [[Richard Farmer|Farmer]] and later annotators of Shakespeare, because of a performance described in it which perhaps suggested the subject of ''[[Macbeth]]''.<ref>3rd. Edition (1615), full text (page views) at [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ogg-AAAAcAAJ Google] (open). 5th Edition (1635) at [https://books.google.com/books?id=GbPhLnMiZ8YC&pg=Frontcover Google].</ref>
* ''Oratio Funebris'' on John Rainolds, delivered on 25 May 1607.<ref>Full text (page views) at [https://books.google.com/books?id=hB9kAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA229 Google] (open). 5th Edition (1635), full view at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435017753427;view=1up;seq=7 Hathi Trust] (open).</ref>
* ''Oratio Funebris'' on Sir Thomas Bodley, 1613.<ref>Full text (page views) at [https://books.google.com/books?id=c4FmAAAAcAAJ&pg=Frontcover Google] (open).</ref>
* ''A Threefold Help to Political Observations, contained in three Discourses'', 1655. The discourses are:
** ''Of the Thirteen Cantons of the Helvetical League'' (written about 1625)
** ''Of the State of Italie'' (written in or soon after 1625)
** ''Upon the Proceedings of the King of Sweden''(written 1631)
An epitaph on James I, in English verse, was attributed to him.
* ''Divine Meditations. Written by an Honourable Person [i.e. Sir Isaac Wake.] Whereto is adjoyned, a Determination of the question, whether men ought to kneele at the receipt of the Holy Communion. And an essay of Friendship'' (T. Badger for Humphrey Mosley, London 1641).<ref>Full text (page views) at [https://books.google.com/books?id=a7djAAAAcAAJ Google] (open).</ref>

Wake's despatches are among the foreign state papers at the [[Public Record Office]]. His letter-books from 1615 to 1630 are in the [[British Library]],<ref>Addit. MSS. 18639–642, 34310 and 34311, the last two autograph</ref> and so are a few of his letters to [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham|Buckingham]], [[James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle|Carlisle]], and others.<ref>Harl. 1581, ff. 178–190</ref><ref>[[Egerton Collection]], 2592–7</ref><ref>[[Stowe manuscripts]], 176, f. 162</ref><ref>Addit. 33935</ref> Some of his despatches are printed in ''Cabala'',<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vGlPAAAAcAAJ Cabala sive Scrinia Sacra: mysteries of state and government in lettres of illustrious Persons]'', 1663, pp. 391–397</ref> and others in [[Samuel Rawson Gardiner|Gardiner]]'s ''Letters and Documents''.<ref>[[Samuel Rawson Gardiner|Gardiner]], ed., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=w5cKAAAAYAAJ Letters and other documents illustrating the relations between England and Germany at the commencement of the Thirty Years' War]'', 1865, i. 87, 107, 167, ii. 181</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}
;Attribution
*{{DNB|wstitle=Wake, Isaac}}

== External links ==
{{Wikisource|Wake, Isaac (DNB00)}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}

==Other sources==
* J. Stoye, ''English Travellers Abroad, 1604-1667: Their Influence in English Society and Politics'' (Yale University Press 1989), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ltf91cxVZE8C&q=Wake pp. 92-113] (Google)
* S. Bracken & R. Hill, 'Sir Isaac Wake, Venice and art collecting in early Stuart England: a new document', ''Journal of the History of Collections'' Vol. 24, Issue 2 (1 July 2012), pp. 183–198. Full text at [https://academic.oup.com/jhc/article-abstract/24/2/183/680996?redirectedFrom=fulltext Oxford Academic] (Restricted - login)
* V. Larminie, 'Sir Isaac Wake and the case for war', [https://thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/sir-isaac-wake-and-the-case-for-war/ History of Parliament Online], 20.vi.2013.
* V. Larminie, 'The Jacobean Diplomatic Fraternity and the Protestant Cause: Sir Isaac Wake and the View from Savoy,' ''The English Historical Review'' Vol. 121, No. 494 (December 2006), pp. 1300-1326. At [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4493711?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Jstor] (Subscription Login)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wake, Isaac}}
[[Category:1580s births]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:1632 deaths]]
[[Category:Ambassadors to the Savoyard state]]
[[Category:English political writers]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of England to France]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:Fellows of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]]
[[Category:Public Orators of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Members of the pre-1707 Parliament of England for the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:English MPs 1624–1625]]
[[Category:17th-century English diplomats]]

Isaac Wake - Revision history

imported>Johnpacklambert at 16:39, 18 May 2025