The Fore-Runner of Revenge

The Forerunner of Revenge, also published in Latin and in German as Prodromus Vindictæ, was a pamphlet accusing George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham of having caused the death of King James I of England by poison. It was written by George Eglisham, who had attended upon King James as a physician, and was first published anonymously with a Frankfurt address.[1] It was in fact printed in Brussels by Jan van Meerbeeck.[2] It contributed to the aura of suspicion that led to the Duke of Buckingham's murder, and was reprinted in 1642 to bring Charles I of England into discredit.[3]

The Fore-runner of Revenge
Title page of Prodromus Vindictae (1626)
AuthorGeorge Eglisham
Original titleThe Forerunner of Revenge upon the Duke of Buckingham for the poysoning of the most potent King James
LanguageEnglish, Latin, German
SubjectJames I of England
PublishedFrankfurt (false address; really Brussels)
Publisheranonymous (later confirmed as Jan van Meerbeeck)
Publication date
1626
Published in English
1626
Media typequarto

References

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  1. ^ "Account of a Tract concerning the Death of King James I", Belfast Magazine and Literary Journal 1:6 (July 1825), pp. 575-578. Available on JSTOR
  2. ^ Alastair Bellany & Thomas Cogswell, The Murder of King James I (Yale University Press, 2015), pp. 137-158.
  3. ^ Jason Peacey, Print and Public Politics in the English Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 2013), p. 79.