Author and Physician. Born in the parish of St Michael le Querne in London, educated at Oxford. He wrote ‘Religio Medici’, a literate attempt to reconcile the disciplines of science and religion. An authorised version was published in 1643. In the late 50’s he wrote ‘Urn Burials’, a reflection on mortality, and the curious ‘Garden of Cyrus’, exploring the mystical qualities of the number five. He received great acclaim for his style, which elevated him to the position of one of the most respected authors of the late Jacobean period. For his efforts he was rewarded in 1671 with a knighthood. He also wrote ‘Vulgar Errors’ and ‘Christian Morals’. Although his skull reputedly ended up in a museum, he was buried at Norwich – a city in which he had spent most of his life – and his coffin was disturbed in the nineteenth century by workmen. Scholars debated over the funerary inscription on the coffin, which contained a Latin word of which none of them had heard, and which was accepted to mean ‘alchemic’. (bio by: Mark McManus)