the lyrical passages of his plays such as the pastoral
Granida (1605), which is influenced by Jacopo SAN-
NAZARO. After studying law at Leyden (1606–09), Hooft
was appointed sheriff of Muiden, where he restored the
castle and lived the rest of his life. There he played host to
a distinguished literary and musical circle, known as the
Muiderkring. His play Geeraerdt van Velzen (1613) was in-
spired by the story of a late 13th-century occupant of the
castle at Muiden; it was followed by Baeto (1617), another
historical drama on a Netherlands theme, and in both
plays Hooft displays his interest in statecraft and the na-
ture of power. The comedy Ware-nar, written in 1614,
adapts Plautus’ Aulularia to an Amsterdam setting.
Even more important than his poems and plays was
Hooft’s output in prose, of which he was an outstanding
master. He wrote histories of Henry IV of France (1624),
and the Medici (1638), but his greatest achievement was
his 27-book Nederlandsche Historiën (1624, 1654) on the
history of the Dutch struggle against Spain in the years
1555–87. Its style and presentation are deeply indebted to
TACITUS. Hooft died while visiting The Hague and was
buried in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.
Hooker, Richard (c. 1554–1600) English theologian and
scholar
Hooker was born near Exeter into a poor family and was
sent to Oxford through the generosity of Bishop John
JEWEL, to whose defense of the Church of England, Apolo-
gia pro ecclesia Anglicana (1562), Hooker’s own great work
was to be deeply indebted. Hooker became a fellow of
Corpus Christi College (1577) and deputy professor of
Hebrew (1579) but had to leave Oxford on his marriage.
About the same time (1581) he took holy orders and in
1584 was appointed rector of Drayton Beauchamp in
Buckinghamshire. In 1585 he was made master of the
Temple before returning to parochial duties, first (1591)
in Boscombe, Wiltshire, and finally (1595) in Bishops-
bourne, Kent, where he died.
The first four books Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall
Politie appeared in 1594, followed by the fifth book in
- The remaining three books did not appear in
Hooker’s lifetime. The treatise is a masterly defense of the
ELIZABETHAN SETTLEMENTof 1559, defending the Church
of England against the implications of the Puritans’ literal
interpretation of the Scriptures. Hooker’s interpretation of
natural law as the manifestation of God’s reason had im-
portant repercussions on the political theories of 17th-
century writers such as John Locke. He is also important
as a prose stylist, writing a clear and vigorous English that
was unusual in theological debate in his time. A biography
of Hooker was published by Isaak Walton in 1665.
Further reading: Arthur S. McGrade (ed.), Of the
Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity: Preface, Book I, Book VIII
(Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1989);
Nigel Voak, Richard Hooker and Reformed Theology: A
Study of Reason, Will, and Grace (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford
University Press, 2003).Hopfer, Daniel (Daniel Hoppfer) (c. 1470–1536)
German engraver and designer
Hopfer was born at Kaufbeuren, but was a citizen of Augs-
burg from 1493. He is claimed as the first to have made
prints on paper by etching iron plates (as opposed to EN-
GRAVING). He certainly produced some of the earliest orig-
inal etched portraits, a number of religious illustrations
(on Reformation lines), scenes of everyday life, such as
village festivals, and a large number of reproductions of
Italian art, which made him a significant popularizer of
the Italian style in Germany. He was also a designer of dec-
oration, publishing 50 plates of ornamental motifs, which
included Gothic foliage and Renaissance grotesques. Like
other engravers of the time, he etched decoration on cer-
emonial parade armor, which formed a major part of his
work.Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman
poet
Born in the Latin colony of Venusia, Horace was educated
in Rome and Athens. He lost his estate in the civil war
that followed the murder of Julius Caesar, but in about 33
BCE MAECENASgave him a farm which inspired some of
his most beautiful poetry on country life. The Odes and
Epodes, in a range of lyric meters, cover personal, political,
and patriotic themes, and were much admired and imi-
tated from the time of Petrarch onwards. Konrad CELTIS
even had some of the odes set to music to be sung after his
lectures. The two books of Satires were also admired for
their urbanity, as were the Epistles. Another epistle, to
Piso, is better known as the Ars poetica. Before the full text
of ARISTOTLE’s Poetics was in general circulation, Horace’s
treatise was the main source for Renaissance knowledge of
literary theory in the ancient world.horology The science of measurement of time. Time in
antiquity was measured by several devices, chief among
them the water clock or clepsydra and the sundial. The
use of both, however, was limited, the former by frost and
the latter by cloud or darkness. The mechanical clock
emerged in the late 13th century. In its earliest forms it
was powered by a descending weight and controlled by
the verge and foliot form of escapement. Although free
from the disabilities of clepsydrae and sundials, early
CLOCKSoperated more as planetaria and alarm bells than
as a means of measuring time accurately. So inaccurate
were they that it was only in the late 15th century that it
was deemed worthwhile to fit them with a minute hand.
Tycho BRAHE, for example, still used a clepsydra in the late
16th century to make his more precise measurements, and
clocks only became reliable and accurate enough for sci-hhoorroollooggyy 2 24433