Edward Gibbon

Lore & Background

Gibbon was born in 1737, the son of Edward and Judith Gibbon, at Lime Grove in Putney, Surrey. He had five brothers and one sister, all of whom died in infancy. His grandfather, also named Edward, had lost his assets as a result of the South Sea bubble stock-market collapse in 1720 but eventually regained much of his wealth. Gibbon's father thus inherited a substantial estate. At age nine, he was sent to Dr. Woddeson's school at Kingston upon Thames, shortly after which his mother died. He then took up residence in the Westminster School boarding house, owned by his adored 'Aunt Kitty', Catherine Porten. From 1747 Gibbon spent time at the family home in Buriton. He was sent to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was enrolled as a gentleman-commoner. He converted to Roman Catholicism on 8 June 1753. Within weeks, he was removed from Oxford and sent to live under the care of Daniel Pavillard, Reformed pastor of Lausanne, Switzerland. On Christmas Day, 1754, he reconverted to Protestantism. He met Suzanne Curchod, the daughter of the pastor of Crassy, and proposed marriage, but it was blocked by his father's disapproval and Curchod's reluctance to leave Switzerland. He returned to England in August 1758. On 12 June 1759 Gibbon was commissioned as a Captain in the South Hampshire Militia. For the next three years he commanded the regiment's Grenadier Company in home defence. The militia was disembodied in December 1762. In 1763 he returned to Lausanne, and on 18 April 1764 set off for Italy, arriving in Rome in early October. There, on 15 October 1764, he conceived the idea of writing the decline and fall of the City. In June 1765, Gibbon returned to his father's house, remaining there until the latter's death in 1770. His first historical narrative, the History of Switzerland, was never finished nor published. His second work, Memoires Litteraires de la Grande Bretagne, failed to gain notoriety. After tending to his father's estate, he settled in London at 7 Bentinck Street. By February 1773, he was writing in earnest.

Reader's Guide

Edward Gibbon’s *The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire* is celebrated for its elegant and ironic prose style, its reliance on primary source materials, and its contentious critique of organized religion. The work was published in six volumes from 1776 to 1789, achieving both critical acclaim and commercial success. Gibbon’s intellectual development was shaped by an early and extensive reading of historical works, including Laurence Echard’s Roman History and William Howel’s general history. His time at Magdalen College, Oxford, he later considered idle and unprofitable, and it was there that he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1753, a move that prompted his father to send him to Lausanne, Switzerland, under the care of a Reformed pastor. He reconverted to Protestantism on Christmas Day 1754 after his father threatened disinheritance. In Lausanne, Gibbon formed lasting friendships with Jacques Georges Deyverdun and John Baker Holroyd. He also fell in love with Suzanne Curchod, but his father’s disapproval and her reluctance to leave Switzerland prevented their marriage. Gibbon’s service as a captain in the South Hampshire Militia during the Seven Years’ War provided him with practical insight into military discipline, which he later applied to his understanding of ancient Roman legions. His first book, *Essai sur l’Étude de la Littérature*, published in 1761, brought him initial fame, particularly in Paris.

Did You Know?

• Gibbon described himself as 'a puny child, neglected by my Mother, starved by my nurse.'
• His aunt Catherine Porten imparted 'the first rudiments of knowledge, the first exercise of reason, and a taste for books.'
• Gibbon's conversion to Roman Catholicism occurred on 8 June 1753, influenced by the works of Catholic Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet and Elizabethan Jesuit Robert Parsons.
• He met Suzanne Curchod, who later became the wife of Louis XVI's finance minister Jacques Necker and the mother of Madame de Staël.
• Gibbon credited his militia service with giving him 'a clearer notion of the phalanx and the legion.'

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Mr. Gibbon may still maintain the character of an historian; but it is difficult to conceive how Mr. Davis will support his pretensions, if he aspires to that of a gentleman." — Edward Gibbon "It is the misfortune of controversy, that an error may be committed in three or four words, that cannot be rectified in less than thirty or forty lines." — Edward Gibbon "There are some advocates who would disgrace Christianity, if Christianity could be disgraced, by the manner in which they defend her cause." — Edward Gibbon "I cannot repress my indignation at the use of those foolish obsolete, odious, words Whig and Tory." — Edward Gibbon