British and Irish History: Biographies

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Roger Boyle Orrery, 1st earl of

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Roger Boyle Orrery, 1st earl of 1621–79, Irish statesman and writer; son of Richard Boyle, 1st earl of Cork. Created (1627) Baron Broghill, he studied at Trinity College, Dublin, traveled abroad, and served against the Irish rebels in 1641. Although his family leaned toward Charles I, he served in the parliamentary army after 1647. He later became involved in a plot to restore Charles II, but Oliver Cromwell personally intervened to persuade him to serve the Commonwealth. He helped restore order in Ireland, received large grants of land, and served in the parliaments of 1654 and 1656 and as lord president of the council in Scotland. When the restoration of Charles II seemed inevitable, he crossed to Ireland and helped secure it for the king. He was made earl of Orrery (1660) and a lord justice, served in the Parliament of 1661, and was lord president of Munster until 1668. A friend and patron of the writers of his age, Orrery also wrote rhymed-verse tragedies, among them Henry the Fifth (1668), Mustapha (1668), and The Black Prince (1669); a romance, Parthenissa (1654–65); and a military treatise (1677).

Bibliography: See preface by W. S. Clark to his edition (2 vol., 1937) of Orrery's dramatic works; study by K. M. Lynch (1965).

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Boyle, Roger, first earl of Orrery

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Copyright

Boyle, Roger, first earl of Orrery (1621–79), author of Parthenissa (1654–65), the first English romance in the style of La Calprenède and M. de Scudéry, which deals with the prowess and vicissitudes of Artabanes, a Median prince, and his rivalry with Surena, an Arabian prince, for the love of Parthenissa. His heroic play Mustapha (1665) is based on Mlle de Scudéry's Ibrahim and the history of Knolles.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Boyle, Roger, first earl of Orrery." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Boyle, Roger, first earl of Orrery." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-BoyleRogerfirstearlofrrry.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Boyle, Roger, first earl of Orrery." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-BoyleRogerfirstearlofrrry.html

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