A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Neckham, Alexander

by John William Cousin

Neckham, Alexander (1157-1217). -- Scholar, b. at St. Albans, was foster-brother to Richard Cœur de Lion. He went to Paris in 1180, where he became a distinguished teacher. Returning, to England in 1186 he became an Augustinian Canon, and in 1213 Abbot of Cirencester. He is one of our earliest men of learning, and wrote a scientific work in Latin verse. De Naturis Rerum (c. 1180-94) in 10 books. Other works are De Laudibus Divinæ Sapientiæ (in Praise of the Divine Wisdom), and De Contemptu Mundi (on Despising the World), and some grammatical treatises.