The “Britannia” and the Making of William Camden

It is at this ideologically inbred Westminster that Camden spent the most discussed period of his life, from 1575 (aged 24) to 1592 as under-master, and from 1593 to 1597 (aged 46) as headmaster. Prior to 1586 he cannot be described as one admired for his achievements, but as one recognized for his abilities, and these were honed through the nurturing environment of Westminster. The man and his work are expressions of this community's ideology and camaraderie, and should not be dehistoricized by labels of their objectivity and disinterestedness, which render him invisible.

The early years at Westminster show Camden moving into his cultural patrimony. During this time he began to appear periodically in print. As we have seen, these early and minor publications reveal Camden's intellectual interests and personal ties. There are many different professional and personal currents at work during the Westminster period, so that we should not view these years solely as a footnote to the creation of the Britannia. Like any major work of the imagination – such as its contemporary, The Faerie Queene, for example – the Britannia becomes a matrix for the many different ideas and concerns, conscious and unconscious, that influence the life and work of an author. The raw material of the Britannia, its contents, its preparation, publication, revision, correction, organization, and expansion, occupied him from early on in his tenure at the school for virtually the rest of his life.