Introduction

Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1583–1648) has long been dubbed the ‘father of English deism’, even though his relation to deism, of several kinds, is complex and contested. Recent scholarship, however, has attempted to free him from any connection with heterodoxy, and he has often been characterized as no more than an irenically-minded ethical theist. In this chapter I argue for a stronger interpretation, but also one that has more complex layers. Herbert was a Renaissance philosopher with a range of personae at different levels. Although he was certainly not an Epicurean deist, it is likely that he was aware of diverse currents of contemporary European deism and free thought. In his lifetime Herbert was a major public figure and engaged in a range of contemporary debates. Like many of his contemporaries, he was also engaged with a variety of arcane philosophical and mystical concerns, but these were not at the forefront of the arguments he advanced to the learned world.

Born into a famous Welsh family, Herbert grew up in the 1590s and was educated at University College, Oxford. The brother of the poet George Herbert, the friend of Ben Jonson, John Selden and John Donne, he had excellent social and literary connections. After his father's death, he became Deputy Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire. At James's coronation he was made a Knight of the Bath. As a young man he travelled widely in Europe and fought in the religious wars. When he was made English Ambassador to the French court in 1619, Diodati introduced him to French philosophical circles and he became involved in the Huguenot problem. In 1624, however, he was recalled in disgrace. Herbert retained his social eminence, but his public career was over. His creditors had to petition James for payment of his debts, and he had to wait until the Duke of Buckingham could intercede with Charles I to receive his English title.