1. John Blagrave devoted himself to mathematical study and was called, by Anthony a Wood, "the flower of mathematicians of his age".
12 Facts About John Blagrave
1. 2.
John Blagrave was born as the second son to John Blagrave of Bullmarsh and Anne in Berkshire at an unknown date sometime in the 1560s.
3.
John Blagrave was educated in Reading School and went to St John's College, Oxford for an education in mathematics, though he never received a degree.
4.
John Blagrave had no issue himself but had a step-daughter, Jane, from his wife.
5.
John Blagrave was buried next to his mother at the Church of St Lawrence in Reading, lying under a large monument to himself with a bust and several mathematically allegorical figures surrounding him.
6.
John Blagrave left money to more than eighty of his relatives.
7.
John Blagrave left much to charity and commissioned the monument to himself.
8.
Five works of John Blagrave survive along with a sheet map of the northern hemisphere.
9.
The astrolabe contains some significant similarities to the universal astrolabe of Andalusian astrolabist Ali ibn Khalaf and David A King has suggested that Blagrave copied his design for the 'Jewel' from ibn Khalaf.
10.
Genealogist Lady Russell reports that Blagrave influenced the prominent hermeticist William Backhouse towards the study of astrology in a manuscript he wrote to him but future scholars, such as J H Costen, have been unable to locate this manuscript.
11.
John Blagrave gave much to charity in his will, leaving a large sum of money to his servants and the local poor of Reading.
12.
John Blagrave left a large sum to his local church, St Laurence's.