BELLENDEN, John, a Scotch poet, and the translator of Boece’s History, was born about the beginning of the 16th century, probably in East Lothian. He appears to have been educated, first at the University of St Andrews and then at that of Paris, where he took the degree of doctor. From his own statement we learn that he had been in the service of James V. from the king’s earliest years, and that the post he held was clerk of accounts. It was at the request of James that he undertook his translations of Boece and of Livy. As a reward for his labours he was appointed to the archdeaconry of Moray, and was also made a canon of Ross. Bellenden, who was a strenuous opponent of the Reformation, is said to have died at Rome in 1550. His translation of Boece, which is a remarkable specimen of Scottish prose, distinguished by its freedom and vigour of expression, appears to have been first published in 1536. The best edition is that superintended by Mr Maitland, 2 vols. 4to, Edin., 1821. The same gentleman edited for the first time (Edin., 1822) Bellenden’s translation of Livy, which extends only to the first five books. The few poetical remains exhibit considerable taste and skill in versification....
BELLENDEN, »William, a distinguished classical scholar, who flourished during the early part of the 17th century, is said to have been a professor at the University of Paris. Nothing is known with certainty of his life, except that he held the office, probably a sinecure, of Master of Requests. The first of the works by which he is known was published in 1608, with the title Ciceronis Princeps, Rationes et Consilia bene gerendi firmandique Imperii, ex iis repetita quae ex Ciceronis defluxere fontibus in libros xvi. de Statu Rerum Romanarum, qui nondum lucem acceperunt. It is a laborious compilation of all Cicero’s remarks on the origin and principles of regal government, digested and systematically arranged. In 1612 there appeared a similar work, devoted to the consideration of consular authority and the Roman senate, Ciceronis Consul, Senator, Sena- tusque Romanus. His third work, De Statu Prisci Orbis, 1615, is a good outline of general history. All three works were combined in a single large volume, entitled De Statu Libri Tres, 1615, which was first brought into due notice by Dr Parr, who, in 1787, published an edition with a preface, famous for the elegance of its Latinity and the vehemence of its politics. The greatest of Bellenden’s works is the extensive treatise published posthumously in 1633, Gulielmi Bellendeni Scoti, Magistri supplicum Libellorum Augusti Regis Magnae Britanniae, de tribus Luminibus Romanorum libri sexdecim. The book is unfinished, and treats only of the first luminary, Cicero; the others intended were apparently Seneca and Pliny, probably the younger. It contains a most elaborate history of Rome and its institutions, drawn from Cicero, and thus forms a well-arranged storehouse of all the historical notices contained in that voluminous author. It has been suspected that Middleton was indebted for much of the information contained in his Life of Cicero to Bellenden’s little known work.
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