Roger Bacon

(c. 1220 - c. 1292)

Around 1257 Roger Bacon resigned from secular scholarly life and joined the Franciscan order. In the early 1260s he sought patronage from Cardinal Guy de Foulques, hoping to bring scientific study to universities. He was rebuffed, but in 1265 Foulques became pope and Bacon tried again, now receiving a reply requesting him to send writing “as quickly and secretly as possible.” Clement died in 1268; Bacon continued working without church support.