author
Earl of Orrery Roger Boyle
1621–1679
A soldier, statesman, and dramatist, he moved through the upheavals of the English Civil Wars and Restoration with unusual political agility. His writing—especially heroic dramas and historical works—helped make him a notable literary as well as public figure in 17th-century Ireland and England.
1 Audiobook
Prefaces to Four Seventeenth-Century Romances Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill, preface to Parthenissa (1655) Sir George Mackenzie, "Apologie for romances," prefixed to Aretina, the serious romance (1660) Nathaniel Ingelo, preface to Bentivolio and Urania (1660) Robert Boyle, preface to Theodora and Didymus (1687)
by Earl of Orrery Roger Boyle, Nathaniel Ingelo, George Mackenzie
About the author
Born in 1621 into the powerful Boyle family, he was the son of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. He became Baron Broghill and later 1st Earl of Orrery, building a career as an Anglo-Irish political and military figure during one of the most turbulent periods in British and Irish history.
He was active across the civil wars, the Commonwealth, and the Restoration, at different times aligning himself with both Parliamentary and royal interests. That ability to survive and remain influential in shifting political circumstances made him a striking and sometimes controversial figure.
Alongside public life, he was also an author. He wrote plays, including heroic dramas, as well as historical and political works, and is remembered today as both a man of power and a man of letters.