author
Solomon Eagle
A vivid figure from 17th-century England, he moved from professional music into radical Quaker preaching and became memorable enough to appear in later plague-era storytelling. Very little of his own work survives, which only adds to the mystery around him.
1 Audiobook
Books in general
by Solomon Eagle
About the author
Born around 1618, Solomon Eccles — often called Solomon Eagle — was an English composer and music teacher. Later in life he became a committed Quaker and turned away from the musical world he had once worked in.
He is best remembered for his fierce public witness during the years of plague in London. Accounts describe him walking through the city in a dramatic act of warning and repentance, an image that helped fix his name in English historical memory.
Because he rejected much of his earlier musical life, little if any of his compositions are known to survive. What remains is the story of a man who changed course completely, leaving behind both a reputation in music and a striking place in religious history.