Selden, John 1584-1654
English jurist, historian and antiquary

Born near Worthing, Sussex, he studied at Oxford and London. He was an opponent of the divine right of kings, and was twice imprisoned for his views. In 1623 he was elected MP for Lancaster, and in 1628 he helped to draw up the Petition of Right, for which he was committed to the Tower with Sir John Eliot, Baron Holles and others. He entered the Long Parliament (1640) for Oxford University, sat as a lay member in the Westminster Assembly in 1643, and was appointed keeper of the records in the Tower and, in 1644, an Admiralty commissioner. His works include Duello (1610, 'Single Combat'), Titles of Honour (1614), which is still an authority, Analecton Anglo-Britannicon (1615), De Diis Syriis (1617) and History of Tithes (1618). He also wrote in Latin, books on the Arundel Marbles (1624) and on Hebrew law (1634-50), besides posthumous tracts and treatises, of which the most valuable is his Table Talk (1689).