William Guise Explained

William Guise (Guilelmus Guisius) (c.1653–1683), was an English orientalist.

Life

He was the son of John Guise from a family originating at Elmore Court near Gloucester.^[1]

He went to Oriel College, Oxford, in 1669 at age 16.^[2] He graduated BA in 1674 and was then made a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, from 1674 to 1680, being granted an MA in 1677.^[3] He spent the last years of his life in St Mary's College, Oxford.^[4]

He died of smallpox on 3 September 1683. His tomb in the college chancel of St Michael's Church in Oxford was sculpted by William Bird.^[5]

Family

His wife Frances Guise outlived him. They had a son John Guise and daughter Frances Guise.^[6]

Works

He is known for his scholarly work on Zeraim, an order of the Mishnah, for which he produced a Latin translation and commentary. He made use of a wide range of Islamic literature, and particularly relied on the Arabic dictionaries of Fairuzabadi and Jauhari.^{[7] [8]} It was published as Misnae Pars (1690), edited by Edward Bernard.

Notes and References

1. ODNB; William Guise
2. [Anthony à Wood]
3. Concise Dictionary of National Biography
4. R.W. Jeffrey, A Forgotten College of Oxford.
5. Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis
6. ODNB: William Guise
7. Mordechai Feingold, Oriental Studies, p. 493 in Trevor Henry Aston, Nicholas Tyacke (editors), The History of the University of Oxford: Volume IV: Seventeenth-Century Oxford (1984).
8. Joyce M. Horn, Canons of Christ Church: Sixth prebend, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857: volume 8: Bristol, Gloucester, Oxford and Peterborough dioceses (1996), pp. 100–102.