During this period, the English government persecuted those who chose to worship outside the Church of England.ĭefoe entered the world of business as a general merchant, dealing at different times in hosiery, general woollen goods, and wine. He lived on Church Street, Stoke Newington, at what is now nos. His parents were Presbyterian dissenters, and around the age of 14, he was sent to Charles Morton's dissenting academy at Newington Green, then a village just north of London, where he is believed to have attended the Dissenting church there. James Fisher's boarding school in Pixham Lane in Dorking, Surrey. His mother, Alice, had died by the time he was about ten. In 1667, when he was probably about seven, a Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway via the River Thames and attacked the town of Chatham in the raid on the Medway. In Defoe's early childhood, he experienced some of the most unusual occurrences in English history: in 1665, 70,000 were killed by the Great Plague of London, and the next year, the Great Fire of London left only Defoe's and two other houses standing in his neighbourhood. His father, James Foe, was a prosperous tallow chandler of Flemish descent, and a member of the Worshipful Company of Butchers. His birthdate and birthplace are uncertain, and sources offer dates from 1659 to 1662, with the summer or early autumn of 1660 considered the most likely. "De" is also a common prefix in Flemish surnames. Defoe later added the aristocratic-sounding "De" to his name, and on occasion made the bogus claim of descent from the family of De Beau Faux. 6.5 Some contested works attributed to Defoeĭaniel Foe (his original name) was probably born in Fore Street in the parish of St Giles Cripplegate, London.He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.ĭefoe was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than three hundred works -books, pamphlets, and journals - on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology, and the supernatural. Defoe wrote many political tracts and was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations.
![willem defoe willem defoe](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Tieg9y9w85M/maxresdefault.jpg)
1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. Daniel Defoe ( / d ɪ ˈ f oʊ/ born Daniel Foe c.