Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren was born on the 20th of October in 1632 in East Knoyle and he died on the 25th of February in 1723 in Hampton Court. He was a scholar and a British architect and astronomer of the XVIIth century. He was famous because he played an important role in the reconstruction of London after the Great Fire of 1666. He was known for the conception of Saint-Paul's cathedral in London which is one of the rare cathedrals built in England after the medieval period and which was the only classic and baroque cathedral in England.

Son of Christopher Wren and Mary Cox, he was born in 1632 in Wiltshire. Over there, his father was a member of the clergy. During his childhood, Christopher will be the playfellow of the Prince of Wales, Charles the 1st.

At the age of nine, he was sent in Westminster School of London. Matthew Wren is imprisoned during eight years in the Tower of London. His father is obliged to leave Windsor to take refuge in Bristol. But, when Christopher is eleven years old, her elder sister gets married to the mathematician William Holder. The Wren family comes to Bletchingham in Oxfordshire, to stay in Holder's family. William Holder is then the private tutor of Christopher and he encourages him to discover the astronomy.

In 1646, he go out of Westminster School. But, he doesn't enter at once to university. During the next three years, he helps the doctor Charles Scarborough, the future royal doctor, in anatomical studies. And, he also makes for himself mathematical works about the sundial and a model of the solar system...

Wren enters then to the Wadham College in Oxford on June the 25th in 1649. He obtains his Bachelor's degree on March the 18th in 1651 and his master's degree in 1653. He continues his experiences in anatomy. He draws sketches of the human brain for the Willis's Cerebri anatome. It's a famous anatomy managed by Thomas Willis. He also makes the demonstration of a blood transfusion between two dogs. He shows in this time of a big inventiveness in a lot of domains.

He is then named professor of astronomy to the Gresham College in London in 1657. He had begun the observations of the planet Saturn from 1652 with the aim of explain his appearance. He explains his hypotheses in the De corpore saturni at the same moment when Christiaan Huygens presents his theory about the rings of Saturn. Wren recognizes immediately that this theory is better than him and doesn't publish.

In 1660, Wren and other scholars organize meetings where scholars can exchange their ideas. They create then the Royal Society. Wren will be the president from 1680 to 1682.

In 1663, Christopher Wren visits Rome. Over there, he makes a complete study of the Marcellus theater. This work will give ideas to Wren and the influence of the theater is always here in his first realizations. A stay in Paris, in 1665 will also influence his style, in particular after his visits in the churches of « La Sorbonne » and « Les Invalides ».

In 1663, he builds the chapel of the university of Pembroke in Cambridge. Wren the mathematician becomes little by little Wren the architect.

He continues in 1668 with the construction of the chapel of

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