His linguistic work has bacon dates heralded for its early exposition of a universal grammar. 21st century re-evaluations emphasise that Bacon was essentially a medieval thinker, with much of his “experimental” knowledge obtained from books in the scholastic tradition. Bacon’s major work, the Opus Majus, was sent to Pope Clement IV in Rome in 1267 upon the pope’s request. Although gunpowder was first invented and described in China, Bacon was the first in Europe to record its formula.
Roger Bacon was born in Ilchester in Somerset, England, in the early 13th century, although his date of birth is sometimes narrowed down to c. Bacon uses the term to refer to rudimentary studies, the trivium or quadrivium that formed the medieval curriculum. A caustic cleric named Roger Bacon is recorded speaking before the king at Oxford in 1233. In 1237 or at some point in the following decade, he accepted an invitation to teach at the University of Paris. As a private scholar, his whereabouts for the next decade are uncertain but he was likely in Oxford c.