Ben Jonson
From Philosopedia
Jonson, Ben (11 June 1572 - 6 August 1637)
Jonson, the English dramatist and poet who wrote Volpone (1606) and The Alchemist (1610) killed Gabriel Spencer, a well-known actor, in a duel. He escaped execution by claiming “right of the clergy,” a term signifying that he could read and write.
He was a friend and rival of William Shakespare and was known for having a contentious personality.
Jonson, a Christian, was buried in Westminster where his epitaph reads "O rare Ben Jonson," evidently not a wry observation that to save space he had been buried standing up. Another interpretation, the inscription could be read "Orare Ben Jonson" (Pray for Ben Jonson), which could mean a wish that he'd had a deathbed conversion to Catholicism.
(See Ian Donaldson's Ben Jonson, A Life (Oxford University Press, 2012), a biography that includes describing Jonson's troublesome matters with religion, eventually leading to his leaving Catholicism and returning to the Anglican fold later in life.)
