Author of the wonderfully learned, humorous and eccentric masterpiece ‘The Anatomy of Melancholy’, written under the pseudonym of Democritus Junior, which is repeated on the memorial above his tomb. According to his contemporary, the gossip Anthony a Wood, he had predicted the time of his death with the aid of astrology, and hanged himself so that the prediction would be accurate. (bio by: David Conway) Cause of death: allegedly hanged himself