Born at Ernesborough (now Irishborough), in the parish of Swimbridge in North Devon.
He died at Oxford on 11 October 1611, soon after being released from prison, and was buried in Trinity Hall Chapel, Cambridge.
In 1607, he compiled a law dictionary, The Interpreter, in which he exalted the king's prerogative; he was prosecuted before the House of Commons by Sir Edward Coke, who had a hostile history with Cowell.
[3] The suppression order read in part: Many copies survived the burning and have been reprinted.
A copy of the 1607 printing can be found at the Lilly Library in Bloomington, Indiana.