Laurence Humphrey and Reformed Humanist Education in Mid-Tudor England
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‘Doctissimus pater pastorum’: Laurence Humphrey and Reformed Humanist Education in Mid-Tudor England Thesis submitted in application for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Eleanor Kathleen Merchant, B.A. (Oxon), M.A. (London) Queen Mary, University of London Department of English ii Abstract Laurence Humphrey was acknowledged in his own day as a leading Protestant intellectual, Oxford pedagogue, and Latinist. In posterity however, he has been predominantly defined by his involvement in the ‘vestiarian controversy’ of the 1560s. This thesis proposes a revised view, which takes into account the significant educational contexts and concerns with which Humphrey was engaged before, during and after his Marian exile in Zurich and Basel. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter One presents the fruits of new biographical research into Humphrey’s education and early adult life, his grounding in Protestant ideology, and the circumstances of his exile up until 1559. Relocated amongst the Rhineland’s finest scholar-printers, Humphrey immerses himself in the dual currents of European humanism and religion, a context that characterizes his earliest works. Chapter Two argues that Humphrey’s 1559 Interpretatio Linguarum evidences an international network of reformed scholars using Graeco-Latin translation theory to inform the development of vernacular literary culture. In discussing contemporary writers and their translations, Humphrey’s Latin work reveals itself as an intellectually central text of English vernacular culture. Chapter Three analyses the 1560 Optimates as an exposition of the pedagogical concept of the vir bonus, which Humphrey refashions for a new Elizabethan generation of English Protestant gentry. Chapter Four reprises the biographical narrative by following Humphrey’s return to the educational environment of early Elizabethan Oxford. The period from 1560 to the mid-1570s sees the consolidation of Humphrey’s reputation as one of the leading reformist educators of his generation. Chapter Five looks at the 1573 Vita Iuelli. Referencing a range of literary traditions, Humphrey presents Bishop John Jewel as the fulfilment of the ideals of reformed humanist education. This thesis re-introduces Humphrey as an important figure in the merged intellectual, multi-lingual, reforming currents of humanism and religion that characterize the mid-Tudor moment. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents ........................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... v Transcription, Translation and Editorial Conventions ................................. vi Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Review of secondary literature .................................................................. 3 The context of reformed humanist education ............................................ 7 The recovery of mid-Tudor literature ..................................................... 12 Methodology and chapter summary ........................................................ 15 Chapter One: Laurence Humphrey’s early life, education and exile (1527-1559) ................................................................................................. 21 Introduction .............................................................................................. 21 Early life in Buckinghamshire ................................................................. 22 Education at Oxford ................................................................................. 28 Memorial verse in print ............................................................................ 38 Early career at Oxford .............................................................................. 43 Queen Mary’s accession .......................................................................... 45 Exile in Switzerland ................................................................................. 57 Fathers of the church ................................................................................ 63 Geneva connections ................................................................................. 71 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 81 Chapter Two: Humphrey’s 1559 Interpretatio linguarum .................... 83 Introduction .............................................................................................. 83 ‘Our Translator, now returning home to you in England’ ....................... 86 ‘With these scholarly exercises’: Early practice in translation ................ 94 Rhetorical style manuals ........................................................................ 101 Using ‘the elegant propriety and power of words’ ................................ 107 The ‘fidus interpres’ and his ‘officium’ ................................................. 118 Travelling to the gates of Rome ............................................................. 125 A catalogue of translators ...................................................................... 132 ‘Exemplum Anglicum’: Vernacular translations and exercises ............. 148 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 153 iv Chapter Three: ‘So informed, that it may be reformed’ – Humphrey’s 1560 Optimates ......................................................................................... 155 Introduction ............................................................................................ 155 ‘Nor has he returned as a simple, plain man’: The returning exile ........ 159 ‘A mirror for the nobility’ ...................................................................... 166 ‘The eyes and ears of the monarch’: Advice for the body politic .......... 176 ‘They do not want nobility abolished, but improved’ ............................ 186 An educational programme for the nobility ........................................... 197 Knowledge of ‘words and matter’ ......................................................... 207 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 214 Chapter Four: ‘Wholly an Englishman’ – Humphrey’s return .......... 218 Introduction ............................................................................................ 218 Educational crisis in England ................................................................. 220 Humphrey as Magdalen College President ............................................ 223 ‘Due thanks on hym that first wrate such a worke’ ............................... 235 ‘Regard for the common people of our land’ ......................................... 245 The ‘vestiarian controversy’ .................................................................. 250 Admonitions and additions .................................................................... 254 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 260 Chapter Five: ‘Biting with his friends’ teeth’ – Humphrey’s 1573 Vita Iuelli .......................................................................................................... 262 Introduction ............................................................................................ 262 Exemplary lives of eminent men ........................................................... 263 The polemical context of the Vita Iuelli ................................................. 274 The staging of Jewel’s life ..................................................................... 279 Contexts and controversies .................................................................... 285 Networks of reformed humanist scholars .............................................. 300 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 307 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 310 Bibliography: Primary Sources in Manuscript ......................................... 334 Bibliography: Primary Sources in Print .................................................... 336 Bibliography: Secondary Sources ............................................................. 345 v Acknowledgements Jorge Cham’s canny cartoon strip Piled Higher and Deeper depicts a PhD student expressing insincere ‘thanks above all’ to his rather indifferent supervisor because the acknowledgement might be expedient to his nascent academic career.1 Instead, for his invaluable guidance and support, expert knowledge, and unfailing tolerance of the vagaries of this teenage rather than nascent process, my sincere thanks above all go to my superlative supervisor, Warren Boutcher. I thank Lisa Jardine, Robyn Adams, Alan Stewart, and an inspiring team of colleagues at the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters (CELL), and in the School of English and Drama, Queen Mary, for their academic support and for such varied and interesting teaching and other work opportunities over these years. Thanks also to my enthusiastic MA and MRes Latin students. I appreciate advice and assistance along the way from many of those I’ve met at conferences