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Elyot, Sir Thomas
Elyot, Sir Thomas (c.1490–1546). Humanist, administrator, and political theorist. Elyot, whose family were Wiltshire lawyer-landowners, was educated at Oxford and the Middle Temple. Clerk to the justices of assize (1511–26) and to Henry VIII's council (c.1523–30), he retired in 1530 to Carlton, near Cambridge, being knighted in the same year and made ambassador to Charles V in 1531–2. In the 1520s Elyot frequented the humanist circles of Richard Pace and Thomas More. Though remaining a suspect catholic, he benefited materially from the dissolution of the monasteries. A portrait drawing of him by Holbein (c.1532) is at Windsor castle. Elyot's Book Named the Governor (1531) advocated a monarchical ‘public weal’ for England and described the education, on Italian humanist lines, necessary to prepare Englishmen to help the king rule it. His use of English for his Governor and more than a dozen other works was intended to show how the vernacular, improved by Latin and Greek example, could encourage wise conduct.
J. B. Trapp |
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JOHN CANNON. "Elyot, Sir Thomas." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Elyot, Sir Thomas." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-ElyotSirThomas.html JOHN CANNON. "Elyot, Sir Thomas." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-ElyotSirThomas.html |
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Elyot, Sir Thomas
Elyot, Sir Thomas (c. 1490–1546). Humanist, administrator, and political theorist, Elyot was educated at Oxford and the Middle Temple. Clerk to the justices of assize (1511–26) and to Henry VIII's council (c. 1523–30), he retired in 1530, being knighted in the same year and made ambassador to Charles V in 1531–2. Elyot's Book Named the Governor (1531) advocated a monarchical ‘public weal’ for England and described the education necessary to prepare Englishmen to help the king rule it. His use of English was intended to show how the vernacular could be effective in encouraging wise conduct.
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Elyot, Sir Thomas." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Elyot, Sir Thomas." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-ElyotSirThomas.html JOHN CANNON. "Elyot, Sir Thomas." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-ElyotSirThomas.html |
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ELYOT, (Sir) Thomas
ELYOT, (Sir) Thomas [1499?–1546]. English statesman and scholar. In such works as The boke named The gouernour (1531), he held that though RHETORIC made LATIN and GREEK style more eloquent, the structure of English made meaning clearer. Elyot sought to increase English vocabulary by borrowing from Latin, Greek, and FRENCH, in order to correct ‘the insufficiencie of our owne langage’. When introducing new words, he often used them in explanatory pairs: education or bringing up of children; explicating or unfolding. See BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.
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TOM McARTHUR. "ELYOT, (Sir) Thomas." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. TOM McARTHUR. "ELYOT, (Sir) Thomas." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-ELYOTSirThomas.html TOM McARTHUR. "ELYOT, (Sir) Thomas." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-ELYOTSirThomas.html |
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Elyot, Sir Thomas
Elyot, Sir Thomas (c.1490–1546), author of the Boke Named the Governour, published in 1531, a treatise on education and politics. His other works include The Doctrinall of Princis (c.1533), translated from Isocrates, The Image of Governance (1540), The Castell of Helthe (c.1537), an important manual of health, and Platonic dialogues and compilations from the Fathers. His translations did much to popularize the classics in England. His Dictionary (Latin and English, 1538) was the first book published in England to bear this title.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Elyot, Sir Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Elyot, Sir Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ElyotSirThomas.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Elyot, Sir Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ElyotSirThomas.html |
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Sir Thomas Elyot
Sir Thomas Elyot , c.1490–1546, English author. He wrote the earliest Latin-English dictionary (1538) and is remembered especially for his sensible and well-written treatise on the education of statesmen, The Book Named the Governour (1531). |
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Cite this article
"Sir Thomas Elyot." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Sir Thomas Elyot." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Elyot-Si.html "Sir Thomas Elyot." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Elyot-Si.html |
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