Thomas Linacre
Thomas Linacre | |
|---|---|
 A likely portrait of Thomas Linacre | |
| Born | c. 1460 |
| Died | 20 October 1524 (aged 63–64) |
| Nationality | English |
| Other names | Lynaker |
| Occupation(s) | humanist scholar, physician, clergyman |
Thomas Linacre or Lynaker (/ˈlɪnəkər/ LIN-ə-kər; c. 1460 – 20 October 1524) was an English humanist scholar and physician, after whom Linacre College, Oxford, and Linacre House, a boys' boarding house at The King's School, Canterbury, were named.[1][2]
Linacre was more of a scholar than a scientific investigator. It is difficult to judge his practical skill in his profession, but it was highly esteemed in his own day. He took no part in political or theological questions, but his career as a scholar was characteristic of the critical period in the history of learning through which he lived.[3]
He was one of the first Englishmen to study
Life
Linacre was born at
Among his other teachers and friends in Italy were
On his return to Oxford, full of learning and imbued with the spirit of the
Linacre does not appear to have practised or taught medicine in Oxford. In about 1501 he was called to court as tutor of the young
in the Dining Hall of Linacre College, Oxford
After some years of professional activity, Linacre devoted himself to the study of theology and the duties of the priesthood. In around 1509, he received priest's orders as the rector of Merstham, Kent. Numerous ecclesiastical positions followed, and he finally obtained the rectorship of Wigan in 1520,
The most important service Linacre conferred on his own profession and science was the foundation by royal charter of the
A modern monument in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral in London lists Linacre's grave as one of the important lost in the Great Fire of London in 1666.[8] His epitaph in Old St Paul's Cathedral was recorded by Paul Hentzner and translated by Robert Naunton as reading:
Virtue survives the funeral.
To the memory of Thomas Linacre, an eminent physician, John Caius placed this monument.
On the lower part of it is this inscription in gold letters:
Thomas Linacre, physician to King Henry VIII., a man learned in the Greek and Latin languages, and particularly skilful in physick, by which he restored many from a state of languishment and despair to life. He translated with extraordinary eloquence many of Galen's works into Latin; and published, a little before his death, at the request of his friends, a very valuable book on the correct structure of the Latin tongue. He founded in perpetuity in favour of students in physick, two public lectures at Oxford, and one at Cambridge. In this city he brought about, by his own industry, the establishing of a College of Physicians, of which he was elected the first president. He was a detester of all fraud and deceit, and faithful in his friendships; equally dear to men of all ranks: he went into orders a few years before his death, and quitted this life full of years, and much lamented, A.D. 1524, on the 29th of October.
Works
Linacre's literary activity was displayed in both pure scholarship and translation from Greek. In the domain of scholarship he was known by the rudiments of (Latin) grammar (Progymnasmata Grammatices vulgaria), composed in English, a revised version of which was made for the use of the Princess Mary, and afterwards translated into Latin by George Buchanan. He also wrote a work on Latin composition, De emendata structura Latini sermonis ("On the Pure and Correct Structure of Latin Prose"), which was published in London in 1524 and reprinted many times on the continent of Europe.[3]
Linacre's only medical works were his translations. He wanted to make the works of Galen (and indeed those of Aristotle also) accessible to all readers of Latin. What he effected in the case of the first, though not trifling in itself, is inconsiderable compared with the whole mass of Galen's writings; and of his translations from Aristotle, some of which are known to have been completed, nothing has survived. The following are the works of Galen translated by Linacre:[3]
- De sanitate tuenda (Paris, 1517)
- Methodus medendi (Paris, 1519)
- De temperamentis et de inaequali intemperie (Cambridge, 1521)
- De naturalibus facultatibus (London, 1523)
- De symptomatum differentiis et causis (London, 1524)
- De pulsuum usu (London, without date).
He also translated, for the use of Prince Arthur, an astronomical treatise of Proclus, De sphaera, which was printed at Venice by Aldus in 1499. The accuracy of these translations and their elegance of style were universally admitted. They were generally accepted as the standard versions of those parts of Galen's writings, and frequently reprinted, either as parts of the collected works or separately.[3]
Linacre's intellectual fastidiousness and minute accuracy were, as Erasmus suggested, the chief reason for his having left no more permanent literary memorials. It is difficult to justify, by any extant work, the extremely high reputation that he enjoyed among the scholars of his time. His Latin style was greatly admired by Erasmus, who also praised Linacre's critical judgment ("vir non-exacti tantum sed severi judicii"). According to others it was hard to say whether he was more distinguished as a grammarian or a rhetorician. Of Greek he was regarded a consummate master; and he was equally eminent as a "philosopher", that is, learned in the works of the ancient philosophers and naturalists. In this there may have been some exaggeration; but all have acknowledged the elevation of Linacre's character, and the fine moral qualities summed up in the epitaph written by John Caius: "Fraudes dolosque mire perosus; fidus amicis; omnibus ordinibus juxta carus" ("An enemy of deceit; a loyal friend; equally loved by men of all classes).[3]
Authorities
The materials for Linacre's biography are to a large extent contained in the older biographical collections of
See also
- List of Erasmus's correspondents
- Linacre Quarterly
- List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
Notes
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16667. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Linacre (boys, boarding, 1953)". The King's School, Canterbury. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Chisholm 1911, p. 702.
- ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911, p. 701.
- ^ William Farrer & J. Brownbill, ed. (1911). A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4 – The Parish of Wigan.
- ^ Steven Kreis (2001). Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. Lecture 5. The Medieval Synthesis Under Attack: Savonarola and the Protestant Reformation. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Linacre Lecture". Retrieved 7 May 2013.
- Sinclair, W.p99: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909
- ^ Travels in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth by Paul Hentzner AND Fragmenta Regalia by Sir Robert Naunton. 1892 Cassell https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1992/pg1992.html accessed 8.9.2021
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Linacre, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 701–702.
Further reading
- Wikisource:The History of the Church and Manor of Wigan/Thomas Lynacre
- Payne, Joseph Frank (1893). . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 266–271.
- Walsh, James Joseph (1910). . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
External links
- Hutchinson, John (1892). . Men of Kent and Kentishmen (Subscription ed.). Canterbury: Cross & Jackman. p. 90.
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