350px, John Trevisa (or John of Trevisa; la, Ioannes Trevisa; fl. 1342–1402 AD) was a Cornish writer and translator. Trevisa was born at Trevessa in the parish of

St Enoder St Enoder ( kw, Eglosenoder) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and hamlet in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated five miles (8 km) southeast of Newquay. There is St Enoder (electoral division), an electoral ward bear ...

in mid-Cornwall, in Britain and was a native Cornish speaker. He was educated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

, and became Vicar of

Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, parish in the Stroud (district), Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway. The town is ...

, chaplain to the 5th Lord Berkeley, and Canon of

Westbury on Trym Westbury on Trym is a suburb and council ward in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England. With a village atmosphere, the place is partly ...

. He translated into English for his patron the Latin ''

Polychronicon Ranulf Higden or Higdon ( – 12 March 1364) was an English chronicler and a Benedictine monk who wrote the ''Polychronicon'', a Late Medieval magnum opus. Higden, who resided at the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester, is believed to ha ...

'' of

Ranulf Higden Ranulf Higden or Higdon ( – 12 March 1364) was an English chronicler and a Benedictine monk who wrote the ''Polychronicon'', a Late Medieval magnum opus. Higden, who resided at the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester, is believed to h ...

, adding remarks of his own, and prefacing it with a '' Dialogue on Translation between a Lord and a Clerk''. He likewise made various other translations, including

Bartholomaeus Anglicus Bartholomaeus Anglicus (before 1203–1272), also known as Bartholomew the Englishman and Berthelet, was an early 13th-century Scholastic of Paris, a member of the Franciscan order. He was the author of the compendium ''De proprietatibus rerum' ...

' ''On the Properties of Things'' ''(De Proprietatibus Rerum)'', a medieval forerunner of the encyclopedia. A fellow of

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

, from 1372 to 1376 at the same time as

John Wycliff John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...

and

Nicholas of Hereford Nicholas fHereford (died in 1420) was an English Bible translations, Bible translator, Lollard, reformer on the side of John Wycliffe, Fellow (college), Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford and Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Chancel ...

, Trevisa may well have been one of the contributors to the Early Version of

Wycliffe's Bible Wycliffe's Bible is the name now given to a group of Bible translations into Middle English that were made under the direction of English theologian John Wycliffe. They appeared over a period from approximately 1382 to 1395. These Bible translati ...

. The preface to the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

of 1611 singles him out as a translator amongst others at that time: ''"even in our King Richard the second's days, John Trevisa translated them he Gospelsinto English, and many English Bibles in written hand are yet to be seen that divers translated, as it is very probable, in that age"''. Subsequently, he translated a number of books of the Bible into French for Lord Berkeley, including a version of the ''

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

'', which his patron had written up onto the ceiling of the chapel at

Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelled as ''Berkley Castle'' or ''Barkley Castle'') is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The castle's origins date back to the 11th century, and it has been desi ...

. Trevisa's reputation as a writer rests principally on his translations of encyclopaedic works from Latin into English, undertaken with the support of his patron, Thomas (IV), the fifth Baron Berkeley, as a continuous programme of enlightenment for the laity. John Trevisa is the 18th most frequently cited author in the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

'' and the third most frequently cited source for the first evidence of a word (after

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

and the ''

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...

'').Top 1000 sources in the OED
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References

* David C. Fowler (1993) ''John Trevisa'', Ashgate * David C. Fowler (1995) ''The Life and Times of John Trevisa, Medieval Scholar'', Seattle: University of Washington Press *

Eric Gethyn-Jones Canon John Eric Gethyn-Jones MBE FSA (9 October 1909 - 9 November 1995) was a clergyman and historian of Gloucestershire. He served in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department during the Second World War for which he was awarded the MBE in 1945. Lat ...

(1978) ''Trevisa of Berkeley, a Celtic Firebrand''. Dursley: Alan Sutton

External links

John of Trevisa
''Online Companion to Middle English Literature''

''Cambridge History of English and American Literature'' (1907–21) – see also the previous and following pages. * Trevisa, John de, ''Dictionary of National Biography'', 1899 *Jane Beal
John Trevisa and the English Polychronicon
(2012) – book examining Trevisa's rhetorical strategies to establish his own authority in his ''Polychronicon'', a universal history of the world, with additional consideration of his letter to Lord Berkeley, "Dialogue between a Lord and a Clerk," and interpolated notes as well as his other translations. The final chapter considers the reception of the English ''Polychronicon'' in the Renaissance. * * *
Digital view of Trevisa's ''On The Properties of Things'', from the British Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trevisa, John 1342 births 1402 deaths Medieval Cornish people Cornish-speaking people Writers from Cornwall Fellows of The Queen's College, Oxford Translators of the Bible into English Translators of the Bible into French 14th-century English Roman Catholic priests People from Berkeley, Gloucestershire