John Twyne (c.1505–1581) was an English schoolmaster, scholar and author, and also Member of Parliament for
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of the ...
.
Life
He was born about 1501 at
Bullington, Hampshire
Bullington is a civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East E ...
, the son of William Twyne. He was educated, according to
Anthony Wood, at
New Inn, Oxford, but the matter is uncertain and he seems to have frequented
Corpus Christi College; he says he saw there
Richard Foxe,
Juan Luis Vives
Juan Luis Vives March ( la, Joannes Lodovicus Vives, lit=Juan Luis Vives; ca, Joan Lluís Vives i March; nl, Jan Ludovicus Vives; 6 March 6 May 1540) was a Spanish ( Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist w ...
, and others. He graduated B.C.L. on 31 January 1525, and then married and became master of the free grammar school at
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of the ...
.
Twyne's school was a success, and he grew rich, purchasing land. He took an active part in the municipal affairs of Canterbury: he was a common councilman from 1539 to 1547 and 1548 to 1550,
Sheriff of Canterbury for 1544–45, an alderman from 1550 to 1562 and
mayor of the city for 1553–4. In 1553 he represented the city in parliament.
He gave offence to the
Duke of Northumberland
Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke ...
, and on 18 May the mayor of Canterbury was directed to send him up to London. Twyne was re-elected MP for Canterbury on 7 September that year. As mayor of the city in 1554 he actively opposed the insurgents during
Wyatt's rebellion.
In 1560, during an ecclesiastical visitation of Canterbury, Twyne was reprimanded, and during that year he lost his position as head of
The King's School, Canterbury
The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...
, where he was succeeded by
Anthony Rush; in 1562 he was again in trouble, with the privy council. Suspected as a covert Catholic, his prosperity and positions were affected.
Twyne died at Canterbury on 24 November 1581, and was buried on the 30th in St Paul's Church, Canterbury where a brass plate with an inscription commemorated him. By his wife Alice (1507–1567), daughter and coheiress of William Peper, Twyne had issue three sons: John, who lived at
Hardacre, and wrote verse;
Lawrence Twyne; and
Thomas Twyne
Thomas Twyne (1543 – 1 August 1613 Lewes) was an Elizabethan translator and a physician of Lewes in Sussex, best known for completing Thomas Phaer's translation of Virgil's Aeneid into English verse after Phaer's death in 1560, and for his 1579 ...
.
Works
Twyne was a reputed antiquary, classical scholar and teacher. His first literary work was an introduction to an anonymous edition of
Hugh of Caumpeden's ''History of Kyng Boccus and Sydracke'' (see ''
Book of Sydrac''). Twyne collaborated with
Robert Saltwood to edit (or translate again) the work from
Old French, and Saltwood funded the publication, in 1530s.
In 1590 Thomas Twyne published his late father's ''De Rebus Albionicis, Britannicis, atque Anglis Commentariorum libri duo'', London. It concerns early British history; the discussions in it take a sceptical view of some traditional accounts. In particular the work of
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...
is discounted. The book also contains Twyne's reminiscences of
Nicholas Wotton
Nicholas Wotton (c. 1497 – 26 January 1567) was an English diplomat, cleric and courtier.
Life
He was a son of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent, and a descendant of Sir Nicholas Wotton, Lord Mayor of London in 1415 and 1430, wh ...
,
John Dygon, the last prior of St. Augustine's John Foche,
[John Barnard, Donald Francis McKenzie, ''The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain: 1557–1695'' (2002), p. 209]
Google Books
Richard Foxe, Vives, and other scholars.
He also collected "''Communia Loca''", bequeathed to
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...
by his grandson,
Brian Twyne
Brian Twyne (c. 25 July 1581 – 4 July 1644) was an antiquary and an academic at the University of Oxford. After being educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and becoming a Fellow of the college in 1606, he published his one main work, a ...
. In these collections he refers to now-lost lives he had written of
Thomas Lupset, Wotton,
William Paget,
Thomas Wriothesley
Sir Thomas Wriothesley ( ; died 24 November 1534) was a long serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the son of Garter King of Arms, John Writhe, and he succeeded his father in this office.
Personal life
Wriothesley was ...
, and other contemporaries. Another work, "''Vitæ, Mores, Studia, et Fortunæ Regum Angliæ a Gulielmo Conquest. ad Henr. VIII''", is now lost; it was possibly the basis of ''A Booke containing the Portraiture of the Countenances and Attires of the Kings of England from William Conqueror unto … Elizabeth … diligently collected by T. T.'', London, 1597.
References
*
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twyne, John
1501 births
1581 deaths
People from Canterbury
Alumni of the University of Oxford
16th-century English writers
16th-century male writers
16th-century English educators
English antiquarians
Headmasters of the King's School, Canterbury
16th-century antiquarians
People from Test Valley
Sheriffs of Canterbury
Mayors of Canterbury
English MPs 1553 (Mary I)
English MPs 1554