Richard Croke (or Crocus) (c. 1489–1558) was an English classical scholar, and a royal tutor and agent.

Early life and education

He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

.''Concise Dictionary of National Biography''. He took his BA at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

in 1510, and proceeded to travel. He studied Greek with

William Grocyn William Grocyn ( 14461519) was an English scholar, a friend of Erasmus. Life Grocyn was born at Colerne, Wiltshire. Intended by his parents for the church, he was sent to Winchester College, and in 1465 was elected to a scholarship at New Colleg ...

in London and Oxford, and then with

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

and Aleander in Paris in 1511. In 1514, he was called to the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, where he remained for some years. Among his pupils were

Joachim Camerarius Joachim Camerarius (12 April 150017 April 1574), the Elder, was a Germans, German classical scholar. Life He was born in Bamberg, in the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg. His family name was Liebhard, but he was generally called Kammermeister, previo ...

, Hieronymus Dungersheim, who had studied with Croke in Dresden, and

Caspar Creuziger Caspar Creuziger, also known as Caspar Cruciger the Elder (1 January 1504 – 16 November 1548), was a German Renaissance humanist and Protestant reformer. He was professor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg, preacher at the Castle Chur ...

. He was replaced by

Petrus Mosellanus Petrus Mosellanus Protegensis (real name Peter Schade) (b. 1493 in Bruttig, d. 19 April 1524 in Leipzig) was a German humanist scholar. He is best known for the popular work on rhetoric, ''Tabulae de schematibus et tropis'',Online summar and his ' ...

. As a young man he was identified as a follower of Erasmus, who at this period was constructing his ''

editio princeps In classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand. For ...

'' of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

in Greek (Basle, 1516).

Career

He was recalled by

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by o ...

in 1519 to teach Greek at Cambridge; it had been in abeyance since Erasmus's time (1511–1513), and he was Cambridge's second lecturer in Greek. He became Public Orator at Cambridge in 1522, Fellow of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

in 1523, and

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

in 1524. He quarrelled with Fisher over college matters in the later 1520s. In 1529 and 1530, he acted for

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

in Italy, in the matter of the king's intended divorce from

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

; earlier he had tutored Henry in Greek. Croke later tutored the illegitimate Duke of Richmond and Somerset, his son. While seeking

canon lawyer Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

s to support Henry's side of the argument, he also contacted humanists (such as Girolamo Ghinucci) and sought manuscripts. On his return to England, he in 1531 became deputy vice-chancellor of Cambridge, and vicar of

Long Buckby Long Buckby is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. In 2020 the parish of Long Buckby, which includes the hamlet of Long Buckby Wharf, was estimated to have a population of 4,303. Long Buckby is hill top village, l ...

, Nottinghamshire. A year later he moved to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He was a witness at the 1555 trial of

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

Works

*''

Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; – c. 395) was a Roman poet and teacher of rhetoric from Burdigala in Aquitaine, modern Bordeaux, France. For a time he was tutor to the future emperor Gratian, who afterwards bestowed the consulship on him. H ...

'' (1515) *''Orationes Richardi Croci duos'' (1520)

Notes

References

Sources

* J. Przychocki, "Richard Croke's search for patristic mss in connexion with the divorce of Catherine", ''Theol. Studies''. 1911; os-XIII: 285–295 *

J. T. Sheppard Sir John Tresidder Sheppard, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE ( – ) was an eminent classicist and the first non-Etonian to become the provost of King's College, Cambridge. Early life John Sheppard was educated at Du ...

(1919), ''Richard Croke, a sixteenth century don: being the Croke Lecture for the May Term, 1919'' *Jonathan M. Woolfson (2000), "A 'remote and ineffectual Don'? Richard Croke in the Biblioteca Marciana". ''Bulletin of the Society for Renaissance Studies'', 17:2, 1–11 {{DEFAULTSORT:Croke, Richard 1480s births 1558 deaths University of Paris alumni Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English classical scholars English Renaissance humanists Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Year of birth uncertain Cambridge University Orators 16th-century scholars 16th-century English educators Classical scholars of the University of Cambridge Kingdom of England expatriates in France Household of Henry Fitzroy People educated at Eton College