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Coryat's Crudities
' is a travelogue published in 1611 by Thomas Coryat (sometimes also spelled "Coryate" or "Coriat") of Odcombe, an English traveller and mild eccentric. History The book is an account of a journey undertaken, much of it on foot, in 1608 through France, Italy, Germany, and other European countries. Coryat conceived of the 1,975-mile (3,175 km) voyage to Venice and back in order to write the subsequent travelogue dedicated to Henry, Prince of Wales, at whose court he was regarded as somewhat of a buffoon and jester, rather than the wit and intellectual he considered himself. The extent to which Coryat invited such ridicule in pursuit of patronage and court favour is unclear. The year 1608, when Coryat made his journey, was a period of relative peace in France following the end of both the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598), and the Franco-Spanish War (1595–1598) in northern France. Coryat's anecdotes of how the Spanish took Calais in 1596, and Amiens with a bag of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coryat's Crudities
' is a travelogue published in 1611 by Thomas Coryat (sometimes also spelled "Coryate" or "Coriat") of Odcombe, an English traveller and mild eccentric. History The book is an account of a journey undertaken, much of it on foot, in 1608 through France, Italy, Germany, and other European countries. Coryat conceived of the 1,975-mile (3,175 km) voyage to Venice and back in order to write the subsequent travelogue dedicated to Henry, Prince of Wales, at whose court he was regarded as somewhat of a buffoon and jester, rather than the wit and intellectual he considered himself. The extent to which Coryat invited such ridicule in pursuit of patronage and court favour is unclear. The year 1608, when Coryat made his journey, was a period of relative peace in France following the end of both the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598), and the Franco-Spanish War (1595–1598) in northern France. Coryat's anecdotes of how the Spanish took Calais in 1596, and Amiens with a bag of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renaissance Humanism
Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teachers and students of the humanities, known as the , which included grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy. It was not until the 19th century that this began to be called ''humanism'' instead of the original ''humanities'', and later by the retronym ''Renaissance humanism'' to distinguish it from later humanist developments. During the Renaissance period most humanists were Christians, so their concern was to "purify and renew Christianity", not to do away with it. Their vision was to return ''ad fontes'' ("to the sources") to the simplicity of the New Testament, bypassing the complexities of medieval theology. Under the influence and inspiration of the classics, humanists developed a new rhetoric and new learning. Some scho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Literary Nonsense
Literary nonsense (or nonsense literature) is a broad categorization of literature that balances elements that make sense with some that do not, with the effect of subverting language conventions or logical reasoning. Even though the most well-known form of literary nonsense is nonsense verse, the genre is present in many forms of literature. The effect of nonsense is often caused by an excess of meaning, rather than a lack of it. Its humor is derived from its nonsensical nature, rather than wit or the "joke" of a punchline. History Literary nonsense, as recognized since the nineteenth century, comes from a combination of two broad artistic sources. The first and older source is the oral folk tradition, including games, songs, dramas, and rhymes, such as the nursery rhyme ''Hey Diddle Diddle''. The literary figure Mother Goose represents common incarnations of this style of writing. The second, newer source of literary nonsense is in the intellectual absurdities of court p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Sandford (poet)
John Sandford or Sanford (c. 1565 – 1629) was an English clergyman and academic, known as a grammarian of the Romance languages. He was also a New Latin language, neo-Latin poet, and a founder of the tradition of literary nonsense under the pseudonym ''Glareanus Vadianus'', a mocker of Thomas Coryat. Life Son of Richard Sandford, of Chard, Somerset, he was born there about 1565. He entered Balliol College, Oxford, as a commoner about 16 October 1581, and graduated B.A. from Balliol on 17 December 1586, M.A. on 27 May 1595. He was chosen in 1593 chaplain of Magdalen College, Oxford, Magdalen College, but more than once was censured for absenting himself from public worship. Sandford retained the office of chaplain at Magdalen until 1616; but before that date he commenced travelling as chaplain to John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, Sir John Digby. About 1610 Sandford was in Brussels, and on 20 March 1611 they started for Spain, Digby's mission being the Spanish Match. In 1614 Sandfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gibberish
Gibberish, also called jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense. It may include speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords, or language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to outsiders. "Gibberish" is also used as an imprecation to denigrate or tar ideas or opinions the user disagrees with or finds irksome, a rough equivalent of "nonsense", "folderol", or "claptrap". The implication is that the criticized expression or proposition lacks substance or congruence, as opposed to simply being a differing view. The related word ''jibber-jabber'' refers to rapid talk that is difficult to understand. Etymology The etymology of ''gibberish'' is uncertain. The term was first seen in English in the early 16th century. It is generally thought to be an onomatopoeia imitative of speech, similar to the words ''jabber'' (to talk rapidly) and ''gibber'' (to speak inarticulately). It may originate from the word ''jib'', which is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macaronic Language
Macaronic language uses a mixture of languages, particularly bilingual puns or situations in which the languages are otherwise used in the same context (rather than simply discrete segments of a text being in different languages). Hybrid words are effectively "internally macaronic." In spoken language, code-switching is using more than one language or dialect within the same conversation. Macaronic Latin in particular is a jumbled jargon made up of vernacular words given Latin endings or of Latin words mixed with the vernacular in a pastiche (compare dog Latin). The word ''macaronic'' comes from the New Latin ''macaronicus'' which is from the Italian ''maccarone'' ("dumpling," regarded as coarse peasant fare). It is generally derogatory and used when the mixing of languages has a humorous or satirical intent or effect but is sometimes applied to more serious mixed-language literature. History Mixed Latin-vernacular lyrics in Medieval Europe Texts that mixed Latin and vernac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cornelis Drebbel
Cornelis Jacobszoon Drebbel ( ) (1572 – 7 November 1633) was a Dutch engineer and inventor. He was the builder of the first operational submarine in 1620 and an innovator who contributed to the development of measurement and control systems, optics and chemistry. Biography Cornelis Drebbel was born in Alkmaar, Holland in an Anabaptist family in 1572. After some years at the Latin school in Alkmaar, around 1587, he attended the Academy in Haarlem, also located in North-Holland. Teachers at the Academy were Hendrik Goltzius, engraver, painter, alchemist and humanist, Karel van Mander, painter, writer, humanist and Cornelis Corneliszoon of Haarlem. Drebbel became a skilled engraver on copperplate and also took an interest in alchemy. In 1595 he married Sophia Jansdochter Goltzius, younger sister of Hendrick, and settled at Alkmaar. They had at least six children, of whom four survived. Drebbel worked initially as a painter, engraver and cartographer. But he was in constant need of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perpetual Motion Machine
Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, as it would violate either the first or second law of thermodynamics or both. These laws of thermodynamics apply regardless of the size of the system. For example, the motions and rotations of celestial bodies such as planets may appear perpetual, but are actually subject to many processes that slowly dissipate their kinetic energy, such as solar wind, interstellar medium resistance, gravitational radiation and thermal radiation, so they will not keep moving forever. Thus, machines that extract energy from finite sources will not operate indefinitely, because they are driven by the energy stored in the source, which will eventually be exhausted. A common example is devices powered by ocean currents, whose energy is ultimately derived from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Peacham (born 1578)
Henry Peacham (born 1578, d. in or after 1644) was an English poet and writer, known today primarily for his book, ''The Compleat Gentleman'', first printed in 1622. Biography Son of Henry Peacham the Elder, a clergyman, Peacham was a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1603, at the age of twenty-five the younger Peacham was a schoolmaster at Kimbolton Grammar School. In 1612 he published a book of printed emblems called ''Minerva Britanna'', based on a manuscript which is believed to have been presented to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1610.Elizabeth Hageman, Katherine Conway, ''Resurrecting Elizabeth I in Seventeenth-century England'' (2007), p. 73 Peacham's ''The Compleat Gentleman'' is presented as a guidebook on the arts for young men of good birth. In it, he discusses what writers, poets, composers, philosophers, and artists gentlemen should study in order to become well-educated. Because he mentions a large number of contemporary artistic figures, he is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Roe
Sir Thomas Roe ( 1581 – 6 November 1644) was an English diplomat of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Roe's voyages ranged from Central America to India; as ambassador, he represented England in the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Holy Roman Empire. He sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1644. Roe was an accomplished scholar and a patron of learning. Life Roe was born at Low Leyton near Wanstead in Essex, the son of Sir Robert Rowe of Gloucestershire and Cranford, Middlesex, and his wife Elinor Jermy, daughter of Robert Jermy of Worstead, Norfolk. He matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford, on 6 July 1593, at the age of twelve. In 1597 he entered Middle Temple and became esquire of the body to Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was knighted by James I of England, James I on 23 July 1604, and became friendly with Henry Frederick Stuart, Henry, Prince of Wales, and also with Henry's sister Elizabeth of Bohemia, Elizabeth, afterwar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable architect in England and Wales, Jones was the first person to introduce the classical architecture of Rome and the Italian Renaissance to Britain. He left his mark on London by his design of single buildings, such as the Queen's House which is the first building in England designed in a pure classical style, and the Banqueting House, Whitehall, as well as the layout for Covent Garden square which became a model for future developments in the West End. He made major contributions to stage design by his work as theatrical designer for several dozen masques, most by royal command and many in collaboration with Ben Jonson. Early life and career Beyond the fact that he was born in Smithfield, London, as the son of clothworker Inigo Jones Snr., and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satirical plays ''Every Man in His Humour'' (1598), '' Volpone, or The Fox'' (c. 1606), '' The Alchemist'' (1610) and '' Bartholomew Fair'' (1614) and for his lyric and epigrammatic poetry. "He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I." Jonson was a classically educated, well-read and cultured man of the English Renaissance with an appetite for controversy (personal and political, artistic and intellectual) whose cultural influence was of unparalleled breadth upon the playwrights and the poets of the Jacobean era (1603–1625) and of the Caroline era (1625–1642)."Ben Jonson", ''Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge'', volume 10, p. 388. His ancestor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
