#thomas elyot

[margaritiques]

Margaret, Lady Elyot by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1535.

"She is shown bust length, facing three-quarters to the right. She wears a gable hood with one lappet raised; the rest of her dress is only lightly sketched. The drawing is largely in black and coloured chalks, with additions of black ink and white heightening in herface."

"Margaret à Barrow married Thomas Elyot in 1520. With her husband, she was part of the learned circle around Thomas More in the 1520s. This is a companion to Holbein's portrait of Sir Thomas (RCIN 912203). The unusual orientation of the sitters, with Margaret on the left (traditionally the placement for the male of a pair), has been remarked on and Susan Foister has proposed (in Holbein and England, 2004, p. 227) that Lady Elyot's portrait was made first, before Sir Thomas's was added to form a pair."

— Royal Collection Trust.

[mostly-history]

Other writers such as Sir Thomas Elyot and George Pettie were in favour of borrowing words from other languages.  Elyot compiled the first published Latin-English dictionary and believed that Latin was part of 'the necessary augmentation of our language'.  George Pettie, a writer of romances, is believed to have travelled extensively abroad and to have developed a love of foreign tongues.  A Petite Pallace of Pettie His Pleasure (1576) is littered with borrowed and anglicized words from other languages and written in a self-consciously overblown and high-brow style.  Pettie argued that if all inkhorn terms were removed from the English language, it would eventually become impossible to describe anything adequately: 'for what word can be more plain than this word plain'. Eventually, a compromise of sorts was made, with certain words (often those relating to science and medicine) being 'allowed' into the lexicon; words such a 'skeleton', 'thermometer', 'atmosphere' and 'system'.  Other, often more colourful words, were popular only for a short time and fell into disuse or were replaced with different ters meaning the same thing.  The words 'demit' (to turn someone away) for example, 'anacephalize' (to repeat an argument or point of view), 'deruncinate' (to weed something out), and 'eximious' (excellent).

“The Story of English: How an Obscure Dialect Became the World's Most-Spoken Language”

[tudorsweekly]

Tudor Thomases (Part One)

Tudor Thomases (Part One)

In 16th century England, or Tudor court to be exact, there are both male and female names that we hear over and over. We’ve been fortunate enough to have a guest writer contribute to our page with Tudor Marys and Katherines. Next to those two there should also be Elizabeths, Anne’s and Margarets as well. But today we are looking at the male version of those names. While the name Henry was very…

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