Thomas Hoby

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Thomas Hoby (1530 - 1566) was an English diplomat and translator.

He was probably born at Leominster in Herefordshire and educated at St John's College, Cambridge. He translated Martin Bucer's Gratulation to the Church of England, and Baldassare Castiglione's Il Cortegiano. The latter translation of The Courtier, entitled The Courtyer of Count Baldessar Castilio, had great popularity and was one of the key books of the English Renaissance. It provided a philosophy of life for the Elizabethan era gentleman. A reading of its pages fitted him for the full assimilation of the elaborate refinements of the new Renaissance society. It furnished his imagination with the symbol of a completely developed individual, an individual who united ethical theory with spontaneity and richness of character.

Hoby was the husband of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, a sister-in-law of Lord Burghley and great friend of Queen Elizabeth I. The two were resident at Bisham Abbey in Berkshire, but Hoby died in Paris during his assignment as an Ambassador to the court of Charles IX of France.

[edit] References

This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.