The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language

by Melvyn Bragg

Renaissance scholars at the two universities founded schools teaching pure and literary Latin. Roger Ascham, Elizabeth I’s tutor, was just one of those Renaissance scholars. Classical texts written by Seneca, Lucan and Ovid, for example, were sourced from the medieval manuscripts into which they had been copied and translated into English. The scholars, or humanists as they came to be known, saw Latin as the language of classical thought, science and philosophy, all of which were gathering interest as the Renaissance rolled through the minds of Europe. It was also the universal language, with which they could communicate with other European scholars. Thomas More wrote his Utopia in Latin in 1517 — it was only translated into English in 1551. Isaac Newton, in 1704, published his Opticks in English. It was translated into Latin in 1706, since Latin remained the language of international debate and controversy. Milton’s usefulness to Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s was greatly to do with his skill in putting forward Cromwell’s arguments in a Latin which would impress his enemies in Europe. It is tempting to think that part of this impetus came from the victory of English in the Bible. Latin was no longer associated with suppression. It was no longer first and most emphatically thought of as the acknowledged word of God. All these scholars were religious; they had to be, to be allowed to study as scholars in the first place. There would have been differing degrees of belief but C...