Send us Fan Mail

How do you prepare a royal princess for the throne? In this episode, we look at the writings of two giants of Reformation humanism: Johannes Sturm and Roger Ascham, and in particular, their correspondence about Ascham's work training the future Queen Elizabeth I in Latin and Greek. Ascham himself variously tutored and served as Latin secretary to Lady Jane Grey, the woman who ordered her execution (Queen Mary), and the woman who replaced Queen Mary (Queen Elizabeth). If you think speaking dead languages is a new-fangled approach to language learning, you might be surprised at what Princess Elizabeth was doing in class.

Richard M. Gamble’s The Great Tradition: https://amzn.to/3Q4lRnO

Roger Ascham's The Scholemaster: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1844

Roger Ascham's Toxophilus: https://www.archerylibrary.com/books/toxophilus/

New Humanists episode on Ælfric's Colloquy: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-first-english-conversation-feat-dr-colin-gorrie/id1570296135?i=1000581249310

C. P. Wormald's "The Uses of Literacy in Anglo-Saxon England and Its Neighbours": https://www.jstor.org/stable/3679189

C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780060652944

Herodotus' Histories: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781400031146

Shakespeare's The Tempest: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780743482837

New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/

Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.

Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Support the show