Grocyn, William

Abstract

William Grocyn was a cleric and a humanist educated in Oxford, where he was elected Divinity Reader at Magdalen College in 1483. Later he held important positions as canon, prebendary, and rector throughout Britain; his most important appointments were to the vicarship of St Lawrence Jewry in London (1496–1517) and to the mastership of All Saints’ College, Maidstone (1506–1519). From 1488 to at least 1490, he was in Italy along with Thomas Linacre, studying Greek and Latin in Florence under Angelo Poliziano and Demetrius Chalcondylas. He was in contact with Aldus Manutius, as it is testified by a letter addressed to the publisher, which is Grocyn’s only extant work. His known associates include Desiderius Erasmus Roterdamus, John Colet, and Thomas More. Grocyn owned a remarkable library of manuscripts and printed books: it contained works by ancient Latin and Greek authors, contemporary authors, and Italian humanists. Grocyn’s Greek collection, mostly in the manuscript form and partly of Italian provenance, was the best in Britain: the scribes of some of his codices were Joannes Serbopoulos, Emanuel of Constantinople, Joannes Thessalus Scutariota, and Petros Hypsilas. Most of these books are now kept at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.