Richard Hyrde or Hirt (died 1528) was an English humanist scholar, translator and tutor. He was closely associated with the household of

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

, and with the contemporary discussion of

female education Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

. He graduated at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1518, possibly having been supported in his education by More. He worked in the 1520s on the English translation of the Latin work ''De institutione foeminae Christianae'' by

Juan Luis Vives Juan Luis Vives y March (; ; ; ; 6 March 6 May 1540) was a Spaniards, Spanish (Valencian people, Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist who spent most of his adult life in the southern Habsburg Netherlands. His beliefs on the soul, insigh ...

, commissioned by

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...

. Hyrde's translation was printed later (around 1540) as ''The Instruction of a Christen Woman'' . It became a popular

conduct book Conduct books or conduct literature is a genre of books that attempt to educate the reader on social norms and ideals. As a genre, they began in either the High Middle Ages or the Late Middle Ages, although antecedents such as ''The Maxims of P ...

. One aspect of the teaching of Vives was the restriction of women's reading of

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

s. To the list of texts Vives supplied, none in English, Hyrde added others: "

Parthenope Parthenope ( ; ) may refer to: * Parthenope (siren), one of the sirens in Greek mythology People * Parthenope (mythology), Parthenope, in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ancaeus (son of Poseidon), Ancaeus * Frances Parthenope Verney, Parthenope ...

, Genarides, Hippomadon, William and Melyour, Libius and Arthur, Guye, Beuis and others". He also contributed an introduction to the translation ''Treatise upon the Pater Noster'' by

Margaret Roper Margaret Roper (née More; 1505–1544) was an English writer and translator. Roper, the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas More, is considered to have been one of the most learned women in sixteenth-century England. She is celebrated for her filia ...

(More's daughter) of a Latin work ''Precatio Dominica'' of

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

. There he argues for the entitlement of women to a scholarly education. R. W. Chambers, ''Thomas More'' (1963), p. 173. More himself was involved in both of Hyrde's works, revising the Vives translation before it saw print, and dealing with the formal publication permission of his daughter's work via

Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( ; – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal (catholic), cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and ...

Peter Ackroyd Peter Ackroyd (born 5 October 1949) is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William ...

, ''The Life of Thomas More'' (1999), p. 236 and p. 243. R. W. Chambers states that he was a physician, connecting this vocation with the knowledge of Greek Hyrde advocates. In 1528 he was part of a diplomatic mission to

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

, led by

Stephen Gardiner Stephen Gardiner (27 July 1483 – 12 November 1555) was an English Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I. Early life Gardiner was born in Bury St Ed ...

and

Edward Foxe Edward Foxe (c. 1496 – 8 May 1538) was an English churchman, Bishop of Hereford. He played a major role in Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and he assisted in drafting the '' Ten Articles'' of 1536. Early life He was born at ...

(attached, Chambers says, as physician). He died in 1528 in Italy of an infectious disease.

Notes

Further reading