Mary Basset ( – 20 March 1572; née Roper; also Clarke) was a translator of works into the English language. Basset is cited as the only woman during the reign of Mary Tudor to have her work appear in print. As the daughter of

Margaret Roper Margaret Roper (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 filial piety and sch ...

and

William Roper William Roper ( – 4 January 1578) was an English lawyer and member of Parliament. The son of a Kentish gentleman, he married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas More. He wrote a highly regarded biography of his father-in-law. Life William Roper ...

and the granddaughter of Sir Thomas More, she had an outstanding education; her tutors included John Christopherson. She married first Stephen Clarke, but no children came of this union; after his death, she married James Basset, by June 1556. Between 1544 and 1553, Mary produced the first English translation of the ''

Ecclesiastical History __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...

'' by

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

, now surviving in a single manuscript in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

, Harley MS 1860, along with her translation of its first book into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. Her work is based on the edition published by

Robert Estienne The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

in 1544; her learnedness is reflected in her comments on the text's inaccuracies. In 1560 Mary also translated More's ''De tristitia Christi'' into English. Nicholas Harpsfield wrote that she had also translated the '' History of Socrates'', Theodoretus,

Sozomenus Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ( grc-gre, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός; la, Sozomenus; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church. Family and home He was born arou ...

, and Evagrius, but no copies of these are known. Her translations are characterized by the same engagement in contemporary political and ideological debates as can be seen in More and Margaret Roper. Mary's will of 1566 is strongly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, and mentions several objects that had belonged to More. She died at London on 20 March 1572, not yet 50.Mary Basset
at the Orlando Project, Cambridge University Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basset, Mary 1520s births 1572 deaths 16th-century English writers 16th-century English women writers

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Women writers (early modern)