Eustace Mandeville Wetenhall Tillyard (19 May 1889 – 24 May 1962) was an English classical and literary scholar who was

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

from 1945 to 1959.

Biography

Tillyard was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. His father Alfred Isaac Tillyard had served as

mayor of Cambridge The office of the mayor of Cambridge was created following the granting of a charter by King John in 1207 to the town of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. The charter gave the burgesses of the town the right to elect their own mayors in place o ...

, and his mother Catharine Sarah née Wetenhall was a proponent of higher education for women. The author and mystic Aelfrida Tillyard (1883–1959) was an older sister. He was educated at

the Perse School The Perse School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Day school, day and, in the case of the Perse, a former boarding school) in Cambridge, England. Founded i ...

and Jesus College. He was interested in the classics and archaeology, and in 1911 went to Athens to study at the British School of Archaeology. His knowledge of Greek helped him during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, where he served with the British Expeditionary Force (1915–1916), the Salonika Force (1916–1919) and then as liaison officer with the Greek headquarters (1918–1919). He was made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1919 Birthday Honours The 1919 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

"for services rendered in connection with military operations in the Balkans". He also received the War Cross from Greece. Following the war, he returned to Cambridge and devoted himself to the newly established English School. According to ''The Times'': "Although not one of the Founding Fathers of the School, he rapidly became one of its central figures and its leading statesman—a position which, in spite of many changes in organization and personnel, he never really lost until his retirement from his University Lectureship in 1954. His influence was not mainly due to his very considerable gifts as a University politician; it was essentially the result of his whole-hearted devotion to the cause of English. Others may have won more widespread celebrity as scholars or as critics, but everyone in Cambridge knew that Tillyard, because of his selfless and unremitting thought and care for the good of the School, was its chief mainstay." Tillyard was a Fellow in English (1926–1959) at Jesus College, later becoming

(1945–1959). He is known mainly for his book ''The Elizabethan World Picture'' (1943), as background to

Elizabethan literature Elizabethan literature refers to bodies of work produced during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and is one of the most splendid ages of English literature. In addition to drama and the theatre, it saw a flowering of poetry, with n ...

, particularly

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, and for his works on

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

. He is credited with having put forward the view that Elizabethan literature is not representative of "a brief period of

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

between two outbreaks of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

" (viz., the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

and the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

), but rather representative of a

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

bond in England that allowed for a continuation of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

view of

World Order In international relations, international order refers to patterned or structured relationships between actors on the international level. Definition David A. Lake, David Lake, Lisa Martin (political scientist), Lisa Martin and Thomas Risse d ...

. His historical scholarship and contextual analysis informed the study of 16th-century literature and became the foundation for much of what Cambridge undergraduates would study in preparation for their examinations.

Personal life

In 1919, Tillyard married Phyllis Mudie Cooke, a classical archaeologist. They had one son and two daughters, Angela and Veronica, who died in 2017 and 2019, respectively. He died in

, aged 73, and is buried in Histon Road Cemetery, Cambridge.

Works

*''The Athenian Empire and the Great Illusion'' (1914) *''The Hope Vases: A Catalogue and a Discussion of the Hope Collection of Greek Vases with an Introduction on the History of the Collection and on Late Attic and South Italian Vases'' (1923) *''Lamb's Criticism. A Selection from the Literary Criticism of Charles Lamb'' (1923) *''Milton: Private Correspondence and Academic Exercises'' (1932) with Phyllis B. Tillyard *''The Poetry of Sir Thomas Wyatt: A Selection and a Study'' (1929) *''Shakespeare's Last Plays'' (1938) *'' The Personal Heresy: A Controversy'' with

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

(1939) *''The Elizabethan World Picture'' (Chatto & Windus 1943, Penguin 1963) *''Shakespeare's History Plays'' (1944) *''Milton'' (1946) *''The Miltonic Setting: Past and Present'' (1947) *''Poetry and Its Background: Illustrated by Five Poems 1470–1870'' (1948) *''Shakespeare's Problem Plays'' (1949) *''Studies in Milton'' (1951) *''The English Renaissance, Fact or Fiction?'' (1952) *''The English Epic and Its Background'' (1954) *''The Metaphysicals and Milton'' (1956) *''The Nature of Comedy and Shakespeare'' (1958) *''The Epic Strain in the English Novel'' (1958) *''Poetry Direct and Oblique'' (1959) *''The Muse Unchained: An Intimate Account of the Revolution in English Studies at Cambridge'' (1958) *''Myth and the English Mind'' (originally ''Some Mythical Elements in English Literature'') The Clark Lectures (1959–60) *''Essays Literary & Educational'' (1962) *''Shakespeare's Early Comedies'' (1965) *''Comus & Some Shorter Poems of Milton'' with Phyllis B. Tillyard (1967)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tillyard, Eustace M. W. 1889 births 1962 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War I English classical scholars English literary critics Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge Masters of Jesus College, Cambridge Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Biography

Personal life

Works

See also

References

External links