Robert Whittington (also spelt Wittinton, Whitynton, or Whitinton; c. 1480 – c. 1553) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

grammarian Grammarian may refer to: * Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE * Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language * Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...

. He was a pupil at

Magdalen College School, Oxford Magdalen College School (MCS) is a private day school in the British public school tradition located in Oxford, England, for boys aged seven to eighteen and for girls in the sixth form (i.e. ages sixteen to eighteen). It was founded by Willia ...

, where he probably studied under the grammarian John Stanbridge. In 1513 he was admitted as a BA at Oxford, having studied rhetoric for 14 years, and taught it for 12 years. About 1519 he presented

Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( ; – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling f ...

with a verse and a prose treatise, with a dedication requesting patronage. In the same year he published ''Libellus epigrammaton'', an anthology of poems addressed to Wolsey,

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

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 John Skelton. His ''Vulgaria'', published in 1520, pays compliments to the late king Henry VII, to

Thomas Linacre Thomas Linacre or Lynaker ( ; 20 October 1524) was an English humanist scholar, Catholic priest, and physician, after whom Linacre College, Oxford, and Linacre House, a boys' boarding house at The King's School, Canterbury, were named. Linacre ...

, and to More, who was here first described as "a man for all seasons". Whittington's efforts succeeded by 1523, at the latest, when he enjoyed the favour of Henry VIII. Whittington was most famous as the author of elementary Latin school books, including ''De nominum generibus'' (1511), ''Declinationes nominum'' (c. 1511), ''De heteroclitis nominibus'' (c. 1511), ''Syntaxis'' (second edition, 1512), ''De syllabarum quantitate'' (second edition, c. 1512), ''De octo partibus orationis'' (c. 1514), ''De synonymis'' together with ''De magistratibus veterum Romanorum'' (1515), ''Vulgaria'' (English and Latin sentences for translation, 1520), and ''Verborum preterita et supina'' (1521). He also edited John Stanbridge's ''Accidence'' (c. 1515). Each dealt with a different aspect of grammar, and could be bought individually and cheaply. They were widely sold and frequently republished up to the early 1530s. Whittington's grammars continued to be printed during the 1520s, usually by

Wynkyn de Worde Wynkyn de Worde (; died , London) was a printer and publisher in London known for his work with William Caxton, and is recognised as the first to popularise the products of the printing press in England. Name Wynkyn de Worde was a German immi ...

but briefly also by

Richard Pynson Richard Pynson (c. 1449 – c. 1529) was one of the first printers of English books. Born in Normandy, he moved to London, where he became one of the leading printers of the generation following William Caxton. His books were printed to a high s ...

. About 1529, however, Whittington seems to have moved his custom to Peter Treveris, who issued his works for the next two years. By 1533 Whittington had returned to Worde. Following Worde's death in 1534 he turned his attention to translation from Latin into English. He brought out versions 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 ...

's '' De civilitate morum puerilium'' (1532), three works by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

(''De officiis'', 1534; ''Paradoxa'', c. 1534; and ''De senectute'', c. 1535), and three allegedly by Seneca (''The Forme and Rule of Honest Lyvynge'', 1546; ''The Myrrour or Glasse of Maners'', 1547; and ''De remediis fortuitorum'', 1547), the ''Forme and Myrrour'' actually being the work of

Martin of Braga Saint Martin of Braga (in Latin ''Martinus Bracarensis'', in Portuguese, known as ''Martinho de Dume'' 520–580 AD), also known as Saint Martin of Dumio, was an archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal), a missiona ...

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