Walter Brit (alternatively Brit, Brytte, or Brithus) (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1390), was a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, and the reputed author of several works on astronomy and mathematics, as well as a treatise on surgery. He has also been described as a follower of

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

, and as author of a book, ''De auferendis clero possessionibus''.

Lollard identification issue

In the 17th century, Anthony Wood identified Brit with Walter Brut, a layman of the

diocese of Hereford The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral i ...

, whose trial before Bishop Thomas Trevenant of Hereford in 1391 is related by

John Foxe John Foxe (1516/1517 – 18 April 1587) was an English clergyman, theologian, and historian, notable for his martyrology '' Foxe's Book of Martyrs'', telling of Christian martyrs throughout Western history, but particularly the sufferings of En ...

. Current scholarship regards the matter as still open, however. Foxe prints the articles of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

with which Brut was charged, the speech in which he defended himself, and his ultimate submission of his opinions to the determination of the church. Thirty-seven articles were then drawn up and sent to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

to be confuted. Brut, however, appears to have escaped further molestation.

Attribution of scientific writings

The work most frequently cited as Brit's is the ''Theorica Planetarum'', which bears his name in two manuscripts in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

(Digby, xv. ff. 58 b-92, and Wood, 8 d, f. 93); it has also been claimed for Simon Bredon. Pederson considers it as Brit's. The work in question, which begins with the words: , is further to be distinguished from another treatise with the same title, of which the opening words are , and of which the authorship is shown by the notices collected by Baldassarre Boncompagni ( in ''Della Vita e delle Opere di Gherardo Cremonese e di Gherardo di Sabbionetta'')(trans.) ''Of the Life and the Works of Gerard of Cremona and Gerard de Sabloneta'' to be really due to the younger

Gerard of Cremona Gerard of Cremona (Latin: ''Gerardus Cremonensis''; c. 1114 – 1187) was an Italians, Italian translator of scientific books from Arabic into Latin. He worked in Toledo, Spain, Toledo, Kingdom of Castile and obtained the Arabic books in the libr ...

(Gerardus de Sabloneto) in the thirteenth century. The latter has been repeatedly confounded with the ''Theorica'' indifferently assigned by the bibliographers to Brit and Bredon. Another treatise mentioned by

John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed and ...

as the composition of Brit is the ''Theoremata Planetarum'', which Thomas Tanner cites as that existing in the Digby MS. exc. f. 190 b (now f. 169 b). This manuscript dates from about the year 1300, and the work is by Johannes de Sacrobosco. Finally, the ''Cirurgia Walteri Brit'' named in the ancient table of contents in another Digby MS. (xcviii. f. 1 b) has nothing corresponding to it in the volume itself but a set of English medical receipts whose author is not stated (f. 257).

Notes

External links

The Bodleian Library: Digby manuscripts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brit, Walter Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown English surgeons Fellows of Merton College, Oxford 14th-century English mathematicians 14th-century English astronomers 14th-century English medical doctors 14th-century English writers 14th-century writers in Latin