Ascham, Roger (ăs`kəm), 1515–68, English humanist and scholar, b. Yorkshire. Ascham was a major intellectual figure of the early Tudor period. His Toxophilus (1545), an essay on archery, proved him a master of English prose; in it he urged the importance of physical recreation for students and scholars. The essay won him the favor of Henry VIII, and Ascham became tutor (1548–50) to Princess Elizabeth. He seems to have been largely responsible for her love of the classics and her proficiency in Greek. As a member of a diplomatic mission Ascham spent several years on the Continent, in contact with other scholars, and in 1553 was appointed Latin secretary to Queen Mary. He continued as secretary and private tutor to Elizabeth I after Mary's death. The Scholemaster (1570), his treatise on the teaching of Latin, urged the use of the double translation method. Dr. Johnson's life of Ascham (1761), included in many editions of Ascham's collected works, is a classic.

Bibliography

See W. F. Phelps, Roger Ascham and John Sturm (1879); study by L. V. Ryan (1963).

Ascham, Roger

(born 1515, Kirby Wiske, near York, Eng.—died Dec. 30, 1568, London) English humanist, scholar, and writer. He entered Cambridge University at age 14 and studied Greek. He became the future Queen Elizabeth I's tutor in Greek and Latin (1548–50) and continued to serve her after she took the throne. His best-known book is the posthumous The Scholemaster (1570), which deals with the psychology of learning, the education of the whole person, and the ideal moral and intellectual personality that education should mold. He is notable also for his lucid prose style and his promotion of the vernacular.