Sir John Cheke and the Cambridge Connection in Tudor England
19-20 July 2014, St John’s College, Cambridge
2014 marks the quincentenary of the birth of one of the most significant, but neglected, scholars of Renaissance England, Sir John Cheke (1514-57), fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge, and the first Regius Professor of Greek in the University. This conference offers a focussed look at Cheke and the important group of colleagues who first coalesced around him at Cambridge, including Thomas Smith, William Cecil, Roger Ascham, Thomas Wilson and others. We will examine the Cambridge group as classical humanists, political thinkers and actors, religious reformers, shapers of the English language and literature, and promoters of mathematical and scientific studies, and in relation to socioeconomic changes and gender attitudes in their times.
An exhibit of manuscripts and books related to Cheke and the Cambridge Connection will be on view in the St John’s College Library concurrently with the conference. There will also be a tour of Cheke’s St John’s will be led by Dr Mark Nicholls, Fellow and Librarian of the College.
The conference fee is £30, with a reduced rate of £15 for PhD students and the unwaged. For any questions, please contact John McDiarmid or Fred Schurink.
To book a place at the conference, please click here.
