William Horman facts for kids

William Horman (born around 1440 – died April 1535) was an important headmaster in England during the early Tudor period. He led schools like Eton and Winchester College. He is famous for his Latin grammar book called the Vulgaria. This book was a bit unusual because it first showed examples of English sentences translated into Latin. Then, it explained the grammar rules. Horman believed that you couldn't truly understand grammar without also understanding music.

William Horman's Life

Horman was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, around 1440. He became a student at Wykeham's college in Winchester in 1468. Some people think he studied at the University of Cambridge. However, in 1477, he became a fellow (a senior member) at New College, Oxford. This was the same year that William Caxton printed his first book in England.

Horman earned a Masters of Arts degree. In 1485, he became the headmaster of Eton. He left Eton in 1494. From 1495 to 1501, he was the headmaster of Winchester. At that time, the job at Winchester was more respected and paid better. Later, Horman returned to Eton as a fellow and vice-provost. Records show that both Greek and Latin were taught there. He stayed at Eton until he died.

In 1519, when he was almost 80 years old, Horman published his Latin textbook, the Vulgaria. In the book's introduction, he said he wrote it "many years before" when he was a schoolmaster. On June 28, 1519, he made a deal with Richard Pynson to print 800 copies of his Latin texts. The book had 35 chapters. This contract is one of the oldest surviving agreements of its kind.

Horman became involved in the Grammarians' War. This was a big argument that started when Robert Whittington criticized Horman's new teaching method. Whittington was a leading textbook author in England. He preferred the old way of teaching grammar. This method involved memorizing grammar rules first, then moving on to examples. Horman, in some ways, was more traditional than Whittington. Horman wanted to use "pure" Ciceronian Latin, like the ancient Romans. Whittington was more practical and used common Medieval Latin words.

William Horman died in April 1535. He was in his nineties, which was a very old age for that time.

Horman's Famous Book: The Vulgaria

The Vulgaria is the most important of Horman's books that we still have today. It was a Latin textbook based on humanist ideas. It was published in 1519. The book was dedicated to William Atwater, who was the Bishop of Lincoln. The beginning of the book included poems by William Lilye and Robert Aldrich. Aldrich was the master at Eton from 1515 to 1521.

The name Vulgaria comes from the Latin word for "common things." In this case, it meant "everyday sayings." The book is a collection of English sentences followed by their Latin translations. It covers many topics. These include school, good manners, how children were raised, religion, and nature. This textbook was not completely different from older Latin grammar books. Its main difference was how it was organized. It was arranged by subject instead of by grammar rules. This idea followed the principles set out by Erasmus.

The Vulgaria used ideas from many different sources. For example, it included the saying, "It does no good for all truth to be told nor all wrong imputed." This came from the Old English Durham Proverbs. Another example of a proverb to translate was "Somtyme of a myshappe cometh a good turne" (Sometimes a good thing comes from a bad event). The famous saying "necessity is the mother of invention" might have appeared for the first time in English in this book. It was translated as "Mater artium necessitas."

Other sayings in the book included advice like not to "offereth a candell to the deuyll" (don't help bad things). It also reminded readers that "many a ragged colt proued to a good horse" (many a rough-looking young person turns out well). Other phrases were "it is better a chylde unborne than untaught" (it's better for a child not to be born than to be uneducated). Also, "manners maketh man" and "one scabbed shepe marreth a hole flocke" (one bad person can spoil a whole group). The phrase "That the whiche muste be wyll be" is similar to the Spanish "Que Sera, Sera" (Whatever will be, will be).

The book also gave practical advice. For example, "At a soden shyfte leere [empty] barellis, tyed together, with boardis above, make passage over a streme." This means that empty barrels tied together with boards can make a quick bridge over a stream. He also said that garden paths covered with vines "do great pleasure with the shadow in parchynge heat, and clusters of grapis maketh a pleasant walkynge alley." This means vine-covered paths offer nice shade on hot days.

Glimpses into History

The Vulgaria is interesting because it shows us what life was like back then. For example, it is the first book to mention "ceruse." This was a mix of white lead and vinegar that rich women used to make their skin look whiter. The book also explains blotting paper: "Blottynge papyr serveth to drye weete wryttynge, lest there be made blottis or blurris." Children's rattles are also mentioned for the first time in this book.

Horman describes how wooden swords, called "wasters," were used for training. He wrote, "Let us pley at buckeler and at waster in feyre game." The sentence "We wyll playe with a ball full of wynde" is one of the earliest mentions of football being played at public schools. Horman believed that sports were important. He said they helped children use up their energy and take a break from studying. He wrote, "There muste be a measure in gyuynge of remedies or sportynge to chyldren, leste they be wery of goynge to theyr boke if they haue none, or waxe slacke if they haue to many." This means children need some playtime so they don't get tired of studying, but not too much so they don't get lazy.

Other Writings

Horman's book Antibossicon G. Hormani ad G. Lilium was published in 1521. This book was his answer to people who criticized the Vulgaria. It was a series of letters to and from William Lilye, another grammarian who supported the new teaching methods. Lilye also published an Antibossicum. Both books were printed together as a small booklet. In another work, Apologeticon contra Rob. Whittingtoni Protova tis Angliæ incivilem indoctamque criminationem, Horman closely examined some of Whittington's poems and criticized them strongly. Horman also translated several ancient Greek books and wrote about philosophy and science. However, these other works have not survived.