See also Martini, Simone
Further Reading
Balberini, Chiara. “Problemi di Miniatura del Trecento a Pisa:
Gli Antifonari di San Francesco.” Critica d’Arte, 63(7), 2000,
pp. 44–60.
Bellosi, Luciano. Buffalmacco e il Trionfo della Morte. Turin:
Einaudi, 1974.
——. “Sur Francesco Traini.” Revue de l’Art, 92, 1991, pp.
9–19.
Carli, Enzo. Pittura pisana del Trecento, Vol. 1. Milan: A. Mar-
tello, 1959.
——. La pittura a Pisa dalle origini alla “Bella Maniera ” Pisa:
Pacini Editore, 1994.
Dalli Regoli, Gigetta. Miniatura pisana del Trecento. Venice:
N. Pozza, 1963.
Meiss, Millard. Francesco Traini, ed. Hayden B. J. Maginnis.
Washington, D.C.: Decatur House, 1983.
Polzer, Joseph. “Observations on Known Paintings and a New
Altarpiece by Francesco Traini.” Pantheon, 29, 1971, pp.
379–389.
Testi Cristiani, Maria. “Francesco Traini, i ‘Chompagni’ di
Simone Martini a Pisa e la Madonna ‘Linsky’ con Bambino,
Santi, e Storiette del Metropolitan Museum.” Critica d’Arte,
64(9), 2001, pp. 21–45.
Flavio Boggi
TREVISA, JOHN (early 1340s?–1402)
Translator of informational works. Born probably in
Cornwall, Trevisa entered Exeter College, Oxford, in
1362 and remained there until 1365. In 1369 he entered
Queen’s College and subsequently became a fellow. He
was ordained priest in 1370. Trevisa was expelled from
Queen’s in 1378 for alleged misuse of college property
but appears to have returned there for lengthy periods in
1383–86 and 1394–96. It was possibly after his expul-
sion from Queen’s that he became vicar of Berkeley in
Gloucestershire and chaplain to Thomas, Lord Berkeley.
He was also a nonresident canon of Westbury-on-Trym,
near Bristol.
Trevisa’s major undertakings were his translations
of several lengthy Latin works. The fi rst that can be
securely dated is his translation of Ranulf Higden’s
Polychronicon, a universal history, which he completed
in 1387. His translation of the De proprietatibus rerum,
the medieval encyclopedia of Bartholomaeus Anglicus,
was fi nished in 1398. He produced this translation, as
well as one of Giles of Rome’s De regimine principum,
a treatise on kingship, under the patronage of Thomas,
Lord Berkeley. Trevisa also translated several shorter
works: the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, Richard
FitzRalph’s antimendicant sermon Defensio curato-
rum, and William Ockham’s Dialogus inter militem et
clericum. His only original works seem to be two brief
essays on translation that preface some manuscripts of
his Polychronicon translation: the “Dialogue between
a Lord and a Clerk on Translation” and the “Epistle...
Unto Lord Thomas of Barkley upon the Translation of
Polychronicon....”
Trevisa’s achievement as a translator has several im-
portant aspects. Most obviously, he made accessible to
an English audience such widely popular Latin informa-
tional works as the Polychronicon and De proprietatibus
rerum. The infl uence of these translations was consider-
able. Both appear to have circulated widely (given their
massive sizes) in manuscript and were printed by Caxton
and de Worde, respectively, in the late 15th century. The
Polychronicon was reprinted in the 16th century, while
the De proprietatibus achieved an extended infl uence
through Thomas East’s revised edition in 1582 of Bat-
man vppon Bartholome, a commentary on the work by
Stephen Batman. In the latter form it was still being read
and used in the late 17th century.
Trevisa also had a valuable role as neologizer. His
translations expanded the lexical range of English,
particularly in his use of new scientifi c and technical ter-
minology. His fl uent and generally accurate renderings
of Latin prose demonstrated the possibilities of English
prose as an instructional medium, thereby extending his
infl uence into form as well as content.
Trevisa has also been credited with a role in the
translation of the Wycliffi te Bible. He was certainly
at Oxford at the same time as Wyclif and Nicholas
Hereford. However, his involvement in the Wycliffi te
translation remains uncertain, although there is at least
some circumstantial evidence for it. His authorship has
also been urged for a translation of Vegetius’s De re
militari into ME, but this seems unlikely.
See also Caxton, William; Ockham, William of;
Wyclif, JohnFurther ReadingPrimary Sources
Babington, Churchill, and J.R. Lumby, eds. Polychronicon
Ranulphi Higden, 9 vols. Rolls Series. London: Longmans,
1865–86.
Perry, Aaron J., ed. Dialogus inter Militem et Clericum; Richard
FitzRalph’s Sermon: “Defensio Curatorum”; and Methodius:
“Þe Bygynnyng of þe Wo r l d and þe Ende of Worldes”. EETS
o.s. 167. London: Humphrey Milford, 1925.
Seymour, M.C., gen. ed. On the Properties of Things: John
Trevisa’s Translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus De propri-
etatibus rerum. 3 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1975–88.
Waldron, Ronald A., ed. “Trevisa’s Original Prefaces on Trans-
lation: A Critical Edition.” In Medieval English Studies
Presented to George Kane, ed. Edward Donald Kennedy et
al. Woodbridge: Brewer, 1988, pp. 285–99.
Secondary Sources
New CBEL 1:467-68, 806.
Manual 8:2656–61, 2866–77.
Edwards, A.S.G. “John Trevisa.” In Middle English Prose: ATRAINI, FRANCESCO