under Justinian, aimed at a purely Homeric style. Trissino
also wrote Pindaric odes, the first imitation of a Horatian
ode in Italian, and a number of Petrarchan poems.
Though influential examples of the careful imitation
of classical models, Trissino’s drama and poetry are per-
haps of less interest today than his critical and linguistic
works. These include an Epistola to Clement VII (1524)
on spelling reform; the treatises Grammatichetta, Dubbii
grammaticali, and Il castellano (all 1529); and the impor-
tant critical work, La poetica (1529). Trissino also trans-
lated Dante’s De vulgari eloquentia (1529), finding in it
support for his own views in the QUESTIONE DELLA LINGUA
controversy, in which he took a leading role. With CAS-
TIGLIONE, he favored an eclectic solution to the problem of
a national language.
Trithemius, Johann (Johann Heidenberg) (1462–1516)
German reformer and scholar
He took his Latin name from his native town of Tritten-
heim. An associate of John Camerarius at Heidelberg, he
had heard Erasmus lecture at Cologne and was influenced
by the ideas of Christian humanism. In 1485 he became
abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Sponheim and in
1506 abbot of St. James, Wurzburg, where he died.
Trithemius was a leader of the Catholic reformation advo-
cated by Nicholas CUSANUS. He wrote an ecclesiastical his-
tory and planned a history of Germany for which he
collected many documents. Unfortunately his historical
works are unreliable, though the information in Catologus
illustrium virorum Germaniae (1491) is more trustworthy.
His Polygraphia (1518) is a pioneering work on CRYPTOG-
RAPHY.
Troubles, Council of See TRIBUNAL OF BLOOD
Troy, legend of The stories connected with the Trojan
war, as originally related by HOMERand VIRGILand ex-
panded by the pseudo-historical medieval authors known
as Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretensis. The latter two
purported to have been participants in the events leading
to the fall of Troy, and were consequently highly regarded
as sources in the Middle Ages. Hints in them were taken
up by poets such as Benoît de Ste.-Maure, author of the
12th-century French Roman de Troie and the first to treat
at any length the love story of Troilus and Cressida. This
story was later detached from the cycle and treated as an
autonomous narrative by, among others, BOCCACCIO,
CHAUCER, the Scots poet Robert Henryson, and SHAKE-
SPEARE. In the 13th century the Italian Guido delle
Colonne made a Latin prose version of Benoît’s Roman, in
which form the expanded Troy legend circulated widely in
the Renaissance.
The myth that refugees from Troy or their descen-
dants founded kingdoms and dynasties all over Europe
was a potent and attractive one for Renaissance writers
eager to compliment their patrons by attributing to them
a venerable genealogy (see also ARTHUR, LEGEND OF;
CHARLEMAGNE, LEGEND OF). In France, the imaginary
Francus the Trojan had long been claimed as the progeni-
tor of the French race. ARIOSTO traces the lineage of
Bradamante, the fictional ancestress of his ESTEpatrons, to
“The noble blood that came of ancient Troy” (Orlando fu-
rioso III 18, Harington’s translation), and John Lydgate in
his Troy-book (written 1412–20) was one of numerous
English poets to describe a Trojan settlement of Britain
under Brutus, the grandson of Virgil’s hero Aeneas,
founder of Rome. In these stories London is often referred
to as “Troynovant” or “New Troy.”Tudor, house of The family of Welsh origin that ruled
England from 1485 to 1603 and England and Ireland from
1540 to 1603. Owen Tudor (c. 1400–61), who married
(c. 1429) Henry V’s widow, Catherine of Valois, estab-
lished the family’s fortunes. Their son, Edmund Tudor
(c. 1430–56), was created earl of Richmond by his half-
brother Henry VI and married (1455) Margaret BEAUFORT,
a Lancastrian descendant of Edward III. Their son, later
Henry VII, claimed the English throne through his
mother, and seized it after invading England and defeating
the Yorkist king, Richard III, at Bosworth (1485). Henry
VII (reigned 1485–1509) married Elizabeth of York to
unite the Yorkist and Lancastrian branches of the royal
family. Their son, HENRY VIII, broke with Rome and
initiated the English Reformation. During the reign
(1547–53) of his young son EDWARD VI, Protestant
doctrine was established in England, and despite the
attempts of Henry’s elder daughter, MARY I(reigned 1553–
58), to restore Catholicism to England, the Protestant
settlement was concluded by the last Tudor monarch,
ELIZABETH I(reigned 1558–1603). The Elizabethan age
saw the high point of the English Renaissance, which had
begun during Henry VIII’s reign. It included the trium-
phant victory over Catholic Spain and the continuation of
the overseas maritime exploration, which led to the
development of the British empire.Tudor style The prevalent architectural and decorative
style in England in the period 1485–1558. The reign
(1485–1509) of the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII,
brought the stability that enabled his son and grandchil-
dren to preside over a resurgence of interest in the arts (see
also ELIZABETHAN STYLE), and Renaissance influences, al-
though often in misunderstood or debased forms, began
to percolate across the English Channel during the early
16th century. Foreign workmen produced some notable
artefacts in the new style; one example is the Westminster
Abbey tomb of Henry VII himself, commissioned from the
Florentine TORRIGIANOin 1512. The availability of orna-
mental prints, courtesy of the Continental printing44774 4 TTrriitthheemmiiuuss,, JJoohhaannnn