Nicholas Udall

Ralph Roister Doister Nicholas Udall

Nicholas Udall (1504-1556), was a British playwright and schoolmaster, the author of Ralph Roister Doister, generally regarded as the first comedy written in the English language. He taught Latin at Eton College, of which he was headmaster from about 1534 until 1541, when he was forced to leave after being convicted under the Buggery Act 1533 for committing sodomy with two of his pupils. Although the felony of buggery carried a sentence of capital punishment, his sentence was reduced to just under a year in prison. A Protestant, he flourished under Edward VI and survived into the reign of the Catholic Mary I. In 1547, he became Vicar of Braintree, in 1551 of Calborne, Isle of Wight and in 1554 headmaster of Westminster School. He translated part of the Apophthegms by Erasmus, and assisted in the English version of his Paraphrase of the New Testament. Other translations were Pietro Martire's Discourse on the Eucharist and Thomas Gemini's Anatomia. Ralph Roister Doister was probably presented to Queen Mary as an entertainment around 1553, but not published until 1566.