Udall
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
NICHOLAS, an English author; born in Hampshire, England, in IOLAS, 1505 or 1506; was educated at Oxford; chose the profession of a schoolmaster; and in 1534 passed M. A. and obtained the post of headmaster of Eton, which he held till 1541, when he was He afterward resigned the vicarship of dismissed. Braintree in Essex, which he had enjoyed along with his mastership; but continued both to teach and preach, and in 1551 was admitted a prebendary of Windsor, and in 1554-1555 appointed headmaster of Westminster school. His comedy of "Ralph Roister Doister," which was probably written for the Eton boys, is a perfectly harmless piece, with a fair amount of vivacity in its execиtion and ingenuity in its plot, the hero being led into various awkward situations in the course of his suit to Dame Constance, partly by his own stupidity, and partly by the malicious suggestions of Mathew Merrygreek. The play is in rhyme, and has 13 dramatis personæ. Hallam notices that the choice of a citygallant for "hero" probably determined in some measure the prevalent subject of English comedy all through the Elizabethan age. The exact date of its composition has not been determined; it is quoted in the 3d edition of Sir Thomas Wilson's "Rule of Reason" (1533). There is but one copy of his comedy in existence, having no title page; but it was probably printed in 1566. It is now in the library of Eton College. This is accepted as the first English comedy. Other productions of Udall's pen: "Flowers are for Latin Speakynge" (portions of Terence done into English, 1433), translations of parts of Erasmus' paraphrase of the New Testament, and of Peter Martyr's tract on the Eucharist, and a few Latin letters and poems. He died in Windsor in 1556.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The facts of Udall's career stand, but the silences have been filled in. Collier's says only that he was "dismissed" from Eton in 1541; the surviving Privy Council record shows he was removed after the theft of college plate and his own admission of sexual offences with pupils, a matter Victorian and Edwardian editors passed over and which modern biographers treat openly. "Ralph Roister Doister," called here "a perfectly harmless piece" probably written for the Eton boys, is now usually dated to about 1552 and linked to his later schoolmastering rather than to Eton, and the morality-play "Respublica" (1553) is widely, though not certainly, assigned to him. The single copy without a title page is still at Eton College, and the play still holds its place in teaching as the earliest surviving full English comedy ""though scholars now hedge that claim rather than assert it.
Written for this edition, 2026.