ELYOT, THOMAS

(ca. 1490-1546)

   English author and diplomat, a major figure in English cultural life during the reign of Henry VIII. Elyot was educated in law at the Inns of Court and won the patronage of Henry's principal government minister, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. About 1523 he became clerk of the royal council, and in 1530 he was knighted. His most famous work, The Boke Named the Governor (1531), articulated the values of a successful ruling class and argued that a good classical education was the best way for a youth to prepare for a life of service to the ruler.