Linacre, Thomas c.1460-1524
English humanist and physician

Born in Canterbury, he studied at Oxford, was elected Fellow of All Souls in 1484, and went to Italy, where he learned Greek, and took his MD at Padua. Erasmus and Sir Thomas More were both taught Greek by him. Around 1500 Henry VII made him tutor to Prince Arthur. As king's physician to Henry VII and Henry VIII he practised in London. In 1518 he founded the Royal College of Physicians, of which he became the first president. Late in life he took holy orders. Linacre was one of the earliest champions of the 'New Learning'. He translated several of Galen's works into Latin, and wrote grammatical treatises.

Bibliography: Francis Maddison, Margaret Pelling and Charles Webster (eds), Essays on the Life and Work of Thomas Linacre (1977)