Thomas Coryat
Thomas Coryat (also
Coryate) (c.
1577–
1617) was an
English traveller and writer of the late
Elizabethan and early
Jacobean age. He is principally remembered for two volumes of writings he left regarding his travels, often on foot, through Europe and parts of Asia. In addition, he is often credited with introducing the table
fork to England.
He was born in
Somerset, educated at
Winchester school and
Oxford, and later was employed by
Prince Henry, eldest son of
James I as a sort of "court jester". In
1608 he undertook a tour of Europe, somewhat less than half of which he walked, and published his memoirs of the events in a volume entitled
Coryat's Crudities hastily gobbled up in Five Months Travels in France, Italy, &c (1611). This volume gives a vivid picture of life in Europe during the time; it is particularly important to music historians for giving extraordinary details of the activities of the
Venetian School, one of the most famous and progressive contemporary musical movements in Europe, including an elaborate description of the festivities at the church of San Rocco in
Venice, with
polychoral and instrumental music by
Giovanni Gabrieli,
Bartolomeo Barbarino, and others.
Later in 1611 he published a second volume of travel writings, this one entitled
Coryats Crambe, or his Coleworte twice Sodden.Ever restless, he set out once again in
1612, this time on a journey that would ultimately lead to Asia, visiting
Greece, the eastern
Mediterranean area,
Persia, and eventually
India. From
Agra and elsewhere he sent letters describing his experiences. He died, while traveling, in
Surat in
1617.
Coryat's writings were hugely popular at the time. His accounts of inscriptions, many of which are now lost, were valuable; and his accounts of Italian customs and manners—including the use of the table fork—were influential in England at a time when other aspects of Italian culture, such as the
madrigal, had already been in vogue for more than twenty years.
Coryat is considered by many to have been the first Briton to do the
Grand Tour of Europe; a practice which became a mainstay of the education of British upper class men in the 18th century.
The Long Strider : How Thomas Coryate Walked From England to India in the Year 1613/
Dom Moraes and Sarayu Srivatsa. New Delhi, Penguin, ISBN 0-67-004975-1.
