Sign of its times: Lord Morley’s translation of Petrarch’s Triumphi

Henry Parker, eighth Baron Morley (1476-1556), can be seen as a perfectly average exponent of the English aristocracy during the dangerous period which encompassed the reigns of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. Educated at Oxford, moderately versed in the arts of diplomacy and literature, he navigated the troubled waters of Tudor politics by steering a middle course in all matters, and by cultivating relationships with influential figures. He probably remained a Catholic, but accepted the doctrine of royal supremacy. He sent manuscripts of his translations to Henry VIII, but also to Princess Mary and Thomas Cromwell. One of his most notable accomplishments was the first complete English translation of Petrarch’s Triumphi. This version, just like its author, is not outstanding in any conventional sense of the term, but it is a perfect summary of contemporary poetic tendencies. Morley was sufficiently aware of style to ask himself questions about metre – but not so much that he tried to create an isometric form. He did not feel free to change or collate at will – but neither did he think himself obliged to reproduce the source painstakingly. Metrically, he was suspended between the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries. For all these reasons, it was perhaps inevitable that Morley’s Triumphi should be judged harshly by literary historians. This chapter, written from the perspective of diachronic Translation Studies, proposes to view the work as an important illustration of developments in literature, verse and translation during the mid-Tudor period.