ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Tudor classroom as a site for the writing or "wrating" which Kat Ashley describes, its scenes of instruction often linked with strenuous efforts to alter a young girl's appearance. It is ironic, that the early modern sons trained by humanist tutors in right living, classical rhetoric, and service to the state often found themselves reporting to Henry VIII's women, early modern wives and daughters who possessed unusual authority, learning, and room to maneuver politically. The Tudor royal classroom was linked at every stage of its development with the fortunes of humanism in England, and this means that English humanism was always inflected by women's teachings, writings, readings, and interpretations. The male scholars in Henry's service were dedicated civil servants with international reputations, deep religious commitments, and lofty ambitions, but these men also appear remarkably opinionated about what should women read when they should marry, and what they should wear.
