Robert Thornton (scribe)

His efforts as an amateur scribe and manuscript compiler resulted in the preservation of many valuable works of Middle English literature, and have given him an important place in its history.

A number of candidates had been suggested for the scribe's identity, but he is now firmly identified as Robert Thornton, a relatively prosperous provincial landowner of the manor of East Newton, Stonegrave, in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

[1] The armigerous (Argent a bend gules with three escarbuncles or thereon) Thornton family had possessed East Newton Hall since the time of Edward I; Robert's parents are commemorated in the church at Stonegrave.

[3][4] Thornton appears to have started to compile a collection of works for his own and his family's pleasure and instruction; he was essentially a gentleman-amateur in a field usually dominated by professional scriveners and ecclesiastical scribes.

The texts enable us to gain some insight into the way such manuscripts were used, perhaps with members of a family using it on one night to refer to a recipe, and on another to read a romance or even to take part in a dramatic performance.