| Thomas Coryat |
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He was born in Somerset , educated at Westminster 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 walking tour of Europe, 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 for 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. REFERENCE
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