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Nicholas Udall (1504 - December 23, 1556), was an English playwright and schoolmaster, the author of Ralph Roister Doister, regarded by many as the first comedy written in the English language. Udall was born in Hampshire and was educated at Westminster School and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He taught Latin at Eton College, of which he was headmaster from about 1534 until 1541, when he was forced to leave after being convicted under the Buggery Act 1533 for committing sodomy. Although the felony of buggery carried a sentence of capital punishment (by hanging), his sentence was reduced to just under a year in prison. A Protestant, he flourished under Edward VI and survived into the reign of the Catholic Mary I. In 1547, he became Vicar of Braintree, in 1551 of Calborne, Isle of Wight and in 1554 headmaster of Westminster School. He translated part of the Apophthegms of Erasmus, and assisted in the English version of his Paraphrase of the New Testament. Other translations were Peter Martyr's Discourse on the Eucharist and Thomas Gemini's Anatomia. Ralph Roister Doister was probably presented to Queen Mary as an entertainment around 1553, but not published until 1566. Likewise, he is the author of a Latin textbook utilizing material from his comedy as well as Terence. Both works are thought to "display an erotics of the letter that simultaneously registers and occludes the 'open secret' of pederastic desire."
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