John of Trevisa

English translator

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 29, 2026

Quick Summary

John of Trevisa was an English translator active in the late 14th century. He is known for translating two significant Latin works into English. The first was Ranulf Higden's Polychronicon, a universal history, which he completed around 1385-1387. The second was Bartholomaeus Anglicus's encyclopedia, De proprietatibus rerum (On the Properties of Things), translated in 1398. These translations were substantial efforts that contributed to the growth of English prose as a literary medium during a period of linguistic development in England.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

English literature
Secular prose
…beside the massive efforts of John of Trevisa, who translated from Latin both Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon (c. 1385–87), a universal history, and Bartholomaeus Anglicus’s De proprietatibus rerum (1398; “On the Properties of Things”), an encyclopedia. Judging by the number of surviving manuscripts, however, the most widely read secular prose work…
Read More
…beside the massive efforts of John of Trevisa, who translated from Latin both Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon (c. 1385–87), a universal history, and Bartholomaeus Anglicus’s De proprietatibus rerum (1398; “On the Properties of Things”), an encyclopedia. Judging by the number of surviving manuscripts, however, the most widely read secular prose work…
Read More