George Ruggle 1575-1622

George RUGGLE 1575-1622

Biographical Note

Born at Lavenham, Suffolk, son of Thomas Ruggle, clothier. BA Trinity College, Cambridge, 1593, MA 1597; fellow of Clare Hall 1598, where he remained until 1620, when he resigned the fellowship and spent his last years as a tutor to the Palavicino family at Babraham, Cambridgeshire. Ruggle is mainly remembered for his Latin comedy Ignoramus, first performed in Cambridge in 1615, and printed and performed down to the end of the 18^th century.

Books

Ruggle's will has no mention of books, and is mostly concerned with an endowment of £100 to be given to Clare. He gave 284 books to Clare in 1620, at the time of resigning his fellowship - presumably most or all of his library at that time. It has been noted for its collection of French, Spanish and Italian plays.

Characteristic Markings

Ruggle's books in Clare regularly have his inscription and sometimes marginalia.

Sources

• Forbes, M. (ed), Clare College 1326-1926, Cambridge, 1930, vol 2 p.317.
• Money, D. K. "Ruggle, George (bap. 1575, d. 1621/2), Latin playwright." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.