Richard Bentley

Richard Bentley
Born	27 January 1662 Oulton, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Died	14 July 1742 (aged 80) Cambridge
Nationality	English
Fields	classical scholar, critic, theologian
Alma mater	St John's College, Cambridge
Notable students	James Jurin Roger Cotes
Known for	Dissertation on the Letters of Phalaris (1699)

Richard Bentley (/ˈbɛntli/; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Bentley was the first Englishman to be ranked with the great heroes of classical learning and was known for his literary and textual criticism. Called the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is credited with the creation of the English school of Hellenism, and introduced the first competitive written examinations in a Western university.

Bentley was born at Oulton near Rothwell, Leeds, West Yorkshire, in northern England. His father was Thomas Bentley of Oulton. His grandfather, Captain James Bentley, had suffered for the Royalist cause following the English Civil War, leaving the family in reduced circumstances. Bentley's mother, the daughter of a stonemason, had some education, and was able to give her son his first lessons in Latin.

After attending grammar school in Wakefield, Bentley was an undergraduate at St John's College, Cambridge, in 1676. He afterwards obtained a scholarship and took the degree of B.A. in 1680 (M.A. 1683).

He never became a Fellow, but was appointed to be the headmaster of Spalding Grammar School before he was 21. Edward Stillingfleet, dean of St Paul's, hired Bentley as tutor to his son, which enabled the younger man to meet eminent scholars, have access to the best private library in England, and become familiar with Dean Stillingfleet. During his six years as tutor, Bentley also made a comprehensive study of Greek and Latin writers, storing up knowledge which he used later.

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