John Case was an Aristotelian philosopher who was active in Oxford during the reign of Elizabeth I. The author of several commentaries, including a popular introduction to logic, Case was the first Englishman to publish extensively on Aristotelian philosophy. Working within an established tradition, he was not an original thinker. But his writings and his circle are important for the insight they afford into late-Tudor intellectual life.

Case was born in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, sometime between 1539 and 1546. Nothing is known for certain about his parents or his early education. After a period as a chorister at New College and then at Christ Church in Oxford, he became a scholar at St. John's College, Oxford, in 1564. He received his B.A. in 1568 and was elected fellow of St. John's the same year. He received his M.A. in 1572. Two years later Case resigned his fellowship in order to marry Elizabeth...