'John Lydgate of Bury' (c.
1370 – c.
1451)
[1] was a
monk and
poet, born in
Lidgate, Suffolk,
England.
Early life and education
He was admitted to the Benedictine monastery of
Bury St. Edmunds at fifteen and became a monk there a year later.
Patronage
Having literary ambitions (he was an admirer of
Geoffrey Chaucer and a friend to his son, Thomas) he sought and obtained patronage for his literary work at the courts of
Henry IV of England,
Henry V of England and
Henry VI of England. His patrons included, amongst many others, the mayor and
aldermen of
London, the chapter of
St. Paul's Cathedral,
Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and Henry V and VI, however his main supporter from
1422 was
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. In
1423 he was made prior of
Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex but soon resigned the office to concentrate on his travels and writing. He was a prolific writer of poems, allegories, fables and romances, yet his most famous works were his longer and more moralistic ''
Troy Book'', ''Siege of Thebes'' and the ''
Fall of Princes''. The ''Troy Book'' was a translation of the Latin prose narrative by
Guido delle Colonne, ''
Historia destructionis Troiae''. Lydgate was also believed to have written ''London Lickpenny,'' a well-known satirical work; however, his authorship of this piece has been heavily discredited. In his later years he lived and probably died at the monastery of Bury St. Edmunds.
Talent
The
Oxford English Dictionary cites Lydgate with the earliest record of using the word "talent" in reference to a gifted state of natural ability.
Quotations
★ "Who lesith his
fredam, in soth, he lesith all."
—an old
proverb Lydgate included in his moral fable ''The Churl and the Bird''
1
References
1. King Death: The Black Death and its aftermath in late-medieval England, , Colin, Platt, UCL Press Limited, 1996,
External links
★
John Lydgate at luminarium.org, including links to online texts
★
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