John Lydgate

John Lydgate (1370?-1451?); Monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk , England. He was admitted to the Benedictine monastery of Bury St. Edmunds at fifteen and became a monk there a year later. Well educated, possibly studying at both Oxford University and Cambridge University, and 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 . He also wrote a well-known satirical work, London Lickpenny. In his later years he lived and probably died at the monastery of Bury St. Edmunds.