Knowra John Lydgate John Lydgate John Lydgate was an English poet and Benedictine monk active in the early fifteenth century. His major works include The Fall of Princes and The Siege of Thebes .
Middle English : The English language as written and spoken from roughly the late eleventh through the late fifteenth centuries. Lydgate wrote in the later period of this language’s literary history.
The Fall of Princes : A long Middle English poem recounting the downfalls of powerful figures as warnings against fortune’s instability. This major work adapts Boccaccio’s catalogue of tragic reversals for an English audience.
Geoffrey Chaucer : An English poet of the fourteenth century, best known for The Canterbury Tales . Lydgate treated Chaucer as a poetic forebear and continued his literary projects.
Lydgate : A village in Suffolk, England, traditionally identified as the birthplace of John Lydgate. The poet’s name derives from this place.
English Renaissance : A period of cultural and literary change in England, conventionally spanning the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Lydgate’s extensive writings formed part of the poetic inheritance available to Renaissance authors.
Benedictine Order : A Christian monastic tradition following the Rule of Saint Benedict. Lydgate’s monastic identity shaped his education and religious writing.
The Siege of Thebes : A Middle English retelling of the legendary conflict between the sons of Oedipus. Lydgate presents this Theban narrative as a continuation of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales .
Thomas Hoccleve : An English poet and government clerk active in the early fifteenth century. Like Lydgate, Hoccleve helped shape English poetry after Chaucer.
Bury St Edmunds : A historic market town in Suffolk, England, that grew around the shrine of Saint Edmund. Its abbey was Lydgate’s home and a center of his religious and literary activity.
William Caxton : The first English printer, active in the late fifteenth century, who published books in Westminster. Caxton printed works by Lydgate, extending their circulation beyond manuscript copies.
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