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John Skelton :: Біографія
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Біографія
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Критика
John Skelton, also known as John Shelton (c. 1460 – June 21, 1529), possibly born in Diss Norfolk, was an English poet, satirist, translator, and playwright.
Little is known about Skelton's early life. He was born around 1460 in the north of England, perhaps in Yorkshire. He took a degree from Cambridge University around 1478, and his first poem, Elegy on Edward IV, appeared in 1483. Around 1488 he entered the service of Henry VII. Also around this time he was given the title of “poet laureate” of Oxford; the title of laureate was also conferred on him by the University of Louvain in 1492, and by Cambridge in 1493. During his early years in court Skelton wrote a number of lyrics and short poems and also published translations of Cicero and Diodorus Siculus. His activities at court at first were those of a rhetorician, humanist, and scholar, but around 1494 he was named tutor to Prince Henry (later Henry VIII), a post he held until 1501.
In 1498 Skelton took orders as a clergyman, being ordained first as subdeacon, then deacon, and finally priest of the Abbey of St. Mary Grace. During his years of religious study he composed a number of religious lyrics as well as his most important early work, The Bowge of Courte (c. 1499), a satire of court politics. In 1501 he finished a book on pedagogy, Speculum Principis. In 1501-02 Skelton was involved in a court dispute that led to a brief imprisonment. Two years later he retired from London to the country to become rector at a parish church in Diss, Norfolk. Skelton was apparently a colorful figure in the parish, and a number of stories grew up around him. It was said that he took a mistress, by whom he had a child, which he brought naked to the church for all his parishioners to see. Other stories about Skelton's supposed exploits, in court as well as in the Church, were published after his death in the largely apocryphal The Merry Tales of Skelton, which emphasizes the poet's sharp tongue, ribald manner, and sparkling wit. While at Diss Skelton wrote a great deal of verse, including his most famous “Skeltonic” poetry, characterized by short lines, repeated rhymes, alliteration, repetition, parallelism, and witticisms. Early works in this style include Phillyp Sparowe (c. 1508), Ware the Hauke (c. 1508), and The Tunning of Elinor Rumming (c. 1508).
In 1512 Skelton returned to court, where he was named King's Orator—court poet and rhetorician—by his former pupil Henry VIII; it is said that he flaunted this status as court poet for the rest of his life. Also during this time he dedicated a number of works to the king and wrote several poems on the defeat of the French and the Scots. In 1516 Skelton began the first of this attacks against Cardinal Wolsey, who had become Archbishop of York in 1514 and who exerted enormous—and many feared dangerous—influence on the king. Skelton's only surviving dramatic work, Magnyfycence, written around 1516, is an allegory of the current political situation and is highly critical of Wolsey. In 1518 Skelton moved to a house in the sanctuary of Westminster, where he continued his attacks on Wolsey in Speke, Parrot (c. 1521), Collyn Cloute (c. 1522), and Why Come Ye Nat to Courte (c. 1522-23). However, after 1523 Skelton discontinued his attacks, perhaps because the cardinal had the poet briefly imprisoned. All Skelton's poems after this point are complimentary to the prelate, and the apologetic and autobiographical Garlande of Laurell (1523) includes praises of his former enemy. Skelton's last poem, A Replycacion (c. 1528), is a rebuke of two Cambridge graduates for succumbing to heretical opinions. The trial of one of the two young men took place near Skelton's home, and Skelton was likely present when it was held. Skelton was also a witness at a similar trial the following year. Skelton died peacefully in 1529 and was buried in St. Margaret's Church in Westminster.
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