John Lydgate - Early life and education, Patronage, Talent

Monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, E England, UK. He may have studied at Oxford and Cambridge. He became a Benedictine monk at Bury St Edmunds, and in 1423 was made prior of Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex. A court poet, his longer moralistic works include The Troy Book (1412–20), The Story of Thebes (1420), and Falls of Princes (1430–8). He also wrote devotional, philosophical, scientific, historical, and occasional poems, as well as allegories, fables, and romances.

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.

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.