Richard Rowlands, better known to history as Richard Verstegan or Verstegen, was born in London about 1550 and died in Antwerp in 1640. He belongs to that unusually rich category of Renaissance figures whose lives resist simple professional labels. He was a poet, translator, engraver, publisher, controversialist, antiquary, journalist, intelligence agent, and committed Catholic exile. He wrote in English, Latin, Dutc…
“Holland is as fertile in sects as Italy is in mushrooms: new doctrines sprout overnight from the dreams of men.”
Neighbourhood:
Devotional Poets, Elizabethan Poets, Hymn Writers, Metaphysical Poets, Mystical & Spiritual Poets, Renaissance Poets
Emotional landscape: Tenderness, Joy, Peace
In the rich tapestry of Elizabethan literature, certain figures stand as crucial bridges between the medieval past and the Renaissance flowering that would produce Shakespeare, Spenser, and Marlowe. Among these transitional figures, Barnabe Googe occupies a unique and often underappreciated position as one of the earliest English poets to fully embrace Continental Renaissance forms while maintaining a distinctly Engl…
“I hear live amongst a sort of Scythians, wanting the comfort of my country, my poor wife and children.”
Neighbourhood:
Devotional Poets, Elizabethan Poets, Love Poets, Renaissance Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Irony
