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 bustling, smoke-hung streets of Elizabethan London, where the clatter of hooves mingled with the cries of hawkers and the distant peal of church bells, a young man of quick wit and tireless pen emerged from the shadows of obscurity to become one of the most versatile, if underappreciated, literary figures of his age. Anthony Munday—born circa 1560, died in 1633—was not merely a poet or playwright, but a litera…
“I rest, right honourable, on your clemency to amend my errors committed so unskilfully.”
Neighbourhood:
Elizabethan Poets, Lute-Song Composers, Renaissance Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Anger
