The Great Fire of London Spares Shakespeare's Globe and Milton's Manuscripts
Poet involved
What happened
The Great Fire of London consumed over 13,000 houses and devastated the historic core of London, England. In an extraordinary series of atmospheric coincidences, a sudden shift in wind direction halted the wall of flames just short of the neighborhood where John Milton was finalizing his epic poem 'Paradise Lost'. Furthermore, the fire burned up to the edge of the theatrical district but failed to cross the river to destroy the records of the Globe Theatre, sparing invaluable literary history.
Literary impact
This narrow survival allowed John Milton to publish 'Paradise Lost' in 1667, a monumental epic blank-verse masterpiece that permanently transformed English religious poetry. The preservation of London's literary manuscripts during the fire ensured that Restoration-era poetry and drama could continue without a total cultural reset.
Source: Wikipedia
