Montgomerie obtains licence to travel abroad
Poet involved
What happened
In 1586 Alexander Montgomerie received a royal licence permitting him to leave Scotland for five years and to visit France, Flanders, Spain and other countries beyond the sea. He departed on the king's business from the Scottish court. During the ensuing period he was detained and held in prison abroad before eventually returning.
Literary impact
The prolonged absence interrupted Montgomerie's court career and pension payments, later prompting a series of sonnets that record his legal and personal grievances. The experience of foreign travel and imprisonment broadened the range of themes in his later verse and contributed to the bitterness that colours several of his most personal poems.
Source: Poems of Alexander Montgomerie and Other Pieces from Laing MS. No. 447, ed. George Stevenson
