Thomas Usk
Thomas Usk was an English politician, author, and under-sheriff of London known for his prose allegory, *The Testament of Love*, composed around 1384 while incarcerated in Newgate Prison. This work reflects Usk's attempts to justify the political actions that led to his arrest and is influenced by Chaucer's *Troilus and Criseyde*. Usk had previously served John Northampton, the mayor of London; however, after informing against Northampton, he faced legal repercussions when political dynamics shifted. Ultimately, he was prosecuted and beheaded in March 1388. Usk's background suggests he came from a lower social standing, displaying ambition and intellect as he navigated the complexities of his political environment. Despite his significant contributions, little is known about Usk's life beyond his work and his trial for treason against Northampton. *The Testament of Love* stands out as one of the earliest English prose works of secular philosophy, blending elements of apology, complaint, and dream-vision, and it is thought to have targeted various audiences, including court members and his fellow inmates.
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Thomas Usk
Writer
- Born: Unknown
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: March 1, 1388
Biography
Thomas Usk—English politician, author, and under-sheriff of London—was the author of the prose allegory The Testament of Love, which he composed around 1384 while in Newgate Prison. In this work, which was greatly influenced by Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, he attempted to justify the political actions that led to his arrest and incarceration.
Usk had been a servant of John Northampton, the mayor of London from 1381 to 1383. He was arrested but was released after he informed against Northampton. When the Gloucester party gained power, Usk was arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to death. Once a Lollard, Usk reverted to Roman Catholicism while is prison. He was beheaded in March, 1388.
Little else is known about Usk’s life, but it is supposed that because he was willing to do anything for advancement, he was from a family of low standing and was something of a “New Man”: intelligent, literate and ambitious, in search of making a future. There is evidence to support that Usk may have had a clerical education in the verses he recited on the way to his execution. The Appeal of Thomas Usk Against John Northhampton is a document drawn up in 1384 and preserved in the Public Records Office in London. It it, Usk charges his former patron, John of Northhampton, with treason. This document offers the best testimony to the personality and character of the man Thomas Usk.
No manuscripts of Usk’s work are known to exist. The Testament of Love was preserved only in William’s Thynne’s 1532 edition of Chaucher and its later reprints because for a long time the work was attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer. The work’s first (and so far only published) editor, discovered a jumbled form of the acrostic, MARGARETE OF VIRTW HAVE MERCI ON THIN VSK, made from the first letter of chapter. When the true order was finally restored, it confirmed the author was in fact Usk, not Chaucer.
The Testament of Love is an unusual work in many ways. Part apologia, part complaint, part allegorical dream-vision, and part philosophy, it reveals, too, a somewhat muted theological dimension, often overlooked in a text referred to, if at all, as one of the earliest English prose works of secular philosophy. Scholars debate its audience, though it has been suggested that it was directed toward members of the court at Chancery, even though it has evident literary and courtly aspirations as well, and may equally be aimed at Usk’s “new associates” in prison.