Giles Fletcher, the Elder
Giles Fletcher, the Elder, was an English poet, diplomat, and politician born on November 26, 1546, in Watford, Hertfordshire. He attended Eton and King's College, Cambridge, where he made significant contributions to early English literature, including three eclogues that are among the first Latin pastorals in England. Fletcher's career included a brief period of controversy and potential imprisonment at Cambridge, but he ultimately became the college bursar and later held various roles, including justice of the peace and member of Parliament for Winchelsea.
In 1588, he served as a special ambassador to Moscow, documenting his travels in Russia in a work published in 1591, though it was initially suppressed. Fletcher also authored "Licia: Or, Poemes of Love," one of the early sonnet collections influenced by Philip Sidney. His later years saw him entangled in the political turmoil surrounding the Earl of Essex, leading to a decline in his fortunes after Essex's failed rebellion in 1601. Fletcher passed away on March 11, 1611, leaving behind a literary legacy through his children, including notable poets Phineas and John Fletcher, thus establishing a significant literary dynasty.
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Subject Terms
Giles Fletcher, the Elder
Poet
- Born: November 1, 1546
- Birthplace: Near Watford, Hertfordshire, England
- Died: March 11, 1611
Biography
Giles Fletcher, the Elder was baptized on November 26, 1546 at Watford in Hertfordshire. He was the second son of Richard Fletcher, a clergyman. He went to Eton in 1561, where he contributed eleven verses to a manuscript presented to Queen Elizabeth when she visited the college in 1563. In 1565 he became a scholar of King’s College, Cambridge University, a fellow in 1568, and a lecturer in 1572 and collected his B.A. and M.A. along the way. He wrote three eclogues in his student days that were among the first Latin pastorals written in England. In 1576 he became involved in protests at the college. Fletcher’s side lost, but the interruption to his career—rumor has it that he was imprisoned, although there is no hard evidence—was temporary; by 1579 he was the college bursar.
Fletcher resigned his fellowship in 1580, as the college regulations demanded, in order to marry Joan Sheafe; they married on January 16, 1581, in his father’s church and had at least eight children. He became a justice of the peace in Sussex in 1582 and member of Parliament for Winchelsea in 1584, when he moved his family from Cranbrook to London. He obtained a post as a remembrancer (a court official charged with bringing matters to the attention of the appropriate authority) of the City of London in 1586 and then became a diplomat, serving in Scotland and Germany before becoming a special ambassador to Moscow in 1588 (in the period just before England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada). Fletcher wrote an account of his travels in Russia; it was initially published in 1591 but was quickly suppressed, though its core substance was subsequently adopted into more general works by Richard Hakluyt and Samuel Purchas. His other important literary work, Licia: Or, Poemes of Love, was one of the first collections of sonnets published in the wake of Philip Sidney’s highly influential Astrophel and Stella.
By 1596 Fletcher was closely associated with the Queen Elizabeth’s favorite, the Earl of Essex, but he suffered a reverse when his elder brother Richard died suddenly, leaving him to take care of a heavily indebted estate and eight children (including the future dramatist John Fletcher). With Essex’s help, Fletcher cleared the debts and was appointed treasurer of St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1597, but after Essex’s aborted rebellion of 1601—in which Fletcher took no part—he was left in a perilous position. He was briefly imprisoned, and never recovered his influence. Fletcher died on March 11, 1611. By that time his eldest son, Phineas—born in 1582—had became a poet whose style was similar to that of Edmund Spenser, although Phineas Fletcher had also followed his grandfather into the church. Giles Fletcher, the Younger, born in 1585 or thereabouts, had done likewise on both counts, although his themes were more overtly religious. The addition of John Fletcher to the family makes an impressive literary dynasty, whose linchpin and primary inspiration was undoubtedly Giles Fletcher, the Elder.