Thomas Churchyard
Thomas Churchyard was a 16th-century English poet and soldier whose life was marked by adventure, controversy, and artistic contribution. Born the son of a farmer in Shrewsbury, he received a good education but soon exhausted his inheritance, prompting him to serve as a page for Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, where he began honing his poetic skills. His military career started in 1542, leading him to fight in significant conflicts across Europe, including battles under Emperor Charles V and engagements in Scotland and Ireland. Churchyard's literary work often reflects his soldiering experiences, with notable publications such as *Wofull Warres in Flaunders* and *General Rehearsall of Warres*.
Despite his contributions to poetry, Churchyard faced numerous challenges, including imprisonment, failed marriage aspirations, and accusations related to his military conduct. His best-known piece, *Shore's Wife*, is featured in the 1563 compilation *Mirrors for Magistrates*. Churchyard's life included moments of peril, such as a death sentence due to his actions during conflicts in the Netherlands, which he narrowly escaped thanks to a noblewoman's intervention. Although he encountered conflict with Queen Elizabeth I, leading to a temporary exile, he returned to England and received a pension from the queen shortly before his death in 1594. Churchyard’s legacy is characterized by his resilience and the influence he had on subsequent Elizabethan writers.
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Thomas Churchyard
Author
- Born: Between 1520 and 1525
- Died: April 1, 1604
Biography
Son of a Shrewsbury farmer, Thomas Churchyard received a solid education as a child but rapidly plowed through the money provided to him by his father. As a result, he became a page for Henry Howard, earl of Surrey and spent four years in the home. It was during this tenure and from this mentor that Churchyard first began developing an appreciation and talent for the art of poetry. But around his early twenties, he began the life of a soldier, a lifestyle and career he would keep for most of his years. After entering the military in 1542, he first fought under Emperor Charles V in Flanders, returned briefly to England around 1544, and quickly left for battles in Scotland and elsewhere. He escaped imprisonment at the hand of enemies along the way, and he returned to England after a peace was reached in 1550. Around this time, he published a poem entitled Davy Dycar’s Dreame in the style of The Vision of William, Concerning Piers the Plowman (c. 1362, c. 1377, and c. 1393), but the work proved controversial and garnered Churchyard a reprimand.
Thomas Churchyard departed for Ireland in 1550 and joined Sir Anthony St. Leger, who was in charge of pacification. Churchyard returned to England in 1552, where, after concerted efforts, he failed in his plan to gain fortune by wedding a rich widow. He therefore returned to a soldier’s life, eventually landing in the service of Lord Grey of Wilton, who was in control of the fortress of Gaines. When Gaines was taken in siege by the Duke of Guise in 1558, Thomas Churchyard negotiated the surrender and was sent to Paris as a prisoner alongside Lord Grey of Wilton. When peace was achieved at Cateau Cambresis, Churchyard was still not immediately released, since he had not the finances to cover his ransom. He was finally set free under an arrangement that would allow his payment to be received after his release, but Churchyard quickly defaulted on this agreement.
Many of Churchyard’s works recount his wide-ranging experiences as a soldier, including his narrative poems Wofull Warres in Flaunders and General Rehearsall of Warres, which were published in 1578 and 1579, respectively. His best-known poem, however, Shore’s Wife, which appeared in the 1563 edition of Mirrors for Magistrates, was an exception.
With failing health and dissipating finances, Churchyard retired to Bath, where he entered into a rather unhappy marriage. Earlier in his life, Churchyard had engaged in a controversial manner with insurgents in Antwerp during conflict in the Netherlands, where Churchyard had been serving under William of Orange, and in these later years, when the Spaniards connected him with the Antwerp disturbance, he was sentenced to be executed. Luckily, a noblewoman intervened and saved his life. Younger Elizabethan writers were fond of Thomas Churchyard and his writings, but controversy found the author again when a passage in his Churchyarde’s Choise offended Queen Elizabeth, and Churchyard fled to Scotland for three years. He returned to England forgiven in 1584, receiving in 1593 a small pension from the queen, whose death preceded his own by just over a year.