John Skelton

Karen Elaine Smyth (University of East Anglia)

Ed. by Hugh Magennis, Queen's University Belfast
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), J A Roe (University of York), Sean Seeger (University of Essex), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

Born c. 1460
Died 1529
Activity 1488-1527

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Classicist
Playwright / Dramatist
Poet
Polemicist
Priest
Rhetorician/ Orator
Satirist
Teacher/ Professor

Resources

Following in the medieval traditions of Chaucer, Gower, Lydgate and Latin verse, John Skelton (c.1460–1529) is a transitional poet, writing in the Early Tudor period and paving the way for Renaissance humanism. Often misconstrued, both in his day and in subsequent centuries, as being a supporter of the Reformation, he best merits attention as a political and religious satirist who criticises (rather than rebels against) the vices and dangers of courtly life and public popular fashions. However, Skelton remains a marginal figure in modern critical debates. There is little recognition of his achievements as a poet, parish priest, classicist, polemicist, rhetorician, satirist, and teacher of royals. He is much less noticed now than in the literary, church, royal and public circles he lived in, represented, ridiculed and attacked in his verse. In highlighting Skelton's impulse...

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1957 words

Citation: Smyth, Karen Elaine. "John Skelton". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 November 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5490, accessed 15 December 2025.]