Fulke Greville prepared the inscription on his tomb: “Servant of Queen Elizabeth, Counsellor to King James, Friend to Sir Philip Sidney”. He seems to have been content to place himself in the background and sum himself up by his relation to these great figures. Though he died one of the wealthiest men in England and held political office under Elizabeth and James, he never took a leading part in affairs. He may have been thwarted in his ambition, but caution and a sardonic eye for the corruption of power probably held him back. At any rate, it is from being an observer and moralist rather than an actor, in both love and statecraft, that his strength as a writer derives. This did not keep him from admiring active spirits such as Sidney an

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First published 20 October 2001

Citation: Reid, David. "Sir Fulke Greville, first Baron Brooke". The Literary Encyclopedia. 20 October 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1877, accessed 9 February 2010.]