Thomas Hoccleve, La Male Regle de Thomas Hocleve

Derek Pearsall (University of York)
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Thomas Hoccleve was born about 1367, as appears from the age he gives for himself in the Dialogue with a Friend, written about 1420, part of the late grouping of his writings called the Series: “Of age I am fifty winter and thre” (line 246). Nothing is known of the first twenty years of his life, before he was appointed as a clerk in the office of the Privy Seal about 1387. Again a later poem, the Regiment of Princes (1410-13), where he speaks of having worked in that office for twenty-four years “come Easter” (presumably the Easter of 1411), provides the evidence (line 805). It was the occupation he was to follow for the rest of his life, without much advancement, until his death in 1426.

3027 words

Citation: Pearsall, Derek. "La Male Regle de Thomas Hocleve". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 June 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4143, accessed 21 November 2024.]

4143 La Male Regle de Thomas Hocleve 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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