Thomas Hoccleve was born about 1367, but 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, an occupation he was to follow, without much advancement, until his death in 1426. His first significant poem was the Letter of Cupid, or Epistre de Cupide (1402), a free translation of the Epistre au Dieu d”Amours by his French contemporary Christine de Pizan (b.1365). It was followed a year or two later by La Male Regle (1405-6), a tongue-in-cheek apology for his “badly ruled” life and misspent youth and a request for the payment of his annuity, which was overdue. Subsequent balades to the Chancellor, to Henry …
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Citation: Pearsall, Derek. "The Regiment of Princes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 June 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7554, accessed 21 November 2024.]