Henry Medwall (8 September 1462 – c.1501/2?) was the first known English

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

dramatist. '' Fulgens and Lucrece'' (c.1497), whose heroine must choose between two suitors, is the earliest known secular English play. The other play of Medwall is titled ''Nature''. He stayed at the court of

Cardinal Morton John Morton ( – 15 September 1500) was an English cleric, civil lawyer and administrator during the period of the Wars of the Roses. He entered royal service under Henry VI and was a trusted councillor under Edward IV and Henry VII. Edw ...

, Chancellor in the time of Henry VII.

Life

Born in 1462, he was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

from 1475, at age 13, and was admitted to

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

in 1480. He left King's in 1483. Under Henry VII he acted as a notary, and acquired a civil law degree. With a living at

Balinghem Balinghem () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A village located 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Calais, on the D228 road. Population Sights * The sixteenth-century ...

English Calais The Pale of Calais was a territory in Northern France ruled by the monarchs of England for more than two hundred years from 1347 to 1558. The area, which was taken following the Battle of Crécy in 1346 and the subsequent siege of Calais, was ...

, he is assumed to have worked for John Morton at

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite ...

. He vanishes from the record after 1501.

Works

''Fulgens and Lucrece'' is based on a Latin work by Buonaccorso da Montemagno. The other work of Medwall's that is extant is ''Nature''.''Nature: a goodly interlude of Nature pylyd by mayster Henry Medwall, chapleyn to the ryght reverend father in god Johan Morton, somtyme cardynall and archebyshop of Canterbury'', b. l. folio, 36 leaves. It is without date, place, or printer's name, but was printed by

William Rastell William Rastell (150827 August 1565) was an English printer and judge. Life Rastell was born in London, a son of John Rastell and his wife Elizabeth More, sister of Sir Thomas More. At the age of seventeen he went to the University of Oxford, bu ...

. ''Nature'' was produced before Morton in Henry VII's reign;

John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed ...

states that it was translated into Latin. Another interlude that has been ascribed to Medwall, ''Of the Finding of Truth, carried away by Ignorance and Hypocrisy'', was said to have introduced a

fool Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to: *A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes *An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...

, an innovation which commended it to Henry VIII when it was produced before him at Richmond, Christmas 1516; the king, however, left early. This is now thought to be a fabrication, perhaps by

John Payne Collier John Payne Collier (11 January 1789, London – 17 September 1883, Maidenhead) was an English Shakespearean critic and forger. Reporter and solicitor His father, John Dyer Collier (1762–1825), was a successful journalist, and his connection wi ...

References

;Attribution 1501 deaths English dramatists and playwrights 15th-century English writers 15th-century English people 1462 births People educated at Eton College 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers English male dramatists and playwrights {{UK-playwright-stub