John Walton, also John Capellanus (''fl''. 1410) was an English Augustinian canon, known as a poet and translator.

Works

Walton appears to have been a canon of

Osney Abbey Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the railway line just south of Oxford sta ...

in 1410, when he completed his verse-translation of the '' De Consolatione Philosophiæ'' of

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...

. This work was undertaken at the request of Elizabeth Berkeley; she, possibly, was the daughter of

Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley (5 January 1352/53 – 13 July 1417), ''The Magnificent'', of Berkeley Castle and of Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire, was an English peer and an admiral. His epithet, and that of each previous and su ...

, patron of John de Trevisa, who married

Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (25 or 28 January 138230 April 1439) was an English medieval nobleman and military commander. Early life Beauchamp was born at Salwarpe CourtRichard Gough, ''Description of the Beauchamp chapel, adjoin ...

. Boethius's work had already been translated into English prose as

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

's ''

Boece Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Abe ...

'', and Walton makes use of Chaucer's version. He refers to Chaucer as "the floure of rethoryk", and also mentions

John Gower John Gower (; c. 1330 – October 1408) was an English poet, a contemporary of William Langland and the Pearl Poet, and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civ ...

. Ten manuscripts of Walton's translation are extant. Walton's book was printed in 1525. Extracts from Walton's poem were printed in Wülker's ''Altenglisches Lesebuch'' (ii. 56), in Skeat's edition of Chaucer (vol. ii. pp. xvi–xvii), and in the ''Athenæum'' (1892, i. 565).

Identification

Walton has been confused by Thomas Tanner with John Walton, archbishop of Dublin, with John de Waltham, prior of Drax and subdean of York, and with others of similar names.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, John English translators Augustinian canons 15th-century translators 15th-century English writers 15th-century English poets English male poets English male non-fiction writers