Mathew Roydon (sometimes spelled Matthew) (died 1622) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
associated with the
School of Night
The School of Night is a modern name for a group of men centred on Sir Walter Raleigh that was once referred to in 1592 as the "School of Atheism". The group supposedly included poets and scientists Christopher Marlowe, George Chapman, Matthew R ...
group of poets and writers.
Life
The ''
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' identified him tentatively as the son of Owen Roydon who co-operated with Thomas Proctor in 1578 in the latter's ''Gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inventions''; and as the Mathew Royden who graduated M.A. at Oxford on 7 July 1580. He was soon afterwards a prominent figure in literary society in London, and knew the poets of the day, including
Philip Sidney
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philip ...
,
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
,
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...
,
Thomas Lodge, and
George Chapman.
[ :s:Roydon, Matthew (DNB00)]
Roydon fell in with Marlowe, and he,
Thomas Harriot, and
William Warner are mentioned among those companions of the dramatist who shared his freethinking.
[ Christopher Hill has suggested that Roydon may have been the author of '']Willobie His Avisa
''Willobie His Avisa'' is a narrative poem that was published as a pamphlet in London after being entered in the ''Stationers' Register'' on 3 September 1594. It purports to have been written by a person called "Henry Willobie" with an introduct ...
'' (1594), published by Henry Willobie
Henry Willobie (or Willoughby) (1575? – 1596?) is the ostensible author of a 1594 verse novella called ''Willobie His Avisa'' (in modern spelling, ''Willoughby's Avisa''), a work that is of interest primarily because of its possible connection w ...
(quite possibly pseudonymous but unidentified). The group around Marlowe, in his view, discussed religion, and besides Roydon included Harriot and Walter Warner
Walter Warner (1563–1643) was an English mathematician and scientist.
Life
He was born in Leicestershire and educated at Merton College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1578. Andrew Pyle (editor), ''Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Phi ...
. It is not clear from the literature which Warner is meant.
In later life Roydon seems to have entered the service of Robert Radcliffe, 5th Earl of Sussex
Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex, Order of the Garter, KG (12 June 1573 – 22 September 1629) was an English peer.
Life
He was the only son of Henry Radclyffe, 4th Earl of Sussex and his wife Honora Pounde, and was known as Viscount Fitzwa ...
, a patron of men of letters. He was reduced to appeals for charity to Edward Alleyn
Edward "Ned" Alleyn (; 1 September 156621 November 1626) was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of the College of God's Gift in Dulwich.
Early life
Alleyn was born on 1 September 1566 in Bishopsga ...
.[
]
Works, allusions and reputation
His friendship with Sidney he commemorated in his ''Elegie, or Friends passion for his Astrophill'', a poem on Sidney's death. It was first published in the '' Phoenix Nest'', 1593, and was printed with Spenser's ''Astrophel'' in Spenser's ''Colin Clout
''The Shepheardes Calender'' was Edmund Spenser's first major poetic work, published in 1579. In emulation of Virgil's first work, the ''Eclogues'', Spenser wrote this series of pastorals at the commencement of his career. However, Spenser's m ...
'', 1595; and it reappears in later editions of Spenser's works. Another of his literary friends, Chapman, dedicated to him his ''Shadow of Night'' in 1594, and Ovid's ''Banquet of Sence'' in 1595. In the former dedication Chapman recalls how he first learned from Roydon of the devotion to learning of the Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, KG (27 April 1564 – 5 November 1632) was an English nobleman. He was a grandee and one of the wealthiest peers of the court of Elizabeth I. Under James I, Northumberland was a long-term prisoner i ...
, and George Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
During his time as archbishop the Ch ...
. He wrote of Roydon,
John Davies of Hereford
John Davies of Hereford (c. 1565 – July 1618) was a writing-master and an Anglo-Welsh poet. He referred to himself as ''John Davies of Hereford'' (after the city where he was born) in order to distinguish himself from others of the same name ...
addressed to Roydon highly complimentary verse in the appendix to his ''Scourge of Folly'', 1611. Robert Armin, when dedicating his ''Italian Taylor and his Boy'' (1609) to Lady Haddington, the Earl of Sussex's daughter Elizabeth, refers to Roydon as 'a poetical light . . . which shines not in the world as it is wisht, but yet the worth of its lustre is known.' [
In Thomas Nashe's ''Address to the gentlemen students of both universities'', prefixed to Robert Greene's ''Arcadia'' (1587), Roydon is mentioned with Thomas Achlow and ]George Peele
George Peele (baptised 25 July 1556 – buried 9 November 1596) was an English translator, poet, and dramatist, who is most noted for his supposed but not universally accepted collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play ''Titus Andronicus' ...
as leading London poets. Francis Meres, in his ''Palladis Tamia'' (1598), describes Roydon as worthy of comparison with the great poets of Italy. Apart from his elegy on Sidney, the only other compositions by Roydon in print are some verses before Thomas Watson's ''Sonnets'' (1581), and before Sir George Peckham's ''True Reporte'' (1583).[ Martin Garrett writes that Roydon "was associated at various times with Spenser, Marlowe, and ]Chapman
Chapman may refer to:
Businesses
* Chapman Entertainment, a former British television production company
* Chapman Guitars, a guitar company established in 2009 by Rob Chapman
* Chapman's, a Canadian ice cream and ice water products manufacturer ...
", and quotes Nashe, prefacing Greene's ''Menaphon'' (1589), in saying that Roydon "hath shewed himselfe singular in the immortall Epitaph of his beloved ''Astrophell'', besides many other most absolute Comike inventions".[''The works of Thomas Nashe'', ed. ]Ronald B. McKerrow
Ronald Brunlees McKerrow, FBA (12 December 1872 – 20 January 1940) was one of the leading bibliographers and Shakespeare scholars of the 20th century.
Life
R. B. McKerrow was born in Putney, son of Alexander McKerrow, a civil engineer, and M ...
, 5 vols, Oxford, 1958, vol. 3, p. 323. According to Garrett:
Fiction
In Deborah Harkness
Deborah Harkness (born 1965) is an American scholar and novelist, best known as an historian and as the author of the All Souls Trilogy, which consists of ''The New York Times'' best-selling novel ''A Discovery of Witches'' and its sequels '' ...
's novel '' Shadow of Night'', the character Matthew de Clermont, a vampire, is revealed to have been, in the Elizabethan era, Matthew Roydon of the School of Night.
References
;Attribution
External links
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roydon, Mathew
1580s births
1622 deaths
16th-century English poets
17th-century English poets
17th-century English male writers
University Wits
English male dramatists and playwrights
English male poets