John Cleveland (16 June 1613 – 29 April 1658) was an English

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 ...

who supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

cause in the English Civil War. He was best known for political satire.

Early life

Cleveland was born in Loughborough, the son of Thomas Cleveland, Vicar of Hinckley (1620–1652), and educated at

Hinckley Grammar School Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbor ...

. Admitted to

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, he graduated BA in 1632 and became a fellow of St John's College in 1634, where he became a college tutor and lecturer in

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

Posts

A staunch Royalist, Cleveland opposed the election of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

as member for Cambridge in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

and lost his college post as a result in 1645. He then joined

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, by whom he was welcomed, and appointed to the office of judge advocate at

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

. In 1646, however, he lost his judge advocacy and wandered about the country dependent on the bounty of other Royalists. In 1655 he was imprisoned at

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, but released by Cromwell, to whom he appealed, and went to London, where he spent the rest of his life. For his letter to Cromwell, see ''May it please yr Highnesse'' (1657) or ''Cleaveland's petition to His Highnesse the Lord Protector'' ic

Poems and other works

Cleveland's poems first appeared in ''The Character of a London Diurnal'' (1647) and thereafter in some 20 other collections. His achievement lay in political, satirical verses written mainly in heroic couplets. He has been called "both a detached, intellectual, 'metaphysical' poet" and "a committed satirist". Cleveland also wrote Royalist news books such as ''Mercurius Pragmaticus'' for King Charles II, which appeared after the execution of Charles I. He was particularly interested in the 14th-century Wat Tyler rebellion against Richard II.Cf. ''The idol of the clownes, or, Insurrection of Wat The Tyler'' (1654) and ''The Rebellion of the Rude Multitude under Wat Tyler and his priests Baal and Straw'' (1660). His own volume of ''Poems'' was published in 1654.

Notes

References

* * * Attribution: *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland, John 1613 births 1658 deaths 17th-century English poets 17th-century English male writers English male poets Anglican poets People from Loughborough Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge