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Caxton, William

(Encyclopedia)Caxton, William, c.1421–91, English printer, the first to print books in English. He served apprenticeship as a mercer and from 1463 to 1469 was at Bruges as governor of the Merchants Adventurers in...

Wynkyn de Worde

(Encyclopedia)Wynkyn de Worde wĭngˈkĭn də wôrd, wûrd [key], d. 1535, English printer, whose original name was Jan van Wynkyn. He was born at Wörth in Alsace and probably accompanied William Caxton to England...

Higden, Ranulf

(Encyclopedia)Higden, Ranulf, d. c.1364, English chronicler. He wrote the Polychronicon, a universal history, interesting chiefly for its display of the geographical, scientific, and historical knowledge of its tim...

Poggio Bracciolini, Gian Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Poggio Bracciolini, Gian Francesco jän fränchāsˈkō pôdˈjō brätˌchōlēˈnē [key], 1380–1459, Italian humanist. A secretary in the Roman curia, he later became chancellor and historiograph...

Reynard the Fox

(Encyclopedia)Reynard the Fox rĕˈnərd, rāˈnärd [key], the supreme trickster and celebrated hero of the medieval beast epics, works predominantly in verse which became increasingly popular after c.1150. They a...

Golden Legend, The

(Encyclopedia)Golden Legend, The, collection of saints' lives written in the 13th cent. by Jacobus da Varagine. Originally entitled Legenda sanctorum [readings in the lives of the saints], it soon came to be called...

Beaufort, Margaret, countess of Richmond and Derby

(Encyclopedia)Beaufort, Margaret, countess of Richmond and Derby bōˈfərt, därˈbē [key], 1443–1509, English noblewoman, mother of Henry VII. She was the daughter and heiress of John, 1st duke of Somerset, an...

Malory, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Malory, Sir Thomas mălˈərē [key], d. 1471, English author of Morte d'Arthur. It is almost certain that he was Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revell, Warwickshire. Knighted in 1442, he served in the ...

Rivers, Richard Woodville, 1st Earl

(Encyclopedia)Rivers, Richard Woodville, 1st Earl, d. 1469, English nobleman. He was knighted (1426) by Henry VI and acquired wealth and power by marrying (c.1436) Jacquetta of Luxemburg, widow of John of Lancaster...

Worcester, John Tiptoft, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Worcester, John Tiptoft, earl of wo͝osˈtər [key] 1427?–1470, English nobleman. He studied at Oxford and was created earl of Worcester in 1449. He served as treasurer of the exchequer (1452–55) ...