Thomas Churchyard : pen, sword, and ego

379 Pages·2016·3.814 MB·English

by  Woodcock, Matthew

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THOMAS CHURCHYARD
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Thomas Churchyard
Pen, Sword, and Ego
MATTHEW WOODCOCK
1
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3
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© Matthew Woodcock 2016
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First Edition published in 2016
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OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 29/09/16, SPi
For my family
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OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 29/09/16, SPi
Acknowledgements
Thomas Churchyard regularly complained in prefaces to his works about how few
friends he had and how little support he received during his career as an author.
I have been far more fortunate than Churchyard on both counts. This book could
not have been completed without a Leverhulme Research Fellowship, which
allowed me to immerse myself in Churchyard’s world for well over a year, and I am
also grateful for individual grants from the Bibliographical Society and University
of East Anglia. I owe thanks for assistance of a different nature to the staff of the
Berkshire Record Office; Birmingham Archives; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the
British Library; Cambridge University Library; the College of Arms; the Houghton
Library, Harvard University; the John Rylands Library, Manchester; London
Metropolitan Archives; the National Archives, Kew; the National Archives of
Scotland; the Norfolk Record Office; the Pepys Library, Magdalene College,
Cambridge; the Priaulx Library and Island Archives, Guernsey; Shropshire
Archives; the Society of Antiquaries Library; the Society of Genealogists Library;
Staffordshire Record Office; Westminster City Archives; and the Wiltshire and
Swindon History Centre.
I would like to thank Jacqueline Baker at Oxford University Press for first
supporting this project and the anonymous publisher’s readers for their feedback.
I have greatly benefited from the advice, help, and indulgence of many people
while researching this book: Kerri Allen, Jo Bellis, the late Patrick Collinson, Chris
Goodwin, Lawrence Green, Jane Grogan, Andrew Hadfield, Matthew Hansen,
Paxton Hehmeyer, Thomas Herron, Andrew King, Scott Lucas, Charles Nicholl,
Liz Oakley-Brown, Leanne O’Sullivan, Caroline Palmer, Michael Pearce, Mike
Pincombe, Jason Powell, Beth Quitslund, Danni Shaw, Cathy Shrank, Matthew
Steggle, and Chris Warner. I am particularly indebted to Scott, Jason, and Chris
for the ongoing exchanges about mid-Tudor literature shared over the last five
years. My thanks also go to my early modern colleagues at UEA: Tony Gash,
Thomas Roebuck, William T. Rossiter, Tom Rutledge, and Peter Womack. Helen
Cooper has, as ever, been immensely encouraging throughout the project. I am
extremely grateful to colleagues and friends who read drafts of this book: Thomas
Herron, Laura Robson, Matthew Steggle, and Margit Thøfner. My thanks in par-
ticular go to Scott Lucas for his meticulous feedback and long-running support
and friendship. This book could not have been written without the kindness and
friendship of Andrew King, and my love and gratitude also go to my family, whose
ears have too long been bent with tales of writing and fighting.
Matthew Woodcock
May 2016
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Contents
List of Maps and Illustrations xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction: ‘Saye that I live’ 1
1. Origins (to 1543) 10
2. Roistering and Writing (1542–1543) 26
3. The School of War (1542–1547) 43
4. Scotland and Ireland (1547–1551) 56
5. To Speak in Print (1551) 68
6. Attack and Defence (1551–1556) 86
7. Mars and Mercury (1557–1560) 101
8. Plying the Pen about the Court (1560–1567) 111
9. With Princes and Beggars (1567–1568) 132
10. Embattled on Many Fronts (1569–1572) 142
11. Presentations (1572–1574) 155
12. ‘My Whole Workes’ (1575) 167
13. Old Roads and New (1575–1577) 179
14. Occasions and Opportunities (1570–1580) 189
15. Martial Art (1578–1580) 203
16. For Queen and Country (1580–1589) 213
17. Rewards (1588–1597) 234
18. Last Things (1594–1604) 251
Appendix 1: Churchyard’s Spelling 269
Appendix 2: The Churchyards of Arley 271
Endnotes 273
Bibliography 317
Index 347