John Milton | Biography, Poems, Paradise Lost, Quotes, & Facts | Britannica Browse Search Quizzes Games On This Day Login Subscribe  Now Entertainment & Pop Culture Geography & Travel Health & Medicine Lifestyles & Social Issues Literature Philosophy & Religion Politics, Law & Government Science Sports & Recreation Technology Visual Arts World History Quizzes Games Podcasts On This Day Biographies Week In Review Topic Summaries Infographics Demystified Lists #WTFact Companions Image Galleries Spotlight Entertainment & Pop Culture Geography & Travel Health & Medicine Lifestyles & Social Issues Literature Philosophy & Religion Politics, Law & Government Science Sports & Recreation Technology Visual Arts World History Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives. Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions. This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history. #WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find. Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions. John Milton Article Quotes Media Additional Info Article Contents Introduction & Quick Facts Early life and education Travel abroad Early translations and poems Comus and “Lycidas” Antiprelatical tracts Divorce tracts Tracts on education and free expression Antimonarchical tracts Works on history and theology Major poems Paradise Lost Paradise Regained Samson Agonistes Milton’s later years and death Fame and reputation Home Philosophy & Religion Religious Personages & Scholars John Milton English poet Print print Print Please select which sections you would like to print: Table Of Contents Cite verified Cite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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External Websites Academy of American Poets - Biography of John Milton All Poetry - Biography of John Milton Poetry Foundation - Biography of John Milton Spartacus Educational - Biography of John Milton Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. John Milton - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) WRITTEN BY Albert C. Labriola Professor of English and Distinguished University Professor, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa. Editor of several volumes of Milton Studies and coeditor of Milton's Legacy in the Arts. Last Updated: Jan 12, 2021 See Article History John Milton, (born December 9, 1608, London, England—died November 8?, 1674, London?), English poet, pamphleteer, and historian, considered the most significant English author after William Shakespeare. Top Questions Why is John Milton famous? John Milton (1608–74) is considered the most significant English writer after William Shakespeare. His epic Paradise Lost, classical tragedy Samson Agonistes, and pastoral elegy Lycidas are widely regarded as the greatest poems of their kind in English. He is also known for such prose works as Areopagitica—a fierce defense of freedom of speech. Where was John Milton educated? When he was 11, John Milton entered St. Paul’s School, London, where he excelled in Greek, Latin, and Italian. He composed Latin verse and translated a psalm from Hebrew into English verse and later into Greek. He sharpened his rhetorical skills at Christ’s College, Cambridge, and stayed in Florence, meeting Galileo and befriending Italian literati. How did John Milton influence others? When John Milton’s Paradise Lost appeared in 1667, only people close to him commended it. By the early 1700s, however, John Dryden had written an operatic adaptation of it, and Alexander Pope had parodied it in The Rape of the Lock. Later Percy Bysshe Shelley modeled Prometheus in Prometheus Unbound (1820) on Milton’s Satan. Milton is best known for Paradise Lost, widely regarded as the greatest epic poem in English. Together with Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, it confirms Milton’s reputation as one of the greatest English poets. In his prose works Milton advocated the abolition of the Church of England and the execution of Charles I. From the beginning of the English Civil Wars in 1642 to long after the restoration of Charles II as king in 1660, he espoused in all his works a political philosophy that opposed tyranny and state-sanctioned religion. His influence extended not only through the civil wars and interregnum but also to the American and French revolutions. In his works on theology, he valued liberty of conscience, the paramount importance of Scripture as a guide in matters of faith, and religious toleration toward dissidents. As a civil servant, Milton became the voice of the English Commonwealth after 1649 through his handling of its international correspondence and his defense of the government against polemical attacks from abroad. Early life and education Top Questions: John MiltonQuestions and answers about John Milton. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.See all videos for this article Milton’s paternal grandfather, Richard, was a staunch Roman Catholic who expelled his son John, the poet’s father, from the family home in Oxfordshire for reading an English (i.e., Protestant) Bible. Banished and disinherited, Milton’s father established in London a business as a scrivener, preparing documents for legal transactions. He was also a moneylender, and he negotiated with creditors to arrange for loans on behalf of his clients. He and his wife, Sara Jeffrey, whose father was a merchant tailor, had three children who survived their early years: Anne, the oldest, followed by John and Christopher. Though Christopher became a lawyer, a Royalist, and perhaps a Roman Catholic, he maintained throughout his life a cordial relationship with his older brother. After the Stuart monarchy was restored in 1660, Christopher, among others, may have interceded to prevent the execution of his brother. The elder John Milton, who fostered cultural interests as a musician and composer, enrolled his son John at St. Paul’s School, probably in 1620, and employed tutors to supplement his son’s formal education. Milton was privately tutored by Thomas Young, a Scottish Presbyterian who may have influenced his gifted student in religion and politics while they maintained contact across subsequent decades. At St. Paul’s Milton befriended Charles Diodati, a fellow student who would become his confidant through young adulthood. During his early years, Milton may have heard sermons by the poet John Donne, dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was within view of his school. Educated in Latin and Greek there, Milton in due course acquired proficiency in other languages, especially Italian, in which he composed some sonnets and which he spoke as proficiently as a native Italian, according to the testimony of Florentines whom he befriended during his travel abroad in 1638–39. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Milton enrolled at Christ’s College, Cambridge, in 1625, presumably to be educated for the ministry. A year later he was “rusticated,” or temporarily expelled, for a period of time because of a conflict with one of his tutors, the logician William Chappell. He was later reinstated under another tutor, Nathaniel Tovey. In 1629 Milton was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree, and in 1632 he received a Master of Arts degree. Despite his initial intent to enter the ministry, Milton did not do so, a situation that has not been fully explained. Possible reasons are that Milton lacked respect for his fellow students who were planning to become ministers but whom he considered ill-equipped academically or that his Puritan inclinations, which became more radical as he matured, caused him to dislike the hierarchy of the established church and its insistence on uniformity of worship; perhaps, too, his self-evident disaffection impelled the Church of England to reject him for the ministry. Overall, Milton was displeased with Cambridge, possibly because study there emphasized Scholasticism, which he found stultifying to the imagination. Moreover, in correspondence with a former tutor at St. Paul’s School, Alexander Gill, Milton complained about a lack of friendship with fellow students. They called him the “Lady of Christ’s College,” perhaps because of his fair complexion, delicate features, and auburn hair. Nonetheless, Milton excelled academically. At Cambridge he composed several academic exercises called prolusions, which were presented as oratorical performances in the manner of a debate. In such exercises, students applied their learning in logic and rhetoric, among other disciplines. Milton authorized publication of seven of his prolusions, composed and recited in Latin, in 1674, the year of his death. In 1632, after seven years at Cambridge, Milton returned to his family home, now in Hammersmith, on the outskirts of London. Three years later, perhaps because of an outbreak of the plague, the family relocated to a more pastoral setting, Horton, in Buckinghamshire. In these two locations, Milton spent approximately six years in studious retirement, during which he read Greek and Latin authors chiefly. Without gainful employment, Milton was supported by his father during this period. Travel abroad In 1638, accompanied by a manservant, Milton undertook a tour of the Continent for about 15 months, most of which he spent in Italy, primarily Rome and Florence. The Florentine academies especially appealed to Milton, and he befriended young members of the Italian literati, whose similar humanistic interests he found gratifying. Invigorated by their admiration for him, he corresponded with his Italian friends after his return to England, though he never saw them again. While in Florence, Milton also met with Galileo, who was under virtual house arrest. The circumstances of this extraordinary meeting, whereby a young Englishman about 30 years old gained access to the aged and blind astronomer, are unknown. (Galileo would become the only contemporary whom Milton mentioned by name in Paradise Lost.) While in Italy, Milton learned of the death in 1638 of Charles Diodati, his closest boyhood companion from St. Paul’s School, possibly a victim of the plague; he also learned of impending civil war in England, news that caused him to return home sooner than anticipated. Back in England, Milton took up residence in London, not far from Bread Street, where he had been born. In his household were John and Edward Phillips—sons of his sister, Anne—whom he tutored. Upon his return he composed an elegy in Latin, “Epitaphium Damonis” (“Damon’s Epitaph”), which commemorated Diodati. John Milton and GalileoJohn Milton (second from left) meeting Galileo (right), oil painting by Solomon Alexander Hart, 1847. Wellcome Library, London John Milton Quick Facts View Media Page born December 9, 1608 London, England died November 8, 1674? Chalfont St. Giles, England notable works “Comus” “Paradise Lost” “Areopagitica” “Samson Agonistes” “Lycidas” “Il Penseroso” “L’Allegro” “Defense of the English People Against Salmasius” “Of Education” “On Shakespeare” Load Next Page Inspire your inbox – Sign up for daily fun facts about this day in history, updates, and special offers. Enter your email Subscribe By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Click here to view our Privacy Notice. Easy unsubscribe links are provided in every email. Thank you for subscribing! Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Stay Connected Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Newsletters About Us & Legal Info Partner Program Contact Us Privacy Notice Terms of Use ©2021 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. close Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership.