Fulke Greville

16th-17th century poet and author

Caelica V set to music by the composer John Dowland

Fulke Greville (1554-1628) is one of the most notable Warwickshire figures from the age of Shakespeare. A prolific writer of love sonnets, he also experimented with new literary genres, including biography; philosophical poems about fame, monarchy, and war; and dramas in Islamic settings. Under Queen Elizabeth he was a noted courtier, closely allied with Sir Philip Sidney and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; and later under James I he was an important statesman, serving as Treasurer of the Navy and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Local MP

Born in Alcester in Warwickshire, he was a local MP in four different parliaments between 1592 and 1621. In 1604 he was granted Warwick Castle, and spent a fortune reviving it from its dilapidated state to the extraordinary building we see today.

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