Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke
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This article is about the Elizabethan author. For other people with similar names, see Fulke Greville (disambiguation).
Sir Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (1554 - September 30, 1628) was a minor Elizabethan poet, dramatist and statesman.
Born at Beauchamp Court, Warwickshire, and educated at Royal Shrewsbury School and Cambridge, he was a friend and contemporary of Sir Philip Sidney at Shrewsbury, enrolling on the same day. After a distinguished administrative career under Elizabeth I and James I (in the course of which he served successively as secretary to the Principality of Wales, Treasurer of the Navy, and Chancellor of the Exchequer), he was created Baron Brooke on 29 January 1620/1 with special remainder to the heirs of his cousin Robert Greville.
He was murdered by a servant. His works, which were chiefly published after his death, consist of tragedies and sonnets, and poems on political and moral subjects, including Cælica (109 sonnets). He also wrote a Life of Sir P. Sidney. His style is grave and sententious. He is buried in the church at Warwick, and the inscription on his tomb, written by himself, is a compendious biography. It runs: "Fulke Greville, servant to Queen Elizabeth, counsellor to King James, friend to Sir Philip Sidney."
Works
Towards the end of his life, his varied literary output was gathered together and published:
- in 1633: two tragedies (Alaham and Mustapha); a sonnet cycle (Caelia); and a philosophical treatise in verse (A Treatie of Humane Learning)
- in 1652: The Life of the Rennowned Sir Philip Sidney, a biography of his schoolfellow
| Preceded by: Sir John Hawkins | Treasurer of the Navy 1598–1604 | Succeeded by: Sir Robert Mansell |
| Preceded by: Sir Julius Caesar | Chancellor of the Exchequer 1614–1621 | Succeeded by: Sir Richard Weston ReferencesExternal links
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