Early Life
Edmund Spenser belonged to the Elizabethan Era. He was born in 1552 in London
and died at the age of 47 in 1599. His father was John Spenser while the name
of his mother was Elizabeth. They had four children while two of them were
named after their father and mother. Elizabeth (Boyle) had been his wife too
(but not the Faerie Queene, Elizabeth I). His father had been working in
Merchants Tailors' Company and he acquired his early education in Merchants
Tailors' School where the discipline was strict and exemplary. The school used
to open from 7 am to 11 am and the students had been given only two hours for
recreational activities. They had to return back to the school to continue
their further assimilation from 1 pm to 5 pm.
Literary Meetups
He accumulated further education in Pembroke Hall College (today: Pembroke
College, Cambridge) but the conflict of Humanism caught flames and two
professors had been removed from the college. Spenser met Gabriel Harway. He
did his M. A. in Greek and Latin languages from Cambridge University. He made
friends with Sir Philip Sidney (famous for his Deference
of Poetry) and dedicated The Shepheardes Calendar and Aristophel to him.
Occupation
After graduation, he had to work as a clerk in a court then was employed by The
Earl of Leicester, then secretary to Arthur and Deputy of Ireland by Mr. Grey.
He was so tyrant that he killed more than 1500 people in just two years. Then
Mr. Spenser had been introduced and patronised by Sir Walter Raleigh the Queen's
Court.
Notable Works
His notable works may include:
1. The Faerie Queene (1590 - 96)
2. The Shepheardes Callendar (1579)
3. Prothalamion (1996)
4. Babel, Empress of the East (1596)
5. Complaints (1591)
