John Awdely facts for kids

John Awdely was an English printer who lived in London during the 1500s. He was active between 1559 and 1577 and was known for writing and printing many popular books and pamphlets.

Life as a Printer

John Awdely became a member of the Stationers' Company before 1559. This company was like a guild for printers and booksellers in London. Being a member meant he could legally print and sell books.

In 1559, he took on his first apprentice, a young person learning the printing trade. He also got permission to print his very first publication, which was a "morning and evening prayer."

From 1561 to 1571, John Awdely was very busy. He often received licenses to print many different books and pamphlets. He also continued to train new apprentices. Sometimes, he faced penalties for breaking printing rules, like printing books that belonged to other printers.

The last time John Awdely is mentioned in the Stationers' Company records is in 1577. That year, he and other printers signed a letter to the Queen. They were asking her to stop giving special printing rights, called monopolies, to only a few people. After this, we don't know what happened to him.

John Awdely lived and worked in Little Britain Street in London. His books often said his shop was "without Aldersgate" or "by Great S. Bartholomew's," which helped people find him.

What John Awdely Printed

John Awdely printed many different kinds of materials. These included popular songs called ballads, news sheets that shared current events, and religious writings. One important book he reprinted was Anthony Fitzherbert's Boke of Husbandry, which was about farming. In 1561, he also published translations of works by German religious thinkers.

Many of the things John Awdely printed were also written by him!

Famous Works

One of his earliest works was The Wonders of England, published in 1559. This was a large sheet of paper with a poem about English history, from the death of King Edward VI to the start of Queen Elizabeth I's reign.

His most famous work is a small book called The Fraternitye of Vacabondes, published in 1565. This book described the lives and ways of the beggars of that time. It even had some simple, rhyming verses by Awdely himself. This book was so popular that it was reprinted several times. Another writer, Thomas Harman, even used some of Awdely's ideas in his own book about beggars.

John Awdely was strongly against the Catholic Church of his time. He wrote verses to warn people about what he saw as its mistakes. These verses were included as an introduction to a book he published in 1574 called A briefe Treatise agaynst certayn Errors of the Romish Church.

Other Writings

Here are some other works that John Awdely wrote or was likely to have written:

• Ecclesi. xx., Remember death and thou shalt never sinne (1569) – a single sheet of writing.
• Cruel Assault of God's Fort – a poem.
• Epitaphe upon Death of Mayster John Veron, preacher – a poem about the preacher John Véron.
• A Godly Ditty or Prayer to be song unto God for the preservation of his Church, our Queene and Realme, against all Traytours, Rebels, and Papistical Enemies (1570) – a song or prayer.

He also likely wrote poems about "Doctour Hodden" and "Masterr Fraunces Benyson," which he published around 1570-1571.