Thomas Nashe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Thomas Nashe
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Polemical woodcut deriding Nashe as jailbird. From Richard Lichfield's The Trimming of Thomas Nashe, Gentleman (1597)
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| Born | Baptised November 1567 Lowestoft, Suffolk, England |
| Died | c. 1601 (aged 33–34) |
| Occupation | Playwright, poet, satirist |
| Nationality | English |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
| Period | c. 1589–1599 |
| Notable works | Summer's Last Will and Testament (1592) |
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Thomas Nashe (born in November 1567, died around 1601) was an important English writer during the Elizabethan era. He wrote plays, poems, and funny stories that made fun of things (called satire). He also wrote many short books called pamphlets. People remember him for his novel The Unfortunate Traveller and his pamphlets like Pierce Penniless. He also wrote to defend the Church of England.
Life of Thomas Nashe
Thomas Nashe was the son of William Nashe, a parson (a type of priest). He was born in Lowestoft, a town on the coast of Suffolk, England. His father worked there as a curate. Thomas was one of seven children, but only he and his older brother, Israel, lived past childhood.
In 1573, his family moved to West Harling, near Thetford. This happened after his father became the priest at All Saints church there. Around 1581, Thomas went to St John's College, Cambridge. He was a sizar, which meant he received financial help for his studies.
He earned his first degree in 1586. Thomas did not continue to get a Master of Arts degree. Most people who have studied his life think he left college around the summer of 1588. The reasons why he left are not fully clear.
After leaving Cambridge, Thomas Nashe moved to London. This is where he began his career as a writer. For the next ten years, he focused on finding work and taking part in arguments with other writers. His most famous arguments were with Richard and Gabriel Harvey.
His first published work was a preface (an introduction) to Menaphon by Robert Greene. He also wrote an introduction for an early version of Philip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella. However, this version was later removed from sale.
Thomas Nashe was still alive in 1599 when his last known work, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, was published. He died by 1601, as another writer, Charles Fitzgeoffrey, wrote a poem about him in Latin. We do not know exactly where he died or where he is buried.
Thomas Nashe's Works
Here is a list of Thomas Nashe's known works:
- 1589 The Anatomy of Absurdity
- 1589 Preface to Greene's Menaphon
- 1590 An Almond for a Parrot
- 1591 Preface to Sir Philip Sidney's Astrophel and Stella
- 1592 Pierce Penniless
- 1592 Summer's Last Will and Testament (a play performed in 1592, published in 1600)
- 1592 Strange News
- 1593 Christ's Tears over Jerusalem
- 1594 Terrors of the Night
- 1594 The Unfortunate Traveller
- 1596 Have with You to Saffron-Walden
- 1597 Isle of Dogs (This play is now lost)
- 1599 Nashe's Lenten Stuffe
See also
In Spanish: Thomas Nashe para niños
- Canons of Elizabethan poetry
