John Kay (Poet Laureate)

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John Kay was a fifteenth-century English poet who described himself as the versificator regis (which would develop into the position of Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom) to Edward IV of England. [1] [2] If it ever existed, none of his poetic work remains. [3]

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References

  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Laureate"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 282; see middle of first para. W. Hamilton classes Chaucer, Gower, Kay, ......as “volunteer Laureates.”
  2. Howland, Frances Louise Morse (1895). The laureates of England: Ben Jonson to Alfred Tennyson. Frederick A. Stokes.
  3. "English Poets Laureate: First Versifier to Hold the Office was John Kay". The Pittsburgh Press. 17 February 1902. p. 7.