A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Capgrave, John

by John William Cousin

Capgrave, John (1393-1464).—Historian and theologian, b. at Lynn, became an Augustinian Friar, and at length Provincial of the Order in England. He studied probably at Camb., visited Rome, and was a client of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, whose life he wrote. He was the author of numerous theological and historical works, some of which are of considerable importance, including in Latin, Nova Legenda Angliæ, De Illustribus Henricis: lives of German Emperors, English Kings, etc., of the name of Henry, and in English, monotonous and dull, lives of St. Gilbert and St. Katharine, and a Chronicle reaching to 1417.