| c.1370 |
John Lydgate is born at Lydgate, near Newmarket. |
| 1381 |
The Peasants' Rebellion. |
| c.1385 |
Admitted to the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds. Possibly attends Oxford and/or Cambridge. Possible travels in France. |
March
1388/9 |
Admitted in the church of Hadham to the four minor ecclesiastical orders. |
Dec.
1389 |
Letters dismissory for the office of subdeacon. |
| c.1390 |
Befriends Chaucer and his son, Thomas Chaucer. |
1390
-1393 |
Gower's Confessio Amantis. |
May
1393 |
Letters dismissory for the office of deacon. |
April
1397 |
Ordained priest. |
| 1399 |
Richard II deposed. Ascension of King Henry IV. |
Oct.
1400 |
Death of Chaucer. |
| 1408 |
Death of Gower. |
| 1412 |
Henry, Prince of Wales, (later Henry V) asks Lydgate to begin writing his "Troy Book." |
March
1413 |
Death of Henry IV. Ascension of Henry V |
Nov.
1415 |
Verses on Henry V's return to London after Agincourt. |
| 1417 |
A poem on the departure of Thomas Chaucer for France. A 'Balade' for Queen Catherine. |
| 1420 |
Completes The Siege of Troy and presents it to Henry V; Henry V requests Lydgate to write a Life of our Lady |
Dec.
1421 |
Birth of Prince Henry. Lydgate in the midst of writing The Siege of Thebes. |
| 1422 |
Death of Henry V. Regency of infant Henry VI, Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick as preceptor. Lydgate writes verses on the marriage of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; it is possible that the Duke's patronage of Lydgate began around this time. |
| 1423 |
In February, Lydgate is one of four people nominated to receive part of rents of the lands of the priory of Longville. In June, elected prior of Hatfield Broadoak (Hatfield Regis) in Essex. |
| c.1424 |
Writes 'mummings' for the little King's entertainment, performed at Windsor. |
| c.1426 |
Writes Life of St. Margaret for Anne, widow of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March. At this time Lydgate visits Paris with other patrons. Translates Deguilleville's Pilgrimage of the Life of Man for Thomas de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury. |
| c.1427 |
Writes "A Disguising at Hertford Castle" for the King's entertainment. |
July
1428 |
Translates Laurence Callot's "Remembraunce of a Pedigree" at the request of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. |
| 1429 |
Writes "A New Year's Ballade" to the king and his mother "at Hertford."
Henry VI crowned at Westminster in November. |
| 1431 |
Henry VI crowned at Paris in December. Lydgate begins writing The Falls of Princes at the recommendation of Duke Humphrey. |
| Feb. 1432 |
Verses on the Entry of Henry VI into London after his coronation in France. |
| Dec. 1433 |
The King visits the monastery of Bury for Christmas. Lydgate presents him with the Life of St. Edmund |
| 1434 |
Relieved of the priory of Hatfield, to facilitate his return to Bury. |
April
1439 |
Granted a pension of ten marks from the customs of Ipswich. Translates into English a "Life of St. Alban" at the request of John Whethamstede, abbot of St. Albans. |
May
1440 |
Pension substituted by the King for an annual pension of 7l. 13s. 4d. out of the proceeds of the farm of Waytefee. |
| 1443-1444 |
Writes "The Prospect of Peace" over the peace negotiations and truce with France, and the treaty of marriage between Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. |
| 1445 |
Writes "A Ballad on presenting an eagle to the King and Queen on the day of their Marriage" in April. Also writes verses for pageants performed at Queen Margaret's entry into London in May. Later that year, writes one of his "Nightingale poems" on the death of Henry de Beauchamp. |
| 1447 |
An elegy on the death of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. |
| 1449 |
The last known payment of Lydgate's pension. |
| 1451 |
According to Alcock, Bishop of Ely, Lydgate composed verses on the final English loss of France and Gascony. It is conjectured that Lydgate dies later this year. He was buried in the Bury monastery. |
