John Capgrave
born
April 21, 1393, Lynn, Norfolk, Eng.
died Aug. 12, 1464, Lynn
historian, theologian, and hagiographer who
wrote an English Life of St. Katharine, vigorous
in its verse form and dramatically energetic in
its debate. His work illustrates well the
literary tastes and circumstances of his time.
Capgrave
became a priest, lectured in theology at Oxford
University, and later joined the Augustinian
order of hermits at Lynn, where he probably
became prior. He was provincial of his order in
England and made at least one journey to Rome,
the wonders of which are described in his Solace
of Pilgrims (ed. C.A. Mills, 1911).
Most of
his theological works seem to have been compiled
from other authors, or freely translated, and
consist of biblical commentaries, lectures,
sermons, treatises, and lives of saints. His
history in honour of Henry VI is of little
historical value, but the latter part of his
unfinished Chronicle of England is of some
interest. He wrote several lives of saints in
English, both in verse and in prose, but the
huge Latin collection of the lives of English
saints, the Nova Legenda Angliae, attributed to
him in the 16th century, was at most edited by
him.
