Poet Laureate

Poet Laureate is an honour bestowed by royalty on an eminent poet, such as Albertino Mussato of Padua who was awarded this honour in 1315, which was just a revival of the tradition of ancient Greece to bestow laurels to honour poets and heroes, and hence the term laureate.

However, in the English court, the Poet Laureate, is actually an officer of the royal household whose business was to celebrate in an ode any joyous occasion connected with royalty, and to write an ode on the birthday of the monarch, or the sovereign. English royal office of the Poet Laureate in England officially began from the appointment of John Dryden on this post in 1668.

Usage of this term in English is traced back to the reign of Edward IV (1442-1483). Bernard Andre (1450–1522), a French poet, was the first poet who was granted poet laureate as a title, not as an official position, by Henry VII (1457 – 1509), though he was officially named royal historiographer of England.

Nearby pages
Poet's Corner, Poetic license, Poetical Justice, Poetry, Poets, Point Barrow, Point de Galle