Renaissance History: John Taylor

Introduction

This is a continuation of my Renaissance History series, my 6th (and penultimate) entry in the series overall. In the series, I’ve covered four out of six Renaissance men of my invention, each man of a different European country (Note: There are a lot more than six Renaissance men I’ve invented, as can be seen in the first article in this series, which is an introduction.); the 5th is John Taylor of England.

Biography

John Taylor was an English scholar who spread the Renaissance across the British Isles after visiting France, Spain, and Italy. John was born in London on November 14, 1358. While studying in his home country, he became exposed to the rich and increasingly passive artistic and musical culture flourishing in France, as both rival countries were tired of losing men and were growing compelled to stop fighting during a two-year period.

In 1383, England’s second year of recovery from 40 years of warfare, John took the opportunity to find more about the contemporary French artistic culture by relocating to Paris. He remained there until 1385, when he headed for Spain, where the Renaissance had been for ten years. He remained in Spain until 1387, when he went to Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance.

John returned to England in 1390, having become more and more fascinated with every land he visited. He visited with English noblemen, and later the king of England, to whom he discussed his discoveries, introducing memories and souvenirs from the European countries he travelled in. They would all agree that John’s discoveries made England’s immediate past culture look primitive in comparison.

John died in London on August 16, 1440, at the age of 81.