Facts about John Milton

1. 14

   Educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, John Milton earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1629 and his Master of Arts in 1632.

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2. 13

   Oliver Cromwell's government paid Milton 288 pounds annually as Latin Secretary, a substantial salary reflecting the Commonwealth's reliance on his diplomatic linguistic skills.

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3. 12

   Milton's 1671 Samson Agonistes, a tragic drama written in classical Greek style, remained unpublished during his lifetime and appeared posthumously alongside Paradise Regained.

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4. 11

   Five of Milton's treatises on divorce between 1643 and 1645 scandalized England by arguing that incompatibility justified marriage dissolution, challenging prevailing theological doctrine.

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5. 10

   Milton's first wife Mary Powell returned to him in 1645 after abandoning him in 1643, reconciling during the English Civil War and bearing him four children before her death in 1652.

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6. 09

   At age 60, Milton married Elizabeth Minshull in 1663, his third wife, who was 31 years younger and remained with him until his death in 1674.

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7. 08

   Approximately 4,000 of Milton's personal library books survive today in the Morgan Library in New York, offering scholars rare insight into the intellectual foundations of Paradise Lost.

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8. 07

   The 1671 publication of Paradise Regained, Milton's second major epic poem, comprised only 4 books and approximately 2,065 lines, making it substantially shorter than its predecessor.

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9. 06

   Milton's 1645 collection Poems contained 152 pages and marked his first major published work, establishing his reputation as a significant English poet before his later epic achievements.

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10. 05

    Milton's 1667 publication of Paradise Lost as a 10-book epic poem in blank verse established him as England's greatest poet despite the work receiving mixed initial reception from contemporary critics.

    John MiltonMay 21shareliteraturepublicationseventeenth-century
11. 04

    When Parliament ordered Milton's arrest in 1660 after the Restoration, his friend William Davenant, the poet laureate, successfully interceded to spare him from execution despite his regicide support.

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12. 03

    During the English Civil War, John Milton served as Latin Secretary to Oliver Cromwell's Council of State from 1649 to 1659, drafting diplomatic correspondence in Latin for the Commonwealth government.

    John MiltonMay 21sharepoliticalhistoryseventeenth-century
13. 02

    In 1643, John Milton married Mary Powell, a 17-year-old royalist's daughter, though she abandoned him after only a few months during the English Civil War.

    John MiltonMay 21sharebiographyhistoryrelationships
14. 01

    Blindness struck John Milton around 1652, yet he completed Paradise Lost between 1658 and 1665, dictating approximately 10,000 lines of blank verse to scribes.

    John MiltonMay 21sharedisabilityliteraturebiography