author
Parson Haben
Known mostly through a short, striking piece called Haben’s Sermon, this shadowy early writer is linked with the rough, vivid world of Tudor-era rogues, vagabonds, and tricksters. Very little is firmly known about the person behind the name, which gives the work an extra air of mystery.
1 Audiobook
Awdeley's Fraternitye of Vacabondes, Harman's Caueat, Haben's Sermon, &c.
by active 1559-1577 John Awdelay, Parson Haben, active 1567 Thomas Harman
About the author
Parson Haben is an obscure early author associated with Awdeley’s Fraternitye of Vacabondes, Harman’s Caueat, Haben’s Sermon, &c. Project Gutenberg’s author listing identifies the name as an alias, "Hyberdyne," and connects Haben with Haben’s Sermon in that collection.
The work survives as part of a famous group of texts about wandering beggars, petty crime, and cony-catching in 16th-century England. In modern editions and library-style listings, Haben is presented alongside John Awdeley and Thomas Harman, two better-known writers on the same underworld material.
Because biographical details are so scarce, it is safest to think of Parson Haben as a name attached to a surviving text rather than a fully documented historical figure. No reliable portrait was found from the sources reviewed.