author
Sir John Hayward
d. 1627
An early modern English historian, lawyer, and politician, he is best remembered for a vivid and controversial history of Henry IV that drew official suspicion in Elizabethan England. His work helped move English history writing beyond the old chronicle style toward a more interpretive, political narrative.
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About the author
Born around 1564 near Felixstowe in Suffolk, Sir John Hayward studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he earned degrees in arts and law. He went on to build a career that mixed scholarship, public life, and legal work, and he is generally described as an English historian, lawyer, and politician.
Hayward is most closely associated with The First Part of the Life and Raigne of King Henrie IV, published in 1599. The book became famous not just for its subject but for the trouble it caused: its treatment of a king's deposition made it politically sensitive in the final years of Elizabeth I. That reputation has helped keep Hayward's name alive as a writer working at the risky edge of history and politics.
He was later knighted and continued writing historical works. Modern summaries often note him as one of the earlier English writers to treat history as something more analytical and literary than the older chronicles, giving his work a place in the development of English historical prose. He died on June 27, 1627.