Jonson, Ben
Jonson, Ben (1572–1637),poet and playwright. His father, a minister, died before Ben's birth; his mother then married a bricklayer. With financial support from an unknown patron Jonson attended Westminster School, but left early to become first his stepfather's apprentice, then a soldier in the Netherlands. By 1597 he was writing plays—mostly in collaboration with other authors—for the theatre owner Philip Henslowe. He rapidly rose to become one of the most eminent dramatists of the Jacobean period. He published his Works in 1616 (an unprecedented act of self-confidence for a popular playwright), was awarded a royal pension of 100 marks a year, and spent the rest of James's reign writing court masques, a form of entertainment which he raised to a highly sophisticated level. With the accession of Charles I his fortunes changed. He was dropped by the court as a writer of masques, and his popularity as a playwright waned. But he...
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