John Capgrave

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John Capgrave (1393-1464) was an English historian and theologian.

He was born in King's Lynn in Norfolk, became an Augustinian friar and, at length. Provincial of the Order in England. He studied probably at Cambridge, visited Rome and was a client of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, whose life he wrote. He was the author of numerous theological and historical works, some of which are of considerable importance, including in Latin, the hagiographic Nova Legenda Angliae, De Illustribus Henricis: lives of German Emperors, English Kings, etc., of the name of Henry, and in English, monotonous and dull lives of Saint Gilbert and Saint Catherine, and a Chronicle reaching to 1417.

This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.