John Milton Biography

John Milton was a well-known Historian, English poet and pamphleteer. The famous writing of John Milton is the greatest epic poem in English  "Paradise Lost".  Together with Paradise Lost, Regained was another poem, which brought him the greatest reputation among English writers. While coming across John Milton Biography, it can be known that he was an intellectual civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and under Oliver Cromwell. In most of his prose work, he extended his influential thoughts about  English civil wars, American and French revolutions and the abolition of the Church of England and many more.

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The above image shows the Great Poet and Historian John Milton.

Early Life And Education of John Milton 

John Milton was born on 9th December 1608 in London. John and Sara Milton were the parents of John Milton. Anne was the elder sister of Milton and Christopher was his younger brother. And other siblings of John Milton was died before reaching adulthood. John Milton completed his schoolings at St. Paul’s School. He also learned  French, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Italian, and Spanish during his lifetime. After his schoolings, he joined  Christ’s College in Cambridge for graduation. He pursued his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1629 and Master of Arts in 1632.

John Milton As Poet

After completing his graduation from Cambridge. Milton started studying independently by spending nearly six years with his family in Buckinghamshire. At that time, he got interested in writings poems. He wrote famous poems like,  “Il Penseroso,” “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,” “On Shakespeare,” “L’Allegro,” and "Lycidas". He composed all these poems in memory of his friend, who died recently.

John Milton - Introduction To Politics 

In 1638, John Milton travelled abroad and moved to Europe and there he got an opportunity to meet a famous astronomer Galileo. At that time, Galileo was kept under house arrest. Later, John Milton returned to England and planned to approach the ongoing civil war.  Milton was a Puritan, which means he sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices. So, he deeply believed in the authority of the Bible and opposed religious institutions like the monarchy, the Church of England. 

John Milton also wrote revolutionary topics in pamphlets and spread them among the population like “freedom of the press” to support Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War. He presented this mainly for cutting off the supporters of Charles I. Meanwhile, many official publications of Cromwell’s government was written by John Milton. 

Milton Poet In Prison 

In 1658, Oliver Cromwell died. The entire English Republic collapsed and was involved in quarrelling with military and political factions. Milton was also stubbornly stuck to his beliefs and inspired people through his writing supporting Commonwealth. In 1659, he published the prose “A Treatise of Civil Power”. In that he described and attacked the concept of a state-dominated church and touching the likeliest means to remove employees, exposing corrupt practices from the church governance.  As the republic of the nation was destroyed, Milton wrote many other proposals to retain a non-monarchical government. 

In October 1659, John Milton wrote “A Letter to a Friend”. This prose was regarding the Ruptures of the Commonwealth and got a response from General Lambert's recent dissolution of the Rump Parliament. In November 1659, he wrote certain resources for stopping the civil war. 

He also wrote prose in two editions with the topic “The Ready and Easy Way to Establishing a Free Commonwealth”. Meanwhile, he got a response from General Monck's and marched towards London to restore the Long Parliament. But, Monarchy aroused and the republic of the country lost.  In late 1659, Milton was in prison because of his actions against Charles I and the rise of the Commonwealth. After few years he was released from prison due to the influence of powerful supporters. In 1660, Again monarchy arose in England with Charles II as king. 

John Milton’s Personal Life 

In 1642, 34 years old Milton married 17-year-old Mary Powell. Even after the marriage, John Milton’s spouse spent her life separated from Milton. During that time, Milton wrote a poem,  The Divorce Tracts”. He made series of publications on this topic and advocated the availability of divorce in society.  Later, the couple reunion and they had four children. In 1652 John Milton Spouse, Mary Powell died. Meanwhile, In 1652 Milton lost his vision and became totally blind. In 1656, Milton Writer remarried Katherine Woodcock, who also died in 1658.

About John Milton’s Paradise Lost

After being released from prison, In 1667, John Milton married Elizabeth Minshull. Then he published the book Paradise Lost in 10 volumes. According to John Milton Biography, this book was considered as the greatest work of Milton and the greatest epic poem written in English. He narrated the poem about how Satan tempted Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. In 1671, John Milton also published the poem Paradise Regained. In this poem, John Milton introduced how Jesus overcomes Satan’s temptations and Samson Agonistes. Also, he described which Samson first succumbs to temptation and then redeems himself. In 1674, John Milton also revised and published a 12-volume version of Paradise Lost.

Awards & Honours Received By John Milton

John Milton’s English and Latin writings brought him the achieved international fame for his lifetime. In 1644, he released the book Areopagitica, which was written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship. Through this book, he got fame as the most influential and impassioned person. He started rising hands for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Later, his love of freedom extended him to a new freedom style. John Milton introduced new words to the English language, which was coined from Latin and Ancient Greek languages. Also, John Milton was the first modern writer to introduce unrhymed verse outside of the theatre or translations in the poem.

In 1796, William Hayley released the John Milton biography, in that he named Milton as  "greatest English author".  He mentioned John Milton as  "one of the pre-eminent writers in the English language”. Samuel Johnson described Milton’s poem Paradise Lost as the poem which can claim first place based on design and the second price for the productions of the human mind.

Death of John Milton

In November 1674, John Milton shed his last breath in England. Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey in London dedicated a monument to John Milton’s poetic work. Later, he was buried in the St Giles-without-Cripplegate church, which was found in Fore Street in London. According to John Milton Short Biography, all his friends in London was carried over to his funeral. In 1793, the monument was added to his burial place, which was sculpted by John Bacon the Elder.