Quick Summary
John Lydgate, the 'Monk of Bury,' was the dominant 15th-century poet who imitated and canonized Chaucer while developing a distinctive 'aureate' style. His massive, didactic works like The Troy Book and The Fall of Princes served Lancastrian political interests and elevated English as a literary language. Though criticized for prolixity, he was immensely popular in his time and crucial for transitioning English literature from the medieval to the early modern period.