Quick Summary
John Skelton (c. 1460–1529) was an Early Tudor poet laureate and tutor to Henry VIII, famous for his satirical attacks on Cardinal Wolsey and Church corruption. His chief innovation was 'Skeltonics'—a rapid, tumbling verse form—and he authored Magnificence, the first secular morality play in English. Skelton is a crucial transitional figure between medieval allegory and Renaissance secular literature.