Thomas Nashe

Thomas Nashe arrived in London from Cambridge in 1588, the year of the Armada. Known as a member of the group of "University Wits," he went on to turn his lively and prolific energy to a number of literary endeavors. He began his career with an attack on recent efforts and soon joined in the controversial Marprelate polemic, writing against the Puritans. Other satires followed, but Nashe's most engaging work is the picaresque relation of the adventures of Jack Wilton in The Unfortunate Traveller (1594). The hero's journey through Reformation Europe provides Nashe with many an opportunity for his dark and irreverent sarcasm; themes of violence, disease, and erotic corruption combine to deliver what is perhaps the period's finest parody of both literary and religious institutions. Nashe also wrote for the stage and was among the people sent to the Fleet prison for his role in the Isle of Dogs controversy. Nashe died in poverty at the age of 33. (Bowker Author Biography)

— biography from The Unfortunate Traveller and Other Works

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