HEYWOOD, .Iona (c.1497-c.1577). An Eng lish author, sometimes called 'The Old matist.' fhe place of his birth has not been definitely aseerlained, but it was probably Lon don or North Minims, Hertfordshire. Al an early age he came to Court. introduced, according to some traditions. by Sir Thomas More; and the "Book of Payments" of Henry VIII. shows him to have been in the royal service in 1515. He found great favor at the Courts of Edward VI. and Mary. where his quickness at repartee and his witty imagination, besides the literary flavor of his writings, made him the superior intellectually of the usual Conti jester. Shortly after the ?ecession of Queen Elizabeth, he with drew to :11alitte., Belgium. Itf his literary re mains the tirst Idironolngieally were live Inter ludes, printed between 153:1 and 15611, 'Flier, are frequent plagiarisms front Chaucer. but they con tain some original humor and vigorous satire; and the semi-dramatic form in which they are cast places them among the precursors of English comedy. more ambition: but less sne•e.sfill
production was The Spider mu/ the Ely. whirli Was printed in 1556. lVritten partly as a vont plinient to Queen Mary for her theological atti tude, it represented Boman Catholics as the flies and Protestants as the spiders. with t hi' as the honsentaid wielding her destroying broom. Ills best-known and most popular writing: were the Epigrummes, the first extant edition of whirl, hears the date 1502. The int( .1 tat ry Hay bet n thy Pardon( r and the Fore., the Eurat, and l'ratt• (1)3) .1 trugy I'lay between Johan the Ilushandr. Tub the Wife, and the (153:3) ; The Four l''s (151191 t The Play of the Wether (1533 ) : and The I'lay of Boer. 1113 Miter works those mentioned were I Dialogue on Bit and Polly. and several ballads. l'onsult Ilalli well. Dictionary of Ohl I:nglish I'lays (Loudon. Sharimin's Introduction to an edition of the Proerrhs (London. I$7-11: and Syrnond, Nhakspere's I'rolcressars in air English Drama (London,