As a British Tory politician, philosopher, and political journalist, Viscount Bolingbroke famously opposed the Walpole administration. Bolingbroke maintained friendships with notable authors including Alexander Pope and Johnathan Swift.

Second wife of King Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I. While married to his first wife, Henry VIII made numerous attempts to seduce Boleyn, all of which she refused. The pope's refusal to allow Henry an annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon in favor of marrying Anne Boleyn led to England's break from the Catholic church and the beginning of the English Reformation. After Boleyn was unsuccessful in bearing Henry a son, Henry sought to break from the marriage in favor of his mistress, Jane Seymore.

Best known for his satires, epitres, and L'Art poétique (1674), French poet, satirist, and critic Nicolas Boileau published Dialogue des Héros de Roman in 1688. His translation of Longinus's Peri Hypsous as Le Traité du Sublime (1674; Treatise on the Sublime) was followed by Réflexions critiques sur Longin (1694; Critical Reflections on Longinus), which argued for the necessity of classical poetic models.

Italian poet Matteo Maria Boiardo was best known for the chivalric romance epic, L'Orlando Innamorato (1495).

Italian historical and satirical writer who served in various government functionary positions. His best known works include Ragguagli di Parmaso (1612), Centuria Seconda (1613), and the posthumously published Pietra di Paragone Politico (1615).

Italian writer, poet, and Renaissance humanist. The Decameron (1348-1353) is his collection of 100 tales that inspired fiction by many subsequent writers.

Blount, Martha Marie, 1690-1763 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—Martha Marie Blount was a close friend to author Alexander Pope, so much so that some contemporaries speculated that she was his lover or even secret wife. Because her family estate was concentrated on her younger brother, the shy, quiet-tempered Martha spent many of her adult years living with her more difficult sister Teresa (b. 1688), addressee of Pope's poems "Epistle to Miss Blount, with the Works of Voiture" (1710) and "Epistle to Miss Blount, on her Leaving the Town after the Coronation" (1714).

Extraordinarily hard-working, particularly after her family's finances were ruined by the extravagance of her companion, the Comte d'Orsay, Lady Blessington was known for novels, travel writing, periodical editing and contributions, and editing and authoring copy for popular literary gift books.

Poet, essayist, editor, and the biographer of Letitia Elizabeth Landon.

Scottish poet whose work The Grave gave rise to the graveyard school, a genre of poetry characterized by its morbid appeal and themes of mortality and bereavement.