16th-century English male writers

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" or simply "the Bard". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

English philosopher and statesman (1561–1626)

English statesman, lawyer and philosopher (1478–1535)

Henry VIII was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. After the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry passed legislation that severed England and Ireland from the Roman Catholic Church and established the monarch as Supreme Head of the Church of England, initiating the English Reformation. He subsequently married five more times; two marriages were annulled, and two wives were executed.

English dramatist, poet and translator (1564–1593)

English poet and cleric (1572-1631)

English playwright, poet, and actor (1572-1637)

English poet (c. 1552 – 1599)

English physician, physicist and natural philosopher (1544-1603)

English poet, courtier, diplomat (1554-1586)

English scholar (1577–1640)

English poet and diplomat (1503-1542)

English dramatist (1578-1634)

16th/17th-century English dramatist, poet, and translator

English Roman Catholic cardinal and saint (c. 1469–1535)

English playwright (1584–1616)

English dramatist

(1551–1623) English antiquarian

English author, editor and translator (1553–1616)

English playwright, poet and dramatist (c.1553/4-1606)

English dramatist and pamphleteer

English Elizabethan pamphleteer and poet

English mathematician, doctor and astrologer

16th-century English historian

English scholar and didactic writer (1515-1568)

English composer, poet and physician

16th-century English nobleman; (1516-1547)

English author (1558-1592)

English poet

English writer known for plays, poems and a collection of proverbs (1497-1580)

English cartographer and historian (1551/52-1629)

English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era (1550-1604)

Italian-English scholar (1470–1555)

English writer and dramatist (1557–1625)

English writer 1575?-1634

Poet and historian

16th/17th-century English playwright, actor, and author (1574–1641)

English chronicler

English courtier, Queens godson and author

English humanist scholar and physician (c.1460–1524)

English poet and tutor (1463-1529)

English politician and poet (1536-1608)

English Jesuit and poet (1561–1595)

English poet and dramatist (1556-1596)

English diplomat, traveller and explorer (1529-c.1611)

English herbalist and botanist (1567-1650)

16th-century English poet and courtier

English Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church

English politician (1554-1628)

English writer, poet, politician and ambassador (1568-1639)

English playwright and miscellaneous writer

English bishop and scholar

English lawyer, politician and writer of verse (1532-1584)

British bishop and writer (1574-1656)

English writer (1577–1626)

English poet and essayist (1581–1613)

16th-century English historian and antiquarian

English cleric and Puritan theologian

English poet and antiquary

Anglican bishop in Ireland