Background
Puttenham was born circa 1529. He was the second son of Robert Puttenham of Sherfield-on-Loddon in Hampshire and his wife Margaret, the daughter of Sir Richard Elyot and sister of Sir Thomas Elyot. He had an elder brother, Richard.
Puttenham was born circa 1529. He was the second son of Robert Puttenham of Sherfield-on-Loddon in Hampshire and his wife Margaret, the daughter of Sir Richard Elyot and sister of Sir Thomas Elyot. He had an elder brother, Richard.
He matriculated at Christ's College, Cambridge, in November 1546, aged 17, but took no degree, and was admitted to the Middle Temple on 11 August 1556.
Puttenham wrote poems praising Queen Elizabeth, a tract justifying the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, and The Arte of English Poesie (1589), which was issued anonymously and sometimes credited, on insufficient evidence, to his brother Richard. The Arte of English Poesie, the most comprehensive treatise on the technique of poetry produced by an Elizabethan, is notable for its exhaustive analyses of metrical and rhetorical devices and for its recognition of aesthetic values.
(This 16th century survey was the most systematic and comp...)
In late 1559 or early 1560 Puttenham married Elizabeth, Lady Windsor, the daughter and coheir of Peter Cowdray of Herriard, Hampshire. She was the widow of both Richard, brother of William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester, and William, Baron Windsor. She brought a substantial dowry to the marriage. They had at least one daughter.