Heywood was born in 1497, probably in
Coventry, and moved to London sometime in his late teens. He spent time studying at
Broadgates Hall (now Pembroke College),
Oxford, but did not obtain a degree. His language skills can be seen by his adaptation of his play Johan Johan from the French
La Farce du pâté. His name first appears in the King Henry VIII's Household Books in 1519 as a 'synger', a job for which he received quarterly payments of 100 shillings. In 1521 he began receiving annual rents from lands in
Essex, lands recently seized by the crown which made Heywood wealthy and propertied. In 1523, he received the
freedom of the City of London with the help of Henry VIII. At Michaelmas 1525 he received £6. 13s. 4d. as a 'player of
virginals'. At about the same time he married Jane Rastell, the niece of
Sir Thomas More. Through this marriage, Heywood entered into a very theatrical family. Jane's father
John Rastell was a composer of interludes and was the first publisher of plays in England. When Rastell built his own house in
Finsbury Fields, he built a stage explicitly for the performance of plays, and his wife made costumes. It appears that the whole family, including Thomas More, were involved in these productions. In this private theatre, Heywood found an audience for his early works, and a strong artistic influence in his father-in-law. In the 1520s and 1530s, he was writing and producing interludes for the royal court. He enjoyed the patronage of
Edward VI and
Mary I, writing plays to present at court. While some of his plays call for music, no songs or texts survive. He died in
Mechelen, in present-day
Belgium. His son was the poet and translator
Jasper Heywood, his daughter was Elizabeth Heywood, and his grandson was the poet and preacher
John Donne. == Themes ==