The Wilton Circle were an influential group of 16th-century English poets, led by Mary Sidney. They were based at Wilton House, Wiltshire, which was run by the half-brother of Walter Raleigh. Sidney turned Wilton into a "paradise for poets", and the circle included Edmund Spenser, Michael Drayton, Sir John Davies, Abraham Fraunce, and Samuel Daniel.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wilton_House.jpg/220px-Wilton_House.jpg)
They are described as "the most important and influential literary circle in English history"[1] and Mary Sidney has been called a "patroness of the muses".[2]
See also
editAreopagus, a similar group centered around Mary's brother, Philip Sidney
References
edit- ^ "Mary Sidney Herbert". The Shakespearean Authorship Trust. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
- ^ Hannay, Margaret P. (1990). Philip's Phoenix: Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 106–142. ISBN 0-19-505779-1.