John Milton

Date of birth: 1608-12-09 — Date of death: 1608-11-02

Poet. Son of John Milton (scrivener and moneylender), Milton studied at St Paul's School and then Christ's College, Cambridge. His most famous work is the epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), originally published as ten books and then revised into twelve. Focusing on a vengeful Satan and the fall of Adam and Eve, the poem offers an explanation as to why God permits evil. Milton is buried in St Giles Applegate in London.