ABSTRACT
Evidence concerning the life of Thomas Hoccleve falls into two distinct classes. The more than sixty documents from such sources as the records of Chancery and, especially, the Exchequer are mainly concerned with various grants and payments to the poet. Nearly all of them refer to Hoccleve's life as a clerk in the office of the Privy Seal. Since most are clearly dated, these references establish a firm chronology, at least for the poet's office life.1 The second source of information is Hoccleve's poetry itself. Within the canon of his writings - which can be established with some confidence - the poet is to be found quite frequently alluding to his own life and circumstances, and to contemporaries whom he counted among his office colleagues, or friends, or potential benefactors.
