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George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the
Romantic movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narratives ''
Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...
'' and '' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage''; many of his shorter lyrics in '' Hebrew Melodies'' also became popular. Byron was educated at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, before he travelled extensively in Europe. He lived for seven years in Italy, in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
,
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,
Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
and
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after he was forced to flee England due to threats of
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...
. During his stay in Italy, he would frequently visit his friend and fellow poet
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...
. Later in life, Byron joined the
Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...
to fight the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, for which Greeks revere him as a
folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythology, mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in Folk music, folk songs, folk tales ...
. He died leading a campaign in 1824, at the age of 36, from a fever contracted after the first and
second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
sieges of Missolonghi. His one legitimate child,
Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-pur ...
, was a founding figure in the field of
computer programming Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called computer program, programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of proc ...
. __TOC__


Early life

George Gordon Byron was born on 22 January 1788, on
Holles Street Holles Street is a street in Marylebone in the City of Westminster in central London that runs from the south side of Cavendish Square to Oxford Street. History The street was one of those laid out around 1729 when the area north of Oxford Str ...
in London; his birthplace is now supposedly occupied by a branch of the department store John Lewis. His family in the English Midlands can be traced back without interruption to Ralph de Buran who arrived in England with
William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...
in the 11th century. His land holdings are listed in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086. Byron was the only child of Captain John 'Jack' Byron and his second wife, Catherine Gordon, heiress of the Gight estate in
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
, Scotland. Byron's paternal grandparents were Vice Admiral John Byron and Sophia Trevanion. Having survived a shipwreck as a teenage midshipman, Byron's grandfather set a new speed record for circumnavigating the globe. After he became embroiled in a tempestuous voyage during the American War of Independence, he became nicknamed 'Foul-Weather Jack' Byron by the press. Byron's father had previously been somewhat scandalously married to Amelia Osborne, Marchioness of Carmarthen, with whom he was having an affair – the wedding took place just weeks after her divorce from her husband, and she was around eight months pregnant. The marriage was not a happy one, and their first two children – Sophia Georgina, and an unnamed boy – died in infancy. Amelia herself died in 1784 almost exactly a year after the birth of their third child, the poet's half-sister Augusta Mary. Though Amelia died from a wasting illness, probably
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, the press reported that her heart had been broken out of remorse for leaving her husband. Much later, 19th-century sources blamed Jack's own "brutal and vicious" treatment of her.. Jack would then marry Catherine Gordon of Gight on 13 May 1785, by all accounts only for her fortune. To claim his second wife's estate in Scotland, Byron's father took the additional surname "Gordon", becoming "John Byron Gordon", and occasionally styled himself "John Byron Gordon of Gight". Byron's mother had to sell her land and title to pay her new husband's debts, and in the space of two years, the large estate, worth some £23,500 (), had been squandered, leaving the former heiress with an annual income in trust of only £150 (). In a move to avoid his creditors, Catherine accompanied her husband to France in 1786, but returned to England at the end of 1787 to give birth to her son. Byron was born in January 1788, and christened at
St Marylebone Parish Church St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near ...
. His father appears to have wished to call his son 'William', but as he remained absent, Byron's mother named him after her own father, George Gordon of Gight, who was a descendant of
James I of Scotland James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III of Scotland, Robert III and ...
and who had died by suicide some years earlier, in 1779. Byron's mother moved back to
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
in 1790, and Byron spent part of his childhood there. His father soon joined them in their lodgings in Queen Street, but the couple quickly separated. Catherine regularly experienced mood swings and bouts of melancholy, which could be partly explained by her husband's continuously borrowing money from her. As a result, she fell even further into debt to support his demands. One of these loans enabled him to travel to
Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...
, France, where he died of a "long & suffering illness" – probably tuberculosis – in 1791. When Byron's great-uncle, who was posthumously labelled the "wicked" Lord Byron, died on 21 May 1798, the 10-year-old became the sixth Baron Byron of
Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
and inherited the ancestral home, Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire. His mother took him to England, but the Abbey was in a state of disrepair and, rather than live there, she decided to lease it to Lord Grey de Ruthyn, among others, during Byron's adolescence. Described as "a woman without judgment or self-command", Catherine either spoiled and indulged her son or vexed him with her capricious stubbornness. Her drinking disgusted him and he often mocked her for being short and corpulent, which made it difficult for her to catch him to discipline him. Byron had been born with a deformed right foot; his mother once retaliated and, in a fit of temper, referred to him as "a lame brat".. However, Byron's biographer, Doris Langley Moore, in her 1974 book ''Accounts Rendered'', paints a more sympathetic view of Mrs Byron, showing how she was a staunch supporter of her son and sacrificed her own precarious finances to keep him in luxury at Harrow and Cambridge. Langley-Moore questions 19th-century biographer John Galt's claim that she over-indulged in alcohol. Byron's mother-in-law, Judith Noel, the Hon. Lady Milbanke, died in 1822, and her will required that he change his surname to "Noel" in order to inherit half of her estate. He accordingly obtained a Royal Warrant, enabling him to "take and use the surname of Noel only" and to "subscribe the said surname of Noel before all titles of honour". From that point, he signed himself "Noel Byron" (the usual signature of a peer being merely the name of the peerage, in this case simply "Byron"). Some have speculated that he did this so that his initials would read "N.B.", mimicking those of his hero,
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
. Lady Byron eventually succeeded to the Barony of Wentworth, becoming "Lady Wentworth".


Education

Byron received his early formal education at Aberdeen Grammar School from January 1795 until his move back to England as a 10-year-old. In August 1799 he entered the school of Dr. William Glennie, in
Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...
.. Placed under the care of a Dr. Bailey, he was encouraged to exercise in moderation but could not restrain himself from "violent" bouts of activity in an attempt to compensate for his deformed foot. His mother interfered with his studies, often withdrawing him from school, which arguably contributed to his lack of self-discipline and his neglect of his classical studies. Byron was sent to
Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
in 1801, and remained there until July 1805. An undistinguished student and an unskilled cricketer, he nevertheless represented the school during the first Eton v Harrow cricket match at
Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...
in 1805. His lack of moderation was not restricted to physical exercise. Byron fell in love with Mary Chaworth, whom he met while at school, and she was the reason he refused to return to Harrow in September 1803. His mother wrote, "He has no indisposition that I know of but love, desperate love, the worst of all maladies in my opinion. In short, the boy is distractedly in love with Miss Chaworth." In Byron's later
memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...
, "Mary Chaworth is portrayed as the first object of his adult sexual feelings." Byron finally returned in January 1804, to a more settled period, which saw the formation of a circle of emotional involvements with other Harrow boys, which he recalled with great vividness: "My school friendships were with (for I was always violent)". The most enduring of those was with John FitzGibbon, 2nd Earl of Clare—four years Byron's junior—whom he was to meet again unexpectedly many years later, in 1821, in Italy. His nostalgic poems about his Harrow friendships, ''Childish Recollections'' (1806), express a prescient "consciousness of sexual differences that may in the end make England untenable to him." Letters to Byron in the John Murray archive contain evidence of a previously unremarked if short-lived romantic relationship with a younger boy at Harrow, John Thomas Claridge. In the following autumn he entered
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, where he met and formed a close friendship with the younger John Edleston. About his "protégé" he wrote, "He has been my almost constant associate since October, 1805, when I entered Trinity College. His voice first attracted my attention, his countenance fixed it, and his manners attached me to him for ever." After Edleston's death, Byron composed ''Thyrza'', a series of elegies, in his memory.. In later years, he described the affair as "a violent, though love and passion". This statement, however, needs to be read in the context of hardening public attitudes toward homosexuality in England and the severe sanctions (including public hanging) imposed upon convicted or even suspected offenders. The liaison, on the other hand, may well have been "pure" out of respect for Edleston's innocence, in contrast to the (probably) more sexually overt relations experienced at Harrow School. The poem "The Cornelian" was written about the cornelian that Byron had received from Edleston. Byron spent three years at Trinity College, engaging in boxing, horse riding, gambling, and sexual escapades. While at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, he also formed lifelong friendships with men such as John Cam Hobhouse, who initiated him into the Cambridge Whig Club, which endorsed liberal politics, and Francis Hodgson, a Fellow at King's College, with whom he corresponded on literary and other matters until the end of his life.


Career


Early career

While not at school or college, Byron lived at his mother's residence, Burgage Manor in
Southwell, Nottinghamshire Southwell ( , ) is a minster (church), minster and market town, and a civil parish, in the district of Newark and Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, England. It is home to the Listed building, grade-I listed Southwell Minster, the cathedral of the An ...
. While there, he cultivated friendships with Elizabeth Bridget Pigot and her brother John, with whom he staged two plays for the entertainment of the community. During this time, with the help of Elizabeth Pigot, who copied many of his rough drafts, he was encouraged to write his first volumes of poetry. ''Fugitive Pieces'' was printed by Ridge of Newark, which contained poems written when Byron was only 17. However, it was promptly recalled and burned on the advice of his friend the Reverend J. T. Becher, on account of its more amorous verses, particularly the poem ''To Mary''. ''Hours of Idleness'', a collection of many of the previous poems, along with more recent compositions, was the culminating book. The savage, anonymous criticism it received (now known to be the work of Henry Peter Brougham) in the ''
Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...
'' prompted Byron to compose his first major satire, ''English Bards and Scotch Reviewers'' (1809). Byron put it into the hands of his relative R. C. Dallas, and asked him to "...get it published without his name." Alexander Dallas suggested a large number of changes to the manuscript, and provided the reasoning for some of them. Dallas also stated that Byron had originally intended to prefix an argument to this poem, which Dallas quoted. Although it was published anonymously, that April R. C. Dallas wrote that "you are already pretty generally known to be the author". The work so upset some of his critics that they challenged Byron to a duel; over time, in subsequent editions, it became a mark of prestige to be the target of Byron's pen. After his return from travels he entrusted R. C. Dallas, as his literary agent, with the publication of his poem '' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'', which Byron thought to be of little account. The first two cantos of ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' were published in 1812 and were received with critical acclaim.. In Byron's own words, "I awoke one morning and found myself famous." He followed up this success with the poem's last two cantos, as well as four equally celebrated "Oriental Tales": '' The Giaour'', '' The Bride of Abydos'', '' The Corsair'', and '' Lara''. About the same time, he began his intimacy with his future biographer,
Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...
.


First travels to the East

Byron racked up numerous debts as a young man, owing to what his mother termed a "reckless disregard for money". She lived at Newstead during this time, in fear of her son's creditors. He had planned to spend some time in 1808 cruising with his cousin George Bettesworth, who was captain of the 32-gun frigate HMS ''Tartar'', but Bettesworth's death at the
Battle of Alvøen A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
in May 1808 made that impossible. From 1809 to 1811, Byron went on the Grand Tour, then a customary part of the education of young noblemen. He travelled with Hobhouse for the first year, and his entourage of servants included Byron's trustworthy valet, William Fletcher. Hobhouse and Byron often made Fletcher the butt of their humour. The
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
forced Byron to avoid touring in most of Europe; he instead turned to the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
. His journey enabled him to avoid his creditors and to meet up with a former love, Mary Chaworth (the subject of his poem "To a Lady: On Being Asked My Reason for Quitting England in the Spring"). Another reason for choosing to visit the Mediterranean was probably his curiosity about the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
; he had read about the Ottoman and
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
n lands as a child, was attracted to
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
(especially Sufi mysticism), and later wrote, "With these countries, and events connected with them, all my really poetical feelings begin and end." Byron began his trip in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, from where he wrote a letter to his friend Mr Hodgson in which he describes what he had learned of the Portuguese language: mainly swear words and insults. Byron particularly enjoyed his stay in Sintra, which he later described in '' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' as "glorious Eden". From Lisbon he travelled overland to
Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
, Jerez de la Frontera,
Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...
, and
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
, and from there by sea to Sardinia,
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
,
Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
and
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. The purpose of Byron's and Hobhouse's travel to Albania was to meet Ali Pasha of Ioannina and to see the country that was, until then, mostly unknown in Britain. In Athens in 1810, Byron wrote " Maid of Athens, ere we part" for a 12-year-old girl, Teresa Makri. Byron and Hobhouse made their way to
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
, where they cadged a ride to
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
on HMS ''Salsette''. On 3 May 1810, while ''Salsette'' was anchored awaiting Ottoman permission to dock at the city, Byron and Lieutenant Ekenhead, of ''Salsette''s Marines, swam the Hellespont. Byron commemorated this feat in the second canto of ''
Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...
''. He returned to England from Malta in July 1811 aboard .


England 1811–1816

After the publication of the first two cantos of '' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' (1812), Byron became a celebrity. "He rapidly became the most brilliant star in the dazzling world of Regency London. He was sought after at every society venue, elected to several exclusive clubs, and frequented the most fashionable London drawing-rooms." During this period in England he produced many works, including '' The Giaour, The Bride of Abydos'' (1813), '' Parisina'', and '' The Siege of Corinth'' (1815). On the initiative of the composer Isaac Nathan, he produced in 1814–1815 the '' Hebrew Melodies'' (including what became some of his best-known lyrics, such as " She Walks in Beauty" and " The Destruction of Sennacherib"). Involved at first in an affair with Lady Caroline Lamb (who called him "mad, bad and dangerous to know") and with other lovers and also pressed by debt, he began to seek a suitable marriage, considering – amongst others – Annabella Millbanke. However, in 1813 he met for the first time in four years his half-sister,
Augusta Leigh Augusta Maria Leigh (''née'' Byron; 26 January 1783 – 12 October 1851) was the only surviving daughter of John Byron (British Army officer), John "Mad Jack" Byron, the poet Lord Byron's father, by his first wife, Amelia Osborne, Marchiones ...
. Rumours of incest surrounded the pair; Augusta's daughter Medora (b. 1814) was suspected to have been Byron's child. To escape from growing debts and rumours, Byron pressed in his determination to marry Annabella, who was said to be the likely heiress of a rich uncle. They married on 2 January 1815, and their daughter, Ada, was born in December of that year. However, Byron's continuing obsession with Augusta Leigh (and his continuing sexual escapades with actresses such as Charlotte Mardyn and others) made their marital life a misery. Annabella considered Byron insane, and in January 1816 she left him, taking their daughter, and began proceedings for a legal separation. Their separation was made legal in a private settlement in March 1816. The scandal of the separation, the rumours about Augusta, and ever-increasing debts forced him to leave England in April 1816, never to return.


Life abroad (1816–1824)


Switzerland and the Shelleys

File:Portrait of Percy Bysshe Shelley by Curran, 1819.jpg,
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...
, 1819 File:Claire Clairmont, by Amelia Curran.jpg, Claire Clairmont, 1819 File:Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Rothwell.tif,
Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...
, 1840
After this break-up of his domestic life, and by pressure on the part of his creditors, which led to the sale of his library, Byron left England, and never returned. (Despite his dying wishes, however, his body was returned for burial in England.) He journeyed through Belgium and continued up the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
river. In the summer of 1816 he settled at the
Villa Diodati The Villa Diodati is a mansion in the village of Cologny near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, notable because Lord Byron rented it and stayed there with Dr. John Polidori in the summer of 1816. Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary’s step ...
by Lake Geneva, Switzerland, with his personal physician, John William Polidori. There Byron befriended the poet
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...
and author Mary Godwin, Shelley's future wife. He was also joined by Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont, with whom he'd had an affair in London, which subsequently resulted in the birth of their illegitimate child Allegra, who died at the age of 5 under the care of Byron later in life. Several times Byron went to see Germaine de Staël and her Coppet group, which turned out to be a valid intellectual and emotional support to Byron at the time. Kept indoors at the
Villa Diodati The Villa Diodati is a mansion in the village of Cologny near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, notable because Lord Byron rented it and stayed there with Dr. John Polidori in the summer of 1816. Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary’s step ...
by the "incessant rain" of "that wet, ungenial summer" over three days in June, the five turned to reading fantastical stories, including '' Fantasmagoriana'', and then devising their own tales. Mary Shelley produced what would become '' Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus'', and Polidori produced '' The Vampyre'', the progenitor of the Romantic vampire genre. The Vampyre was inspired by a fragmentary story of Byron, " A Fragment". Byron's story fragment was published as a postscript to '' Mazeppa''; he also wrote the third canto of ''Childe Harold''.


Italy

Byron wintered in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, pausing in his travels when he fell in love with Marianna Segati, in whose Venice house he was lodging, and who was soon replaced by 22-year-old Margherita Cogni; both women were married. Cogni could not read or write, and she left her husband to move in with Byron. Their fighting often caused Byron to spend the night in his gondola; when he asked her to leave the house, she threw herself into the Venetian canal. In 1816, Byron visited San Lazzaro degli Armeni in Venice, where he acquainted himself with Armenian culture with the help of the monks belonging to the Mechitarist Order. With the help of Father Pascal Aucher (Harutiun Avkerian), he learned the
Armenian language Armenian (endonym: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the sole member of the independent branch of the Armenian language family. It is the native language of the Armenians, Armenian people and the official language of ...
and attended many seminars about language and history. He co-authored ''Grammar English and Armenian'' in 1817, an English textbook written by Aucher and corrected by Byron, and ''A Grammar Armenian and English'' in 1819, a project he initiated of a grammar of Classical Armenian for English speakers, where he included quotations from classical and modern Armenian. Byron later helped to compile the ''English Armenian Dictionary'' (''Barraran angleren yev hayeren'', 1821) and wrote the preface, in which he explained Armenian oppression by the Turkish
pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...
s and the Persian satraps and the Armenian struggle of liberation. His two main translations are the ''Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians'', two chapters of Movses Khorenatsi's ''
History of Armenia The history of Armenia covers the topics related to the history of the Armenia, Republic of Armenia, as well as the Armenians, Armenian people, the Armenian language, and the regions of Eurasia historically and Armenian Highlands, geographica ...
'', and sections of Nerses of Lambron's ''Orations''. He also translated into English those sections of the Armenian Bible that are not present in the English Bible. His fascination was so great that he even considered using the Armenian version of the story of
Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...
for his play of the same name. Byron's interest in Armenian studies contributed to the spread and development of that discipline. His profound lyricism and ideological courage have inspired many Armenian poets, the likes of Ghevond Alishan, Smbat Shahaziz, Hovhannes Tumanyan, Ruben Vorberian, and others. Soghomonyan, Soghomon A. "''Բայրոն, Ջորջ Նոել Գորդոն''" (Byron, George Noel Gordon). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. ii. Yerevan, Armenian SSR:
Armenian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri azgayin akademia'') is the Armenian national academy, functioning as the primary body that conducts research and coordinates acti ...
, 1976, pp. 266–267.
In 1817, he journeyed to
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. On returning to Venice, he wrote the fourth canto of ''Childe Harold''. About the same time, he sold Newstead Abbey and published '' Manfred'', ''
Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...
'', and ''The Deformed Transformed''. The first five cantos of ''
Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...
'' were written between 1818 and 1820. During this period he met the 21-year-old Countess Guiccioli, who found her first love in Byron; he asked her to elope with him. After considering migrating to
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
or to the
Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...
, Byron finally decided to leave
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
for
Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...
. Because of his love for the local aristocratic, young, newly married Teresa Guiccioli, Byron lived in
Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...
from 1819 to 1821. Here he continued ''Don Juan'' and wrote the ''Ravenna Diary'' and ''My Dictionary and Recollections''. Around this time he received visits from
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...
, as well as from
Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...
, to whom he confided his autobiography or "life and adventures", which Moore, Hobhouse, and Byron's publisher, John Murray, burned in 1824, a month after Byron's death. Of Byron's lifestyle in Ravenna we know more from Shelley, who documented some of its more colourful aspects in a letter: In 1821, Byron left Ravenna and went to live in the Tuscan city of
Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
, to which Teresa had also relocated. From 1821 to 1822, Byron finished Cantos 6–12 of ''Don Juan'' at Pisa, and in the same year he joined with
Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centre ...
and Shelley in starting a short-lived newspaper, ''The Liberal'', in whose first number '' The Vision of Judgment'' appeared. For the first time since his arrival in Italy, Byron found himself tempted to give dinner parties; his guests included the Shelleys, Edward Ellerker Williams, Thomas Medwin, John Taaffe, and Edward John Trelawny; and "never", as Shelley said, "did he display himself to more advantage than on these occasions; being at once polite and cordial, full of social hilarity and the most perfect good humour; never diverging into ungraceful merriment, and yet keeping up the spirit of liveliness throughout the evening." Shelley and Williams rented a house on the coast and had a schooner built. Byron decided to have his own yacht, and engaged Trelawny's friend, Captain Daniel Roberts, to design and construct the boat. Named the ''Bolivar'', it was later sold to Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington, and Marguerite, Countess of Blessington, when Byron left for Greece in 1823. Byron attended the beachside cremation of Shelley, which was orchestrated by Trelawny after Williams and Shelley drowned in a boating accident on 8 July 1822. His last Italian home was in
Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
. While living there he was accompanied by the Countess Guiccioli, and the Blessingtons. Lady Blessington based much of the material in her book, ''Conversations with Lord Byron'', on the time spent together there. This book became an important biographical text about Byron's life just prior to his death.


Ottoman Greece

Byron was living in Genoa in 1823, when, growing bored with his life there, he accepted overtures for his support from representatives of the Greek independence movement from the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. At first, Byron did not wish to leave his 22-year-old mistress, Countess Teresa Guiccioli, who had abandoned her husband to live with him. But ultimately Guiccioli's father, Count Gamba, was allowed to leave his exile in the Romagna under the condition that his daughter return to him, without Byron. At the same time that the philhellene, Edward Blaquiere, was attempting to recruit him, Byron was confused as to what he was supposed to do in Greece, writing: "Blaquiere seemed to think that I might be of some use—even ''here'';—though ''what'' he did not exactly specify". With the assistance of his banker and Captain Daniel Roberts, Byron chartered the brig ''Hercules'' to take him to Greece. When Byron left Genoa, it caused "passionate grief" from Guiccioli, who wept openly as he sailed away. The ''Hercules'' was forced to return to port shortly afterwards. When it set sail for the final time, Guiccioli had already left Genoa. On 16 July, Byron left Genoa, arriving at
Kefalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...
in the
Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: , ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: , ) are a archipelago, group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; , ''Heptanēsa'' or , ''Heptanē ...
on 4 August. His voyage is covered in detail in Donald Prell's ''Sailing with Byron from Genoa to Cephalonia''. Prell also wrote of a coincidence in Byron's chartering the ''Hercules''. The vessel was launched only a few miles south of Seaham Hall, where in 1815 Byron had married Annabella Milbanke. Between 1815 and 1823 the vessel was in service between England and Canada. Suddenly in 1823, the ship's Captain decided to sail to Genoa and offer the ''Hercules'' for charter. After taking Byron to Greece, the ship returned to England, never again to venture into the Mediterranean. Byron initially stayed on the island of
Kefalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...
, where he was besieged by agents of the rival Greek factions, all of whom wanted to recruit Byron for their own cause. The Ionian islands, of which Kefalonia is one, were under British rule until 1864. Byron spent £4,000 () of his own money to refit the Greek fleet. When Byron travelled to the mainland of Greece on the night of 28 December 1823, Byron's ship was surprised by an Ottoman warship, which did not attack his ship, as the Ottoman captain mistook Byron's boat for a fireship. To avoid the Ottoman Navy, which he encountered several times on his voyage, Byron was forced to take a roundabout route and only reached Missolonghi on 5 January 1824. After arriving in Missolonghi, Byron joined forces with Alexandros Mavrokordatos, a Greek politician with military power. Byron moved to the second floor of a two-story house and was forced to spend much of his time dealing with unruly Souliotes who demanded that Byron pay them the back-pay owed to them by the Greek government. Byron gave the Souliotes some £6,000. Byron was supposed to lead an attack on the Ottoman fortress of Navpaktos, whose Albanian garrison were unhappy due to arrears in pay, and who offered to put up only token resistance if Byron was willing to bribe them into surrendering. However, Ottoman commander Yussuf Pasha executed the mutinous Albanian officers who were offering to surrender Navpaktos to Byron and arranged to have some of the arrears paid out to the rest of the garrison. Byron never led the attack on Navpaktos because the Souliotes kept demanding that Byron pay them more and more money before they would march; Byron grew tired of their blackmail and sent them all home on 15 February 1824. Byron wrote in a note to himself: At the same time, Guiccioli's brother, Pietro Gamba, who had followed Byron to Greece, exasperated Byron with his incompetence as he continually made expensive mistakes. For example, when asked to buy some cloth from Corfu, Gamba ordered the wrong cloth in excess, causing the bill to be 10 times higher than what Byron wanted. Byron wrote about his right-hand man: "Gamba—who is anything but ''lucky''—had something to do with it—and as usual—the moment he had—matters went wrong". To help raise money for the revolution, Byron sold his estate in England, Rochdale Manor, which raised some £11,250. This led Byron to estimate that he now had some £20,000 () at his disposal, all of which he planned to spend on the Greek cause. In today's money, Byron would have been a millionaire many times over. News that a fabulously wealthy British aristocrat, known for his financial generosity, had arrived in Greece made Byron the object of much solicitation in that desperately poor country. Byron wrote to his business agent in England, "I should not like to give the Greeks but a ''half helping'' hand", saying he would have wanted to spend his entire fortune on Greek freedom. Byron found himself besieged by various people, both Greek and foreign, who tried to persuade him to open his pocketbook for support. By the end of March 1824, the so-called "Byron brigade" of 30 philhellene officers and about 200 men had been formed, paid for entirely by Byron. Leadership of the Greek cause in the Roumeli region was divided between two rival leaders: a former ''Klepht'' (bandit), Odysseas Androutsos; and a wealthy
Phanariot Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots (, , ) were members of prominent Greeks, Greek families in Fener, Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Ecume ...
Prince, Alexandros Mavrokordatos. Byron used his prestige to attempt to persuade the two rival leaders to come together to focus on defeating the Ottomans. At the same time, other leaders of the Greek factions like Petrobey Mavromichalis and Theodoros Kolokotronis wrote letters to Byron telling him to disregard all of the Roumeliot leaders and to come to their respective areas in the Peloponnese. This drove Byron to distraction; he complained that the Greeks were hopelessly disunited and spent more time feuding with each other than trying to win independence. Byron's friend Edward John Trelawny had aligned himself with Androutsos, who ruled Athens, and was now pressing for Byron to break with Mavrokordatos in favour of backing the rival Androutsos. Androutsos, having won over Trelawny to his cause, was now anxious to persuade Byron to put his wealth behind his claim to be the leader of Greece. Byron wrote with disgust about how one of the Greek captains, former ''Klepht'' Georgios Karaiskakis, attacked Missolonghi on 3 April 1824 with some 150 men supported by the Souliotes as he was unhappy with Mavrokordatos's leadership, which led to a brief bout of inter-Greek fighting before Karaiskakis was chased away by 6 April. When the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen heard about Byron's heroics in Greece, he voluntarily resculpted his earlier bust of Byron in Greek marble.


Death

Mavrokordatos and Byron planned to attack the Turkish-held fortress of Lepanto, at the mouth of the Gulf of Corinth. Byron employed a fire master to prepare artillery, and he took part of the rebel army under his own command despite his lack of military experience. Before the expedition could sail, on 15 February 1824, he fell ill, and bloodletting weakened him further. He made a partial recovery, but in early April he caught a cold; the therapeutic bleeding insisted on by his doctors exacerbated it. He contracted a fever and died in Missolonghi on 19 April. His physician at the time, Julius van Millingen, son of Dutch–English archaeologist James Millingen, was unable to prevent his death. It has been said that if Byron had lived and had gone on to defeat the Ottomans, he might have been declared
King of Greece The Kingdom of Greece was ruled by the House of Wittelsbach from 1832 to 1862 and by the House of Glücksburg from 1863 to 1924 and, after being temporarily abolished in favor of the Second Hellenic Republic, again from 1935 to 1973, when it ...
. However, modern scholars have found such an outcome unlikely. The British historian David Brewer wrote that in one sense, Byron failed to persuade the rival Greek factions to unite, won no victories and was successful only in the humanitarian sphere, using his great wealth to help the victims of the war, Christian and Muslim, but this did not affect the outcome of the Greek war of independence. Brewer went on to argue,


Post mortem

Alfred Tennyson would later recall the shocked reaction in Britain when word was received of Byron's death. The Greeks mourned Lord Byron deeply, and he became a hero. The national poet of Greece,
Dionysios Solomos Dionysios Solomos (; ; 8 April 1798 – 9 February 1857) was a Greeks, Greek poet from Zakynthos, who is considered to be Greece's national poet. He is best known for writing the ''Hymn to Liberty'' (, ''Ýmnos eis tīn Eleutherían''), whic ...
, wrote a poem about the unexpected loss, named ''To the Death of Lord Byron''. Βύρων, the Greek form of "Byron", continues in popularity as a masculine name in Greece, and a suburb of Athens is called Vyronas in his honour. Byron's body was embalmed, but the Greeks wanted some part of their hero to stay with them. According to some sources, his heart remained at Missolonghi. His other remains were sent to England (accompanied by his faithful manservant, "Tita") for burial in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
, but the Abbey refused for reason of "questionable morality". Huge crowds viewed his coffin as he lay in state for two days at number 25 Great George Street, Westminster. He is buried at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. A marble slab given by the
King of Greece The Kingdom of Greece was ruled by the House of Wittelsbach from 1832 to 1862 and by the House of Glücksburg from 1863 to 1924 and, after being temporarily abolished in favor of the Second Hellenic Republic, again from 1935 to 1973, when it ...
is laid directly above Byron's grave. His daughter
Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-pur ...
was later buried beside him. Byron's friends raised £1,000 to commission a statue of the writer; Thorvaldsen offered to sculpt it for that amount. However, after the statue was completed in 1834, for ten years, British institutions turned it down and it remained in storage. It was refused by the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
before
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
finally placed the statue of Byron in its library. In 1969, 145 years after Byron's death, a memorial to him was finally placed in Westminster Abbey. The memorial had been lobbied for since 1907, when ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote, Robert Ripley had drawn a picture of Boatswain's grave with the caption "Lord Byron's dog has a magnificent tomb while Lord Byron himself has none". This came as a shock to the English, particularly schoolchildren, who, Ripley said, raised funds of their own accord to provide the poet with a suitable memorial. Close to the centre of Athens, Greece, outside the National Garden, is a statue depicting Greece in the form of a woman crowning Byron. The statue is by the French sculptors Henri-Michel Chapu and Alexandre Falguière. , the anniversary of Byron's death, 19 April, has been honoured in Greece as "Byron Day". Upon his death, the barony passed to Byron's cousin George Anson Byron, a career naval officer.


Personal life


Relationships and scandals

File:Portrait of Lady Caroline Lamb.jpg, Lady Caroline Lamb File:Jane elizabeth countess-of-oxford1797 john hoppner.jpg, Jane Elizabeth Scott "Lady Oxford" File:Hon. Augusta Leigh.jpg,
Augusta Leigh Augusta Maria Leigh (''née'' Byron; 26 January 1783 – 12 October 1851) was the only surviving daughter of John Byron (British Army officer), John "Mad Jack" Byron, the poet Lord Byron's father, by his first wife, Amelia Osborne, Marchiones ...
File:Annabella Byron (1792-1860).jpg, Anne Isabella Milbanke in 1812 by Charles Hayter File:Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli.gif, Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli
In 1812, Byron embarked on a well-publicised affair with the married Lady Caroline Lamb that shocked the British public. She had spurned the attention of the poet on their first meeting, subsequently giving Byron what became his lasting epitaph when she famously described him as "mad, bad and dangerous to know". This did not prevent her from pursuing him. Byron eventually broke off the relationship and moved swiftly on to others (such as Lady Oxford), but Lamb never entirely recovered, pursuing him even after he tired of her. She was emotionally disturbed and lost so much weight that Byron sarcastically commented to her mother-in-law, his friend Lady Melbourne, that he was "haunted by a skeleton". She began to stalk him, calling on him at home, sometimes dressed in disguise as a pageboy, at a time when such an act could ruin both of them socially. Once, during such a visit, she wrote on a book at his desk, "Remember me!" As a retort, Byron wrote a poem entitled ''Remember Thee! Remember Thee!'' which concludes with the line "Thou false to him, thou fiend to me". As a child, Byron had seen little of his half-sister
Augusta Leigh Augusta Maria Leigh (''née'' Byron; 26 January 1783 – 12 October 1851) was the only surviving daughter of John Byron (British Army officer), John "Mad Jack" Byron, the poet Lord Byron's father, by his first wife, Amelia Osborne, Marchiones ...
; in adulthood, he formed a close relationship with her that has been interpreted by some as incestuous, and by others as innocent. Augusta (who was married) gave birth on 15 April 1814 to her third daughter, Elizabeth Medora Leigh, rumoured by some to be Byron's. Eventually, Byron began to court Lady Caroline's cousin Anne Isabella Milbanke ("Annabella"), who refused his first proposal of marriage but later accepted him. Milbanke was a highly moral woman, intelligent and mathematically gifted; she was also an heiress. They married at Seaham Hall,
County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, on 2 January 1815. The marriage proved unhappy. They had a daughter, Augusta Ada. On 16 January 1816, Lady Byron left him, taking Ada with her. That same year on 21 April, Byron signed the Deed of Separation. Rumours of marital violence, adultery with actresses, incest with Augusta Leigh, and sodomy were circulated, assisted by a jealous Lady Caroline. In a letter, Augusta quoted him as saying: "Even to have such a thing said is utter destruction and ruin to a man from which he can never recover." That same year Lady Caroline published her popular novel '' Glenarvon'', in which Lord Byron was portrayed as the seedy title character.


Sexuality

Byron described his first intense romantic feelings at the age of seven for his distant cousin Mary Duff: Byron also became attached to Margaret Parker, another distant cousin. While his recollection of his love for Mary Duff is that he was ignorant of adult sexuality during this time and was bewildered as to the source of the intensity of his feelings, he would later confess that: This is the only reference Byron himself makes to the event, and he is ambiguous as to how old he was when it occurred. After his death, his lawyer wrote to a mutual friend telling him a "singular fact" about Byron's life which was "scarcely fit for narration". But he disclosed it nonetheless, thinking it might explain Byron's sexual "propensities": Gray later used this knowledge as a means of ensuring his silence if he were to be tempted to disclose the "low company" she kept during drinking binges. She was later dismissed, supposedly for beating Byron when he was 11. A few years later, while he was still a child, Lord Grey De Ruthyn (unrelated to May Gray), a suitor of his mother's, also made sexual advances on him. Byron's personality has been characterised as exceptionally proud and sensitive, especially when it came to his foot deformity. His extreme reaction to seeing his mother flirting outrageously with Lord Grey De Ruthyn after the incident suggests he did not tell her of Grey's conduct toward him; he simply refused to speak to him again and ignored his mother's commands to be reconciled. Leslie A. Marchand, one of Byron's biographers, theorises that Lord Grey De Ruthyn's advances prompted Byron's later sexual liaisons with young men at Harrow and Cambridge. Scholars acknowledge a more or less important bisexual component in Byron's very complex sentimental and sexual life. Bernhard Jackson asserts that "Byron's sexual orientation has long been a difficult, not to say contentious, topic, and anyone who seeks to discuss it must to some degree speculate since the evidence is nebulous, contradictory and scanty... it is not so simple to define Byron as homosexual or heterosexual: he seems rather to have been both, and either."Emily A. Bernhard Jackson, "Least Like Saints: The Vexed Issue of Byron's Sexuality, ''The Byron Journal'', (2010) 38#1 pp. 29–37. Crompton states: "What was not understood in Byron's own century (except by a tiny circle of his associates) was that Byron was
bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
". Another biographer, Fiona MacCarthy, has posited that Byron's true sexual yearnings were for adolescent males. It has been asserted that several letters to Byron from his friend Charles Skinner Matthews reveal that a key motive for Byron going on the Grand Tour was also the hope of homosexual experiences. While in Athens, Byron met 14-year-old Nicolo Giraud, who taught him Italian. Byron arranged to have Giraud enrolled in school at a monastery in
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
, and wrote him into his will, with a bequest of £7,000 (about £ in ). (That will, however, was later cancelled.) Byron wrote to Hobhouse from Athens, "I am tired of pl & opt Cs, the last thing I could be tired of." Opt Cs refers to a quote from ''Petronius' Satyricon,'' "," "complete intercourse to one's heart's desire". Allegedly, Byron used this phrase as a code by which he communicated his homosexual Greek adventures to John Hobhouse in England: Bernhard Jackson recalls that "Byron's early code for sex with a boy" was "Plen(um). and optabil(em). -Coit(um)" Bullough summarises: Loukas Chalandritsanos was Byron's Greek protégé whom he had rescued from Ithaca. During Byron's voyage from
Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...
to Missolonghi, Byron took Loukas as his page, but was concerned that the boy might be captured by the Turks. He spoiled the teenage Chalandritsanos outrageously, spending some £600 (about £ in ) catering to his every whim over the course of 6 months. On his deathbed he gave Loukas a bag of
Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...
crowns and a £600 receipt for one of his loans to the Greeks, but the government was in no position to honour this, and Loukas died in poverty six months later. There has been speculation about whether the relationship between Byron and Loukas was homosexual, pointing to some of Byron's last poem verses as evidence for this claim.


Children

File:Emedora.jpg, alt=Seated woman, looking toward her left at artist, perhaps when interrupted while reading, Elizabeth Medora Leigh (1814–1849) File:Ada Lovelace 1838.jpg, alt=Formal profile of standing woman,
Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-pur ...

(1815–1852) File:Allegra Byron.jpg, alt=Young, smiling child, Clara Allegra Byron (1817–1822)
Byron wrote a letter to John Hanson from Newstead Abbey, dated 17 January 1809, that includes "You will discharge my Cook, & Laundry Maid, the other two I shall retain to take care of the house, more especially as the youngest is pregnant (I need not tell you by whom) and I cannot have the girl on the parish." His reference to "The youngest" is understood to have been to a maid, Lucy, and the parenthesised remark to indicate himself as siring a son born that year. In 2010 part of a baptismal record was uncovered which apparently said: "September 24 George illegitimate son of Lucy Monk, illegitimate son of Baron Byron, of Newstead, Nottingham, Newstead Abbey."
Augusta Leigh Augusta Maria Leigh (''née'' Byron; 26 January 1783 – 12 October 1851) was the only surviving daughter of John Byron (British Army officer), John "Mad Jack" Byron, the poet Lord Byron's father, by his first wife, Amelia Osborne, Marchiones ...
's child, Elizabeth Medora Leigh, born in 1814, was possibly fathered by Byron, who was Augusta's half-brother. Byron had a child, The Hon. Augusta Ada Byron ("Ada", later Countess of Lovelace), in 1815, by his wife Annabella Byron, Lady Byron (''née'' Anne Isabella Milbanke, or "Annabella"), later Lady Wentworth. Ada Lovelace, notable in her own right, collaborated with
Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...
on the analytical engine, a predecessor to modern computers. She is recognised as one of the world's first computer programmers. He also had an extramarital child in 1817, Clara Allegra Byron, with Claire Clairmont, stepsister of
Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...
and stepdaughter of
William Godwin William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. Godwin is most famous fo ...
, writer of ''Political Justice'' and ''Caleb Williams''. Allegra is not entitled to the style "The Hon." as is usually given to the daughter of barons, since she was born outside of his marriage. Born in Bath in 1817, Allegra lived with Byron for a few months in Venice; he refused to allow an Englishwoman caring for the girl to adopt her and objected to her being raised in the Shelleys' household. He wished for her to be brought up Catholic and not marry an Englishman, and he made arrangements for her to inherit 5,000 lire upon marriage or when she reached the age of 21, provided she did not marry a native of Britain. However, the girl died aged five of a fever in Bagnacavallo, Italy, while Byron was in Pisa; he was deeply upset by the news. He had Allegra's body sent back to England to be buried at his old school, Harrow, because Protestants could not be buried in consecrated ground in Catholic countries. At one time he himself had wanted to be buried at Harrow. Byron was antagonistic towards Allegra's mother, Claire Clairmont, and prevented her from seeing the child.. During his time in Greece, Byron took interest in a Turkish Muslim nine-year-old girl called Hato or Hatagée whom he seriously considered adopting. Her mother was a wife of a local notable from Messolonghi, who, at the time, was a domestic servant to an Englishman named Dr. Millingen. The rest of the girl's family had either fled or perished after the Greek revolutionaries took over Messolonghi. Byron spent nearly £20 on elaborate dresses for Hato; he considered sending her to Teresa Guiccioli, or to his half-sister Augusta, or to his estranged wife as a playmate for his daughter Ada. Ultimately, Byron sent both Hato and her mother to
Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...
to be cared for temporarily by his friend James Kennedy; soon after Byron's death they were reunited with their surviving family. In 1995, Christina Hardyment at
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
discovered a hitherto unknown connection to Byron through poet Michael C. Burgess. Hardyment interviewed Burgess and his father Geoffrey after reading ''Byron and his children'' by Susan Normington. The book linked Hannah Burgess, Geoffrey's great great grandmother, to Byron through her father William Marshall. Normington's research says Bryon had "fathered at least four bastards" and that Marshall is one of Byron's alleged children.


Scotland

Although neglected by traditional historiography, Byron held deep ties to Scotland. His maternal family originated in
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
and Byron studied at the Aberdeen Grammar School from 1794 to 1798. In terms of his national identity, he once described himself in a tongue-in-cheek manner as "half a Scot by birth, and bred/A whole one" and reportedly spoke with a faint Scottish accent throughout his life. Byron was described as a Scotsman by several of his contemporaries, including Lamb and Gordon, the latter of whom referred to him as a "Highlander".Pittock, Murray. ''Scotland, The Global History: 1603 to the Present''. Yale University Press, 2022, p. 223. Historian Murray Pittock argues Byron's links to Scotland were demonstrated "in his campaign for the liberation of Greece, where a disproportionate number of his closest friends and associates had strong Scottish connections, particularly with regard to north-eastern Scotland, which through his Gordon links remained central to the Byronic network throughout his life". However, Byron often expressed anti-Scottish sentiments in his writings and conversations with friends. Moore wrote in 1840 about Byron's views on Scotland:
Cordial, however, and deep as were the impressions he retained of Scotland, he would sometimes in this, as in all his other amiable feelings, endeavour perversely to belie his on better nature; and when under the excitement of anger or ridicule persuade not only others, but even himself, that the whole current of feelings ran directly otherwise. The abuse which in his anger against the ER he overwhelmed every thing Scotch is an instance of his temporary triumph of wilfulness; and at any time, the least association of ridicule with the country or its inhabitants was sufficient, for the moment, to put all his sentiment to flight. A friend of his once described to me the half-playful rage into which she saw him thrown one day, by a heedless girl, who remarked that she thought he had a little of the Scotch accent. "Good God, I hope not!" he exclaimed, "I'm sure I haven't. I would rather the whole damned country was sunk into the sea - I the Scotch accent!"
Byron's ''English Bards and Scotch Reviewers'', in which he denounced the Scottish literary establishment, and the ''Curse of Minerva'' have both been interpreted as "savagely repudiating all his claims of connection to Scotland". In the ''Curse of Minerva'', Byron wrote:
Daughter of Jove! in Britain’s injured name, A true-born Briton may the deed disclaim.
Frown not on England; England owns him not: Athena, no! thy plunderer was a Scot.
Ask’st thou the difference? From fair Phyle’s towers. Survey Bœotia; – Caledonia’s ours.
And well I know within that bastard land, Hath Wisdom’s goddess never held command;
A barren soil, where Nature’s germs, confined; To stern sterility, can stint the mind;
Whose thistle well betrays the niggard earth; Emblem of all to whom the Land gives birth.


Sea and swimming

Byron enjoyed adventure, especially relating to the sea. The first recorded notable example of open water swimming took place on 3 May 1810 when Lord Byron swam from Europe to Asia across the Hellespont Strait. This is often seen as the birth of the sport and pastime, and to commemorate it, the event is recreated every year as an open water swimming event. Whilst sailing from Genoa to Cephalonia in 1823, every day at noon, Byron and Trelawny, in calm weather, jumped overboard for a swim without fear of sharks, which were not unknown in those waters. Once, according to Trelawny, they let the geese and ducks loose and followed them and the dogs into the water, each with an arm in the ship Captain's new scarlet waistcoat, to the annoyance of the Captain and the amusement of the crew.


Fondness for animals

Byron had a great love of animals, most notably for a Newfoundland dog named Boatswain. When the animal contracted
rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...
, Byron nursed him, albeit unsuccessfully, despite the risk of becoming bitten and infected. Although deeply in debt at the time, Byron commissioned an impressive marble funerary monument for Boatswain at Newstead Abbey, larger than his own, and the only building work that he ever carried out on his estate. In his 1811 will, Byron requested that he be buried with him. The 26‐line poem " Epitaph to a Dog" has become one of his best-known works. But a draft of an 1830 letter by Hobhouse shows him to be the author; Byron decided to use Hobhouse's lengthy epitaph instead of his own, which read: "To mark a friend's remains these stones arise/I never knew but one – and here he lies." In a letter sent to Thomas Moore, Byron admitted to follow a diet "inspired by Pythagoras", who was a famous vegetarian. Byron also kept a tame bear while he was a student at Trinity out of resentment for rules forbidding pet dogs like his beloved Boatswain. There being no mention of bears in their statutes, the college authorities had no legal basis for complaining; Byron even suggested that he would apply for a college fellowship for the bear. During his lifetime, in addition to numerous cats, dogs, and horses, Byron kept a fox, monkeys, an
eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
, a
crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...
, a falcon,
peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
s, guinea hens, an Egyptian crane, a
badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...
, geese, a
heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...
, and a goat. Except for the horses, they all resided indoors at his homes in England, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece. Percy Shelley, visiting Byron in Italy in 1821, described his menagerie:


Vaccine skepticism

Byron included an endorsement of vaccine hesitancy in his 1809 poem ''English'' ''Bards and Scotch Reviewers'''','' he writes: Byron refers to 'cow-pox', a reference to
Edward Jenner Edward Jenner (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms ''vaccine'' and ''vaccination'' are derived f ...
's
smallpox vaccine The smallpox vaccine is used to prevent smallpox infection caused by the variola virus. It is the first vaccine to have been developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with th ...
. He compares these vaccines with tractors (a fraudulent medical device), and galvanism, which was understood at the time to reference the reanimation of deceased convicts using electricity. "Gas" was likely a reference to
nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...
, a substance recently discovered by
Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several Chemical element, e ...
to treat respiratory ailments. The deliberate choice to frame vaccines as similar to well-known controversial medical treatments shows Byron's tendency toward vaccine hesitancy in his writings. However, it appears he held different views in private, as he had his protege Robert Rushton inoculated for
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
.


Health and appearance


Character and psyche

As a boy, Byron's character is described as a "mixture of affectionate sweetness and playfulness, by which it was impossible not to be attached", although he also exhibited "silent rages, moody sullenness and revenge" with a precocious bent for attachment and obsession.Moore, Thomas, ''The Works of Lord Byron: With His Letters and Journals, and His Life'', John Murray, 1835.


Deformed foot

From birth, Byron had a deformity of his right foot. Although it has generally been referred to as a " club foot", some modern medical authors maintain that it was a consequence of infantile paralysis ( poliomyelitis), and others that it was a dysplasia, a failure of the bones to form properly. Whatever the cause, he was affected by a limp that caused him lifelong psychological and physical misery, aggravated by painful and pointless "medical treatment" in his childhood and the nagging suspicion that with proper care it might have been cured. He was extremely self-conscious about this from a young age, nicknaming himself ' (French for "the limping devil", after the nickname given to Asmodeus by Alain-René Lesage in his 1707 novel of the same name). Although he often wore specially-made shoes in an attempt to hide the deformed foot, he refused to wear any type of brace that might improve the limp. Scottish novelist John Galt felt his oversensitivity to the "innocent fault in his foot was unmanly and excessive" because the limp was "not greatly conspicuous". He first met Byron on a voyage to Sardinia and did not realise he had any deficiency for several days, and still could not tell at first if the lameness was a temporary injury or not. At the time Galt met him he was an adult and had worked to develop "a mode of walking across a room by which it was scarcely at all perceptible". The motion of the ship at sea may also have helped to create a favourable first impression and hide any deficiencies in his gait, but Galt's biography is also described as being "rather well-meant than well-written", so Galt may be guilty of minimising a defect that was actually still noticeable.


Physical appearance

Byron's adult height was , his weight fluctuating between and . He was renowned for his personal beauty, which he enhanced by wearing curl-papers in his hair at night. He was athletic, being a competent boxer, horse-rider and an excellent swimmer. He attended pugilistic tuition at the Bond Street rooms of former prizefighting champion 'Gentleman' John Jackson, whom Byron called 'the Emperor of Pugilism', and recorded these sparring sessions in his letters and journals. Byron and other writers, such as his friend Hobhouse, described his eating habits in detail. At the time he entered Cambridge, he went on a strict diet to control his weight. He also exercised a great deal, and at that time wore a great many clothes to cause himself to perspire. For most of his life, he was a vegetarian and often lived for days on dry biscuits and white wine. Occasionally, he would eat large helpings of meat and desserts, after which he would purge himself. Although he is described by Galt and others as having a predilection for "violent" exercise, Hobhouse suggests that the pain in his deformed foot made physical activity difficult and that his weight problem was the result.. Trelawny, who observed Byron's eating habits, noted that he lived on a diet of biscuits and soda water for days at a time and then would eat a "horrid mess of cold potatoes, rice, fish, or greens, deluged in vinegar, and gobble it up like a famished dog".


Political career

Byron first took his seat in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
on 13 March 1809 but left London on 11 June 1809 for the Continent. Byron's association with the Holland House Whigs provided him with a discourse of liberty rooted in the
Glorious Revolution of 1688 The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
. A strong advocate of social reform, he received particular praise as one of the few
Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
defenders of the Luddites: specifically, he was against a death penalty for Luddite "frame breakers" in
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
, who destroyed textile machines that were putting them out of work. His first speech before the Lords, on 27 February 1812, was loaded with sarcastic references to the "benefits" of automation, which he saw as producing inferior material as well as putting people out of work, and concluded the proposed law was only missing two things to be effective: "Twelve Butchers for a Jury and a
Jeffries Jeffries is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Jeffries (born 1976), American actor * Ben Jeffries (born 1980), Australian rugby league footballer * Bill Jeffries (born 1945), former New Zealand politician * Chad Jeffries ( ...
for a Judge!". Byron's speech was officially recorded and printed in
Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...
. He said later that he "spoke very violent sentences with a sort of modest impudence" and thought he came across as "a bit theatrical". The full text of the speech, which he had previously written out, was presented to Dallas in manuscript form and he quotes it in his work. Two months later, in conjunction with the other Whigs, Byron made another impassioned speech before the House of Lords in support of Catholic emancipation. Byron expressed opposition to the established religion because it was unfair to people of other faiths. These experiences inspired Byron to write political poems such as ''Song for the Luddites'' (1816) and ''The Landlords' Interest'', Canto XIV of ''The Age of Bronze''. Examples of poems in which he attacked his political opponents include ''
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
: The Best of the Cut-Throats'' (1819) and ''The Intellectual Eunuch Castlereagh'' (1818).


Poetic works

Byron wrote prolifically. In 1832 his publisher, John Murray, released the complete works in 14 duodecimo volumes, including a life by
Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...
. Subsequent editions were released in 17 volumes, first published a year later, in 1833. An extensive collection of his works, including early editions and annotated manuscripts, is held within the John Murray Archive at the
National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...
in Edinburgh.


''Don Juan''

Byron's magnum opus, ''Don Juan'', a poem spanning 17 cantos, ranks as one of the most important long poems published in England since John Milton's ''
Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...
''. Byron published the first two cantos anonymously in 1819 after disputes with his regular publisher over the shocking nature of the poetry. By this time, he had been a famous poet for seven years, and when he self-published the beginning cantos, they were well received in some quarters. The poem was then released volume by volume through his regular publishing house. By 1822, cautious acceptance by the public had turned to outrage, and Byron's publisher refused to continue to publish the work. In Canto III of ''Don Juan'', Byron expresses his detestation for poets such as
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...
and
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
. In letters to Francis Hodgson, Byron referred to Wordsworth as "Turdsworth".


''Irish Avatar''

Byron wrote the satirical pamphlet '' Irish Avatar'' after the royal visit by
King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...
to
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. Byron criticised the attitudes displayed by the
Irish people The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has be ...
towards
the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
, an institution he perceived as oppressing them, and was dismayed by the positive reception George IV received during his visit. In the pamphlet, Byron lambasted Irish unionists and voiced muted support towards nationalistic sentiments in Ireland.


Parthenon marbles

Byron was a bitter opponent of Lord Elgin's removal of the Parthenon marbles from
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
and "reacted with fury" when Elgin's agent gave him a tour of the Parthenon, during which he saw the spaces left by the missing part of the frieze and
metope A metope (; ) is a rectangular architectural element of the Doric order, filling the space between triglyphs in a frieze , a decorative band above an architrave. In earlier wooden buildings the spaces between triglyphs were first open, and ...
s. He denounced Elgin's actions in his poem '' The Curse of Minerva'' and in Canto II (stanzas XI–XV) of '' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.''


Legacy and influence

Byron's image fascinated the public, and his wife Annabella coined the term "Byromania" to refer to the commotion surrounding him. His self-awareness and personal promotion are seen as a beginning of what would become the modern rock star; he would instruct artists painting portraits of him not to paint him with pen or book in hand, but as a "man of action." While Byron first welcomed fame, he later turned from it by going into voluntary exile from Britain. Biographies were distorted by the burning of Byron's Memoirs in the offices of his publisher, John Murray, a month after his death and the suppression of details of Byron's bisexuality by subsequent heads of the firm (which held the richest Byron archive). As late as the 1950s, scholar Leslie Marchand was expressly forbidden by the Murray company to reveal details of Byron's same-sex passions. The re-founding of the Byron Society in 1971 reflected the fascination that many people had with Byron and his work. This society became very active, publishing an annual journal. Thirty-six Byron Societies function throughout the world, and an International Conference takes place annually. Byron influenced Continental literature and art, and his reputation as a poet is higher in many European countries than in Britain, or America, although not as high as in his time, when he was widely thought to be the greatest poet in the world. Byron's writings also inspired many composers. Over forty operas have been based on his works, in addition to three operas about Byron himself (including Virgil Thomson's ''
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
''). His poetry was set to music by many Romantic composers, including
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
,
Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
,
Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...
, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Carl Loewe. Among his greatest admirers was
Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...
, whose operas and '' Mémoires'' reveal Byron's influence. In the twentieth century,
Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...
set Byron's "Ode to Napoleon" to music. In April 2020, Byron was featured in a series of UK postage stamps issued by the
Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...
to commemorate the Romantic poets on the 250th anniversary of the birth of
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...
. Ten 1st class stamps were issued of all the major British romantic poets, and each stamp included an extract from one of their most popular and enduring works, with Byron's " She Walks in Beauty" selected for the poet.


Byronic hero

The literary heroic figure of the "Byronic hero" has come to epitomize many of Byron's characteristics, and indeed this type of character pervades his own work. The use of a Byronic hero by many authors and artists of the
Romantic movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
shows Byron's influence during the 19th century and beyond, including the Brontë sisters. His philosophy was more durably influential in continental Europe than in England;
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...
admired him, and the Byronic hero was echoed in Nietzsche's '' Übermensch'', or superman.. The Byronic hero presents an idealised, but flawed character whose attributes include: great talent; great passion; a distaste for society and social institutions; a lack of respect for rank and privilege (although possessing both); being thwarted in love by social constraint or death; rebellion; exile; an unsavoury secret past; arrogance; overconfidence or lack of foresight; and, ultimately, a self-destructive manner. These types of characters have since become ubiquitous in literature and politics.


In popular culture


Bibliography

*'' Index of Titles'' *'' Index of First Lines''


Major works

* '' Hours of Idleness'' (1807) * '' Lachin y Gair'' (1807) * '' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers'' (1809) * '' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Cantos I & II'' (1812) * '' The Giaour'' (1813) ( text on Wikisource) * '' The Bride of Abydos'' (1813) * '' The Corsair'' (1814) ( text on Wikisource) * '' Lara, A Tale'' (1814) ( text on Wikisource) * '' Hebrew Melodies'' (1815) * '' The Siege of Corinth'' (1816) ( text on Wikisource) * '' Parisina'' (1816) ( text on Wikisource) * '' The Prisoner of Chillon'' (1816) ( text on Wikisource) * '' The Dream'' (1816) ( text on Wikisource) * ''
Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...
'' (1816) (s:Prometheus (Byron), text on Wikisource) * ''Darkness (poem), Darkness'' (1816) (s:Darkness (Byron, versions), text on Wikisource) * '' Manfred'' (1817) (s:Manfred (Byron), text on Wikisource) * ''The Lament of Tasso'' (1817) * ''Beppo (poem), Beppo'' (1818) (s:Beppo (Byron, versions), text on Wikisource) * '' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' (1818) (s:Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (Byron), text on Wikisource) * ''
Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...
'' (1819–1824; incomplete on Byron's death in 1824) (s:Don Juan (Byron), text on Wikisource) * '' Mazeppa'' (1819) * ''The Prophecy of Dante'' (1819) * ''Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, Marino Faliero'' (1820) * ''Sardanapalus (play), Sardanapalus'' (1821) * ''The Two Foscari (Byron), The Two Foscari'' (1821) * ''
Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...
'' (1821) * '' The Vision of Judgment'' (1821) * ''Heaven and Earth'' (1821) * ''Werner'' (1822) * ''The Age of Bronze'' (1823) * ''The Island'' (1823) (s:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero)/Poetry/Volume 5/The Island, text on Wikisource) * ''The Deformed Transformed'' (1824)


Selected shorter lyric poems

* '' Maid of Athens, ere we part'' (1810) (s:Maid of Athens, Ere We Part, text on Wikisource) * ''And thou art dead'' (1812) (s:And thou art dead, as young and fair, text on Wikisource) * '' She Walks in Beauty'' (1814) (s:She walks in beauty, text on Wikisource) * ''My Soul is Dark'' (1815) (s:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero)/Poetry/Volume 3/Hebrew Melodies/My Soul is Dark, text on Wikisource) * '' The Destruction of Sennacherib'' (1815) (s:The Destruction of Sennacherib, text on Wikisource) * ''Monody on the Death of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan'' (1816) (s:Monody on the Death of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan, text on Wikisource) * ''Fare Thee Well (poem), Fare Thee Well'' (1816) (s:Fare Thee Well, text on Wikisource) * ''So, we'll go no more a roving'' (1817) (s:So We'll Go No More A-Roving, text on Wikisource) * ''When We Two Parted'' (1817) (s:When We Two Parted, text on Wikisource) * ''Ode on Venice'' (1819) (s:Ode on Venice, text on Wikisource) * ''Stanzas'' (1819) * ''Don Leon'' (not by Lord Byron, but attributed to him; 1830s)


See also

* Early life of Lord Byron * Timeline of Lord Byron * 19th century in poetry * Bridge of Sighs, a
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
landmark Byron denominated * Asteroid 3306 Byron


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (Chapter on
online
at ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'') * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Volume 1 of Poetic drama & poetic theory in "Salzburg studies in English literature" * Attribution *


Further reading

* Accardo, Peter X
Let Satire Be My Song: Byron's English Bards and Scotch Reviewers
Web exhibit, Houghton Library, Harvard University, 2011. * * Angus Calder, Calder, Angus (1984), ''Byron and Scotland'', in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), ''Cencrastus'' No. 15, New Year 1984, pp. 21–24, * Angus Calder, Calder, Angus (ed.) (1989), ''Byron and Scotland: Radical or Dandy?'', Edinburgh University Press, * Drucker, Peter. "Byron and Ottoman love: Orientalism, Europeanization and same sex sexualities in the early nineteenth-century Levant" (''Journal of European Studies'' vol. 42 no. 2, June 2012, 140–57). * Elfenbein, Andrew. ''Byron and the Victorians''. (Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture). Cambridge University Press, 1995. . * Garrett, Martin: ''George Gordon, Lord Byron''. (British Library Writers' Lives). London: British Library, 2000. . * Garrett, Martin. ''Palgrave Literary Dictionary of Byron''. Palgrave, 2010. . * Guiccioli, Teresa, contessa di, ''Lord Byron's Life in Italy'', transl. Michael Rees, ed. Peter Cochran, 2005, . * Phyllis Grosskurth, Grosskurth, Phyllis: ''Byron: The Flawed Angel''. Hodder, 1997. . * Marchand, Leslie A., editor, ''Byron's Letters and Journals'', Harvard University Press: *
''Volume I, 'In my hot youth', 1798–1810''
(1973) *
''Volume II, 'Famous in my time', 1810–1812''
(1973) *
''Volume III, 'Alas! the love of women', 1813–1814''
(1974) *
''Volume IV, 'Wedlock's the devil', 1814–1815''
(1975) *
''Volume V, 'So late into the night', 1816–1817''
(1976) *
''Volume VI, 'The flesh is frail', 1818–1819''
(1976) *
''Volume VII, 'Between two worlds', 1820''
(1978) *
''Volume VIII, 'Born for opposition', 1821''
(1978) *
''Volume IX, 'In the wind's eye', 1821–1822''
(1978) *
''Volume X, 'A heart for every fate', 1822–1823''
(1980) *
''Volume XI, 'For freedom's battle', 1823–1824''
(1981) *
''Volume XII, 'The trouble of an index', index''
(1982) *
''Lord Byron: Selected Letters and Journals''
(1982) * Jerome McGann, McGann, Jerome: ''Byron and Romanticism''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. .
Lord Bryon, by Jerome McGann (2023), in Then & Now: Romantic-Era Poets in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910-1911
* * Iris Origo, Origo, Iris. ''The Last Attachment: The Story of Byron and Teresa Guiccioli''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1949. * Oueijan, Naji B. ''A Compendium of Eastern Elements in Byron's Oriental Tales''. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1999. * Patanè, Vincenzo: ''L'estate di un ghiro. Il mito di Lord Byron attraverso la vita, i viaggi, gli amori e le opere''. Venezia, Cicero, 2013. . * Patanè, Vincenzo: ''I frutti acerbi. Lord Byron, gli amori & il sesso''. Venezia, Cicero, 2016. . * Patanè, Vincenzo: ''The Sour Fruit. Lord Byron, Love & Sex''. Lanham (MD), Rowman & Littlefield, co-published by John Cabot University Press, Rome, 2019. . * Frederic Raphael, Raphael, Frederic: ''Byron''. Yale University Press, 1982. . * Joanna Richardson, Richardson, Joanna: ''Lord Byron and Some of His Contemporaries''. The Folio Society, 1988. * Rosen, Fred: ''Bentham, Byron and Greece''. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992. . * Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Thiollet, Jean-Pierre: ''Carré d'Art: Barbey d'Aurevilly, lord Byron, Salvador Dalí, Jean-Edern Hallier'', with texts by Anne-Élisabeth Blateau and François Roboth, Anagramme éditions, 2008. .


External links

* * * *
Works by Lord Byron in the online library ARHEVE.org
and in the fre
ARHEVE app


at PoetryFoundation.org
The Byron Society

The Messolonghi Byron Society

George Gordon Byron Collection
at the Harry Ransom Center
George Gordon Byron Collection
at the New York Public Library
George Gordon Byron Collection
at the University of Leeds
Byron's 1816–1824 letters to Murray and Moore about Armenian studies and translations

Biography
at the British Library
The Life and Work of Lord Byron
at EnglishHistory.net
Statue of Byron at Trinity College, Cambridge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byron, Lord Lord Byron, 1788 births 1824 deaths 18th-century English nobility 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English nobility 19th-century English poets 19th-century English LGBTQ people San Lazzaro degli Armeni alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Anglo-Scots Anti-monarchists Armenian studies scholars Barons Byron, Byron, George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Bisexual male writers Bisexual male politicians Bisexual poets English bisexual politicians English bisexual writers English bisexual men British people of Cornish descent British philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence Greek people of English descent Greek people of Scottish descent Naturalized citizens of Greece Burials at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Hucknall Burials in Nottinghamshire Byron family Carbonari Coppet group Deaths from sepsis Deaths from typhoid fever English dramatists and playwrights English expatriates in Italy English male dramatists and playwrights English male poets English satirical poets English satirists English people of Scottish descent English writers with disabilities Epic poets Fellows of the Royal Society Godwin family House of Gordon Left-wing politics in the United Kingdom LGBTQ peers English LGBTQ poets Liberalism in the United Kingdom Literary peers Missolonghi People associated with Aberdeen People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School People educated at Harrow School Regency era Romantic poets Poets from London Scholars and academics with disabilities British politicians with disabilities