Stephen Hawes was an early-sixteenth-century poet whose verse enjoyed some popularity during the first half of the century. His writings are of particular interest for their efforts to employ medieval literary forms and conventions to new purposes. Little can be established with much certainty about Hawes's life. He may have attended Oxford University, and one mid-sixteenth-century account claims that he also studied in Scotland and France. Various records of payments, the earliest dating from 1503, describe him as groom of the chamber to Henry VII. One of these payments, in 1506, is specifically for a "ballet" for the king.

His major works, The Example of Virtue (composed between August 1503 and August 1504) and The Pastime of Pleasure (composed between August 1505 and August 1506), belong to this period of Hawes's life, although the latter was apparently not published until 1509, the year that also saw the publication of two short poems, The Conversion of...