In 1490 Skelton, who was Cambridge educated,  dedicated a translation of Virgil’s Aeneid to Prince Arthur and in 1494 wrote a poem on the subject of Henry’s creation as Duke if York.  In 1495 his patron’s second son, Thomas Howard, married Elizabeth of York’s sister, Anne, and Skelton entered the royal household soon afterwards.[i]   As Henry moved from the infancy into child hood, this usually happened at around the age of 5 or 6 years, he was removed from the care of women and his education began in earnest.  Unlike Prince Arthur, Henry did not have a separate household.  He grew up at Eltham with his sisters and where his mother frequently resided.  During 1499, Sir Thomas More took Rasmus to visit the royal house at Eltham. Erasmus wrote to the king praising Skelton’s work. At some point after November 1499 the poet left his employment with the prince and took up a post as a parish priest in Diss, Norfolk by 1504. He probably received the rectorship of the parish, which was in the gift of Lady Margaret Beaufort, in around 1502.[ii]

In 1512-1513 Skelton, who returned to court after Henry VIII succeeded to the throne began to style himself as a ‘poet laureat’. A new priest was appointed to the living at Diss even though Skelton was still the rector there.  Both Erasmus and Caxton had a good opinion of him but Skelton made enemies at court because of his satirical attacks on the authority of the state and the Church. When he fell afoul of Cardinal Wolsey the poet was removed from his post and briefly imprisoned. He would later claim sanctuary in Westminster where he could be found living in 1518.