Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, to the Parlament of England is a 1644 prose polemic by the English poet, scholar, and polemical author John Milton opposing licensing. Areopagitica is among history's most influential and impassioned philosophical defences of the principle of a right to freedom of speech and expression. Many of its expressed principles have formed the basis for modern justifications of that right.
The Areopagus, viewed from the Acropolis
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse and including twelve books, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political upheaval. It addressed the fall of man, including the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and God's expulsion of them from the Garden of Eden. Paradise Lost elevated Milton's reputation as one of history's greatest poets. He also served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell.
Portrait of John Milton
Blue plaque on 1 Bread Street, London, commemorating Milton's birthplace
Portrait of Milton at age 10 in Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, painted by Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen
Commemorative blue plaque 'John Milton lived here 1632–1638' at Berkyn Manor Farm, Horton, Berkshire
