Beaumont, Francis (1584-1616)

English dramatist and poet. From about 1606 to 1613 he collaborated with John Fletcher. Their joint plays include the tragicomedies Philaster (1610), A King and No King (c. 1611), and The Maid's Tragedy (c. 1611). The Woman Hater (about c. 1606) and The Knight of the Burning Pestle (c. 1607), which is a satire on the audience, are ascribed to Beaumont alone.

Beaumont was born in Grace-Dieu, Leicestershire, studied at Oxford, and then read law in London. He became a close friend of Michael Drayton and Ben Jonson, for some of whose plays he wrote commendatory verses, and shared lodgings and a servant with Fletcher.