Hoccleve (or Occleve), Thomas (c. 1370–c. 1450)

English poet. His best-known work is De Regimine Principum or The Regimen of Princes 1412, written for the Prince of Wales, later Henry V; it is an English rendering in rhyme royal of a Latin treatise by Guido delle Colonne (c. 1215–c. 1290) on the duties of a ruler. Hoccleve also wrote a curious autobiographical poem, La Male Reglè/The Male Regimen 1406, which tells of his moderately riotous life, and a number of religious poems.

He was probably born in London. At the age of 20 he became a clerk in the Privy Seal Office, and, pensioned off 1424, he lived at the Priory of Southwick, Hampshire.