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John Owen (c. 1564 - 1622), was a Welsh epigrammatist.

He was born at Betws Garmon, near Snowdon, and was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford, from where he graduated as Bachelor of Civil Law in 1590. He became head master of The King's School at Warwick around 1595, and his salary was doubled to £20 per year in 1614. On his death in 1622, John Owen was buried in the old St Paul's Cathedral, London.

His Latin epigrams, which have both sense and wit in a high degree, gained him much applause, and were translated into English, French, German, and Spanish. John Owen had started writing epigrams while at Winchester - indeed, education there was largely devoted to the production of them - and his were good enough by the time he reached 16 years of age to be used in a ceremony held when Queen Elizabeth I paid a state visit to Sir Francis Drake on his ship at Deptford, on his return from sailing around the world. John Owen started publishing his epigrams in 1606, whereupon they met with almost instant success throughout Europe and earned him the pseudonym of "The English Martial" (though in fact he was Welsh).

Entry from Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition

JOHN OWEN [OVENUS or AUDOENUS] (C. 1560-1622), Welsh epigrammatist, was born at Plas Dhu, Carnarvonshire, about 1560. He was educated under Dr Bilson at Winchester School, and at New College, Oxford. He was a fellow of his college from 1584 to 1591, when he became a schoolmaster, first at Trelleck, near Monmouth, and then at Warwick, where he was master of the school endowed by Henry VIII. He became distinguished for his perfect mastery of the Latin language, and for the humour, felicity and point of his epigrams. The Continental scholars and wits of the day used to call him “the British Martial.” He was a staunch Protestant besides, and could not resist the temptation of turning his wit against the Roman Catholic Church. This practice caused his book to be placed on the Index prohibitorius in 1654, and led a rich old uncle of the Roman Catholic communion to cut him out of his will. When the poet died in 1622, his countryman and relative, Bishop Williams of Lincoln, who is said to have supported him in his later years, erected a monument to his memory in St Paul’s cathedral with a Latin epitaph.

Owen’s Epigrammata are divided into twelve books, of which the first four were published in 1606, and the rest at four different times. Owen frequently adapts and alters to his own purpose the lines of his predecessors in Latin verse, and one such borrowing has become celebrated as a quotation, though few know where it is to be found. It is the first line of this epigram: --

“Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis;
Quo modo? fit semper tempore pejor homo.”
— (Lib. I. ad Edoardum Noel, epig. 58.)

This first line is altered from an epigram by Matthew Borbonius, one of a series of mottoes for various emperors, this one being for Lothaire I.

“Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis;
Illa vices quasdam res habet, illa vices.”

There are editions of the Epigrammata by Elzevir and by Didot; the best is that edited by Renouard (2 vols., Paris, 1795). Translations into English, either in whole or in part, were made by Vicars (1619); by Pecke, in his Parnassi Puerperium (1659); and by Harvey in 1677, which is the most complete. La Torre, the Spanish epigrammatist, owed much to Owen, and translated his works into Spanish in 1674. French translations of the best of Owen’s epigrams were published by A. L. Lebrun (1709) and by Kerivalant (1819).

References

Warwick School: A History (2004) by G N Frykman and E J Hadley. ISBN 0-946095-46-9
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "OWEN, JOHN". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press., p. 391–392

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 His Latin epigrams, which have both sense and wit in a high degree, gained him much applause, and were translated into [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], and [[Spanish language|Spanish]]. John Owen had started writing epigrams while at Winchester - indeed, education there was largely devoted to the production of them - and his were good enough by the time he reached 16 years of age to be used in a ceremony held when [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] paid a state visit to Sir [[Francis Drake]] on his ship at [[Deptford]], on his return from sailing around the world. John Owen started publishing his epigrams in 1606, whereupon they met with almost instant success throughout Europe and earned him the pseudonym of "The English [[Martial]]" (though in fact he was [[Wales|Welsh]]).
+== Entry from Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition ==
+JOHN OWEN [OVENUS or AUDOENUS] (C. 1560-1622), Welsh epigrammatist, was born at Plas Dhu, Carnarvonshire, about 1560. He was educated under Dr Bilson at Winchester School, and at New College, Oxford. He was a fellow of his college from 1584 to 1591, when he became a schoolmaster, first at Trelleck, near Monmouth, and then at Warwick, where he was master of the school endowed by Henry VIII. He became distinguished for his perfect mastery of the Latin language, and for the humour, felicity and point of his epigrams. The Continental scholars and wits of the day used to call him “the British Martial.” He was a staunch Protestant besides, and could not resist the temptation of turning his wit against the Roman Catholic Church. This practice caused his book to be placed on the ''Index prohibitorius'' in 1654, and led a rich old uncle of the Roman Catholic communion to cut him out of his will. When the poet died in 1622, his countryman and relative, Bishop Williams of Lincoln, who is said to have supported him in his later years, erected a monument to his memory in St Paul’s cathedral with a Latin epitaph.
+Owen’s ''Epigrammata'' are divided into twelve books, of which the first four were published in 1606, and the rest at four different times. Owen frequently adapts and alters to his own purpose the lines of his predecessors in Latin verse, and one such borrowing has become celebrated as a quotation, though few know where it is to be found. It is the first line of this epigram: --
+{{Quote|“Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis;<br/>
+Quo modo? fit semper tempore pejor homo.”|(Lib. I. ad Edoardum Noel, epig. 58.)}}
+This first line is altered from an epigram by Matthew Borbonius, one of a series of mottoes for various emperors, this one being for Lothaire I.
+{{Quote|“Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis;<br/>
+Illa vices quasdam res habet, illa vices.”}}
+There are editions of the ''Epigrammata'' by Elzevir and by Didot; the best is that edited by Renouard (2 vols., Paris, 1795). Translations into English, either in whole or in part, were made by Vicars (1619); by Pecke, in his ''Parnassi Puerperium'' (1659); and by Harvey in 1677, which is the most complete. La Torre, the Spanish epigrammatist, owed much to Owen, and translated his works into Spanish in 1674. French translations of the best of Owen’s epigrams were published by A. L. Lebrun (1709) and by Kerivalant (1819).
 == References ==
 *''Warwick School: A History'' (2004) by G N Frykman and E J Hadley. ISBN 0-946095-46-9
 *{{A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature}}
+*{{1911|title=OWEN, JOHN|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/John_Owen_(epigrammatist)}}, p. [http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=User:Tim_Starling/ScanSet_PNG_demo&vol=20&page=ED0A414 391]–[http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=User:Tim_Starling/ScanSet_PNG_demo&vol=20&page=ED0A415 392]
 [[Category:1560s births|Owen, John]]