Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston (1587 - 1642) was an English courtier and poet, noted for his translation of Geoffrey Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde into Latin verse (as rime royal, Amorum Troili et Creseidae Libri Quinque, 1639); he also provided a Latin translation of Henryson's The Testament of Cresseid, the later sequel.

He was from Otely, Shropshire, and was educated at Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1601), and Cambridge. He was knighted by James I in 1618, and was a Member of Parliament in 1621.

Under Charles I he had a court position, and founded with royal support the Musaeum Minervae, an academy, initially in his own house, but with ambitions to move into Chelsea College.

He wrote a masque, Corona Minervae, performed in 1635. Other works were Leonline and Syndanus (1641), and Cynthiades: Sonnets to his Mistresse.

External links

• Amorum Troili et Creseidae Libri Quinque (http://eee.uci.edu/~papyri/troilus)
• Testamentum Creseidae (1639) (http://eee.uci.edu/~papyri/testament)