Lord Byron

Now much preoccupied with thoughts of Greece, and feeling that action was more important than poetry, in July 1823 Byron set sail; Goethe sent him good wishes in verse. His final commitment to the Greek cause electrified the youth of Europe and hundreds rushed to join him. His death from fever at Missolonghi in April 1824 was mourned throughout Europe and signalled the apotheosis of Romanticism. His body was refused by the deans of both Westminster and St Paul’s and it was interred in the family vault near Newstead.