Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelled Midleton) was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, along with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of the playwrights at work in the Jacobean period. Middleton was among the few to achieve equal success in comedy and tragedy. He was also a prolific writer of masques and pageants.