The complete destruction of one of the most popular playhouses in early modern London was due to a freak accident during a performance of one of Shakespeare’s plays. The Globe had been built on the south side of the Thames out of the pieces of the old Theatre when it was dismantled in 1598. […]Continue reading
Baron Waldstein visited London on 3 July 1600 during his travels. He recorded in his diary that he ‘went to see an English play at a theatre based on the ‘Roman plan’: ‘it is built of wood and is so designed that he spectators can get a comfortable view of everything that happens in […]Continue reading
From mid-July to mid-August 1606 Christian IV of Denmark made a state visit to England. In August 1606 a masque titled The Two Kings’ Entertainment was performed at court for two kings: James I and his brother-in-law Christian IV of Denmark. The Danish king was entertained by plays and banquets during his visit to […]Continue reading
Elizabeth I and her court visited the Earl of Leicester at Kenilworth Castle in July 1575. The Earl welcomed her with a series of lavish and elaborate entertainments which included banquets, plays and pageants, and water displays and musical fireworks. On 18 July, a water pageant based on the Lady of the Lake took place, […]Continue reading
Emilia Lanyer was the illegitimate daughter of Baptiste Bassano, a Jewish man from Venice who had converted to Christianity. He worked as one of the musicians in the court of Henry VIII and when he died, Lanyer lived as the mistress of Lord Hunsdon until she became pregnant. She was quickly married off to […]Continue reading
John Aubrey, an antiquary and biographer, wrote a series of short biographies between 1669 and 1696. They were published with the title Brief Lives and are a mixture of speculation, gossipy anecdotes and interesting observations. One of his biographies was based on what gossip he could find out about Shakespeare: I have heard Sir […]Continue reading
When the Gunpowder Plot was discovered in 1605, Shakespeare’s playing company, the King’s Men, were out of London on tour in the provinces. They had undertaken lengthy tours during outbreaks of the plague in London in the early 1600s, and in 1605 they were again on tour. Despite being absent from London, the Gunpowder Plot […]Continue reading
Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton, was a young and wealthy nobleman courted by writers who needed a rich and influential patron in early modern England. Wriothesley was a great patron of the arts and also, it seems, was interested in playing and playgoing. Rowland White wrote about him to Sir Robert Sidney in […]Continue reading
Shakespeare may have been inspired by the visit of the Moroccan ambassador to Elizabeth I as he created the ‘noble Moor’ in Othello. The Moroccan king’s ambassador, Abd al-Wahid bin Messaoud bin Mohammed al-Annuri, and his party arrived in Dover on this day in 1600. They travelled to the queen’s court in London and stayed […]Continue reading
John Shakespeare was buried in Stratford-upon-Avon on 8 September 1601 after becoming an influential and important member of the town. He had moved to Stratford-upon-Avon with his wife, Mary, in 1551. He worked as a glover and become a well-known member of the Stratford town council. When his eldest son William was four years […]Continue reading
