Robert Dudley, the first Earl of Leicester, was a leading figure at the court of Elizabeth I, and this book presents a scholarly edition of both his two surviving household accounts (from 1558 to 1581), and the fragments of his disbursement books (from 1584 to 1586). The work also includes an appendix of those lists of household servants that have survived. This is the only collection of such information available for such a prominent member of the Elizabethan court, and as such provides numerous valuable insights into the personal finances of members of the Elizabethan aristocracy. It will thus be essential reading for any serious scholar of the high politics of the Elizabethan period.

Offers readers an annual collection of major articles representing some of the best historical research by some of the world's most distinguished historians.

The author of The Other Tudors delves into the Virgin Queen myth, Elizabeth’s secret “love life,” and the children she may have had as a result. “Virgin Queen” is the name for which the powerful and fearless daughter of Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn is best remembered, and may explain why Elizabeth was the last of the Tudor monarchs. But how appropriate is that reputation? Were Elizabeth’s suitors and favorites really just innocent intrigues? Or were they much more than that? Was Elizabeth really a woman driven by her passions, who had affairs with several men, including Thomas Seymour, while he was still the husband of her guardian Catherine Parr, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester—a man adjudged to have been the great love of her life? Are the rumors of Elizabeth’s illegitimate children true? Was the “Virgin Queen” image a carefully thought out piece of Tudor propaganda? Historian Philippa Jones, author of the acclaimed The Other Tudors, challenges the many myths and truths surrounding Elizabeth’s life and reveals the passionate woman behind the scenes.

This groundbreaking book uses the possibility that Shakespeare began his theatrical career in Lancashire to open up a range of new contexts for reading the plays, and introduces readers to the non-metropolitan theater spaces which formed a vital part of early modern dramatic activity. Essays give a detailed picture of the contexts in which the apprentice dramatist would have worked, providing new insights into regional performance, touring theatre, the patronage of the Earls of Derby, and the purpose-built theater at Prescot.

The first full history of the first great Elizabethan play company, responsible for developing the main features of Shakespearean theatre.

During the past quarter of a century, the study of patronage-theatre relations in early modern England has developed considerably. This, however, is an extensive, wide-ranging and representative 2002 study of patronage as it relates to Shakespeare and the theatrical culture of his time. Twelve distinguished theatre historians address such questions as: What important functions did patronage have for the theatre during this period? How, in turn, did the theatre impact and represent patronage? Where do paying spectators and purchasers of printed drama fit into the discussion of patronage? The authors also show how patronage practices changed and developed from the early Tudor period to the years in which Shakespeare was the English theatre's leading artist. This important book will appeal to scholars of Renaissance social history as well as those who focus on Shakespeare and his playwriting contemporaries.

This is the first encyclopedia to be devoted entirely to Tudor England. 700 entries by top scholars in every major field combine new modes of archival research with a detailed Tudor chronology and appendix of biographical essays.Entries include: * Edward Alleyn [actor/theatre manager] * Roger Ascham * Bible translation * cloth trade * Devereux fami

This is the first book devoted to the Queen's Men, one of the major acting companies of the age of Shakespeare. In describing the troupe's position in the general political situation and the London theatre scene of the 1580s, the authors break new ground by showing how Elizabethan theatre history can be refocused by concentrating on the company which produced the plays rather than on the authors who wrote them. The book combines a thorough examination of documentary evidence with textual and critical analysis, to provide a full account of the characteristics which gave the company its identity: its acting style, staging methods, touring patterns and repertoire. The conclusions will interest Elizabethan historians as well as students and scholars of early modern theatre.

Before William Shakespeare wrote world-famous plays on the themes of power and political turmoil, the Shakespeare family of Stratford-upon-Avon and their neighbors and friends were plagued by false accusations and feuds with the government — conflicts that shaped Shakespeare's sceptical understanding of the realities of power. This ground-breaking study of the world of the young William Shakespeare in Stratford and Warwickshire discusses many recent archival discoveries to consider three linked families, the Shakespeares, the Dudleys, and the Ardens, and their battles over regional power and government corruption. Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, and Ambrose Dudley, earl of Warwick, used politics, the law, history, and lineage to establish their authority in Warwickshire and Stratford, challenging political and social structures and collective memory in the region. The resistance of Edward Arden — often claimed as kin to Mary Arden, Shakespeare's mother — and his friends and family culminated in his execution on false treason charges in 1583. By then the Shakespeare family also had direct experience with the London government's power: in 1569, Exchequer informers, backed by influential politicians at Court, accused John Shakespeare, William's father, of illegal wool- dealing and usury. Despite previous claims that John had resolved these charges by 1572, the book's new sources show the Exchequer's continuing demands forced his withdrawal from Stratford politics by 1577, and undermined his business career in the early 1580s, when young William first gained an understanding of his father's troubles. At the same time, Edward Arden's condemnation by the Elizabethan regime proved problematic for the Shakespeares' friends and neighbours, the Quineys, who were accused of maintaining financial connections to the traitorous Ardens — though Stratford people were convinced of their innocence. This complicated community directly impacted Shakespeare's own perspective on local and national politics and social structures, connecting his early experiences in Stratford and Warwickshire with many of the themes later found in his plays.

In The World of William Byrd John Harley builds on his previous work, William Byrd: Gentleman of the Chapel Royal (Ashgate, 1997), in order to place the composer more clearly in his social context. He provides new information about Byrd's youthful musical training, and reveals how in his adult life his music emerged from a series of overlapping family, business and social networks. These networks and Byrd's navigation within and between them are examined, as are the lives of a number of the individuals comprising them.