1.
Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
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The Swan Theatre is a theatre belonging to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Trevor Nunn and Terry Hands were joint artistic directors of the RSC when the company opened The Swan, designed by Michael Reardon, it has a deep thrust stage, and is a galleried, intimate auditorium holding around 450 people. The space was to be dedicated to playing the works of William Shakespeares contemporaries, the works of European writers, the theatre was launched on 8 May 1986 with a production of The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher. It was directed by Barry Kyle, the Swan has subsequently been used for many other types of drama including the works of Chekhov, Ibsen and Tennessee Williams. The Swan Theatre has recently been refurbished as part of the Royal Shakespeare Companys £112.8 million transformation project, improvements to the Swan include re-carpeting of the auditorium on all levels and re-upholstering of seats. The project also enabled a number of changes, so the Swan Theatre now has more storage space and shares back-of-house. The two theatres are linked together for the first time by a new Colonnade, the whole building is now accessible for the first time for all visitors, performers and staff. In 2011 the theatre, won a British Construction Industry Award, the Royal Shakespeare Company, A History of Ten Decades. The Company, A Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Company, A Biographical Dictionary of the RSC, Online database by Simon Trowbridge
2.
Panorama of London
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The city of London has long been a subject for panoramas by artists, mapmakers, and topographers. Many of their works have this as their title, wenceslaus Hollars 1647 Long View of London from Bankside is an exception. Projected from a single viewpoint it resembles the perspective of a panoramic photograph. Amongst the earliest known is that drawn Wyngaerde, produced around 1543, and here shown in 19th-century printed copies
3.
Claes Van Visscher
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Claes Janszoon Visscher was a Dutch Golden Age draughtsman, engraver, mapmaker and publisher. Visscher, who was born and died in Amsterdam, was known as Nicolas Joannes Piscator or Nicolas Joannis Visscher II. He learned the art of etching and printing from his father and it was a family business, Nicolaes Visscher I, and Nicolaes Visscher II were also mapmakers in Amsterdam on the Kalverstraat. This became a successful family business, with collaboration with many respected draughtsmen of the day. A new translation of the bible was underway in the Netherlands, and until then, though probably not a relative, his bible translation was accepted by the Dutch Staten-General in 1602, which only lent more publicity and authenticity to the Fisher name. The trademark of the Visschers was a fisherman, after their name, a small fisherman would be strategically placed somewhere near water. If the subject was a landscape without a stream or pond and their map plates were reused for a century by other printers who unknowingly copied the entire plates, including the tell-tale fishermen. Observant scholars are able to trace the provenance of bibles, maps. Aside from bibles, Claes Visscher II primarily etched and published landscapes, portraits and he etched over 200 plates and his maps included elaborate original borders. He was a publisher of prints by Esaias van de Velde, and David Vinckboons, Claes Jansz Visscher with some etchings in the Rijksmuseum Vermeer and The Delft School, a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Claes Jansz. Visscher Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Drawings and Prints, a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Claes Jansz
4.
Thrust stage
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In theatre, a thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area, entrances onto a thrust are most readily made from backstage, although some theatres provide for performers to enter through the audience using vomitory entrances. A theatre in the round, exposed on all sides to the audience, is without a backstage, as with an arena, the audience in a thrust stage theatre may view the stage from three or more sides. A high backed chair, for instance, when placed stage right, the thrust stage is the earliest stage type in western theatre, first appearing in Greek theatres, and its arrangement was continued by the pageant wagon. As pageant wagons evolved into Elizabethan theatre, many of that works, including those of Shakespeare, were performed on theatre with an open thrust stage. The thrust stage concept was generally out of use for centuries and their Festival Theatre was originally under a tent, until a permanent thrust stage theatre facility was constructed in 1957. Since that time dozens of other thrust stage venues have been using the concept. All other Elizabethan Theatres were also in the same style, the Olivier Theatre in the National Theatre, London The Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, England The Chichester Festival Theatre. Notable for the fact that the stage is hexagonal, and is surrounded by the audience on four sides, archived from the original on August 9,2013. Mystère theatre diagram Diagram of Cirque du Soleils Mystère theatre Thrust stage diagram
5.
Southwark
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Southwark is a district of Central London and part of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated 1.5 miles east of Charing Cross, it one of the oldest parts of London. It historically formed an ancient borough in the county of Surrey, made up of a number of parishes, as an inner district of London, Southwark experienced rapid depopulation during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. It is now at a stage of regeneration and is the county town of Greater London which is the location of the City Hall offices of the Greater London Authority. Southwark had a population of 30,119 in 2011, Southwark is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Sudweca. The name means southern defensive work and is formed from the Old English sūth, the southern location is in reference to the City of London to the north, Southwark being at the southern end of London Bridge. The ancient borough of Southwark was also simply as The Borough—or Borough—and this name. Southwark was also referred to as the Ward of Bridge Without when administered by the City. Southwark is on a marshy area south of the River Thames. Recent excavation has revealed prehistoric activity including evidence of ploughing, burial mounds. The area was originally a series of islands in the River Thames and this formed the best place to bridge the Thames and the area became an important part of Londinium owing its importance to its position as the endpoint of the Roman London Bridge. Two Roman roads, Stane Street and Watling Street, met at Southwark in what is now Borough High Street, archaeological work at Tabard Street in 2004 discovered a plaque with the earliest reference to London from the Roman period on it. Londinium was abandoned at the end of the Roman occupation in the fifth century. Archaeologically, evidence of settlement is replaced by a largely featureless soil called the Dark Earth which probably represents an urban area abandoned, Southwark appears to recover only during the time of King Alfred and his successors. Sometime about 886 AD, the burh of Southwark was created and it was probably fortified to defend the bridge and hence the re-emerging City of London to the north. He failed to force the bridge during the Norman conquest of England, Southwark appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as held by several Surrey manors. Southwarks value to the King was £16, much of Southwark was originally owned by the church—the greatest reminder of monastic London is Southwark Cathedral, originally the priory of St Mary Overie. During the early Middle Ages, Southwark developed and was one of the four Surrey towns which returned Members of Parliament for the first commons assembly in 1295
6.
William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
7.
James Burbage
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James Burbage was an English actor, theatre impresario, joiner, and theatre builder in the English Renaissance theatre. He built The Theatre, the first permanent dedicated theatre built in England since Roman times, James Burbage was born about 1531, probably in Bromley in Kent. Burbage took up acting and was the leader of Leicesters Men by 1572, Burbage had various talents, e. g. an actor, builder, and theatre owner, he was heavily involved in groups concerning theater. He was said to be a professional who bridged the gap between late-medieval drama in England and the flowering of the great Elizabethan Theatre. Burbage was described as handsome in appearance, charming in manner, honest, tactful, another professional acquaintance depicted James as more motivated by commerce than by art because of his dependency on financial success. Burbage married Ellen Brayne, the daughter of Thomas Brayne, a London tailor and sister of his business partner John Brayne. They were settled in St. Leonards parish in Shoreditch by 1576, Burbages son Richard Burbage became one of the most celebrated actors of his era. Cuthbert Burbage, Richards elder brother, followed in his fathers footsteps as a theatre manager, James Burbage was buried in Shoreditch on 2 February 1597. Having previously given his Blackfriars property to his son Richard and his property to his grandson Cuthbert. In 1576, Burbage and his partner John Brayne decided to create a new and it was one of the first permanent theatres to be built in London since the time of the Romans. Brayne was Burbages brother-in-law and was considered a wealthy man and it was his investment that allowed The Theatre to be built, with the two sharing the profits equally. Financial difficulties led Burbage and Brayne to stage plays in the building construction was complete. Despite partnering with John Brayne, the lease of The Theatres site was signed by Burbage alone on 13 April 1576, since Burbage owned the lease, he also received rent money for properties on the site. Under this lease, he paid roughly £14 a year, the exact builder of The Theatre is unknown, though a likely candidate is James Burbages brother Robert, who was a carpenter. In 1594, a Privy Council order created the Lord Chamberlains Men, Burbage was very confident that spectators would come to The Theatre, even if they had to go through open fields to get there. One contemporary of the referred to people streaming out of the city to see the plays there. The Theatre was considered a classical name. It was made mostly of wood, with ironwork scattered throughout, there was a tiring house for the players, and galleries and luxury seats providing better viewing and privacy
8.
The Theatre
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The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse in Shoreditch, just outside the City of London. It was the permanent theatre ever built in England, after the Red Lion. Built by actor-manager James Burbage, near the home in Holywell Street. The Theatres history includes a number of important acting troupes including the Lord Chamberlains Men, after a dispute with the landlord, the theatre was dismantled and the timbers used in the construction of the Globe Theatre on Bankside. The Mayor and Corporation of London banned plays in 1572 as a measure against the plague, in 1575 they formally expelled all players from the city. The Theatre was constructed in 1576 by James Burbage in partnership with his brother-in-law, one John Brayne, Brayne had advanced Burbage the money needed to build The Theatre, and in return, Brayne received a portion of the profits and owned some of the property. The Theatre was in Shoreditch, beyond the boundary of the City of London and outside the jurisdiction of civil authorities. This area in the suburbs of sin was notorious for licentious behaviour, brothels, a year later the Curtain Theatre was built nearby, making the area Londons first theatrical and entertainment district. Throughout the building of The Theatre, Burbage and Brayne continually became indebted to each other, to fix this they constructed schemes to keep the building of The Theatre going. One of their schemes was to put on plays in The Theatre while it was still being built, although Burbages son later claimed the Theatre as the first permanent playhouse in the London conurbation, it may not have been the first permanent theatre to serve Londoners. The Newington Butts playhouse may have built as early as 1575, certainly actor Jerome Savage renewed a lease on the site on 25 March 1576. The design of The Theatre was possibly adapted from the inn-yards that had served as playing spaces for actors and/or bear baiting pits, the building was a polygonal wooden building with three galleries surrounding an open yard. From one side of the polygon extended a thrust stage, the Theatre is said to have cost £700 to construct, which is a considerable sum for the age. The open yard in front of the stage was cobbled and provided standing room for those who paid a penny, for another penny, the attendees were allowed into the galleries where they could either stand or, for a third penny, procure a stool. One of the galleries, though sources do not state which, was divided into compartments that could be used by the wealthy. The playhouse was a building with a tile roof, other materials used to construct the Theatre were brick, sand, lime, lead. Owing to a lack of paperwork not much is known about the Theatre’s appearance. The Theatre opened in the autumn of 1576, possibly as a venue for Leicesters Men, in the 1580s the Admirals Men, of which James Burbages son, Richard was a member, took up residence
9.
Curtain Theatre
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The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Hewett Street, Shoreditch, just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1624, the Curtain was built some 200 yards south of Londons first playhouse, The Theatre, which had opened a year before, in 1576. Its remains were rediscovered in archaeological excavation in 2012, the most significant find was that the Curtain was rectangular not round. They found a 14m stage, and evidence of a tunnel under the stage, finds included a ceramic bird whistle, ceramic money boxes for collecting entry fees, beads possibility decorating stage costumes and a small statue of Bacchus. The Curtain Theatre was built in 1577 in Shoreditch, and was Londons second playhouse, little is known of the companies that performed there, or of the plays they performed. The first clear mention of the Curtain is in 1584, when the City of London petitioned the parish of Shoreditch to shut down their playhouses and it was the venue of several of Shakespeares plays, including Romeo and Juliet and Henry V. In this latter play the somewhat undistinguished Curtain gains immortal fame by being described by Shakespeare as this wooden O, the Lord Chamberlains Men also performed Ben Jonsons Every Man in His Humour here in 1598, with Shakespeare in the cast. Later that same year Jonson gained a certain notoriety by killing actor Gabriel Spencer in a duel in nearby Hoxton Fields, the Lord Chamberlains Men departed the Curtain when the Globe Theatre, which they built to replace the Theatre, was ready for use in 1599. For seven years Henry Lanman had an agreement with James Burbage that all profit would be shared between them and this deal is how many believe Lanman was able to afford to open the Curtain, the rest is all very unclear. J. Thomas Pope, one of the Lord Chamberlains Men, owned a share in the Curtain and left it to his heirs in his last will, kings Men member John Underwood did the same in 1624. The fact that both of these belonged to Shakespeares company may indicate that the re-organization of the Curtain occurred when the Lord Chamberlains Men were acting there. Otherwise, it would be very unwise of Burbage to pool profits if he did better in the first place, thus, the suggestion is given that both proprietors were doing equal business. Burbages father Richard had shares in the theatre at the time of his death, the London theatres, including the Curtain, were closed for much of the period from September 1592 to April 1594 due to the bubonic plague. In 1597, people wrote to the magistrates court demanding that no plays take place at the Curtain or the Theatre that year. The Curtain was named in John Stows Survey of London in 1598, in 1600, the Privy Council tried unsuccessfully to shut down the Curtain theatre, and in 1603, the Curtain became the playhouse of Queen Annes Men. In 1607, The Travels of the Three English Brothers, by Rowley, Day, the Curtain was in use from 1577 until at least 1624, after which its ultimate fate is obscure as there is no record of it after 1627. The reasons for its closure are not known, the Curtain was believed to have been built near The Theatre, but the exact location was for many years unknown. However, a plaque was erected at 18 Hewett Street
10.
Newington Butts
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Newington Butts is a former hamlet, now an area of the London Borough of Southwark, that gives its name to a segment of the A3 road running south-west from the Elephant and Castle junction. The road continues as Kennington Park Road leading to Kennington, a right is Kennington Lane. It is believed to take its name from an archery butts, the area gave its name to an Elizabethan theatre which saw the earliest recorded performances of some Shakespearean plays. The Middle English word butt referred to a strip of land. The 1955 Survey of London published by London County Council could find no reference to archery butts in Newington although the connection is mentioned elsewhere. The name may have derived from the triangle of land between the roads, as the word butts is used elsewhere in Surrey to refer to odd corners or ends of land. Newington was a village that grew up on the Walworth Road at its junction with the Portsmouth Road. Being outside the jurisdiction of the City of London it became home to such as plays that were banned near London during hot weather. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the triangle of ground between the roads was known as the Three Falcons and was copyhold of the manor of Walworth, in 1791 the leading scientist Michael Faraday was born at Newington Butts. In 1802, Thomas Hardwick reported that the estate consisted of a number of tenements in bad condition. In the spring of 2008, St Marys Churchyard, the open space on the northern border of Newington Butts, was given a face lift. The largely grassy area now contains a childrens playground, dotted about within the playground and on the grass elsewhere are concrete mounds with rubber surfaces which were designed to add interest and topography to the developed area. These mounds might recall archery butts but this has been denied by the Elephant, in Cockney rhyming slang, Newington Butts means guts. 320–329, ISBN 978-0-521-23012-4 transcribes the original manuscripts relating to Newington Butts playhouse, Shakespearean Playhouses, by Joseph Quincy Adams, Jr. from Project Gutenberg Newington Butts, Kennington photograph, c
11.
The Rose (theatre)
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The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre. The Rose was built in 1587 by Philip Henslowe and by a grocer named John Cholmley and it was the first purpose-built playhouse to ever stage a production of any of Shakespeares plays. The theatre was built on a called the Little Rose. The Rose was the first of several theatres to be situated in Bankside, the area was known for its leisure attractions such as bear/bull-baitings, gaming dens and brothels. It was located in the Liberty of Clink, a liberty outside the jurisdiction of the City of Londons civic authorities, the Rose contained substantial rose gardens and two buildings, Cholmley used one as a storehouse, while Henslowe appears to have leased the other as a brothel. North of London, professional playhouses like the Curtain Theatre and The Theatre had already been open for over a decade, however, Henslowe recognized the ease at which audiences could ferry across the River of Thames and established a playhouse in this particular location. The theatre was built by the carpenter John Griggs, the new building was of timber, with a lath and plaster exterior and thatch roof. In shape it was a polygon, of about 72 feet in external diameter. The inner space was also a polygon, about 47 feet wide. Henslowes documentation of the Rose Theatre has survived, and was placed in the library of Dulwich College by its founder, Edward Alleyn, Alleyn was the principal actor of the Lord Admirals Men. In May 1591, The Lord Admirals Men split off from the Lord Chamberlains Men and their repertoire included plays by Robert Greene and especially Christopher Marlowe, who became the theatres main playwright. Edward Alleyn married Henslowes step-daughter in 1592, and the two became partners, the plague took nearly 11,000 Londoners. The companies were forced to tour to survive, and some, like Pembrokes Men, from 1592 to 1593, the Lord Stranges Men performed on the Rose Stage. From 1593 to 1594, the Sussexs Men performed in its place, by the summer of 1594 the plague had abated, and the companies re-organized themselves. The Queens Men performed in 1594 and the Lord Admirals Men, still led by Alleyn, at their height, they performed three-hundred times, nearly thirty-six plays, twenty of which were new. The Lord Admirals Men resided at The Rose for seven years, Henslowe enlarged the theatre for The Lord Admirals Men, moving the stage further back to make room for perhaps 500 extra spectators. Henslowe paid all the costs himself, indicating that Cholmley was no longer involved – either deceased or bought out, the renovation gave the theatre, formerly a regular polygon, a distorted egg shape, a bulging tulip or distorted ovoid floor plan. However, the Roses success encouraged other companies to set up roots in the Bankside
12.
Bankside
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Bankside is a district of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. Bankside is located on the bank of the River Thames,1. It is part of an improvement district known as Better Bankside. The banke was reclaimed by the Bishop of Winchester who owned the manor of the Clink of which this is part, there is a map plan in the Duchy of Lancaster archive showing the way to the banke. The name is recorded in 1554 as the Banke syde and means street along the bank of the Thames and it is formed from Middle English banke and side. In 1860 Southwark Street was created to connect the Blackfriars and London bridge crossings here, Bankside is the riverside of the former liberties of the Clink and Paris Garden. It has experienced regeneration in recent decades, becoming a significant tourist destination, the skyline of Bankside is dominated by the former Bankside Power Station, which now houses the Tate Modern. A major new development in the area is the Bankside 1/2/3 complex on Southwark Street, together, these three building house about 5,000 employees. Bankside 1, also known as the Blue Fin Building, was built-for and partially-occupied-by IPC Media, the architect for the buildings was Allies and Morrison. It is part of the Borough and Bankside Community Council which corresponds to the Southwark electoral wards of Cathedrals and they are part of the Bermondsey and Old Southwark Parliament constituency and the Member of Parliament is Labours Neil Coyle. It is within the Lambeth and Southwark London Assembly constituency and the London European Parliament constituency, since 1754 the Blackfriars Bridge formed a connection to the north and in 1819 Southwark Bridge has connected the area into the City. London Bridge and Southwark are the stations closest to Bankside, located to the east. It is served by bus routes 381 and RV1 which are hydrogen powered, Bankside page on London SE1 community website Better Bankside - official Business Improvement District website Bankside Mix - local promotion and tourism website
13.
Francis Langley
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Francis Langley was a theatre builder and theatrical producer in Elizabethan era London. After James Burbage and Philip Henslowe, Langley was the third significant entrepreneurial figure active at the height of the development of English Renaissance theatre. Langley was a goldsmith by profession, and also held the office of Alnager and Searcher of Cloth – he was a quality inspector of fabric. His brother-in-law was a clerk for the Privy Council, Langley had been appointed to his Alnagers post through a recommendation from Sir Francis Walsingham. Langley became involved in theatre in the mid-1590s, and operated much as Henslowe did, contracting individual actors and troupes to work exclusively for him, and serving as their reliable creditor. Langley, however, did not leave the relatively abundant documentary record that Henslowe did, his affairs are much more mysterious and difficult to untangle. Langleys central achievement in Elizabethan drama was the building of the Swan Theatre in Southwark, on the shore of the River Thames across from the City of London. Langley had purchased the Manor of Paris Garden as early as May 1589, (Paris Garden was a liberty, at the extreme western end of the Bankside district of Southwark. The Manor in question had been part of the monastery of Bermondsey, in November 1594, the Lord Mayor of London complained to Lord Burghley about Langleys plans to build another theatre on the Bankside. The Rose and the Beargarden, the ring, were already located there. The Lord Mayors protest had no effect, the Swan was certainly ready by February 1597. Their contract mentions that the theatre had already been in use for plays, the playing company involved is not named, but given Shakespeares odd connection with Langley, it might have been the Lord Chamberlains Men. Langley also had a connection with William Shakespeare. In November 1596 two writs of attachment, similar to modern restraining orders, were issued to the sheriff of Surrey, William Gardiner was a corrupt Surrey justice of the peace. Leslie Hotson describes Gardiners life as a tissue of greed, usury, fraud, cruelty, shortly before these events he had brought charges of slander against Langley, for having accused him of perjury. Langley defended himself robustly, insisting that the accusation was true, William Wayte was Gardiners stepson, described in another document as a certain loose person of no reckoning or value being wholly under the rule and commandment of said Gardiner. Shakespeares role in dispute is unclear. Anne Lee and Dorothy Soer, the two women named with Shakespeare in the writ, cannot be identified
14.
Bermondsey
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Bermondsey is a district in south London, and a part of the London Borough of Southwark. Thus Bermondsey need not have been an island as such in the Anglo-Saxon period, Bermondsey appears in Domesday Book as Bermundesy and Bermundesye. It was then held by King William, though a part was in the hands of Robert, Count of Mortain, the kings half brother. Its Domesday assets were recorded as including 13 hides, a new and handsome church,5 ploughs,20 acres of meadow and it also included interests in London, in respect of which 13 burgesses paid 44d. The church mentioned in Domesday Book was presumably the nascent Bermondsey Abbey, which was founded as a Cluniac priory in 1082, monks from the abbey began the development of the area, cultivating the land and embanking the riverside. They turned an adjacent tidal inlet at the mouth of the River Neckinger into a dock, but Bermondsey then was little more than a high street ribbon, leading from the southern bank of the Thames, at Tooley Street, up to the abbey close. The Knights Templar also owned land here and gave their names to one of the most distinctive streets in London, King Edward III built a manor house close to the Thames in Bermondsey in 1353. The excavated foundations are visible next to Bermondsey Wall East close to the famous Angel public house, as it developed over the centuries, Bermondsey underwent some striking changes. A pleasure garden was founded there in the 17th century, commemorated by the Cherry Garden Pier, Samuel Pepys visited Jamaica House at Cherry Gardens in 1664 and recorded in his diary that he had left it singing finely. Though not many survive from this era, one notable exception is the church of St Mary Magdalen in Bermondsey Street. This church came through both 19th-century redevelopment and The Blitz unscathed and it is not just an unusual survivor for Bermondsey, buildings of this era are relative rarities in Inner London in general. A new church was built for the population of the area. It was from the Bermondsey riverside that the painter J. M. W, turner executed his famous painting of The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to her Last Berth to be Broken Up, depicting the veteran warship being towed to Rotherhithe to be scrapped. By the mid-19th century parts of Bermondsey, especially along the riverside had become a notorious slum — with the arrival of industrial plants, docks, the area around St Saviours Dock, known as Jacobs Island, was one of the worst in London. Dickens provides a description of what it was like. Bermondsey Town Hall was built on Spa Road in 1881 but Blitzed in 1941, the area was extensively redeveloped during the 19th century and early 20th century with the expansion of the river trade and the arrival of the railways. Londons first passenger railway terminus was built by the London to Greenwich Railway in 1836 at London Bridge, the first section to be used was between the Spa Road Station and Deptford High Street. This local station had closed by 1915, the industrial boom of the 19th century was an extension of Bermondseys manufacturing role in earlier eras
15.
Dissolution of the Monasteries
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Although the policy was originally envisaged as increasing the regular income of the Crown, much former monastic property was sold off to fund Henrys military campaigns in the 1540s. Professor George W. Bernard argues, The dissolution of the monasteries in the late 1530s was one of the most revolutionary events in English history. one adult man in fifty was in religious orders. Very few English houses had been founded later than the end of the 13th century, there was a Medieval proverb in England that said if the Abbot of Glastonbury married the Abbess of Shaftesbury, the heir would have more land than the King of England. The 200 houses of friars in England and Wales constituted a distinct wave of foundations almost all occurring in the 13th century. Friaries, for the most part, were concentrated in urban areas, however, the religious changes in England under Henry VIII and Edward VI were of a different nature from those taking place in Germany, Bohemia, France, Scotland and Geneva. Bernard says there was concern in the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries about the condition of the monasteries. Pastoral care was seen as more important and vital than the monastic focus on contemplation, prayer. English monasticism in the 1530s may have faced grave and urgent problems, Henry wanted to change this, and in November 1529 Parliament passed Acts reforming apparent abuses in the English Church. These Acts sought to demonstrate that establishing royal jurisdiction over the Church would ensure progress in religious reformation where papal authority had been insufficient, the monasteries were next in line. The stories of monastic impropriety, vice and excess that were to be collected by Thomas Cromwells visitors may have been biased and exaggerated. Levels of monastic debt were increasing, and average numbers of professed religious were falling, only a minority of houses could now support the twelve or thirteen professed religious usually regarded as the minimum necessary to maintain the full canonical hours of the Divine Office. Extensive monastic complexes dominated English towns of any size, but most were less than half full, renaissance princes throughout Europe were facing severe financial difficulties due to sharply rising expenditures, especially to pay for armies, fighting ships and fortifications. Most tended, sooner or later, to resort to plundering monastic wealth, protestant princes would justify this by claiming divine authority, Catholic princes would obtain the agreement and connivance of the Papacy. Monastic wealth, regarded everywhere as excessive and idle, offered a standing temptation for cash-strapped secular, in terms of popular esteem however, the balance tilted the other way. By the time Henry VIII turned his mind to the business of monastery reform, the first case was that of the so-called Alien Priories. As a result of the Norman Conquest some French religious orders held substantial property through their daughter monasteries in England, some of these were merely granges, agricultural estates with a single foreign monk in residence to supervise things, others were rich foundations in their own right. Such estates were a source of income for the Crown in its French wars. If the property with which a house had been endowed by its founder were to be confiscated or surrendered, then the house ceased to exist, whether its members continued in the religious life or not
16.
Lord Chamberlain's Men
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The Lord Chamberlains Men was a company of actors, or a playing company as it would have been known, for which Shakespeare wrote for most of his career. Richard Burbage played most of the roles, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear. Formed at the end of a period of flux in the world of London, it had become, by 1603. It was founded during the reign of Elizabeth I of England in 1594 under the patronage of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, then the Lord Chamberlain, who was in charge of court entertainments. After Careys death on 23 July 1596, the company came under the patronage of his son, George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, when George Carey in turn became Lord Chamberlain on 17 March 1597, it reverted to its previous name. The company became the Kings Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne, the company held exclusive rights to perform Shakespeares plays. From 1594 the players performed at The Theatre, in Shoreditch, problems with the landlord caused the company to move to the nearby Curtain Theatre in 1597. On the night of 29 December 1598, The Theatre was dismantled by the Burbage brothers, along with William Smith, their financial backer, Peter Street, a carpenter, and ten to twelve workmen. The beams were then carried south of the river to Southwark to form part of their new playhouse, built in 1599, this theatre was destroyed in a fire on 29 June 1613. The Globe was rebuilt by June 1614 and finally closed in 1642, the company also toured Britain, and visited France and Belgium. A modern reconstruction of the original Globe, named Shakespeares Globe, the initial form of the Chamberlains men arose largely from the departure of Edward Alleyn from Lord Stranges Men and the subsequent death of Lord Strange himself, in the spring of 1594. Yet the ultimate success of the company was determined by the Burbage family. James Burbage was the impresario who assembled the company and directed its activities until his death in 1597, his sons Richard and Cuthbert were members of the company, though Cuthbert did not act. This connection with the Burbages makes the Chamberlains Men the central link in a chain that extends from the beginning of theatre in Renaissance London to its end. The original sharers in the Chamberlains were eight, probably the most famous in the mid-1590s was William Kempe, who had been in the company of the Earl of Leicester in the 1580s, and had later joined the Kings Men. Kempe has traditionally viewed as the object of Hamlets complaint about extemporising clowns, whether this association is right or wrong. Another two sharers from Stranges Men had an association with Kempe. Thomas Pope, another Leicesters veteran, retired in 1600 and died in 1603, both Bryan and Pope came to the company from Lord Stranges Men
17.
Hope Theatre
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Construction was slow, taking over a year. Also, the Hope was likely a complex construction job. So, the Hope would have required facilities for keeping animals that the Globe did not need, because Henslowes original contract with Katherens survives, we know something about the specifics of the construction of the Hope, more so than for other theatres of the period. The Hope was completed and opened to the public in October 1614, on 31 October, Ben Jonsons Bartholomew Fair was acted in the Hope by the Lady Elizabeths Men. On Henslowes death in 1616, his son-in-law Edward Alleyn inherited Henslowes share in the Hope, the Hope remained an active facility for the coming decades. In its early years the Hope was used more for playing than animal baiting — the days devoted to dramas outnumbered those devoted to sports by three to one. Lady Elizabeths Men were joined by Prince Charless Men around 1615, yet the mix of the two activities was never easy, and the actors grew more unhappy with the arrangements at the Hope as time went on. The actors left for the Cockpit Theatre in 1619, and the Hope was thereafter used for bear and bull baiting, prizefighting, fencing contests, the Corporation of London outlawed both play-acting and bear-baiting at the start of the English Civil War in 1642. Animal sports were suppressed by the Puritan regime in 1656, the last seven surviving bears were shot to death by a company of soldiers, the dogs and the cocks kept there were also killed. By one account, the Hope Theatre was pulled down to make tenements, by Thomas Walker, yet the practice of animal sports resumed at the Restoration in 1660, if the Hope had been torn down, a replacement facility was soon established. The Diary of Samuel Pepys records a visit Pepys and his wife made to the Beargarden on 14 August 1666, the last word of animal sports at the facility dates from 12 April 1682. By 1714, a development called Bear Garden Square had been built on the site of the old Hope, cromwells Major Generals, Godly Government During the English Revolution. Third edition, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,1992, lexington, KY, University Press of Kentucky,1999. London, Past and Present, Its History, Associations,3 Volumes, London, Scribner & Welford,1891. Shakespearean Playhouses, by Joseph Quincy Adams, Jr. from Project Gutenberg The Borough of Southwark
18.
Edward Alleyn
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Edward Ned Alleyn was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of Dulwich College and Alleyns School. Alleyn was born on September 1,1566 in Bishopsgate, London, Alleyn does record his birth date in a diary several times but never distinctly identifies his birthplace as Bishopsgate. In the St. Botolph parish registers it is recorded that he was baptized on the day after his birth and he was born a younger son of Edward Alleyn with three brothers named John, William, and Edward. His father was an innkeeper and porter to the queen, and his mother and his mothers link to the Lancashire Townley family is somewhat of a mystery. Alleyn said she was the daughter of John Townley of Townley, regardless of this, the road that passes Alleyns School was named after her in 1884. He was baptised at St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate and he was known to contemporaries as Ned, his surname is variously spelled Allen or Alleyne. Edward Alleyn was four years old when his father died and his mother remarried an actor named Brown. Alleyn, growing up in the home of an actor was believed to have raised in the theatre culture. It is not known at what date he began to act and he was rated by common consent as the foremost actor of his time, his only close rival was Richard Burbage. He played the roles in three of Christopher Marlowes major plays, Faustus, Tamburlaine, and Barabas in The Jew of Malta. He created the parts, which were written especially for him. The evidence for his career is otherwise fragmentary. Other parts thought to be associated with Alleyn are Orlando in Robert Greenes Orlando Furioso, other works, some now lost, are thought to have had Alleyn in leading roles, including plays by George Peele such as The Battle of Alcazar. In a private letter, he mocked himself as a fustian king and this tour consisted of players from Lord Stranges Men and the Admirals Men with which he was associated. The tour extended to Bristol, Shrewsbury, Chester, and York, Alleyn retired at the height of his fame around 1598, and it is said that Queen Elizabeth requested his return to the stage, which he did in 1604, the year after her death. Ben Jonson bestowed praise on Alleyns acting, Thomas Fuller in his Worthies later wrote of Alleyns reputation of so acting to the life that he made any part to become him. Although Alleyn had obtained a good amount of his due to his marriage, he also made much of it from his acting career. Alleyn went into business with his father-in-law Philip Henslowe and became wealthy and he was part-owner in Henslowes ventures, and in the end sole proprietor of several profitable playhouses, bear-pits and brothels
19.
The Isle of Dogs (play)
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The Isle of Dogs is a play by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson which was performed in 1597. It was immediately suppressed, and no copy of it is known to exist, the play was performed, probably by Pembrokes Men, at the Swan Theatre in Bankside in July or August,1597. A satirical comedy, it was reported to the authorities as a lewd plaie full of seditious and slanderous matter, while existing records do not indicate what gave offence, a reference in The Returne from Parnassus suggests that the Queen herself was satirised. Other evidence suggests that Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham may have been the target, the Isle of Dogs is a location in London on the opposite bank of the Thames to Greenwich, home of a royal palace, Placentia, where indeed the Privy Council met. It was also believed to be where the queen kennelled her dogs, david Riggs suggests that the satire might have been related to portrayal of the queens councillors as lapdogs. However, the title alone does not indicate the plays content, the Isle is also mentioned in Eastward Hoe, another play for which Jonson was arrested. Nashe also referred to the location in Summers Last Will and Testament, if I had thought the ship of fooles would have stayed to take in fresh water at the Ile of dogges I would have furnished it with a whole kennel of collections to the purpose. Whatever the cause, Richard Topcliffe informed Robert Cecil, who raised the issue to the Privy Council, three of the players were arrested and sent to Marshalsea Prison. Nashes home was raided and his papers seized, but he escaped imprisonment and he later wrote that he had given birth to a monster — it was no sooner borne but I was glad to runne from it. Nashe was later to call it an imperfit Embrion of my idle houres and claimed to have only the introduction. For his part, Jonson recalled that he said nothing but yes, authorities placed two informers with him, those two are referred to in his Epigram 59 Of Spies. After this burst of repression, royal authorities appear to have let the matter drop without incident, the report of the initial arrest says that the rest of the players or actors in that matter shall be apprehended, but no one else ever was. Shaa and Spenser were released quickly, and even Jonson was out of jail by early in October, Pembrokes Men were in action again, as were the other companies, before winter of that year. The only party permanently hurt was the Swans impresario Francis Langley, Langley had apparently run afoul of the Privy Council on an unrelated matter involving a large Portuguese diamond that Langley had fenced, or planned to fence. Others, among them William Ingram, have questioned this chronology, the July 28 order does not mention the play, it was written in response to one of the city authorities periodic pleas for an end to the theatres. The Council issued specific orders against the play in the next month, in this light, Pembrokes men may have made their offence worse by performing the play after the date of prohibition. Moreover, Cecils anger over the diamond may suggest that Langley was the sole target of the July injunction. Andrew Gurr adds to this picture by noting the tendency of the Court to licence two chief companies throughout the later Elizabethan and early Stuart periods
20.
Thomas Nashe
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Thomas Nashe is considered the greatest of the English Elizabethan pamphleteers. He was a playwright, poet, and satirist and he is best known for his novel The Unfortunate Traveller. Thomas Nashe was the son of the parson William Nashe and Margaret and he was born and baptised in Lowestoft, on the coast of Suffolk, where his father, William Nashe, or Nayshe as it is recorded, was curate. Though his mother bore seven children, only two survived childhood, Israel and Thomas, the family moved to West Harling, near Thetford in 1573 after Nashes father was awarded the living there at the church of All Saints. Around 1581 Thomas went up to St Johns College, Cambridge as a sizar, from references in his own polemics and those of others, he does not seem to have proceeded Master of Arts there. Most of his biographers agree that he left his college about summer 1588, Some years later, William Covell wrote in Polimanteia that Cambridge has been unkind to the one to wean him before his time. Nashe himself claimed that he could have become a fellow had he wished, then he moved to London and started his literary career in earnest. The remaining decade of his life was dominated by two concerns, finding a patron and participating in controversies, most famously with Richard. He arrived in London with his one exercise in euphuism, The Anatomy of Absurdity and his first appearance in print was, however, his preface to Robert Greenes Menaphon, which offers a brief definition of art and overview of contemporary literature. After this he was drawn into the Martin Marprelate controversy on the side of the bishops, as with the other writers in the controversy, his share is difficult to determine. He was formerly credited with the three Pasquill tracts of 1589–1590, which were included in R. B, mcKerrows standard edition of Nashes works, however McKerrow himself later argued strongly against their being by Nashe. But there is no evidence Nashe had either time or means to go abroad, in 1590, he contributed a preface to an unlicensed edition of Philip Sidneys Astrophil and Stella, but the edition was called in, and the authorised second edition removed Nashes work. At some time in the early 1590s Nashe produced an erotic poem and it has been suggested that The Choice of Valentines was written possibly for the private circle of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby. The Choice of Valentines circulated only in manuscript and it describes the Valentines Day visit of a young man named Tomalin to the brothel where his lover, Mistris Francis, has recently become employed. Having paid ten gold pieces for her favours, Tomalin makes his way towards his erotic goal, and make me happie, stealing by degrees. First bare hir legs, then creepe up to her knees, the object of his desire, A pretty rising womb, is revealed. Unfortunately Tomalin finds the moment so exciting that he spends his all before the fight has begun, mistress Frances is disappointed and does what she can to revive things. Unhappyie me, quoth she, and wilt not stand, com, let me rubb and chafe it with my hand
21.
Ben Jonson
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Benjamin Jonson was an English playwright, poet, actor, and literary critic of the 17th century, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours, Ben Jonson said that his family originally came from the folk of the Anglo-Scottish border country, which genealogy is attested by the three spindles in the Jonson family coat of arms. One spindle is a heraldic device shared with the Border-country Johnstone family of Annandale. Jonsons clergyman father died two months before his birth, his mother married a master bricklayer two years later, Jonson attended school in St. Martins Lane. Later, a family friend paid for his studies at Westminster School, on leaving Westminster School, Jonson was to have attended the University of Cambridge, to continue his book learning but did not, because of his unwilled apprenticeship to his bricklayer stepfather. According to the churchman and historian Thomas Fuller, Jonson at this time built a wall in Lincolns Inn. After having been a bricklayer, Ben Jonson went to the Netherlands. After his military activity on the Continent, Jonson returned to England and worked as an actor, as an actor, Jonson was the protagonist “Hieronimo” in the play The Spanish Tragedy, by Thomas Kyd, the first revenge tragedy in English literature. Regarding his marriage Jonson described his wife to William Drummond as a shrew, concerning the family of Anne Lewis and Ben Jonson, the St. Martins Church registers indicate that Mary Jonson, their eldest daughter, died in November 1593, at six months of age. Moreover,32 years later, a son, also named Benjamin Jonson. By summer 1597, Jonson had an engagement in the Admirals Men, then performing under Philip Henslowes management at The Rose. John Aubrey reports, on authority, that Jonson was not successful as an actor, whatever his skills as an actor. By this time Jonson had begun to write plays for the Admirals Men. None of his early tragedies survive, however, an undated comedy, The Case is Altered, may be his earliest surviving play. In 1597 a play which he co-wrote with Thomas Nashe, The Isle of Dogs, was suppressed after causing great offence, arrest warrants for Jonson and Nashe were issued by Queen Elizabeth Is so-called interrogator, Richard Topcliffe. Jonson was jailed in Marshalsea Prison and charged with Leude and mutynous behaviour, two of the actors, Gabriel Spenser and Robert Shaw, were also imprisoned. A year later, Jonson was again imprisoned, this time in Newgate Prison. While in jail Jonson converted to Catholicism, possibly through the influence of fellow-prisoner Father Thomas Wright, in 1598 Jonson produced his first great success, Every Man in His Humour, capitalising on the vogue for humorous plays which George Chapman had begun with An Humorous Days Mirth
22.
Gabriel Spenser
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Gabriel Spenser, also spelled Spencer, was an Elizabethan actor. He is best known for episodes of violence culminating in his death in a duel at the hands of the playwright Ben Jonson, Spenser appears in a number of documents as an actor associated with two of the major theatre companies of the day. Spenser first appears in records working for Francis Langley, in the Earl of Pembrokes Men, the stage direction enter Gabriel in the First Folio version of Shakespeares Henry VI, Part 3 has often been thought to refer to Spensers role in the play — that of a messenger. The names of actors are sometimes substituted for roles in published versions of plays. It has also suggested that Spenser was the actor responsible for the so-called bad quarto of Romeo and Juliet published in 1597. In July 1597 Spenser was imprisoned after performing in The Isle of Dogs and it is not known why only Spenser and one other actor, Robert Shaw, were imprisoned, along with Jonson. The report of their arrest says that the rest of the players or actors in that matter shall be apprehended and he was released after eight weeks. In November of that year Spenser left the Earl of Pembrokes Men to join Philip Henslowes company the Admirals Men, Spenser joined as a shareholder, entitling him to a portion of the daily takings. Langley sued Spenser for breach of contract, in March 1598 Spenser appears in a document as a witness to a contract drawn up between Henslowe and Thomas Heywood. In December 1596, while still a member of Langleys company, Spenser got into an argument with James Feake and it culminated with Spenser stabbing Feake with his sword, mortally wounding him. Feake languished for three days before he died, there is no record of any punishment meted out to Spenser, who may have successfully argued self-defence. On 22 September 1598, Spenser fought a duel with Ben Jonson on Hoxton fields, the cause of the duel is not known. According to Jonsons account, related many years later, Spenser had initiated the duel and had the advantage of a longer sword. Spenser wounded Jonson in the arm, but Jonson managed to strike back, the inquest says he died from a six-inch deep stab wound in his right side. Jonson confessed to the killing, but escaped punishment by pleading benefit of clergy. He was sentenced to be branded on the thumb, during his imprisonment he converted to Roman Catholicism. Henslowe appears to have been angry with Jonson and refused to produce his next play. It has been suggested that Jonsons many enemies never subsequently taunted him as the murderer of Spenser because the latter was believed to have deserved his fate
23.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
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Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians, who are present or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, the Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, otherwise, the Privy Councils powers have now been largely replaced by the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The Judicial Committee consists of judges appointed as Privy Counsellors, predominantly Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland, the key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below, Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England. During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the English Crown was advised by a court or curia regis. The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration, later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. During Henry VIIIs reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation, the legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIIIs death. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became an administrative body. The Council consisted of forty members in 1553, but the sovereign relied on a smaller committee, by the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws, the forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons, the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs, the Council became known as the Protectors Privy Council, its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliaments approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protectors Council was abolished, Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. Under George I even more power transferred to this committee and it now began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the British Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the sovereign and it is closely related to the word private, and derives from the French word privé
24.
Thomas Middleton
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Thomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson among the most successful and he was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in comedy and tragedy. Also a prolific writer of masques and pageants, he one of the most notable. Middleton was born in London and baptised on 18 April 1580 and he was the son of a bricklayer who had raised himself to the status of a gentleman and who, interestingly, owned property adjoining the Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch. Middleton attended Queen’s College, Oxford, matriculating in 1598, before he left Oxford, he wrote and published three long poems in popular Elizabethan styles. None appears to have been successful, and one, his book of satires. Nevertheless, his career was launched. At the same time, records in the diary of Philip Henslowe show that Middleton was writing for the Admirals Men, unlike Shakespeare, Middleton remained a free agent, able to write for whichever company hired him. His early dramatic career was marked by controversy and his friendship with Thomas Dekker brought him into conflict with Ben Jonson and George Chapman in the War of the Theatres. The grudge against Jonson continued as late as 1626, when Jonsons play The Staple of News indulges in a slur on Middletons great success and it has been argued that Middletons Inner Temple Masque sneers at Jonson as a silenced bricklayer. In the same year an outbreak of the plague forced the theatres in London to close and these events marked the beginning of Middletons greatest period as a playwright. He continued his collaborations with Dekker, and the two produced The Roaring Girl, a biography of the contemporary thief Mary Frith, in the 1610s, Middleton began a fruitful collaboration with the actor William Rowley, producing Wit at Several Weapons and A Fair Quarrel. Working alone he produced his masterpiece, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. His own plays from this decade reveal a somewhat mellowed temper, certainly there is no comedy among them with the satirical depth of Michaelmas Term and no tragedy as bloodthirsty as The Revengers Tragedy. Middleton was, at the time, increasingly involved with civic pageants. This last connection was made official in 1620, when he was appointed chronologer of the City of London and he held this post until his death in 1627, when it passed to Jonson. Middletons official duties did not interrupt his dramatic writing, the 1620s saw the production of his and Rowleys tragedy The Changeling, in 1624, he reached a peak of notoriety when his dramatic allegory A Game at Chess was staged by the Kings Men. The play used the conceit of a game to present
25.
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
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A Chaste Maid in Cheapside is a city comedy written c.1613 by English Renaissance playwright Thomas Middleton. Unpublished until 1630 and long-neglected afterwards, it is now considered among the best and most characteristic Jacobean comedies, the play was originally average staged by the Lady Elizabeths Men. The 1630 quarto was published by the bookseller Francis Constable, Moll loves Touchwood Junior, a poor gallant, her father, however, has betrothed her to Whorehound, a philandering knight eager for Molls dowry. As a kind of side-bargain, Sir Walter has promised Molls brother Tim a landed niece from Wales, Tim, a fatuous scholar, returns to London from Cambridge University with his Latin tutor. This landed niece is in reality one of Sir Walters mistresses, Sir Walter is also having an affair with the wife of Allwit, a knowing cuckold, his name an inversion of wittol, who lives happily on the money Sir Walter gives his wife. Meanwhile, Touchwood Senior prepares to depart from his wife, prodigiously fertile and he and his wife must separate to avoid another pregnancy, which they cannot afford. His salvation comes from the Kixes, a couple who have not been able to conceive. This is important because if they have a child, Sir Walter will not inherit their fortune, on which he has confidently depended, a maid tells the Kixes that Touchwood makes a special fertility potion, Touchwood deceives his way into the bed of Lady Kix. After an abortive attempt to elope with Touchwood Junior, Moll is guarded at home, the day before the wedding, Moll flees her parents home again. Caught while attempting to cross the Thames, she is drenched, Touchwood Junior and Sir Walter fight in the street, and both are wounded. Sir Walter believes that he is near death, at Allwits house, he repents all of his sins, condemning the Allwits for indulging him. When news is brought that Lady Kix is pregnant, the Allwits kick him out and plan to sell all Sir Walters gifts and move to a home in The Strand. Moll continues to be sick, when Touchwood Senior brings word that his brother has died, she faints and appears to die while Susan. Saddened, the Yellowhammers agree to Touchwood Seniors request that the young lovers receive a joint burial, at the funeral, Moll and Touchwood Junior rise from their coffins and the mourning turns to celebration. The two are wed, as Tim and the Welsh niece had been earlier that day, Kix promises to support the family of Touchwood Senior, all exit, headed for a celebratory dinner. The plays title page states that it was acted at the Swan Theatre by Lady Elizabeths Men, there is no evidence that the play was revived during the Restoration period, or that it was staged in any form between then and the twentieth century. A very limited excerpt from the play, titled A Posy for the Ring for the occasion, was acted at Earls Court on 16 September 1912, full text of the play, including notes and illustrations
26.
Swashbuckler
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A swashbuckler is an heroic archetype in European adventure literature that is typified by the use of a sword and chivalric ideals. The archetype also became common as a film genre, a swashbuckler is a protagonist who is heroic and idealistic, he rescues damsels in distress, defends the downtrodden, and in general saves the day. Swashbucklers are not unrepentant brigands or pirates, although some may rise from such disreputable stations in redemption and his opponent is typically characterized as the dastardly villain. Swashbuckler is a compound of swash and buckler dating from the 16th century, the larger-than-life heroics portrayed in some film franchise adventures set in the modern era have been described as swashbuckling. Jeffrey Richards traces the swashbuckling novel to the rise of Romanticism, Medieval tales of chivalry, love and adventure rediscovered in the eighteenth century. This type of novel was further developed by Alexandre Dumas. John Galsworthy said of Robert Louis Stevensons 1888 swashbuckling romance, The Black Arrow, Anthony Hopes 1894, the The Prisoner of Zenda initiated an additional subset of the swashbuckling novel, the Ruritanian romance. Soon actors were taught to fence in an entertaining, dramatic manner, eventually fencing became an established part of a classical formation for actors. Consequently, when movie theaters mushroomed, ambitious actors took the chance to present their accordant skills on the screen. Since silent movies were no proper medium for long dialogues, the stories about heroes who would defend their honor with sword in hand were simplified. This was the birth of a new kind of film hero, four of the most famous instructors for swashbuckling swordplay are William Hobbs, Anthony De Longis, Bob Anderson and Peter Diamond. The genre has, apart from swordplay, always characterized by influences that can be traced back to the chivalry tales of Medieval Europe, such as the legends of Robin Hood. It soon created its own based on classic examples like The Mark of Zorro, The Three Musketeers. Some films did also use motifs of pirate stories, swashbucklers are one of the most flamboyant Hollywood film genres, unlike cinema verite or modern realistic filmmaking. The genre attracted large audiences who relished the blend of escapist adventure, historic romance, as a first variation of the classic swashbuckler there have also been female swashbucklers. Maureen OHara in Against All Flags and Jean Peters in Anne of the Indies were very early action film heroines, eventually the typical swashbuckler motifs were used up because they had so often been shown on TV screens. Later films such as The Princess Bride, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, television followed the films, especially in the UK, with The Adventures of Robin Hood, Sword of Freedom, The Buccaneers, and Willam Tell between 1955 and 1960. US TV produced two series of Zorro in 1957 and 1990, following the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro, a TV series about a female swashbuckler, the Queen of Swords, aired in 2000
27.
Bear-baiting
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Bear-baiting is a blood sport involving the worrying or tormenting of bears. It may involve pitting a bear against another animal, bear-baiting was popular in England until the 19th century. From the sixteenth century, many bears were maintained for baiting, in its best-known form, arenas for this purpose were called bear-gardens, consisting of a circular high fenced area, the pit, and raised seating for spectators. A post would be set in the ground towards the edge of the pit, a number of well-trained fighting or baiting dogs, usually Old English Bulldog, would then be set on it, being replaced as they got tired or were wounded or killed. In some cases the bear was let loose, allowing it to chase after animals or people, for a long time, the main bear-garden in London was the Paris Garden, that section of the Bankside lying to the west of The Clink, at Southwark. Henry VIII was a fan and had a pit constructed at Whitehall, elizabeth I was also fond of the entertainment, it featured regularly in her tours. When an attempt was made to ban bear-baiting on Sundays, she overruled Parliament, well, the bears were brought forth into the court, the dogs set to them, to argue the points even face to face. They had learned counsel also on both parts, what may they be counted partial that are retained but to one side, very fierce, both one and the other, and eager in argument. And when he was loose, to shake his ears twice or thrice with the blood, variations involved other animals being baited, especially bulls. Bull-baiting was a contest which was similar to bear baiting in which the bull was chained to a stake by one leg or by the neck. The whipping of a bear was another variation of bear-baiting. Attempts to end the entertainment were first made in England by the Puritans, one bear named Sackerson was written into in a Shakespearean comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. By the late 17th century the conscience of cultivated people seems to have been touched, the ban was soon extended across the Empire. The victor then had to face a Sierran Grizzly bear weighing over 1,500.0 lb, Bear baiting has been occurring in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan, since 2004. The events are organized predominantly by local gangsters who own the fighting dogs, during the event the bear will be tethered to a rope 2–5 metres long in the centre of an arena to prevent escape. Bears canine teeth are removed and their claws may be filed down giving them less advantage over the dogs. Each fight lasts around three minutes, if the dogs pull the bear to the ground they are said to win the fight. Bears usually have to undergo several fights during each day’s event, bears are illegally sourced by poaching
28.
Holland's Leaguer
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Hollands Leaguer is a Caroline Era stage play, a comedy written by Shackerley Marmion. It premiered onstage in 1631 and was first published in 1632, the play was a popular success and a scandal in its own day — scandalous because it dealt with a well-known London brothel. By the 1630s the word had become a term for a whorehouse, as here in this play. Hollands Leaguer was acted in December 1631 by Prince Charless Men at the Salisbury Court Theatre and it ran for six straight performances – which was highly unusual in the repertory system in which playing companies then operated, with a different play every day. The greatest theatrical success of the era, A Game at Chess, ran for nine performances in 1624. The same company would stage Marmions next play, A Fine Companion, the play was entered into the Stationers Register on 26 January 1632, and was published in quarto later that year by the bookseller John Grove. The title page of the first edition states that the drama was acted by the high and mighty Prince Charless Men. This was ironic, the company was established, under the formal patronage of the then Prince Charles. The first edition includes a cast list of the original production. In this production, both Arthur Savill and John Wright were such apprentice goldsmith/actors, William Browne, who played the protagonist Philautus, was the son of Robert Browne and Susan Baskervile. Thomas Bond, who played Miscellanio, was William Brownes brother-in-law, Marmions play is an exercise in place realism, in which dramatists exploited actual locales around London for their works – something that became fashionable in the drama of the early 1630s. James Shirleys Hyde Park and Thomas Nabbess Covent Garden and Tottenham Court participated this trend, earlier playwrights had also experimented with place realism, as in Lording Barrys Ram Alley and Ben Jonsons Bartholomew Fair. Indeed, the publication of Jonsons play in 1631 may have been important in initiating the Caroline fashion, Marmion was one of the Sons of Ben, self-professed followers of Jonson, and Hollands Leaguer bears resemblances to several Jonson plays, most notably The Alchemist. The actual brothel called Hollands Leaguer was located on the Bankside and it was situated in the liberty of Paris Garden, in a street that is still known as Holland Street. The building had formerly been the Paris Garden manor house, and was equipped with a moat, portcullis, brothels were commonly located on the Bankside, to be outside the control of the London civil authorities – just as the theatres were. Henry VIII had suppressed the Bankside whorehouses in the 1540s, Holland was reportedly the name of the woman who ran the establishment — though a popular rumour also linked the house specifically with Dutch prostitutes. The brothel was a subject in 1631, because it had been attacked and damaged during the annual Shrove Tuesday tumult by the London apprentices. Shrove Tuesday was the holiday, and they often celebrated by running wild
29.
Joseph Quincy Adams Jr.
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Joseph Quincy Adams Jr. was a prominent Shakespeare scholar and the first officially appointed director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D. C. He received his B. A. degree from Wake Forest College in 1900 and he continued his education at the University of Chicago, and at the University of Berlin. He pursued a career at several institutions, notably at Cornell University. Adams married Helen Banks on January 29,1931, though she died a short four years later, Adams was actively involved with the Folger Shakespeare Library from its foundation in 1931. He became the Librarys acting director in 1934, and its first regularly appointed director in 1936 and he also served as the editor of its periodical publications, as well as the general editor of the New Variorum edition of Shakespeares works. He wrote and published a range of books and scholarly articles, he was especially noted for his biography of Shakespeare. He was also a member of the Literary Society of Washington, mcManaway, James G. Giles E. Dawson, and Edwin E. Willoughby, eds. The Folger Shakespeare Library Photographs Works by Joseph Quincy Adams at Project Gutenberg Shakespearean Playhouses at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Joseph Quincy Adams Jr. at Internet Archive
30.
Project Gutenberg
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Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks. It was founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital library, most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books. The project tries to make these as free as possible, in long-lasting, as of 3 October 2015, Project Gutenberg reached 50,000 items in its collection. The releases are available in plain text but, wherever possible, other formats are included, such as HTML, PDF, EPUB, MOBI, most releases are in the English language, but many non-English works are also available. There are multiple affiliated projects that are providing additional content, including regional, Project Gutenberg is also closely affiliated with Distributed Proofreaders, an Internet-based community for proofreading scanned texts. Project Gutenberg was started by Michael Hart in 1971 with the digitization of the United States Declaration of Independence, Hart, a student at the University of Illinois, obtained access to a Xerox Sigma V mainframe computer in the universitys Materials Research Lab. Through friendly operators, he received an account with an unlimited amount of computer time. Hart has said he wanted to back this gift by doing something that could be considered to be of great value. His initial goal was to make the 10,000 most consulted books available to the public at little or no charge and this particular computer was one of the 15 nodes on ARPANET, the computer network that would become the Internet. Hart believed that computers would one day be accessible to the general public and he used a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence in his backpack, and this became the first Project Gutenberg e-text. He named the project after Johannes Gutenberg, the fifteenth century German printer who propelled the movable type printing press revolution, by the mid-1990s, Hart was running Project Gutenberg from Illinois Benedictine College. More volunteers had joined the effort, all of the text was entered manually until 1989 when image scanners and optical character recognition software improved and became more widely available, which made book scanning more feasible. Hart later came to an arrangement with Carnegie Mellon University, which agreed to administer Project Gutenbergs finances, as the volume of e-texts increased, volunteers began to take over the projects day-to-day operations that Hart had run. Starting in 2004, an online catalog made Project Gutenberg content easier to browse, access. Project Gutenberg is now hosted by ibiblio at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Italian volunteer Pietro Di Miceli developed and administered the first Project Gutenberg website and started the development of the Project online Catalog. In his ten years in this role, the Project web pages won a number of awards, often being featured in best of the Web listings, Hart died on 6 September 2011 at his home in Urbana, Illinois at the age of 64. In 2000, a corporation, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Long-time Project Gutenberg volunteer Gregory Newby became the foundations first CEO, also in 2000, Charles Franks founded Distributed Proofreaders, which allowed the proofreading of scanned texts to be distributed among many volunteers over the Internet
31.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Media related to The Swan (theatre) at Wikimedia Commons