Arthur, King of England

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Historical Records

Payments

To playwrights in Philip Henslowe’s diary


Fol. 45v (Greg I.86)

Lent vnto the company the 12 of aprell 1598 to paye }
mr hathwaye in fulle payment for his boocke of } iiijli
kynge arthore the some of fower pownde J saye }


Fol. 46 (Greg I.87)

Bowght of mr willsones drayton & dickers & cheattell for }
the company a boocke called blacke battmane of the northe }
the 22 of maye 1598 wch coste sixe powndes J saye } vjli
layd owt for them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . }


For apparel in Philip Henslowe's diary


Fol. 45v (Greg I.86)


lent vnto Thomas dowton 3 of may 1598 to bye }
to bye a Robe for the play of the lyfe of arthure } iiili        pd
in money the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . }


Inventories

Philip Henslowe's papers in the Dulwich College Library

List of playbooks


Greg, Papers (APX. I, art. 1, col. 2, l. 187, p. 121)

Heading: "A Note of all suche bookes as belong to the Stocke, and such as I have bought since the 3rd of March 1598"
King Arthur, life and death.



Theatrical Provenance

The Admiral's men apparently performed "Arthur, King of England" at the Rose sometime after April of 1598.

Probable Genre(s)

Pseudo-history

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Richard Hathway presumably had access to one or several of the popular histories of Arthur including Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur, but he also had royal as well as popular entertainments that made "stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table ... common knowledge through English society from the elite quarters of the royal court to the streets of London" (White, pp. 148-9). And, of course, there was always Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae and Holinshed's Chronicles.

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

Malone, Collier, Fleay, Greg, Wiggins

Misha

Paul



For What It's Worth



Works Cited

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson; Last updated by Rlknutson on 16 February 2024 18:12:02
Misha Teramura, "Brute Parts: From Troy to Britain at the Rose, 1595-1600," in David McInnis and Matthew Steggle, ed. Lost Plays in Shakespeare's England. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2014. 127-47
White, Paul Whitfield, "The Admiral's Lost Arthurian Plays," in David McInnis and Matthew Steggle, ed. Lost Plays in Shakespeare's England. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2014. 148-62