Seven Wise Masters, The

Henry Chettle, John Day, Thomas Dekker, William Haughton (1600)

Historical Records

Payments to Playwrights (Henslowe Diary)

F. 67^v (Greg, I. 118)

Receaved of m^r hinchlowe the 1 march to paye to

harry chettell Thomas decker william hawton & John daye

for a boocke calld the 7 wise m^rs the some of ………. xl^s

W birde.

Lent vnto Samewell Rowly the 8 of march 1599

to paye vnto harey chettell & John daye in fulle

payment of a boocke called the vij wisse masters

the some of ………. l^s

Samuell Rowlye

F. 68 (Greg, I. 119)

Lent vnto hary chettell the 2 of march 1599

in earnest of a Boocke called the 7 wisse

masters the some of ………. xxx^s

Payments, Miscellaneous (Henslowe's Diary)

F. 68 (Greg, I. 119)

Receaued of M^r Henslowe to lay out for the playe of

the 7 wise M^rs in taffataes & sattyns the some of

in behalfe of the …….. by me Robt Shaa

Company ………. xx^ll

Receaued more of m^r Henshlowe to lay out

for the play of the 7 wise Maisters in behalf

of the Company ………. x^li

Receaued more of M^r Henshlowe to lay out

for the play of the 7 wise maisters in behalf

of the Company ……….. viij^li

by me Robt Shaa

Theatrical Provenance

The Admiral's men acquired "The Seven Wise Masters" in the spring of 1600, their first full year at the new Fortune playhouse. The payments of £38 for materials and other things suggests a relatively sumptuous production.

Probable Genre(s)

Tragi-comedy (Harbage); the story material would indicate a series of generically mixed playlets bound by the frame story of the seven masters and their tales, the stepmother's tales, and the son's tale.

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

The story cycle known variously as The Seven Wise Masters and The Seven Sages of Rome is as ancient as Sanskrit, Persian, and Hebrew, languages in which analogues existed. One story of its origin attributes it to the Indian philosopher Sindibad/Syntipas in the first century CE (Wikipedia).

Michael L. Hays compiled a list of the manuscripts and printings extant for The Seven Sages [Wise Masters] of Rome, which had been written c. 1300-1333. That by Wynkyn de Worde in 1506 appears to have been the seminal English text (Gomme, iii). Those likely to have been available to Chettle, Day, Dekker, and Haughton are the following:

* Purfoot, 1576 (STC 21299.3): Thomas Purfoot's title page, which calls itself the Seven Wise Masters, advertised that it was a new edition of an old printing on the title page: "Now newly corrected with a pleasant stile, &purged from all old and rude wordes and phrases which were lothsome or tedious to the reader". The Purfoot edition was printed again twice in 1602 (STC 21299.5, 21299.7), perhaps evidence of the perennial popularity of the story set.

* Ross, 1578 (STC 21254): The title page of the edition by John Ross or Rolland (for Henry Charteris) called itself the "Seven Sages" and advertised that it was translatit out of prois in Scottis meter; it also advertised the rich compendium of stories available: "ane moralitie efter euerie doctouris tale, and siclike efter the Emprice Tale, togidder with ane louing and laude to euerie doctour efter his awin tale [and] ane exclamation and outcrying vpon the empreouris wife efter hir fals contrusit tale."

* Smith, 1592 (STC 21255): The title page advertisement of the edition by Robert Smith echoes that of Rolland's in using Sages and being in Scots meter; it carries an abbreviated version of Rolland's claims of moral commentary on the doctors' tales (praise) and that of the Emperor's wife (condemnation).

Gomme summarized the frame story as follows:

A young prince, falsely accused by the wife of the king, his father, of having attempted to offer her violence, is defended by seven sages, who relate a series of stories to show the deceits of women, the queen at the same time urging the death of the accused prince by the example of stories told by herself.

Critical Commentary

Foakes notes (as Greg does not) that the entry on 1 March 1600 (above) is entirely in Birde's hand; that the signature for the entry of 8 March is Rowley's; and the second entry above for £8 is entirely in Shaa's hand (131, 132).

Knutson notes that "The Seven Wise Masters" shared the spring repertory in 1600 with the two-part "Fair Constance of Rome," which has not one but two wicked mothers (mothers-in-law, in Constance's case). She notes other Admiral's plays in the genre of tragedy with the stepmother motif: Ferrix and Porrex' and The Stepmother's Tragedy (29). Linking the "Masters" play further with its repertory makes, Knutson notes that the two-part "Constance" as well as yet another lost play, "The Golden Ass and Cupid and Psyche," are serial or co-joined plots, the latter probably also mixed in generic design. Taking a name commonly associated with the prince in the source stories, Knutson calls the young man 'Diocletian.'

Works Cited

Gomme, George Laurence (ed.) The History of The Seven Wise Masters of Rome. London: The Villon Society, 1885.

Hays, Michael L. "A Bibliography of Dramatic Adaptations of Medieval Romances and Renaissance Chivalric Romances First Available in English through 1616," RORD [Records of English Drama], 28 (1985): 87-109, esp. 93.

Knutson, Roslyn L. "Toe to Toe across Maid Lane: Repertorial Competition at the Rose and Globe, 1599-1600." in June Schlueter and Paul Nelsen (eds.) Acts of Criticism: Performance Matters in Shakespeare and His Contemporaries. Madison & Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2005, 21-37.

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; updated 30 October 2009.