Mamillia

Anon. Play Titles A (1573)Property "Documentary Source" (as page type) with input value "{{{documentarySources}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Paratext" (as page type) with input value "{{{paratexts}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Contributor" (as page type) with input value "{{{contributors}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Partnering Institution" (as page type) with input value "{{{partneringInstitutions}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.

Historical Records

Government Documents

Accounts of the Office of the Revels

Entries from the Revels Accounts for 1573-4 include the following (Feuillerat,Revels p. 193):

		{  Predor : & Lucia. played by Therle of Leices-           }
		{  ters servauntes vpon Saint stevens daye at nighte }
		{   at whitehall aforesaide/                                                        }
		{  Alkmeon, playde by the Children of Powles on         }     vj. all fytted and ffur-
		{  Saint Iohns daye at nighte there/                                      }    nyshed with the store
		{  Mamillia. playde by therle of Leicesteres ser-           }     of thoffice and with the
		{  uauntes on Innosentes daye at nighte there/             }    woorkmanshipp and
Playes showen		{  Truth, ffaythfullnesse, & Mercye, playde by             }    provisions herein
at whytehall		{  the Children of westminster for Elderton vpon           }    expressed as followeth
videlicit		{  New yeares daye at nighte there/                                      }    hereafter orderly.
		{  Herpetulus the blew knighte & perobia playde by  }     ffirst the wages and
		{  my Lorde klintons servantes the third of Ianuary        }     then the Emptions
		{  being the sunday after Newyeares daye there/           }     with the other charges
		{  Quintus ffablus playd by the Children of wyndsor    }     incident
		{  ffor Mr ffarrant on Twelfe daye at nighte lykewise       }
		{  at whitehall.                                                                                     }

Theatrical Provenance

As a play in the repertory of Leicester's men, Mamillia would have been performed at the company's urban and provincial venues (most likely) as well as at court.

Probable Genre(s)

Romance Harbage

Wiggins, Catalogue #550 offers ""Contemporary" as a possible category of genre.

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Wiggins, Catalogue #550 points out that the source could not have been the novel by Robert Greene that was printed in 1583 (written three years earlier). He is luke-warm about the possibility that the same narrative was a source for the play and the novel.

Critical Commentary

F. G. Fleay, BCED has no opinion on the narrative source of this play (2.289, #31). Chambers, ES offers no opinions, but he does record its performance at court (2.88, 4.89, 147).

Wiggings, #550 does not address the narrative of this play except to dismiss a possible link to Robert Greene's Mamillia, which was printed in 1583 but written earlier.

Works Cited

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson; Last updated by Rlknutson on 28 February 2023 18:03:55