Warlamchester: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:55, 16 January 2021

Historical Records

Performance Records

Playlists in Philip Henslowe's diary

Fol. 10^v (Greg. I.20)

y^e 28 of novmber 1594	……….	Rd at warlamchester	……….	xxiij^s
y^e 30 of novmber 1594	……….	Rd at warlamchester	……….	xxxviij^s
y^e 12 of desember 1594	……….	Rd at warlamchester	……….	xv^s

Fol. 11^v (Greg. I.22)

y^e 29 of aprell 1595	……….	Rd at warlamchester	……….	xxix^s
y^e 10 of maye 1595	……….	Rd at warlam chester	……….	xxix^s

Fol. 12^v (Greg. I.24)

y^e 30 of maye 1595	……….	Rd at warlamchester	……….	ix^s
y^e 16 of June 1595	……….	Rd at warlamchester	……….	xxv^s

Theatrical Provenance

Admiral's Men at the Rose. The play is not marked with Henslowe's enigmatic "ne," so it is possible that "Warlamchester" had been performed before its debut at the Rose.

Probable Genre(s)

Saint's life? Anglo-Roman history?

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Warlamchester (one of numerous variant historical spellings) was the Saxon name of the settlement previously known by the Romans as Verulamium. It subsequently came to be called St Albans in memory of the martyr executed there in the third century.

The use of the Saxon name in the play's title suggests that its subject matter is derived from the period prior to the Norman Conquest in 1066. One obvious possibility is the martyrdom of St Alban, referred to in the first volume of Holinshed's Chronicles (1577), in the chapter entitled "Asclepiodotus duke of Cornewall" (Oxford Holinshed Project, p. 88)).

The other obvious possibility is the earlier destruction of Verulamium during the revolt of Boudicea, referred to in the first volume of Holinshed's Chronicles (1577), in the chapter entitled "Aruiragus" (Oxford Holinshed Project, p. 64).

References to the Play

Information welcome.

Critical Commentary

Wiggins, Catalogue #860 focuses on the location of St. Albans and leans toward "the town itself [as] the play's leading 'character' . He leans away from "either the Roman destruction of Verulamium ... or the martyrdom of St Alban [because] neither would explain the use of the anachronistic name" (3.46).

For What It's Worth

Information welcome.

Works Cited

Site created and maintained byTom Rutter, University of Sheffield Hallam; updated 22 April 2010.

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 ==Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues==
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-Walamchester (one of numerous variant spellings) was the Saxon name of the settlement previously known by the Romans as Verulamium. It&nbsp;subsequently came to be called St Albans in memory of the martyr executed there in the third century.
+Warlamchester (one of numerous variant historical spellings) was the Saxon name of the settlement previously known by the Romans as Verulamium. It&nbsp;subsequently came to be called St Albans in memory of the martyr executed there in the third century.
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