Charles, Duke of Bourbon

Anon. (before 1641)

Historical Records

Bentley, 5.1326. Stationers' Register, 15 April 1641. Entered for John Nicholson

three playes, viz^t. A Tragedy called Charles, Duke of Burbon, The Parroiall of Princes & England's first happines, or, the Life of St. Austin... xviii^d.

Theatrical Provenance

unknown

Probable Genre(s)

tragedy

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Charles III, Duke of Bourbon (1489-1527) was a historical figure whose career provided, in the words of Greg, BEPD, "excellent tragic material". Charles had a difficult relationship with the French King, Francis I, which was further soured by his inconvenient refusal (on the death of his wife) to marry the king's mother. Eventually, he rebelled against Francis, and was driven into exile in Italy as a result. There, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, in dispute with the Pope, gave him command of an army with instructions to attack and pillage Rome. This he successfully did, but was shot and killed in the final assault on the city.

Serres' General inuentorie, 420-473, offers one fairly lengthy tellling of the above story which would have been conveniently accessible to a Jacobean or Caroline dramatist.

References to the Play

none known

Critical Commentary

Greg, BEPD, compares the 1597 reference to Burbon (i.e. Bourbon?), a seemingly lost play. Bentley follows Greg, and considers the idea that the two lost plays might have been one and the same. He concludes that they were probably different plays, since "very few plays earlier than the times of James I were entered in the Stationers' Register for the first time in the 1640's".

For What It's Worth

George Chapman used Grimeston's translation of Serres as a principal source for his plays on Bussy D'Ambois. It is certainly possible that it was also mined by the anonymous author of this lost play.

This play was registered along with two other lost plays, The Parroiall (Pareil?) of Princes‎ and England’s First Happiness, or The Life of St. Austin. John Nicholson was not a well-known printer of plays. The only extant play he printed was "J.D."'s The Knave in Grain… acted at the Fortune (1640). Is this a tenuous indication of the possible theatrical provenance of these three lost, anonymous plays?

Keywords

History, France, Rome, Francis I, Charles V, Bourbons, Pope

Works Cited

Jean de Serres, A general inuentorie of the history of France, tr. Edward Grimeston (London, 1607).

Site created and maintained by --Matthew Steggle 13:01, 24 November 2009 (UTC).