Burbon (i.e. Bourbon?)

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Historical Records

Performance Records

Playlists in Philip Henslowe's diary


Fol. 27v (Greg, 1.54)

novembƺ 1597
|2| tt at burbon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00|16|30 — 24 — 00


Henslowe's Inventory of Playbooks


Greg, Papers (Appx. I, art. 1, p. 121. l. 193)

Under the heading “A Note of all suche bookes as belong to the Stocke, and such as I have bought since the 3d of Marche 1598

Borbonne.


Theatrical Provenance


The fact that "Burbon" appeared in Henslowe's playlists for the Admiral's men in November 1597 (after the company added players from Pembroke's men), added to the fact that the play was not marked "ne" (as new), led Greg II to declare it an acquisition from Pembroke's men (#115, p. 187). Wiggins, Catalogue inclines also to the opinion that "Burbon" had made its debut with Pembroke's men, who had most recently been playing at the Swan (#1076).


Probable Genre(s)

History


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues


Greg II, beyond accepting a Duke of Bourbon as the character referred to in the title of the play, did not suggest a story line for the play; he rejected the lumping by F. G. Fleay, BCED of "Burbon" with a later play,The Trial of Chivalry, in which a Duke of Bourbon is a character.


Wiggins, Catalogue, also rejecting the linkage with The Trial of Chivalry, suggests that the title character of "Burbon" was Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, who betrayed his king (Francis I) and fought instead for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, in whose service he died during the Sack of Rome in 1527.


References to the Play


None known.


Critical Commentary


Wiggins, Catalogue makes the plausible observation that "Burbon" belonged to a family of plays in the Admiral's repertory on relatively current French history (#1076).


For What It's Worth




Works Cited




Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; 7 October 2019.