Guido
Historical Records
Henslowe's diary
- Under the heading, "Jn the name of god amen begininge the 25 of novemb[er] 1596 as foloweth the lord admerall players":
begynyng in leant march 1597 . . 19 . . ne.. . . tt at gvido. . . . . . . . . . 02|00|00-13-01 ... 22 tt at gvido. . . . . . . . . . 01|04|00-03-00 . . Easter mvnday twesday wensday 30 tt at gvido. . . . . . . . . . 02|17|00-00-00 . . Aprelle 1597 4 tt at gvido. . . . . . . . . 01|08|00-04-03 . . Aprelle 1597 23 tt at gvido. . . . . . . . . 00|16|01-11-00
- Under the heading, "lente vnto my lord admerall players at severall tymes in Redey money as foloweth in 1596":
ll s d 44 - 06 - 00 lent vnto mr porter the 7 of marche 1597 . . . . . . . . . . . iiijll lent vnto my sonne for to by sylckes & other thinges for} gvido the 14 of marche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . } iiijll ixs
Henslowe Papers
Under Henslowe's title, "The Enventary tacken of all the properties for my Lord Admeralles men, the 10 of Marche 1598" is:
- Item, j tome of Guido, j tome of Dido, j bedsteade.
Under Henslowe's title, "The Enventorey of all the aparell of the Lord Admeralles men, taken the 13th of Marche 1598, as followeth:" is
- Item, j cloth clocke of russete with coper lace, called Guydoes clocke.
Theatrical Provenance
Performed by the Admiral's men as a new play on 19 March 1597.
Probable Genre(s)
Unknown (Harbage); foreign history (Schelling).
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
From so brief a title, it is difficult to conclude with any certainty what the subject matter (and thus the possible sources) of this play might be, but there are a number of potential candidates for the eponymous role.
Guido Marquesse of Thusca was said to have smothered Pope John 11 (Albott 200).
If Schelling's supposition (see Critical Commentary below) about Guido Guerra is correct, the lost play Guelphs and Ghibbelines (1595) (and any of the historical sources associated with that drama) may be of relevance here. Guido Guerra V (1220-1272?) was a leader of the guelphs, and was depicted by Dante as one of the three Florentine sodomites (Inferno Canto 16).
References to the Play
<List any known or conjectured references to the lost play here.>
Critical Commentary
In a section on "historical dramas on Italian subjects," Felix E. Schelling notes that "[i]n the [fifteen] nineties, several titles suggesting Italian biographical subjects appear among the entries of Henslowe" (1.408). He infers that "Guido most likely concerned Guido Guerra, a soldier of fortune and leader of the Guelphs in the Florence of the middle of the thirteenth century" (1.409), and thus groups this lost play with The Duke of Milan and the Duke of Mantua (1579), Machiavelli (1590s), Pope Joan (1590s), Cosmo de' Medici (1590s), Daborne's Macchiavel and the Devil (1613), and Tasso's Melancholy (1594). Beyond the plays listed by Schelling, this suggestion of Guido Guerra as subject matter has the potential to connect this lost play to another lost play, Guelphs and Ghibbelines (1595).
For What It's Worth
<Enter any miscellaneous points that may be relevant, but don't fit into the above categories. This is the best place for highly conjectural thoughts.>
Works Cited
Albott, Robert. VVits theater of the little world. 1599. Print.
Schelling, Felix E. Elizabethan Drama 1558-1642. 2 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin company, 1908. Print.
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