Duke Humphrey

William Shakespeare (attrib.) (1613)

Historical Records

Stationers' Register

29 June 1660 (SR2, 2.271, CLIO)

Master Hum. Moseley

Entred for his copies under the hand of MASTER THRALE warden, the severall plays following that is to say . . . . xiijs . . . The History of King Stephen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . } Duke Humphrey, a Tragedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . } by Will: Shakespeare. Iphis & Iantha, or a marriage without a man, a comedy . }

Warburton's list

"Duke Humphrey" appears as the 5th play noted by John Warburton (1682-1759) in his list of the unprinted MS plays allegedly in his collection until destroyed by Warburton’s cook (Greg, "The Bakings of Betsy" 231):

The Honr. Loves by Will. Rowley

Henry ye 1st. by Will. Shakespeare & Rob. Davenport

The fair favourit

Minervas Sacrifise Phill. Masenger

Duke Humphery Will. Shakespear

See the full list from British Library Lansdowne MS. 807 here.

Theatrical Provenance

Unknown; presumably it would have been performed by the Lord Chamberlain's / King's men.

Probable Genre(s)

Tragedy.

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester (also known as Good Duke Humphrey) (1390-1447) was the youngest son of King Henry IV. He fought at Harfleur and Agincourt, where Henry V saved his life (ODNB).

There was also a (probably apocryphal) story in circulation in the 16th and 17th centuries, in which Duke Humphrey correctly deduced that an allegedly blind man who miraculously regained his sight was in fact a trickster; Humphrey asked the newly sight-enabled man to identify the colours worn by various gentlemen present, and the man was able to recognise by name the individuals he'd allegedly never seen before, and correctly associate the colours of their clothes with the names for those colours (which he again ought not to have been able to do if he'd been blind since birth).

References to the Play

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Critical Commentary

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For What It's Worth

Duke Humphrey does appear as a character in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2 and has minor parts in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.

Works Cited

G. L. Harriss, "Humphrey , duke of Gloucester (1390–1447)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2011

Site created and maintained by David McInnis, University of Melbourne; updated 12 Dec 2014.