Pope Joan
Historical Records
Performance Records (Henslowe's Diary)
Res at poope Jone the 1 of marche 1591 . . . . . . .xvs
No reference to the play appears in the Stationers' Register; presumably, then, it was not published.
Theatrical Provenance
Henslowe's Diary reports that Lord Strange's Men performed this play at the Rose Theatre on March 1, 1591/92. Since Henslowe does not mark it as a new play, Pope Joan was evidently performed earlier, but no record of earlier performances has survived. Manley and Maclean speculate that, given the play's anti-Catholic subject matter, it might have belonged to the "more staunchly Protestant repertory of Leicester's Men," a company that shared several members (George Bryan, Will Kempe, and Thomas Pope) with Lord Strange's Men (31, 146).
Probable Genre(s)
foreign pseudo-history (Harbage); history (Wiggins)
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
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References to the Play
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Critical Commentary
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For What It's Worth
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Works Cited
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Site created and maintained by Craig M. Rustici, Hofstra University; updated 24 August 2016.]