Rising of Cardinal Wolsey, The

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Historical Records

Payments

To playwrights in Philip Henslowe's diary

For a summary table of the payments to playwrights regarding both "Wolsey" plays, see "The Life of Cardinal Wolsey".

Fol. 93 (Greg, I.147)

Lent vnto Robart shaw the 24 of aguste

1601 to lend vnto harey chettell in earnest

of a play called the j part of carnall wollsey the some of . . . . . . . xx^s

Fol. 94 (Greg, I.149))

Lent vnto Robarte shawe to lend vnto hary chettell

& antony mondaye & mihell drayton in earneste of a

Boocke called the Rissenge of carnowlle wolsey the 10

of octobʒ 1601 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxx^s

Fol. 94^v (Greg, I.150)

Lent vnto hary chettell by the company at

the eagell & the chillde in parte of payment of a

Boocke called the Rissynge of carnoll wollsey

the some of ^{ye 6 of novembʒ 1601} . . . . . . . . . . x^s

Lent vnto the companye the 9 of novmbʒ 1601

to paye vnto m^r monday & hary chettell in

part of payment of a Boocke called the

Rissynge of carnowlle wollsey the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x^s

Lent vnto the companye the 12 of novmbʒ

1601 to pay vnto antony monday & harye

chettell mihell drayton & smythe in fulle

paymente of the first part of carnowll wollsey

the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^ll

Fol. 105^v (Greg, I.166)

Lent vnto thomas downton the 15 of maye

1602 to paye harey chettell for the

mendynge of the fyrste þte of carnowlle

wollsey the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx^s

Payments, Miscellaneous (Henslowe Papers)

MSS I, Article 37 (Greg, Papers 58-59)

A play identified as "the Cardinall" is listed on an acquittance from William Playstowe among a list of five plays for which the licensing fee had not yet been paid.

Recevd of m^r Henslowe the iiij^th of Agust 1602

for one monthes pay due vnto my m^r m^r Edmund

Tylney vppon the xxxj^th day of July last past

the som of iij^ll J say R[eceived] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^ll

per mei Will Playstowe

bookes owinge for /5/

baxsters tragedy

Tobias Comedy

Jepha Judg of Jsrael & the Cardinall

loue parts frendshipp

The paper is annotated in a modern hand, "apparently Malone's" (Greg), suggesting an identification: "[Probably Cardinal Wolsey]." Since Chettle's earlier Wolsey play ("The Life of Cardinal Wolsey") had been licensed on 3 September 1601, the title here must refer to the "Rising."

Theatrical Provenance

Admiral's Men at the Fortune.

Probable Genre(s)

History

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Under construction.

References to the Play

Information welcome.

Critical Commentary

For critical commentary pertinent to both "Wolsey" plays, see "The Life of Cardinal Wolsey".

Wiley notes that Speed twice refers to Wolsey's ascent as his "rising," the word used in the title of the present play: "it seems not unreasonable to suppose that its action embraced the events covered by Speed's sketch. Possibly the dramatists found their subject in the 'characters' of Wolsey in Stow or Holinshed, and Speed associated 'rising' with the same material when he adopted it" (133n).

Knutson ("Commercial") adduces the "mendynge" payment to Chettle as evidence that "the Admiral's men seem to have relied on his for revisions that they needed in a hurry" (130).

Knutson (Playing) argues that the addition of co-authors to the composition of the prequel was not prescribed to Chettle by the company: "Since he worked both solo and in syndicates, there is no reason to guess that the company directed him to acquire partners this time" (51).

Wiggins (#1309) assumes that an Elizabethan play about the Henrican court would not have represented Henry VIII, but may have represented Henry VII when depicting the earlier stage of Wolsey's life.

Works Cited

Knutson, Roslyn L. "The Commercial Significance of the Payments for Playtexts in Henslowe's Diary, 1597–1603." Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England 5 (1991): 117–63.

Knutson, Roslyn L. Playing Companies and Commerce in Shakespeare's Time. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004.

Wiley, Paul L. "Renaissance Exploitation of Cavendish's Life of Wolsey." Studies in Philology 43 (1946): 121–46.

Site created and maintained by Misha Teramura, University of Toronto; updated 9 June 2019.