Pope Joan

Anon. (1592)


Historical Records

Performance Records (Henslowe's Diary)


A single record of performance survives in Henslowe’s accounts for early 1592 (new style):

Fol. 7/ Greg I, 13

.9.………. Res at poope Jone the 1 of marche 1591 ………. ………. xvs




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" had evidently been performed earlier, but no record of such performances has survived.


Probable Genre(s)

foreign pseudo-history (Harbage); history (Wiggins)


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Wiggins points out that a possible source on Pope Joan by John Mayo had been published in 1591 (#894). That book, The Pope's Parliament,

References to the Play

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Critical Commentary

Wiggins considers this play to belong to his category of old plays in the repertory of Strange's men that were nearing the end of their runs when Henslowe began to keep records (see Wiggins, both #894 [for "Pope Joan" specifically] and #878 [for his argument about the repertorial age of non-"ne" plays in Strange's 1592 repertory]).

Manley and Maclean speculate that the play, given its implied anti-Catholic subject matter, might previously have belonged to the "more staunchly Protestant repertory of Leicester's Men" (31, 146). At least three players in the company of Strange's men had formerly been members of Leicester's men: George Bryan, Will Kempe, and Thomas Pope.

For What It's Worth



Works Cited

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Site created and maintained by Craig M. Rustici, Hofstra University; updated 24 August 2016.