Jeronimo

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Historical Records

Performance Records (Henslowe's Diary)

F.25^v / Greg 1.50:

Under the heading, "Jn the name of god amen begininge the 25 of novembʒ 1596 as foloweth the lord admerall players":

ye 7 of Jenewary 1597					[ne]			Res at Joronymo . . . . . . . . . .		iijli
ye 11 of Janewary 1597								Res at Joranymo . . . . . . . . . .		xxxxs
ye 17 of Janewary 1597								Res at Joronymo . . . . . . . . . .		xxs
ye 22 of Janewarye 1597								Res at Joronymo . . . . . . . . . .		xixs

F.26 / Greg 1.51:

Janewary 1957
		31				tt at Joronymo. . . . . . . . . .		01|04|01-15-06
ffebreary
1597
		9				tt at Joronymo. . . . . . . . . .		00|17|04-15-02
begynyng in leant
Marche 1597
		8				tt at JoRonymo. . . . . . . . . .		01|01|00-03-04

F.26^v / Greg I.52

Aprell 1957
		21				tt at Jeronymo. . . . . . . . . .		00|17|00-03-04
Maye 1597
		4				tt at Jorenymo. . . . . . . . . .		00|11|03-14-00
		25				tt at Joronymo. . . . . . . . . .		00|19|00-14-06

F.27 / Greg I.53

June 1957
		20				tt at Joronemo. . . . . . . . . .		00|14|00-00-00

F.27^v / Greg I.54

marten slather went
for the company of
my lored admeralles
men the 18 of July
1597
		19				tt at Joronymo. . . . . . . . . .		01|00|01-13-01

Theatrical Provenance

The play in 1597 that Henslowe called "Jeronymo," and marked "ne," has until recently been considered a revival of The Spanish Tragedy, played with its apparent prequel ("The Spanish Comedy of Don Horatio") at Rose according to Henslowe's records in 1992-3 by Strange's men (13 performances, from 13 March—18 June 1592; 3 performances, 30 December 1592—22 January 1593). Greg codified already settled opinion in 1908 by stating flatly that "the Admiral's men revived the piece in 1597 … as a new play." was also on solid scholarly ground by asserting further that the 1597 play "had, therefore, no doubt been revised and probably added to" (II, #16, p. 153-4). The quarto of The Spanish Tragedy published in 1602, advertising and providing new additions, appeared to justify Henslowe's labeling of the 1597 "Jeronymo" as new; further, the two payments in the diary to Ben Jonson for additions "in geronymo" (Greg I, F. 94, F. 106^v) appeared to identify the author of the revisions.

However, in recent years, those 1602 additions have provoked scholars in authorship studies and theater history to reconsider the fixed narrative on the stage life of The Spanish Tragedy post-1593. Studies by Warren Stevenson, Hugh Craig, Brian Vickers, and Douglas Bruster (to name a few) have provided evidence of William Shakespeare's hand in the additions. Since no one can imagine Shakespeare's writing such additions for the Admiral's men at the Rose in 1597 (or any other time), the links that connected the 1592 "Jeronymo" and the 1597 one (as well as the "geronymo" named in payments to Jonson) no longer appear to be ironclad. Theater historians, most vocally Holger Syme, are now suggesting that The Spanish Tragedy, in the repertory of Strange's men in 1592-3, moved with one or more of Strange's players to the Chamberlain's men where, sometime before 1602, their resident player and playwright undertook revisions which are manifest in the additions to the 1602 quarto of The Spanish Tragedy.'

And thus the identity of the 1597 "Jeronimo" has come under fresh scrutiny. Might it indeed be a new play telling again the tragic story of Hieronimo, the Knight Marshall of Spain, as Henslowe's notation ("ne") appears to specify?

Probable Genre(s)

Tragedy

Works Cited

Syme, Holger Schott (31 August 2013), ‘Shakespeare and The Spanish Tragedy: A Challenge for Theatre History’, Dispositio. Blog.

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; 19 November 2019.