Tartarian Cripple, The (Emperor of Constantinople)
Historical Records
S.R. I (Arber, 3.63)
| master Burbie | Entred for his copie vnder ye handes of Master HARSNET, and ye wardens. The Famous Tragicall history, of ye Tartarian Crippell Emperour of Constantinople ……… vjd |
| Master Welby | Assigned over vnto hym by mistres Burby in full Court holden this day with the consent of the master wardens and Assistentes here present in Court All her right in these copies folowinge vnder this condycon that yf there shalbe found any indirecte Dealinge herein by any of the parties to the same Then these copies to be at the disposicon of the Company and this entrance to be void ……… xixs | |||
| (Under this heading is a list of 38 items, a mix of prose tracts, drama, and poetry; the 32nd item in the list is below.) | ||||
| 32. Tertarian Criple Emperour of Constantinople |
Theatrical Provenance
It is not certain that Cuthbert Burby was registering a playbook when he registered The Tartarian Cripple. And if it was a play, there is no reliable information on its theatrical provenance. It is not in Henslowe's Diary ; inferentially, therefore, it was not in the repertory of the Admiral's men c. 1598-1600, when it is most likely to have been current. For the possibility that it might have been owned by the Chamberlain's men, see For What It's Worth, below.
Probable Genre(s)
Heroical History, but see For What It's Worth, below.
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
In his narration of Tamburlaine's conquests, Knolles includes an episode concerning Constantinople (EEBO, 221-22). It occurs in 1397 or so, just following the defeat of Bajazeth, 4th king of the Turks by Knolles's accounting. The episode is an interlude in Tamburlaine's campaign against the Turks: (1) Tamburlaine and his army
References to the Play
Information welcome.
Critical Commentary
- Greg (BEPD, 1.16; 2.970) included The Tartarian Cripple among his list of lost plays despite his concern that the work was "not necessarily dramatic."
- Knutson, trusting W. W. Greg's instinct that the The Tartarian Cripple was a playbook, considers the repertorial context to which the play would have belonged if it belonged to the late 1590s as its registration date implies.
For What It's Worth
Company Ownership
On the same day that Cuthbert Burby entered The Tartarian Cripple into the Stationers' Register, he also entered Every Man In his Humour. For that entry, however, he was joined by Walter Burre. The Burby-Burre entry for Jonson's play immediately precedes the entry for The Tartarian Cripple, and it has a separate payment of 6 pence. Therefore, only the proximity of the entries and the coincidence of Burby's participation implies that the two works were obtained from the same company. That company would have been the Chamberlain's men, to whom the Jonson play indisputably belonged.
Genre
story = more of recreative than military
Works Cited
Knolles, Richard. A Generall Historie of the Turkes. London 1603. EEBO
Knutson, Roslyn L. "Evidence for the Assignment of Plays to the Repertory of Shakespeare's Company," Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England 4 (1989): 63-89.
Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; updated 7 March 2011.