Duke Humphrey

William Shakespeare (attrib.) (1613)

Historical Records

Stationers' Register

29 June 1660 (SR2, 2.271, CLIO)

Master Hum. Moseley

Entred for his copies under the hand of MASTER THRALE warden, the severall plays following that is to say . . . . xiijs . . . The History of King Stephen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . } Duke Humphrey, a Tragedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . } by Will: Shakespeare. Iphis & Iantha, or a marriage without a man, a comedy . }

Warburton's list

"Duke Humphrey" appears as the 5th play noted by John Warburton (1682-1759) in his list of the unprinted MS plays allegedly in his collection until destroyed by Warburton’s cook (Greg, "The Bakings of Betsy" 231):

The Honr. Loves by Will. Rowley

Henry ye 1st. by Will. Shakespeare & Rob. Davenport

The fair favourit

Minervas Sacrifise Phill. Masenger

Duke Humphery Will. Shakespear

See the full list from British Library Lansdowne MS. 807 here.

Theatrical Provenance

Unknown; presumably it would have been performed by the Lord Chamberlain's / King's men.

Probable Genre(s)

Tragedy.

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester (also known as Good Duke Humphrey) (1390-1447) was the youngest son of King Henry IV. He fought at Harfleur and Agincourt, where Henry V saved his life (ODNB).

There was also a (probably apocryphal) story in circulation in the 16th and 17th centuries, in which Duke Humphrey correctly deduced that an allegedly blind man who miraculously regained his sight was in fact a trickster. George Hakewill reports the incident as follows, in his The vanitie of the eye (Oxford, 1615):

In the yong daies of Henry the 6. being yet vnder the governance of Duke Humphry his Protectour, there came to S. Albones a certaine Beggar with his Wife ... saying that he was borne blind & never saw in his life, and was warned in his dreame, that hee shoulde come out of Barwike, where hee said he had ever dwelled to seeke S. Albon ... . [W]hen the King was commen, & the towne full, suddainly this blind man at S. Albones shryne had his sight again & a Miracle solemnly rong, & Te Deum song, so that nothing was talked of in all the towne, but the miracle. So hapened it then, that Duke Humfry of Glocester, a man no lesse wise, then also well learned, hauing great ioy to see such a Miracle, called the poore man vnto him[,] ... looked wel vpon his eyne, & asked whether he could see nothing at all, in all his life before. And when as well his Wife as himselfe affirmed fastly no, then he looked advisedly vpon his eyne againe & saide: I beleeue you very well, for me thinketh ye cannot see well yet. Yes sir, qutoh hee, I thinke God and his holy Martyr, I can see now as well as any man. Yea can? (quoth the Duke) what colour is my Gowne? Then anon the Beggar told him. What colour (quoth hee) is this mans Gowne? He told him also, & so forth without any sticking, hee told him the names of all the colours that could be shewed him. And when the Duke saw that, he bad him walke Traitour, & made him to be set openly in the stockes: for though hee could haue suddainly by miracle the the [sic] difference betweene divers colours, yet could hee not by the sight so suddainly tel the names of all these colours, except he had known them before no more then the Names of all the men that he should sodainely see. (148-151)

References to the Play

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Critical Commentary

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For What It's Worth

Duke Humphrey does appear as a character in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2 and has minor parts in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.

Works Cited

Hakewill, George. The vanitie of the eye. Oxford, 1615.

Harriss, G. L. "Humphrey, duke of Gloucester (1390–1447)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2011

Site created and maintained by David McInnis, University of Melbourne; updated 17 Dec 2014.