England’s First Happiness, or The Life of St. Austin
Historical Records
Stationers' Register, 15 April 1641: Entered for John Nicholson
- three plays, vizt. A Tragedy called Charles, Duke of Burbon, The Parroiall of Princes & England's First happines, or, the Life of St. Austin.
Theatrical Provenance
unknown
Probable Genre(s)
history play
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
Saint Augustine was the seventh-century Archbishop of Canterbury who converted England to Christianity. What one might call the standard early modern English account of his life is provided by Holinshed in The first and second volumes of Chronicles (1587), 2.99-103, and is itself based on Bede. The story begins with Pope Gregory the great, struck by the beauty of British boys, dispatching Augustine to England to convert the nation to Christianity; it describes Augustine's early fears and his preaching in front of King Ethelbert. Augustine's ultimate triumphs, in this account, include miracles, scenes of mass baptism, and the establishment of Saint Paul's Cathedral.
References to the Play
none known
Critical Commentary
"Nothing is known of a play with this title, or… of any play on the life of St Augustine of Canterbury." (Bentley, summarizing and concurring with Greg, BEPD). Bentley also observes that "very few plays earlier than the times of James I were entered in the Stationers' Register for the first time in the 1640's".
For What It's Worth
John Nicholson was not a well-known printer of plays. The only extant play he printed was "J.D."'s The Knave in Grain… acted at the Fortune (1640). Is this a tenuous indication of the possible theatrical provenance of these three lost, anonymous plays?
Keywords
England, saints, Christianity, history, religion
Works Cited
<List all texts cited throughout the entry, except those staple texts whose full bibliographical details have been provided in the masterlist of Works Cited found on the sidebar menu.>
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