Rising of Cardinal Wolsey, The

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Historical Records

Payments to Playwrights (Henslowe's Diary)

For a summary table of the payments to playwrights regarding both "Wolsey" play, see "The Life of Cardinal Wolsey".


F. 93 (Greg, I.147)

Lent vnto Robart shaw the 24 of aguste
1601 to lend vnto harey chettell in earnest
of a play called the j part of carnall wollsey the some of . . . . . . . xxs

F. 94 (Greg, I.149)

Lent vnto Robarte shawe to lend vnto hary chettell
& antony mondaye & mihell drayton in earneste of a
Boocke called the Rissenge of carnowlle wolsey the 10
of october 1601 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxxs


F. 94v (Greg, I.150)

Lent vnto hary chettell by the company at
the eagell & the chillde in parte of payment of a
Boocke called the Rissynge of carnoll wollsey
the some of ye 6 of november 1601 . . . . . . . . . . xs
Lent vnto the companye the 9 of novmber 1601
to paye vnto mr monday & hary chettell in
part of payment of a Boocke called the
Rissynge of carnowlle wollsey the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xs
Lent vnto the companye the 12 of novmber
1601 to pay vnto antony monday & harye
chettell mihell drayton & smythe in fulle
paymente of the first part of carnowll wollsey
the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijll

F. 105v (Greg, I.166)

Lent vnto thomas downton the 15 of maye
1602 to paye harey chettell for the
mendynge of the fyrste parte of carnowlle
wollsey the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxs


Payments, Miscellaneous (Henslowe Papers)

MSS I, Article 37 (Greg, Papers 58-59)

A play identified as "the Cardinall" is listed on an acquittance from William Playstowe among a list of five plays for which the licensing fee had not yet been paid.

Recevd of mr Henslowe the iiijth of Agust 1602
for one monthes pay due vnto my mr mr Edmund
Tylney vppon the xxxjth day of July last past
the som of iijll J say R[eceived] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijll
per mei Will Playstowe
bookes owinge for /5/
baxsters tragedy
Tobias Comedy
Jepha Judg of Jsrael & the Cardinall
loue parts frendshipp

The paper is annotated in a modern hand, "apparently Malone's" (Greg), suggesting an identification: "[Probably Cardinal Wolsey]." Since Chettle's earlier Wolsey play ("The Life of Cardinal Wolsey") had been licensed on 3 September 1601, the title here must refer to the "Rising."


Theatrical Provenance

Admiral's Men at the Fortune.


Probable Genre(s)

History

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Under construction.

References to the Play

Information welcome.

Critical Commentary

Knutson ("Commercial") adduces the "mendynge" payment to Chettle as evidence that "the Admiral's men seem to have relied on his for revisions that they needed in a hurry" (130).

Knutson (Playing) argues that the addition of co-authors to the composition of the prequel was not prescribed to Chettle by the company: "Since he worked both solo and in syndicates, there is no reason to guess that the company directed him to acquire partners this time" (51).

Wiley notes that Speed twice refers to Wolsey's ascent as his "rising," the word used in the title of the present play: "it seems not unreasonable to suppose that its action embraced the events covered by Speed's sketch. Possibly the dramatists found their subject in the 'characters' of Wolsey in Stow or Holinshed, and Speed associated 'rising' with the same material when he adopted it" (133n).


For What It's Worth

Works Cited

Knutson, Roslyn L. "The Commercial Significance of the Payments for Playtexts in Henslowe's Diary, 1597–1603." Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England 5 (1991): 117–63.
Knutson, Roslyn L. Playing Companies and Commerce in Shakespeare's Time. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004.
Wiley, Paul L. "Renaissance Exploitation of Cavendish's Life of Wolsey." Studies in Philology 43 (1946): 121–46.


Site created and maintained by Misha Teramura, University of Toronto; updated 9 June 2019.