Warlamchester

Historical Records

Performance Records (Henslowe’s Diary)

28 of novmb[er] 1594 Rd at worlamchester xxiij s

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30 of novmb[er] 1594 Rd at warlamchester xxxviij s

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12 of desemb[er] 1594 Rd at warlamchester xv s

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29 of aprell 1595 ----Rd at warlamchester xxix s

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10 of maye 1595 Rd at warlam chester xxix s

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30 of maye 1595 Rd at warlamchester ix s

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16 of june 1595 ----Rd at warlamchester xxv s

Henslowe's Diary. Ed. R. A. Foakes. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print. pp 26, 28, 30.

Sources

Walarmchester (one of numerous variant spellings) was the Saxon name of the settlement previously known by the Romans as Verulamium. It subsequently came to be called St Albans in memory of the martyr executed there in the third century.

The use of the Saxon name in the play's title suggests that its subject matter is derived from the period prior to the Norman conquest in 1066. One obvious possibility is the martyrdom of St Alban, referred to in the first volume of Holinshed's Chronicles (1577), p.88 in the chapter entitled "Asclepiodotus duke of Cornewall". Here is a link to the relevant page of the Oxford Holinshed Project.

The other obvious possibility is the earlier destruction of Verulamium during the revolt of Boudicea, referred to in the first volume of Holinshed's Chronicles (1577), p. 64 in the chapter entitled "Aruiragus". Here is a link to the relevant page of the Oxford Holinshed Project.