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Hymenaei
''Hymenaei,'' or ''The Masque of Hymen,'' was a masque written by Ben Jonson for the marriage of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and Lady Frances Howard, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, and performed on their wedding day, 5 January 1606. The costumes, sets, and scenic effects were designed by Inigo Jones, and the music composed by Alfonso Ferrabosco. One of Jonson's earlier masques, ''Hymenaei'' is significant in the evolution of the masque form in the early 17th century; its two sets of contrasting dancers constituted one step in the evolution of the anti-masque that Jonson would realize fully in '' The Masque of Queens'' three years later (1609). Performance The stage was set as an altar for a Roman wedding; behind the altar, between gold-painted statues of Hercules and Atlas, a great sphere was suspended from the ceiling on wire so fine it was invisible to the audience. The side of the sphere facing the viewers was painted as a globe of the Earth, in blue and silver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1606 In Literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1606. Events *January? – Sir Thomas Craig becomes church procurator. *February – John Day's satirical play '' The Isle of Gulls'' causes a scandal which sends several of the young actors from the Children of the Chapel to prison for short periods. *Spring – Ben Jonson's satirical play ''Volpone'' is first performed, by the King's Men at the Globe Theatre in London. *May 27 – The English Parliament passes '' An Act to Restrain Abuses of Players'', tightening censorship controls on public theatre performances, notably in relation to profane oaths. *August 7 – Possible first performance of Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'', with Richard Burbage in the title role, amongst a series of plays presented by the King's Men before Kings James I of England and Christian IV of Denmark (his brother-in-law) at Hampton Court Palace in England. * November 14 – Marc Lescarbot's dramatic poem '' Théâtre de Nep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucy Russell, Countess Of Bedford
Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford ( Harington; 1580–1627) was a major aristocratic patron of the arts and literature in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, the primary non-royal performer in contemporary court masques, a letter-writer, and a poet. She was an ''adventurer'' (shareholder) in the Somers Isles Company, investing in Bermuda, where Harrington Sound is named after her. Parentage and marriage Lucy Harington was the daughter of Sir John Harington of Exton, and Anne Keilway. She was well-educated for a woman in her era, and knew French, Spanish, and Italian. She was a member of the Sidney/Essex circle from birth, through her father, first cousin to Sir Robert Sidney and Mary, Countess of Pembroke; she was a close friend of Essex's sisters Penelope Rich and Dorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland, and the latter named one of her daughters Lucy after her. Lucy Harington married Edward Russell, 3rd Earl of Bedford, on 12 December 1594, when she was thirteen year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Hastings
Dorothy Hastings (1579 – after 1613) was a courtier to Elizabeth I of England and Anne of Denmark Dorothy Hastings was born in 1579, the daughter of George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon and Dorothy Port, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Port of Etwall and Elizabeth Giffard. Maid of Honour and masques at court Dorothy Hastings was a Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth. She was probably the Lady Dorothy or "Lady Dougherty" who danced in the masque at the marriage of Anne Russell and Lord Herbert in June 1600. The other dancers, led by Mary Fitton, were Mistress Onslow, Mistress Carey, Elizabeth Southwell, Bess Russell, Mistress Darcy, and Blanche Somerset. They wore skirts of cloth of silver, waiscoats embroidered with coloured silks and silver and gold thread, mantles of carnation taffeta, and "loose hair about their shoulders" which was also "curiously knotted and interlaced". At the Harefield Entertainment in 1602, Dorothy Hastings was given a bodkin, a jewelled hair- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valentine Simmes
Valentine Simmes (fl. 1585 – 1622) was an Elizabethan era and Jacobean era printer; he did business in London, "on Adling Hill near Bainard's Castle at the sign of the White Swan." Simmes has a reputation as one of the better printers of his generation, and was responsible for several quartos of Shakespeare's plays. Early_texts_of_Shakespeare's_works.html"_;"title="ee:_Early_texts_of_Shakespeare's_works">ee:_Early_texts_of_Shakespeare's_works. Nothing_is_known_of_Simmes's_early_life_or_personal_history._He_was_active_as_a_printer_starting_in_1585. _Shakespeare In_an_eight-year_period_from_ee:_Early_texts_of_Shakespeare's_works.">Early_texts_of_Shakespeare's_works.html"_;"title="ee:_Early_texts_of_Shakespeare's_works">ee:_Early_texts_of_Shakespeare's_works. Nothing_is_known_of_Simmes's_early_life_or_personal_history._He_was_active_as_a_printer_starting_in_1585. _Shakespeare In_an_eight-year_period_from_1597_in_literature">1597_through_ee:_Early_texts_of_Shakespeare's_works.">Earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Thorpe
Thomas Thorpe ( 1569 – 1625) was an English publisher, most famous for publishing Shakespeare's sonnets and several works by Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. His publication of the sonnets has long been controversial. Nineteenth-century critics thought that he might have published the poems without Shakespeare's consent; Sidney Lee called him "predatory and irresponsible." Conversely, modern scholars Wells and Taylor assert their verdict that "Thorpe was a reputable publisher, and there is nothing intrinsically irregular about his publication." Life The son of an innkeeper in Barnet, Middlesex, Thorpe worked as an apprentice to Richard Watkins for nine years in a small shop. In 1594 Thorpe obtained his publishing rights, but was still without his printing rights. His first book published was '' The First Book of Lucan'', Marlowe's translation of the ''Pharsalia,'' the copyright of which he received from Edward Blount, who would come to be a close friend of Thorpe's. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Masque Of Queens
''The Masque of Queens, Celebrated From the House of Fame'' is one of the earlier works in the series of masques that Ben Jonson composed for the House of Stuart in the early 17th century. Performed at Whitehall Palace on 2 February 1609, it marks a notable development in the masque form, in that Jonson defines and elaborates the anti-masque for the first time in its pages. Masque development In his preceding masques, Jonson had been experimenting with elements of sharper opposition and variety: ''The Masque of Blackness'' (1605) and ''The Masque of Beauty'' (1608), both written for and featuring Queen Anne, form a contrasting and complementary pairing; ''Hymenaei'' (1606) contained two contrasting sets of masquers; and ''The Hue and Cry After Cupid'' (1608) featured twelve boy torchbearers "in antic attire." In the case of ''The Masque of Queens'', Jonson writes that Queen Anne "had commanded me to think on some dance or show that might precede hers and have the place of a foi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masque involved music, dancing, singing and acting, within an elaborate stage design, in which the architectural framing and costumes might be designed by a renowned architect, to present a deferential allegory flattering to the patron. Professional actors and musicians were hired for the speaking and singing parts. Masquers who did not speak or sing were often courtiers: the English queen Anne of Denmark frequently danced with her ladies in masques between 1603 and 1611, and Henry VIII and Charles I of England performed in the masques at their courts. In the tradition of masque, Louis XIV of France danced in ballets at Versailles with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Development The masque tradition developed from the elaborate pageants and cour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satirical plays ''Every Man in His Humour'' (1598), '' Volpone, or The Fox'' (c. 1606), '' The Alchemist'' (1610) and '' Bartholomew Fair'' (1614) and for his lyric and epigrammatic poetry. "He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I." Jonson was a classically educated, well-read and cultured man of the English Renaissance with an appetite for controversy (personal and political, artistic and intellectual) whose cultural influence was of unparalleled breadth upon the playwrights and the poets of the Jacobean era (1603–1625) and of the Caroline era (1625–1642)."Ben Jonson", ''Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge'', volume 10, p. 388. His ancestor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl Of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the Secretary of State of England (1596–1612) and Lord High Treasurer (1608–1612), succeeding his father as Queen Elizabeth I's Lord Privy Seal and remaining in power during the first nine years of King James I's reign until his own death. The principal discoverer of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Robert Cecil remains a controversial historic figure as it is still debated at what point he first learned of the plot and to what extent he acted as an '' agent provocateur''. Early life and family Cecil (created Earl of Salisbury in 1605) was the younger son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley by his second wife, Mildred Cooke, eldest daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea, Essex. His elder half-brother was Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James I Of England
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, and thus a potential successor to all three thrones. He succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, though he did not gain full control of his government until 1583. In 1603, he succeeded Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, who died childless. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl Of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599. In 1601, he led an abortive ''coup d'état'' against the government of Elizabeth I and was executed for treason. Early life Devereux was born on 10 November 1565 at Netherwood near Bromyard, in Herefordshire, the son of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, and Lettice Knollys. His maternal great-grandmother Mary Boleyn was a sister of Anne Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I, making him a first-cousin-twice-removed of the Queen. He was brought up on his father's estates at Chartley Castle, Staffordshire, and at Lamphey, Pembrokeshire, in Wales. His father died in 1576, and the new Earl of Essex became a ward of Lord William Cecil of Burghley House. In 1577, he was admitt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Carr, 1st Earl Of Somerset
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset (c. 158717 July 1645), was a politician, and favourite of King James VI and I. Background Robert Kerr was born in Wrington, Somerset, England, the younger son of Sir Thomas Kerr (Carr) of Ferniehurst, Scotland, by his second wife, Janet Scott, sister of Walter Scott of Buccleuch. About the year 1601, while an obscure page to Sir George Home, he met Thomas Overbury in Edinburgh. The two became friends and travelled to London together. Overbury soon became Carr's secretary. When Carr embarked on his career at court, Overbury became mentor, secretary, and political advisor to his more charismatic friend, the brain behind Carr's steady rise to prominence. King's favourite In 1607, Carr happened to break his leg at a tilting match, at which King James VI and I was in attendance. According to Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, the king instantly fell in love with the young man, even helping to nurse him back to health, all the while teac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
