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Marlowe Lives! |
| death's a great disguiser home marliad blog | |
 Under
the date in the upper right hand corner of this portrait is the Latin
inscription "Quod me nutrit me destruit" (That which
nourishes
me destroys me). The phrase is strikingly echoed in Sonnet 73: Consumed
by that which it was nourished by.
 Big Bad John, Canterbury Archbishop Whitgift |
A brief stab at the life of Christopher Marlowe
The "morning star" of
Elizabethan poetry was born to Catherine and John Marley, a cobbler, in
the international
city of Canterbury, England, on February 26, 1564, two months before
the
famous actor William Shakespere entered the world in the backwater town
of
Stratford. By age fifteen, Christopher
proved himself to be "well instructed in grammar and able to make
verse." He was awarded a scholarship to King's School, Canterbury by
the local Archbishop Matthew Parker. Two years later, in 1580, Marlowe
was enrolled at Cambridge University as a
Parker scholar, perhaps in preparation for Holy Orders. While at
Cambridge
he was recruited into Her Majesty's secret service, testified to by a note from the Privy
Council
addressed to the Cambridge University administrators who were trying to
deny Marlowe his Master's degree in 1587.
During the years 1587-1592, the young dramatist triumphed as a playwright for the London-based Admiral's Men acting company with astounding tales about atheists, magicians and villains. The young actor Edward Alleyn rose to stardom in the roles of Tamburlaine, Doctor Faustus, and Barabbas, the Jew of Malta. Marlowe's early success came at
a time (1587-1592) when his contemporary in Stratford was the young
father of three in a rustic town a hundred miles to the north. However,
Christopher's morning star was
soon dimmed. In late 1592 and 1593 some unpleasant events occurred,
including public charges of "atheism," an offense punishable by death
in the days
of the Elizabethan church-state. Like other intelligent men of his day,
Marlowe believed that Archbishop John
Whitgift exceeded his moral authority in stifling opposing views of
Elizabeth's
church. Kit wasn't the only educated man of the day who questioned the
wisdom of the prelates. But perhaps he went too far: a note against the
outspoken poet listed some outrageous statements he allegedly made in
the presence of the informer, Richard Baines.
In early May, 1593, some inflammatory verses against the
Dutch
Protestant immigrants were posted on the wall of the Dutch Churchyard.
They
were signed "Tamburlaine," an obvious attempt to implicate Marlowe,
since
the dramatist's play by that name was in its seventh year of
performance.
After obtaining further evidence against him from another dramatist,
Thomas
Kyd, the Star Chamber caught up with Marlowe on May 20, when the poet
was
arrested at the home of his close friend and patron, Thomas Walsingham,
and
escorted to London to answer some questions. No record remains of the
proceedings,
but London's top young dramatist was immediately released, subject to
daily
recall at the pleasure of their Lordships. |