William Alabaster

1 Family
He was the son of Roger Alabaster of the cloth merchant
family from Hadleigh in Suolk, by Bridget Winthrop of
Groton, Suolk, sister of Adam Winthrop(15481623)
whose rst wife (the marriage was short, she died three
years later in child birth) was Alice Still, sister of John
Still(d.1607/8), Bishop of Wells.[3] Adam Winthrops
son was John Winthrop(15871649), Governor of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony. Another of Williams uncles
was John Cotta(15751650) the physician, married to another of Adam Winthrops sisters[4]

2 Career
One book of an epic poem in Latin hexameters, in honour
of Queen Elizabeth, is preserved in MS. in the library
of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. This poem, Elisaeis,
Apotheosis poetica, Spenser highly esteemed. Who lives
that can match that heroick song?" he says in Colin Clouts
come home againe, and begs Cynthia to withdraw the
poet from his obscurity.

William Alabaster from a contemporary etching.

In June 1596 Alabaster sailed with Robert Devereux, Earl

of Essex, on the expedition to Cadiz in the capacity of
chaplain, and, while he was in Spain, he became a Roman
Catholic. An account of his change of faith is given in an
obscurely worded sonnet contained in an MS. copy of Divine Meditations, by Mr Alabaster (see J. P. Collier, Hist.
of Eng. Dram. Poetry, ii.341). He defended his conversion in a pamphlet, Seven Motives, of which no copy
is extant. The proof of its publication only remains in
two tracts, A Booke of the Seuen Planets, or Seuen wandring motives of William Alablasters wit, by John Racster (1598), and An Answer to William Alabaster, his Motives, by Roger Fenton (1599). From these it appears that
Alabaster was imprisoned for his change of faith in the
Tower of London during 1598 and 1599.

William Alabaster (also Alablaster, Arblastier) (27

February 1567 buried 28 April 1640)[1] was an English
poet, playwright, and religious writer. His surname is one
of the many variants of "arbalester", a crossbowman.

He was born at Hadleigh, Suolk, and educated at

Westminster School, and Trinity College, Cambridge
from 1583.[2] His Roxana, a Latin tragedy, was performed around 1592, and printed in 1632. Roxana is
founded on the La Dalida (Venice, 1567) of Luigi Groto,
known as Cieco di Hadria, and Hallam asserts that it is a
plagiarism (Literature of Europe, iii.54). A surreptitious
edition in 1632 was followed by an authorized version a In 1607 he published at Antwerp Apparatus in Revelaplagiarii unguibus vindicata, aucta et agnita ab Authore, tionem Jesu Christi, in which his study of the Kabbalah
Gulielmo Alabastro.
gave a mystical interpretation of Scripture. The book was
placed
on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum at Rome early
He became a Roman Catholic convert in Spain when on
in
1610.
Alabaster says in the preface to his Ecce sponsus
a diplomatic mission as chaplain. His religious beliefs led
venit
(1633),
a treatise on the time of the second advent
him to be imprisoned several times; eventually he gave up
Christ,
that
he went to Rome and was there imprisoned
of
Catholicism, and was favoured by James I. He received a
by
the
Inquisition,
but succeeded in escaping to England
prebend in St Pauls Cathedral, London, and the living
and
again
embraced
the Protestant faith.
of Thereld, Hertfordshire. He died at Little Shelford,
Alabasters other cabalistic writings are Commentarius

Cambridgeshire.
1

EXTERNAL LINKS

4 References
The Sonnets of William Alabaster (1959) edited by
G. M. Story and Helen Gardner
For an analysis of the Roxana see an article on the
Latin university plays in the Jahrbuch der Deutschen
Shakespeare Gesellschaft (Weimar, 1898).
Thomas Fuller, Worthies of England (ii. 343)
J. P. Collier, Bibl. and Crit. Account of the Rarest
Books in the English Language (vol. i. 1865)
Dismembered Rhetoric: English Recusant Writing,
1580-1603 and The physiology of penance in weeping texts of 1590s, Cahiers Elisabethains 57 (2000),
pp. 31 48, both by Ceri Sullivan, examine Alabasters prose and poetry respectively.
Pierre Bayle, Dictionary, Historical and Critical (ed.
London, 1734)
Also the Athenaeum (December 26, 1903), where
Bertram Dobell describes a manuscript in his possession containing forty-three sonnets by Alabaster.
This article incorporates text from a publication now
in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911).
Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press.
[1] New General Catalog of Old Books & Authors
Title page of Alabasters Roxana, c. 1595.

de Bestia Apocalyptica (1621) and Spiraculum tubarum

(1633), a mystical interpretation of the Pentateuch.
These theological writings won the praise of Robert Herrick, who calls him the triumph of the day and the one
only glory of a million.

[2] Alabaster, William. (ALBR584W)". A Cambridge

Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
[3] Fuller; supported by Charles Camp, who traces the linage
of the Winthrop family from 1498 forward 200 years
[4] Winthrop family tree, Charles L. N. Camp; New Haven,
Conn.

5 External links
3

Works
Roxana - (c. 1595) Latin drama
Elisaeis Latin epic on Elizabeth I

Text of Alabasters Carmina

Text of Alabasters Conversion, c. 1599
Text of Alabasters Intelligence Report, 1599

Apparatus in Revelationem Jesu Christi (1607)

Text of Alabasters Roxana, translated by Dana F.

Sutton.

De bestia Apocalypsis (1621)

Text of Alabasters Six Responses, 1598

Ecce sponsus venit (1633)

Spiraculum Tubarum (1633)
Lexicon Pentaglotton, Hebraicum, Chaldaicum, Syriacum, Talmudico-Rabbinicon et Arabicum (1637)

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

William Alabaster Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William%20Alabaster?oldid=632960269 Contributors: Charles Matthews, Timrollpickering, Wmahan, R. end, Ganymead, D6, Walter Grlitz, Humble, Saga City, Galaxiaad, Pcpcpc, FeanorStar7, FlaBot, Oliver
Chettle, Jaraalbe, Gdrbot, Womble, SmackBot, Michael David, BlindWanderer, Beetstra, CmdrObot, Cydebot, PKT, Kbthompson, Dsp13,
R'n'B, Johnpacklambert, Joanenglish, Deor, Ptolemy Caesarion, FV alternate, Jan1nad, M.O.X, BOTarate, Ceri sullivan, Boleyn, RogDel,
Addbot, Lightbot, Yobot, Gongshow, Trappist the monk, RjwilmsiBot, John of Reading, Finn Bjrklid, Lobsterthermidor, VIAFbot,
Nimetapoeg and Anonymous: 6

6.2

Images

File:Roxana_title_page.gif Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/Roxana_title_page.gif License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

File:Wikisource-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Rei-artur Original artist: Nicholas Moreau
File:William_Alabaster.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/William_Alabaster.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: User Ganymead on en.wikipedia

6.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0