SHAKESPEARE : ALIVE! ; ——_——_—-{ JOSEPH PAPP : AND ELIZABETH KIRKLAND iin and mc eet o eee sme om kali ter an ‘Pra Se he Bk nc fe _ 7 elit oe Aa end i nie a ok dd by Bn SORA erat ae oe Teeretrn ‘a ena a ee So ng Eirini Te nS a ‘Th woh Amy Ag Mab al er hl aS Ad SCORAIACT RSM te er ei tt Er nt en aga ieiereemreie, Pesce petri eeoas SSE. ‘ne Br als wd et Fen ra ro Bak enemas ‘atone mei tad oe oni oh ts ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ‘Tie Dea FoR this book originated in the mind of my wie and college Gail Merrie Papp, My thanks to he for her assistance and for those long mights we spent gether reviewing Eliabeth Kirklang’s completed manuscript T atso woul keto thank Linda Grey Banta’ publish and Kathy Robbins, my agent for ther support rest Papp 1 Wout Like to thank the many who helped along the ‘way oginning with PeterConrad of Chis Church, Oxon, ‘sho not ony taught st inspired. 1am grateful to Jerry Maule of Trinty College, Cambridge; Peter Holland oF Trinity Hal, Cambridge David Norbrockand Oliver Taplin both of Magdalen College, Oxtord; Emiys Jones of New College, Oxford: Julia Briggs of Herford College, Onford Nigel Smith of Keble College, Oxford: and Christopher Bulle of Chis Church: Oxon. ot hom proved ‘ell suggestions atthe outset his projec: Dick McCaw ol The Medieval Players in London offered handscon acs from his pergpective, as did Estelle Parsons: andthe company of Shakespeare‘on Broadway from thir Tn audition to Martin Segal. whose early advice fs still appreciated, special thanks do (0 the statf of the Archives Gtlce and al exhersat the New York Shakespeare Festival who helped and to Nessa Rapoport and Linda Locwenthal at Bantam Books. Daniel Benjamin ade helpfulcomments and corrections on the fists chapters” Alan Fine gave Hows of erteism apd advice: my gratitude to him goes far beyond this, And finally, to ms parent. deep thnks for making Wall possible —Blzabeth KirklandCONTENTS Pant: Provocue Cuapren 1 One Day ar aTinte: WHat Darcy ‘Lire Was Like Pat Ul: THe ELIZABETHANS Curren? _ OnDER IN THE CouRr: ‘THe RENAISSANCE (CharreR 3 ELIZABETHAN StaR WaRs: SUPERSTITION AND THE SUPLRNATURAL Harter 4” Don'T TALK To StRANGERS: FOREIGNERS AND IMMIGRANTS IN ENGLAND. Charren 5 _Lixe a VinciN: QUEEN ELiZaBerit [AND THE SraTus oF WoMEN CharrER 6) THE Ties Tuat Bin: Fawiy Lire Pant IIL: SHAKESPEARE Ative! CHAPTER 7 Tat REVOLUTION oF 1576; ‘Tae THEATRE Is BORN Charren 8 Ix Gooo Company: Tue SSIXTEENTH-CeNTURY ACTING COMPANIES CHarreRS GETTING THEIR ACTS ToceTHER: PLAYWRIGHT AND AUDIENCE (Charter 10 FROM Pace To Sract: ProouctNG 'NPLAY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY Charter 11 Sources ano Resources (Charren 12 ENGLISH AS A FoREtoN LANGUAGE, Gwarren 13 SuakesoraRe ALWe? 105 ra 136 146 153 164 7 193FART I PROLOGUE‘Autolycus, a pedaler, gloats atthe success of his business as he traverses the countryside selling \rinkets and ballads. (Roscoe Lee Browne as ‘Autolycus in the 1963 New York Shakespeare Festival production of The Winters Tale.) Photo: George E, Joseph CHAPTER I ONE Day ATA TIME: WHAT DaILy LIFE Was LIKE Give Us Tuis Day Our DAILY BREAD ‘You Ake L1viNG in England in the late years of the sixteenth century. Like most people, you live with your family in the countryside, eking outa meager existence as best You can. If you're licky, your father 1a yeoman farmer who owns enough land to support his family, or "husband. tan’ who has less property but supplements his income by wage-earning The land you live i is full of contradictions. A woman, Queen Elizabeth, rules the nation, while within the family ‘men stll rule women. A'highly-educated elite enjoys the fruits of literature, while many people can't even read. The government invests huge sums of money in voyages of exploration and wars with other nations, while selenee land medicine remain in an appallingly primitive state In London, the royal Court glitters with jewels and finery, ‘while misery reigns in rural hovels Rich young men wan: der around Europe for fun, while in England, thousands othomeless people wander from parish to parish, besuing and stealing to survive ‘The gap between the rich and the poor seems to have widened in the 1570s and 1580s; wealth and power axeconcentrated in the hands of the few, and many people can't even find a jo. You come Hm a family of labore. You don have much land at all, hardly even a vegeta sn you can call your own, and you are completely dependent on what ever wages you can get by harvesting other people's crops and doing odd jobs around the village. There is no money forsuch “extras” as education or nice clothes or red meat, Infact, your fathers daly income, even when combined ‘with yours, barely covers the cost of feeding you and your brothers and sisters thank goodness your mother is able to bring in a few extra pennies from her spinning. ‘There's no doubt about it life is a strugele even in the beat of ereumstances, Ofcourse, usually ereumstances arent anywhere near the best. Disease, malnutrition, a tragic natural asters are gens of your daly existence and keep you ing am 1 have for granted, 5st a month ago, for example, a old widows thatched "oof caught on fre and ever though you were Fight there along with everyone else inthe village, pulling the flaming thatch down with iron hooks, it was too late. Her cottage burned to the ground, and she, too, is now among tl hhomeless-—and hopeless. "Your dependent status as a tenant makes your perch in life stil more precarious. To an unjust and unscrupu- lous landlord, profit is more important than principles, and yours feels no obligation to look out for your best interests. Ihe decides to enclose” the land—to stop using {for farming and turn it into grazing pastures for sheep “hrehas endless means of forcing you out: he might make you give up your lease, or renew it only at great expense, ‘or, most commonly, charge you exorbitant rent. ‘While your family has been struggling against these ‘edds and worrying about how to make ends meet from day to day, larger forces have been at work that are going {oaffect you drastically. First, England has been undergo- Jngahuge increase in population. The two and-ofalf rai lion English people who were alive when your grandparents were bp il pracy have dubed by the ie your indchildren die. This unprecedented population grow ARalready being translated into nfiated prices astoo many people chase after scarce resources. It also means that ‘OME DAY ATA TIME: WHA DALY LIFE WAS LE 5 wages stay unacceptably low: with so many laborers on th markt lrmers another enpayrs ca ca find people wiling to work forthe pathetically low wages they offer if you're not interested. be ee Geiting and spending have been a constant bate, and staying on the winning side has depended on plentiful sis, which bring the twotold benefit of jobs'and low pain prices, But in recent years the bate hs become 2 ig ge the hes eis th tf suns hae ruined the harvests, the popalation has been prowing faster than the crops, and famine has begun to cast song, thin Shadow across your life Grain—whether you eat the oatmeal cakes of northern England or the coarse wheat bread of the southerners is staple of yourdiet and. you have no land and have to buy sll your grain on the market, your single biggest expense. When prices shoot up, as they do in bad harvest Yeats, spell disaster for many a citizens the Carers in Shakespeare's Henry IV Part remember 4 comrade ‘who “never joyed since the price of oats tose. was the death of him.” You try to find cheaper kinds of grain than your usual wheat, supplementing your diet with siomach-filling peas and benns-but even the prices of these ae rising now, and you begin to realize, horaiying though itis tha there aren't many alternatives, Starvation sce nee a ‘ou wonder how you and your family are going to cope with the steady advance of such hunger, the hat falling an the hi tring gray andthe Hak prope of ‘watching your fellow villagers starving and dying in our Streets and in the fields because} of lack of bread ag & contemporary in the northern toven of Newcastle writes Little do you know that the famine has darkened all of Europe, nat just England. In Sweden, old women have Feportedy been found dead in the Belds with sede and {ass in thelr mouths, and in far-off Hungary, Tartarwomen fre rumored to have eaten their own children! ‘To make matters worse, there has been an economic recession too, mainly because of slump inthe cloth rade that your mother had been depending on for her Inelh hood Man people rely on the cloth and wool trades for theiriiving: and now. “the deadnese ofthat trade and wantcof money is such that they are for the most part without work, and know not how to live.” as an official of one Parish reports. HITTING THE RoaD Chrany-mi samo a gting deprate,Atr aot of agonizing, you decide that your only Rope fst leave your family and village and migrate to Londgn. “Afterall” you thnk il BE one lene mouth or hin to ed And maybe Ilind an apprenticeship or something” “Anything would be better than staying here and slowly starving to death. And so you say oodbye toyour parents, kiss your lite sister on the head, panch your brother in the arm, and head off tothe big cty=not roaring Gown the interstate highway on a Greghound bus, as future pen erations of teenagers wil do, but trudging along a ir ‘kon foot At least isnot winter, when the guagmites fof mud and hundreds gf ruts and holes make the roads Irpassble Theyre ot god repair ast. and prog Once youve reached the slightly larger London road, you find yourself being passed by wealthier travelers who gan alford to ride-on horseback. They are traveling ata Ire eough pce pow but no doubts the atermoon wears on they wil pick up speed in order to reach one of thetashionable inns for he ich before might as Shake= Speare observes in Macheth, "Now spurs the lated traveler pace To gain the timely fn "You're'surprised at how many people are on the road, especially given the discomfort of traveling. A few well heeled young gents are headed for the university hie at Oxiord and Cambridge. Important-looking government officials gallop by on thei sift posthorses. Most often, though, you see other pedestrians, for walking isthe poo person's method of transportation, and there are lots of Poor people on the move. Apparently you werent the only Se with the idea of going fo London™the roads seem to Be Hooded with migrants like you Asyou stike upconersations witha few of your fellow OME BAY ATA TIME: WHAT OAL a Was LE c walkers, you realize that everyone as a diferent story 10 te You meet an une and vey pregnant servant gill Sho was red fom her ob and ck out of er parish ‘when her pregnancy could no longer be hidden; she beeh ‘wandering for several weeks, hoping to find a parish that will take her in withouta husband. A middle-aged man is Boing to give evidence in court. A newlysmarried Young ouple are on thelr way’ to vst relatives. ‘You also run into a peddler stho, like Autolycus in Shakespeare's play The Winters Tal, wavels around the countryside, stopping at fairs and markets to sell his as Sortment of waren: gloves, bracelels, perfumes, pins and needles and ballads. “Come buy of me, come. Come buy come buy,” he cries persuasively, “Buy, lads, or else your ise = “a ‘The most depressing sight on the road is the old people, sick decrepit andy tho ae forced g walk he coon: tty from place wo place” because there isnt any organized system of hospitals, shelters, or chartable institutions to {ake care of them. As a contemporary social critic writes, ‘any of them, as they are driven from one parish to ay ‘ther ust die, “some in ditches, some in holes, some ih ‘aves and dens, some in fields. ike dogs." ‘The majority of wanderers you ran info, however, are solitary young men about yourage who are traveling. ke you, in the hope of finding work. Three amiable youths ask you te join up with them, but you decide that your chances of finding something are Better if you're alone, $0 you thank them bat turn down their invitation thre is @ crowd, four is an unctmployment line ‘all times you keep an eve out for anyone who looks vaguely “official” for you don't have the required papers that state where and why you ae traveling. Ifyoute eavght without he, soi be i ot of troubl: aan sro traveler, you are considered a vagrant, a vagabond-in short, an undesirable. a “The prevailing opinion in government circles seems to bee that Yagrants are idle and lazy by choice, or even dar serous, From what vou can el this abs Of courne there area few pickpockets and petty thieves among the travelers, but most of them are Ike that old woman you saw picking the pocket ofa sleeping man because she had for her feet—hardly a violent criminal! The fact,is of course, that with the famine and the trade depres. sion, the majority of these people couldnt find work i thes wanted fo. And even if they Could their wages would hardly be enough to lve on. For most ofthe people you meet, London is their only hope THE City THAT NEVER SLEEPS Owe HUNDRED wiLEs and several days later, as the sun comes up, London also rises above the green fields. As You enter the city gates, you draw your breath in wonder The ely you have come tothe largest in-all of Europe is nots) and bustling. At its heart f the River Tharnes, the center of trade and social life. You see the opulent Sais barge of the queen moored on the bank and marvel at how many "watermen,” the taxi drivers of the river are Towing from one riverbank to the other, You get lost in the narrow winding streets; as you stare upat the looming Tower of Landan sou are aeary rum ovr one o he many coaches that are causing perpetual gridlock in city. You hear vendors hawking hot peas! oF ney Brooms, green brooms! their voices mix withthe plaful moans 4nd cries ofthe prisoners in the Tower to create a deat. ening and exhausting hubbub, It ts hard to believe how many peole hve heel oer 10000, ‘Although you're slightly overwhelmed by it all, you decide to do what you caine here for and bepin looking for work. Unfortunately, everyone eae is doing the same site mardt natured with aber, nd prone are ‘ot good. Most days you just sit around hoping something tillecome your way. You wonder what will become of you There tant any formal system of welfare to support ths Unemployed, no food stamps, no soup kitchens “Together with other migrants [ust ke you, you huddle in a cold attic and share memories of what cach of you has left behind, You yourself recall the small stone cotige that you ive in al of our ie Alhough wav ony one room, and what litle furniture you had was ¥ery rough, although your bed was of straw and your sheets were of canal wes ome; andi was ber than thi smeiy tenement where al of you ae siseping on the Noor, "an old man in the room, once the servant ol pros: perous farmer. describes the opulent house of fis former Employer-~somany rooms, andcarpetsontifloor, woven tapestries on the walls, carved oak woodwork, ots of car Ass giving light, and the ultimate luxary-feather bede He remembers serving his frat Christmas dinner at the house tthe long table in the great halo dining room Hed never seen so much meat on one table—beek, pork, ‘eal, venison, game” There were oysters and eel cabo nd carrots, some dliciousfnely-ground bread dried frat And wines imported from the French or German county: Side. As you listen to his description, you wonder how the rich aren't chronically constipated with ll that meat- in our own litle cottage the fare vas usually coarse brovin bread cheese and eggs, the occasional chicken or hunk of bacon. Evervthing used to be cheap —two loaves ‘of bread fora penny~—but inthe last few wratched Yeats, prices have risen enormously and food for the poor like Sou has become scare, With the onset of famine you had {o resort to eating bread (stills staple) peas and beans, find whatever else you could hunt upin the woods aroured the village Tg oulbe apres —feh rm he leone tumble int the already crowed room singing the praises of beer, indeed, the constant friend of allof you during these times of tribulation is beer. Imported wines are oo costly tea and coffe are stil luxuries; but beer is cheep tomake ands regular feature of socal fe Everyone drinks it even your young brothers andsisters back inthe village Sometimes, amity, people go overboard-—a local ass and country makes, cores of people regularly end up ising dead drunk in the fil ‘And drinking seoms to provide the same comfort here in London. The aichouses ae always ful you can find one con nearly every comer. A Frenchman was provoked to remark that no business could be done in England with. ‘ut pots of beer. But she euth i that alcohol helps people forget the strains of lf. 1 flows freely inthe prcons and dluring outbreaks of the plague. At public executions the Person condemned to death always offered a drink: You10 Ssuxesreane Aue! can understand why. A beer or two eases the hardshi of daily existence—the lack of jabs, the high prices, the Scarity of food, the awful diseases, andall the other things that make life so hard Indeed, sickness and death are regular features of life inthisenormous ety youve come o, Disease iseven more prevalent here and in the squalid suburbs you passed on Your way into London than in the impoverished village ou left behind. The contagious bubonic plague Is the ‘imber one Hie. Coming ina acon secon ssl OX, which blinds or disigures the people t doesnt ac {wally kill your beaudful hil sister has been left pock ‘arked for fe: And tuberculosis takes lives dally “The spread of infectious diseases Te furthered by the total ignorance about personal and public hygiene. Rich and poor ake don bathe very often: the poor eat afford the high price of soap and dont have the failties. The toothbrush won't come.on the scene for another seventy ars. Most Elizabethans, and you are no exception, have ‘acl breath rotting teeth, constant stomach disorders, and scabs or running sores sll over thelr skin, ‘Things are no Better on public scale The city ditches are used as toilets, Butchers throws dead animal carcasses intgthe srs oro: Housewives nonchsanly oepud ge Into the river” Poor people are buried in mass a ives, and the bodies of the rich, lying beneath the church filing in bural vaults force the congregation to cvac. uate because the stench of decomposition i s0 strong. Not even trained doctors make'a connection between these unbygiente conditions and the high incidence of disease. Medical care snot very advanced. and knowledge Of the human body is tll very primitive. The prevailing theory of ness is that its a result of an imbalance It ther humor the fart Hu of th Human body Health requites a perfect balance o legm, choler, and blond hen Sy nf these becaen eas 3 loctor ties to restore the balance by using leeches to suc ‘out some of the sick person's blood. X fays and stetho: Scopes havent yet been invented; the most common op. ration is amputation, performed without anesthesia, In the ety of Landon there are two hospitals and one doctor for every five thousand people. Health insurance such as eaicare of Medic dst exis whlch means that doe torsare prety much only forthe wealthy In your opinion, doctors are more likly to kill han cure and you're prob ably better off consulting a faith healer, good witch, OF ‘ise woman who uss technigues of white magic emia inode ena ina backward state liberal arts education s expanding prodigiously Bat $ou sourslf only got as fara basic reading skills atthe Uillae school. You werent able to go to grammar school, the finchpin ofthe Elizabethan educational system, ie: ‘use your parents couldnt spare you from work Ts the fields. Although they had more schools to choose from, they couldn’ afford the books, papers, and candies youd have needed. To them, school seemed lux But what you cant experience, you can hear about from the dowh-atshe-heels scholar siting next to yout the cold room, reminiscing fondly about his olé school. days. The morning session went Irom 6 Aa. 011 AM with a tworhour lunch break; the afternoon session was From I Pa. to 6 Pat-—six days a week! Grammar school education made available to upper-class boys the wealth of Kain Tera uncovered by Renaissance scholar laywrights such as Plats, Terence, Sencca the pov Nira and Horace: and prose writer such as Cicero and CCatsar.A Tot was demanded of the pupils and if any boy vas lazy or inattentive, he might be sthipped, sometimes Savagely, by the schoolmaster. Status-conseious families felt compelled to send their sons to school in order to prepare them for a carcer in Politics or the Church. Oniy inthe highest reaches of the {ristocracy was any money spent on educating gis, Your ‘queen, Elizabeth, for example, is an extremely accom Plished speaker of Latin, Greck, French, and Hafan. But She is cerainly the exception. Still you don't have to bea queen ora scholar to learn bout the world around you, Recent developments in com. [lmeains have made erature more accessible o toe like you, who can at east read. The printing prese, brought to England inthe late fifteenth century bya taan named William Caxton, has enabled a lot of people to share in the riches of the Renaissance. Books, once the sole prov.2 siuesreane auve! {nce of the wealthy, are now not only available but af- fordable, Translations of arcent Gasca and! modern European writers are proliferating wildly. “There are also hundreds of devotional tracts on the market, and Bibles are everywher’—the most popular book inthe nation. OF course, newspapers won't be invented ntl he eighteenth century, but topical pamphlets and broadside ballads are gobbled up by nevts-hungry Lon ‘News travels more slowly to the rest of the country There are only four or five major roads in all of England. The roads connecting smaller towns and villages are jus, dirt tacks, frequented by bands of robbers. Even though the penalty for highway robbery is death, bandits continge {ovrob the rich (and leave the poor alone). The most fa- ‘mous highwayman in English legend is, of course, Robin Hood; you know the stores about him and his band of remy men and his lve Maid Marian backward and fre If iravel within Englandis limited, foreign travel seven ‘more $0, as itis almost exclusively forthe ich. Gentlemen Conair it necessary to their education and often aspire to study in a foreign university in Italy or France Tm order to go abroad, a licens, similar toa passport rust rst be obtained. Once a genideman aries it Bu: "ope he speak Lat, the universal language m educate "But not everyone who travels abroad is in pursuit of higher lution. Retin companies our the Continent anu are very popular there, even though they speak Engr fish, Merchants and waders are frequent travelers, too, ‘And as the exsoldier across the Toom can attest, the fourth group that ges the chance to see foreign lands fs the military: Although there isn'ta permanent army that draftsand tains young men, English troope are constantly engaged in campaigns in Irland, France, and elsewhere ‘This fellow spent some time--and lost an arm--on the battlefields of the Low Countries (or the Netherlands), in the Earl of Essex’ campaign, There is a permancnt navy, albeit a small one, whose expeditions make talk of foreigh lands part of Londoner everyday conversation. iar service might seem like a good opportunity for unen. Played men ike you, but it isn fact exuremely unpopular, (ONE AY AT ATIME: WHAT DAY LIFE WAS UKE 3 and the grizzled veteran tells you why. The queen pays her soldiers only very grudgingly. And conditions are bad the typical daly navy rations are adry stale biscuit, some mouldy cheese, and sour becr. For all these reasois Is difficult to keep the military adequately manned. Often the ranks are filed withex-convicts and disreputable sorts And underhanded methods are used to press men into Service. Just last Easter, when the church was tore full than sal ar officers unexpeicaly ocked he church loors and walked through the aisles signing up every able- bodied man inside. ™ PLAYTIME Tue constaxr waRraRe conducted outside of England is ‘matched bythe constant violence within Is borders Fights, brawls, and riots erupt atthe drop of a hat. On the London streets you've goten used to hearing the ery “Chibs” which means a fights breaking out somewhere: Favorite weap” ‘ons in these street fights are daggers, swords, and ol feliable fists. The police force that would be controlling this violence today is all but non-existent; the London constables are petty and incompetent, utterly incapable fof maintaining order. Even the activites you regard as "fun" are brutal by later standards. The leading national amusements are bearbaiting, in which several dogs are loosed on a bear tied to.a stake, and cockfighting. lad torial contests berween trained roosters that involve. good del of ood a Public executions are also popular. The convicted criminal often sits in a cary with & noose around his neck and islet hanging asi rides away; sometimes his friends Dull at his legs to relieve him of his suffering, Death by the axe is even gorie, of course; it can often take two oF three chops before the vielim is dead. Then the execu. toner holds up the head for alt se Witch-burnings are increasingly popular and always grucsome. ‘You prefer bearbaiting and spend many a Sunday af- temoon across the river watching the dogs savagely bite and growl as the bear tosses and fugs ina rage. Recently,another activity has come to your notice, thanks to an attic mate who shares your loor—dramatic performances held in the public theater. He hopes to sign on with an Acting company as a hired man and goes to the theater often After taling with him for a wel, you think yout probably go along. With an admission piice of a penny, it doesn't cost any more than the bearbaiting —andl may be just as much fun. You once saw a band of travelin ina nearby village, putting on a play about Noah but a performance in one of these outdoor public theaters must be a different experience altogether. Maybe you'll even see a play by William Shakespeare, whose hometown of Stratford isn’t too far from your old village. You idly wonder if this Shakespeare is really as good as people say he is. Even it he’s not, you think to yourself as you curl up on the floor in your erowded, wretched litle attic, seeing a play may turn out to be a great way Tor you to forget about your worries for an hour or two. Certainly you have enough of them, ‘And yet, for all your troubles, you wouldn't go back to your village. You sense that a world your parents have never imagined is unfolding around you, and all you want is to be part of it PART It THE ELIZABETHANSKing Henry V, with strategic diplomatic alliances and territorial gains on his mind, attempts to win over the Princess of France to their slready-arranged sarviage. (Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd as Katherine ‘and Henry in the 1976 New York Shakespeare Festival production of King Henry V.) Photo: George E. Joseph CHAPTER 2 ORDER IN THE Court: THE RENAISSANCE ‘Tooay We Us the term "Renaissance" (meaning “rebirth”) to describe the incredibleflowering of art, scholarship, and Iiterature that took place as bitcenth- and sixtcenthcen- in Europe blossomed forth from the Middle Ages. The "Réformation’ isthe name piven othe landmark religious movement that began when King Henry VII split with the Pope and the Catholic Church of Rome and founded the Protestant Church of England. And we include the many exeiting geographical and scientific discoveries and the expansion of ade and commerce ofthat eran the hrases the Age of Exploration” othe Age of Discove Poipu it didnt occur tothe inhabitants of England in he late part of the sixteenth century that they were living in the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Age of Exploration, or any other such tidy historical period. From thetr close up perspective, the developments and discoveries were Specific to their lifetimes, not part of wider historical iovernents. All they knew was that when they looked around, things seemed to be changing at a bewildering ace: ‘The world was opening up, and the possibilities were wonderful, if a litle overwhelming. The recently rei covered Greek and Roman writings were taking the book ‘market by storm, unleashing a new enthusiasm for edu= cation. Explorers were discovering worlds where everyone used to think nothing existed. And although the English18 SuKesreaRe ALE were still deeply religious, the institution of the Church hhad been seesawing at a dizzying rate during the past decades. There were so many choices in learning and be- lief that it must have been tempting to brush them all aide with one impatient, ansous motion and stick to the THE BESTSELLER List Tu wrgiscT, tr ofthe Renaissance yas com. Pletely changing people's way of looking at Ife and at Themacles, fis movement began inthe fourteenih cen in lily, then the mcleteal center of Europe with major univertics al Bologna and Padua: In The Yamin ofthe Siew Lent eal the ety fair Padua, nursery tf the ana” When lisa scholars began to look Into the tong buried works of snclent authors such as Homer and Hesiod, Pato and Arisote, Virgil and Ovid they vere Unknow ingly releasing vigorous lifeforce into the blood ream of Western culture Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had domi. nated ciizaton, and both Mirature and education had been considered servants of religion In those days teary won wre judg ons by how Chesney watt Surprisingly, mos “pagan” writings of the Grecks a Romans™theancien clases of Pat, Sopboses, and the Iikewwere forced out of eireuation, ‘When scholars rediscovered them: it was long before Aly was ablaze with interest n the ssa eultare that inspired these writers Knowledge broke out of the clots tert othe freedom of an increasingly eral society. And the world ofthe human spirt that had been so long un Aleralued burst into lames, fanned by the rch clare and Semuous shapes of painters and sculptors suchas Tin, Raphael, and’ Michelangelo, and the'rich narratives and Totmantl epics of Boccaccio, Tasso, and Arosto This cultural explosion eventually reverberated in En- land, although it took neary a century to make Heel freard. When ft di, however. cchoes of the new *human- isn" reached the remotes parts ofthe nation, Education, noeR 1 EH COURT: THE RENAISANCE 9 formeny donated by clergymen, became a prenigious Possession ofthe upper casey andanindispenseble fake ication forthe "good life” There wes @ rssh of scoala founded all arose the nation. with the Fesul tht the Fiche ofthe Renaissance became avallable to more ard ‘ore people. Translations of ancient Grece-Roman apd gonjemporary Haan authors bsee Bestel ied the arial of the printing press from Europe, Othe many works onthe market, the heroic epics of the Greek as Homer he Odhssey and the fad and the Roman eg (ihe dene) were considered the highest achieve, ments of apeient literature for thelr combination of a tion-packed stories wih insruction in Christan mora ‘ints such as courage, lopli and patience. contemporary inn works tren sighed by ish printers and publishers ether: the pastoral pocins fSencatane emesis bese ee Sidney in hin famous work The arcadia, Handbooks ot manners and self-help books foraimbitios courtiers, suck 48 Thomas Hobys translation of The Courter by Baldas. Sare Castiglione, were wellthambed by those In Court siteles mest anxious to wet ahead. Many such books set forth the ideal ofthe “Renaissance man‘ as we call fe \Widely-accomplished man who vasstatesmanandathlere Scientist and poet, philosopher, courter, and soldier all rolled into one, WuicH Way Is Up? Titese HUNOREDSOF ol books in new translations coupled with theexplosion in education were certainly broadening the Elizabethane hterary horizons: Meanie era he. ras wre eapening witha loa icin pi iy. European astronomers were challenging age-o belts about the universe One of then, Copernic. eve et So faras to suggest that the Sum’ and not the Earth, was the center ofthe universe: he further maintained that the Earth was actually in motion, not xed in place. Although such theories sound elemeniary to-us now, atthe tine they ran contrary to everything people had ever thous20 shanesreane suv about the centrality of the Barth. Suddenly they were being {old that instead of being the Focus of God's attention, he Earth was just a small lonely planet orbiting the sun. Skep- tics were numerous and loud. But as the telescope revo. lutionized “astronomy and an Italian named Galileo discovered even more unsettling truths about the universe, the Elizabethans’ old assumptions had to give way, even though tseemed that the sky above their heads was crim: ‘The ground beneath their feet was none too steady ither, thanks to the crowd of explorers who were racing. allover th globe propelled by beter maps, new mathe: ‘matical tables, and other advances in technology. As one “writer enthusiastically crowed, “The sea yields to the world by this art of arts, navigation.” And the world was yielding to adventurous explorers of all the European nations as they sailed off in search of ‘wealth and fame. The race was on to discover—and claim—sea-routes tothe phenomenal storchouses of wealth in the East. The Portuguese won the first lap when Vasco da Gama sailed around the southern tip of Africa and discovered an eastern route to India, Other nations turned \west instead to find a throughway to the East. After Amer- igo Vespucci ran into Brazil in the southwest and John Cabot found Newfoundland in the northwest, i began to dawn on goographers that there was an entire continent in the way—which might prove valuable in itself. Spain Wasted no time exploring and exploiting this possibility explorers such as Francisco Visquez. de Coronado and Hernando de Soto traipsed up the Pacific coast and around the southern areas of the place they called America, ‘The English didn't just sit idly by while all this was, taking place, but eagerly pursued their own aventes of discovery and trade. Such heroes as Martin Frobisher Hugh Willoughby, the Cabot family, and John Davis trled repeatedly 10 establish a northeast and then @ northwest passage (0 Asia, Afier encouraging starts all of them were ultimately unsuccessful, defeated by stormsand solid blocks of ice. But English explorers, who combined the roles of pirate, missionary, and adventurer, were planting the seeds of good trade relations in the Far East, seeds that even- tually grew into a sprawling empire ‘A whole new order of global economic activity was in ‘omDeR TH COURT THE RENAISSANCE a the making, promising lucre and glory Upper-class getle- men, welliodo merchants, and the shrewd Quee Eli. beth herself were quick to sense the potentially enormous profits in foreign trade, and before long joint stock con panies were being formed to invest meney in trade ven: {utes.By the end ofthe centary England would be trai With such farcoff regions as Attica Turkey and India Shakespeare would be able to say that Owen Clendower in Henry 1V Part 1-was "as bountiful As tines of India Falstaf in The Mery. Wives of Windsor describes his in- tended courtship of Mistress Page and Mistress Ford in igs more appropriate fo potential meant ines than a stary-eyed lover he asesses Mistress Page a3" repon in Guia, all oid and bounty” and then pos hig investment strategy, I willbe cheaters to them both, and they shall be exchenuers to me. They shall be my East and Weg Indes, andl tad to the bath growing investment opportunities weren't thin the react of every Elizabethan's pocketbook. But i the ‘wealth to be gained from the voyages of exploration ard ade as nox alae allt iat he fomation abt ‘world geography and cultures these word travelers was for everyone. Maps of the world more accu tattheclar Maranarstomock Melle Teese hide the ses tomock Malvelioin Twelfth Nigh "ite does sme is ace nto more lines than iin the see map whe auetation of he fen Ap ase ‘ant like Dromio of Syracuse in The Comedy of Erors Is ware ofthe new dimensions of the world: be gives his Taster an irppressive global tour when he desctibes the ular kitchen wench pursuing him: “she fs spherical ke lobe. Toul find out countries in her" he oni age pcan 10 compare the parts of her body to land's neighbors France, Spain Scotland, and the Nether tnt we a theerste nnd exotic America. ‘More spellbinding than the geographies were the sen- sational stores and amazing descriptions ofthe peoples and customs of these strange new worlds. Every Gayans ‘ther mind-streching tle of incredible creatures in for fign pars docked saith the ships in London. Whether eas a description of the African "sciapod.” a being wih ‘only‘one foot enormous enough to sade him from the Baring African sun, ora rumor of men with the heads af2 sxesreane sve! ddogs—not unlike that “puppy-headed monster” Caliban ‘who curses and drinks his way through Shakespeare's The Tempest—the stccts of London were buzzing. Savvy Lon- dloners weren't always sure whether or not to believe these fantastic stories, But if strange crestures uch as elephants, from Africa could chimp around the animal yard at the Tower of London, they reasoned, why not manvcating sa ages an hades monsters ver caro they dd hk tstice about paying good money to gape at dead crocodiles brought back from abroad: Infact hese Londoners were ust the kind of people Shakespeare is thinking of when ‘he has Trinculo encounter Callban on the island of The Tempest: "Were Lin England now. and had but this fish painted, nota holiday fool but would piveapicce of silver In the same breath, Shakespeare makes stinging com: ment about Londoners social prionties’ “When they wil nor give @ doit to relieve a lame beggar, they wil lay out ten fo see a dead Indian” Of course, the Elizabethans had always known about Europe and had grown up with tales of Turks, Moors, and ther infidels. But suddenly seductive. spices, strange Slotes ad gltering Jewel were jumping.of the ste pages of travel accounts and into the markets of London, Sand accurate descriptions of exotic cultures were hggdh the bookstalls, What was an Elizabethan 1o make of bac Airicans who, according to one explorers account, wore heavy gold and ivory jowels over otherwise naked bodies? Or of the new luxury drink "coffee"? It must have been vaguely threatening to lear thatthe English way of doing Things Wasnt the only way. A MIGHTY ForTRESS Nok coun rae church provide much stability, The reli- {slous changes set in motion decades belore Elizabeth came to the throne were stil affecting everyone. Politics and religion had long been familiar bedfellows in England, and hhad become even more intertwined in the early sixteenth century when Henry VIII decreed that the niler of the nation would also be the formal head of the new Protestant {ORDER 1 THE COURT THE RENAISSANCE 2 Church, In Elizabethan times this meant that there was rarely a religious issue that didn't have political implica tions. ‘Although Henry's spit with the Catholle Church es tals he sera Charh of England wae l'on shaky ground when he died, Following his reign, there was more than a decade of turmoil and uncertalay, as catholics hs nse a ilerent els icy. “Bloody” Queen Mary's return to Catholicism pro- {oked wideapread hostility and violence in the mic. 350s, When Queen Elvzabeth came to the throne she decided tosetile the matter once and for all by freezing the status quo a her father, warning her subjects moto stesnp the reach, alteration or change of any order ov usage pres ently established within this realms Elizabeth made the Protestant faith Englands official national religion and instituted the Book of Common Prayer, She also passed Ailaw that required every subject o Bo to church on Sune ay. ‘At the same time, she declared that she had no interest {in sifting the conscicnees of her people. In other words, slong as everyone looked and acted ike Protestants: and a long as unauthorized forms of worship werent per Covel eaten rattonal cry he dit car tha twas done in the privacy of her subjects homes. al ich tolerance was exceptional a that tines tas 2 ar ery from the religious freedom in modern democratic ni tions: Anyone who publily professed atheism oreriicizcd the Chureh would be taken to the nearest gallows ‘As the Church of England became more established in the course of Elisabeth reign, two groupe of rligi and therefore poltical—-noneofrmists emerged. the frst froup were radical reformers who thought thatthe prov ess of change begun by Henry VI hah gone near farenough These Puritans detested anything that srcked ‘of Roman Catholic tual and wanted a church that wes purer, cleaner, and more austere than the Church of E Heals werion, Tht pola sligious platfonn called the dismissal ofthe bishops of the established Church ‘whose hierarchical authority was condemned by the mors egalitarian Puritans, Puritan pamphlets urging these and other reforms circulated al sround Landon “The queen watched the zealots carcflly wary of thosea suxesreane suv! who might make trouble and disturb the peace she was working so hard to bring 1o the realm. Although she kept her private views to herself, she was quick to pounce on anyone she perceived as a real threat. A Puritan separatist hhamed Henry Barrow, for example, was hauled into court ‘and put on trial for publishing subversive literature erit- iclzing the Church of England and the queen's postion as its head, He confessed, under questioning, that he con- sidered the Church’s Back of Common Prayer “talse, su perstitious, and popish although he acknowledged the ‘queen as the supreme governor of the Church, he also asserted that she should make laws based only on the ‘words of Jesus Christ himself, as quoted in the New Tes lament. The court made short shrift of Henry Barrow’s argument, and he was publicly hanged saon affer his tra. AF the Puritans thought that religious reform hada’ sone far enough, the English Komen Catholics Woveht That had already gone much to fre Deopte the es rena anda a ream church some Ct i recusants-especially noblemen with are eats fa the remote morh="were fatthfulto the outlaw forms of ‘worship. Ellsabesh as generally comet to leave hese epcabiongn te ee thy wren bined ‘nd‘mang'Engich €sthoics ere just 35 happy (e Bee And let ive, attending Church of England series as Ghtred while sil maintaining ther allegiance othe Pope home Bur gradually this precarious balancing act beame impossible, and Catholic allegiances wer dangerous} sp When the Pope excommuiated the Protestant Queen Elisabeth from the Cathole Chureh-ran act of great Fosilty~more than 8 decade sfter she had Come tthe throne, English Cathaies were hopelessly torn betweon loyalty thet fatihand valiy otc ation, The Popes action, intended to stir up Catholic revolt within England, iad several consequences (although nora Catholic revel) First loyal subjects rushed to ther qucens defense with a stream of aniatholle pamphlet sermons, and inds" Second oppression of Catholics within England was Stepped up nc of lizabet’s biggest fears was tha the Spaniards England’ chit enomy, sould try t0 inflate the Son ORDERIN HE COURT: THE RENAISSANCE 25 ‘many of Englh Cathay tithe 0 rebslon, and restore Catholicism to England, The approach of Spanish Armnada in 1588 didn't do much to cain her oF yyone else's fears, even after the would-be invaders su. fered a resounding defeat. The queen became more and ‘more wiling to do whatever she fet she had to in order to protect her country’s security, including outright per secution And So government officers would search the houses of known Catholic families, however harmless and laws abiding they might seem, caring their homes apart until they fund whatey fad ben king or Cate books ‘omaments, and religious images often hidden in holes bbeneath the floor. Theve were several proclamations or. dering parents of young men studying in Catholic Euro. ean counties to bring them homeo England within four ‘months. Other decrees put Catholics under a virtual quar. Antine, declaring that no Catholie over the dangerous age ofan culo further thy tcl om hot ut special permission, "because the enemy [Spal oth make accompt to have the assistance of el affected Subjects of this land. ‘While lay Catholics were generally let off with nothing more than a fine, Catholic priests—especaly those Who hhad come over from the Jesuit seminaries of Europe (0 drum up support or their cause—were arrested and often tortured hideously The mont creaded fate wa to beset 12th hous of Richard Tope, whoa bc een permission by Queen Elizabeth herself to torment priests Inhis own house in such sort ashe shall think good.” The Sort he thought good favored clamping a vice wrists int ton bars above is eadse har We was a be scraped the flor, leaving the weight of his body on fis tists Toplitfe may also‘have thought it good to prolag * torture well after the priest had broken down and com fessed. Whether they had to suffer at the hand of Topic for mot, more than one priest was executed for High tteason—not heresy: the English government nearly al. ways claimed that Catholics were being executed as po ltiat traitors, not heres or religious martyrs: For in nation where being Protestant was equivalent (0 being ca were by definition betraying the natThe position of most English Catholics was uncom- fonableif not dangerous; they were regarded with ss: picion by the Elizabethan on the strect, who Imagined them to be in league with the Spaniards, ready at any ‘momento undermine and overthrow Protestant England. And, as often happens with matters of conscience, the lives of many families were disrupted. When the husband of fone upper-class woman discovered, after twenty years of marriage, that she had been a practicing Catholic all along, hhe walked out, refused to give her a living allowance, and denied her custody of thetr children In most cases, though, the result of religious differ. ences was tion rather han actre, One young an ‘grumbled about his oldashioned parents who were cling: Ingo thee Catholic wave Taher a fd dig fool and willfast upon the Friday, and my mother goeth aways. ‘mumbling on her [rosary] beads.” The generation gap wasn't just a eligious one; t spread to alates of changing sc The iverion tthe Printing press, for example, meant that word-of-mout traditions passed down by older people—"imes doting shronils an Shakcpcre cal he —were no fonget the only cans of nding out about the past. Those who resolutely held on to the old ways of learning. worship. ing and understanding tec work were gong tobe lek hid a the wave of progress aie everyone es for “The unsetling spec of change was cresting panic within the aristocracy. Books--and knowlcdge—were no longer limited excuscly to ‘he ruling class. The growing tnd profitable trade actives meant that merchants and in fle were forthe fn lie becoming tt wea a inereditary nobles and the landed gentry the new eco. nomic inate the dtons hear the oil late ‘were dissolving. In addition, many Elizabethans thought that the abandonment of the medieval charch and the celebration ofthe secular inart and literature were turnin Society into an ungodly and immoral place: Nothing serned Sablcorreliablesnymore; the old ways were disappearing fast and the search for a fixed point of oral rience ‘asa futile one--everything depended on sour point of ‘iow, foras Hamlet say, there nothing ether pood or ORDER n THE COURT: HE RENAISSANCE n bad but thinking makes it so.” Anxiety gripped individuals, families, and the entire society. A Most EXCELLENT AND PERFECT ORDER? ciously to past ways of understanding the work and make ing sense of their place ini. The more things seemed to bertectering on the brink of chaos, the more Elizabethan ‘society emphasized old concepts of order. The more free- dom and sef-determination people gained from trade and ‘ducation, the more Elizabethan society stressed rani propriety, and obedience. And the fainter the distinctions Of social Siatus and class became, the mare Elizabethan Society insisted upon the validity af those distinctions. The buzzword of the age was "hierarchy." Hierarchy was the great bulwark social inequality that Elizabeth Society put up against the wolves of confusion and die, Grder that were howling at its walls, Each person. ae Cording to this scheme, had a fixed place along he Hid Columns of the social order and each place came with ts un ciipaion® fo superiors and ner a. Eyery ce of people hath appointed to them, thelr dun tedorer Erabcians hain church on Sud Some are in high degree, some in low, some Kings and princes, Some inferior and subjects, The preschers insted that such an ordered sogiety was part of God's arrange ment forthe universe—-Almighty God hath created and appointed all things. n'a most excellent snd pesect, Nowhere wat this piel ler han inthe rigid clothing laws, which detailed who could wear what The {dea thatthe poor and merchant classes might beable to dress as extravagantly as their socal superions Sent shivers 'panddown therichy-lothed spines. the upper classes. lething Acts were designed expressly to puta stop to this “intolerable abuse and unmeastrable disorder," asthe Act of Apparel labeled it-And s0_no one who ranked lower28 SESrEARE ALE! than a knight could lepally parade around in velvet cloaks gra sshings ony cours ana higher could drape their limbs in the elegance of purple si siver sloth were forte a of foreditary noble only ; this plan had worked as it was supposed fo, people would have worn their socal standing on their backs. But Tor the most part everyone ignored the restrictions, much 1 the chagrin of the lars, Puna writs more ‘annoyed, fring off pamphlets condemning diso- bint citizens for wearing ich clothing, noting tng thay thoy Be bath ie by th mean By ett “nd servile by calling This iss great confusion and a general Slee od be meri tne ws ® Hierarchy was the guiding principe ofall realms of guste Ine beach kgm, for camp see levels of archangels and angels spread downward trom God's throne, and cach level kexts place, Wasnt Satan thrown out for offending the principle of heavenly order and trying 1o make himset equal with God? The universe wes aiarhy tp and each plane asta as asgned tova specific postion. As Ulysses says in Shakespeare's Trott and Cressida, ihe heavens themselves the ants and this center Observe degree, priority, and place "The figal worl waa anther ey stati ty n wich tach species had its king: the tagle was the King of birds, the we the King ih nthe on, of cours tho king of beasts The Great Chain of Being, stretching from the lowest creat in the natural wor all she way up to God cone nected these worlds to each others and the hierarchy of One was mirrored in the others And x0 humans could alten or expla tel ayofdoig ngs by pit ingto the animal world The ruler of England, for example, ‘was analogous tothe king of beasts, and was expected t6 {ispiay the lion’ formidable power, The Queen in chord 1 Ghides her deposed husband for his unlionlike behavior ‘when she sees him conveyed tothe Tower of London. “The lion dying thrustth forth his pave And wounds the earth, itmathing else, with rage Tobe lerpowered: and wit thou, ihe, Take the correction, may hiss the fod, And Fon rage with base huis, Which are on ad the king of beasts?” Bees were one of the most popular omve NTE COURT THE RENAISSANCE 2 models of good government; in Henry V, the Archbishop ‘of Canterbiry begins along speech on this topic: or so work the honeybees, Creatures that by a ule in nature teach The act of order to 4 peopled kingdom.” ‘Of course, humans Were expected to surpass the ex amples of the animal world, since they were seen as su- Perior animals by the measure oftheir intellect, Luciana ints this out to her married sister Adriana asshe lectures eron the viriues of being submissive to men in The Com: edy of Errors: "The beast, the fishes, an the winged fow, ‘Are their males’ subjects and at their controls. Man, more divine, the master of all these, Lord ofthe wide world and ‘wild watery seas, Endued with intellectual sense and souls, Ot more preeminence than fish and fowls, Are masters thelr females, and thelr lords; Then let your wil attend fon their accords A feminist before her time, Adriana replies that “This servitude makes you to keep unvwed," but infact Luciana {s right) Elizabethan attitudes toward the family rein- forced the wider notions of proper order. The family was a minialure monarchy, as hierarchical as earthly and heavenly monarchies. A man’s home was literally his cas te, fore was king of te family. with complete authority ‘over his wite and children. He expected them to be obe- dient, and they usually were. Whatever children didnt {ear within thir families would be learned soon enough at school, for the educational system was another too Used to enforce Elizabethan notions of order and obedi- ence One ofits explicit aims was to educate pupils 0 be good, dutiful subjects in the commonvsealth. "To tansgress boundaries or shitk duties and obliga- tions was an unforgivable offense agains the social 0 fsa theme that Shakespeare addresses again and again. Inomeo and Juliet young woman rejects her obligation to obey her family’s wishes, instead marrying the son of their bitterest enemy Duke Frederick violates @ younger brothers duty by stealing the power from his older brother, Duke Senior, while Oliver neglects an older brother’ re- sponsibility to his younger brother, Orlando, in As You like 1c And Macbeth is one of the biggest transgressors of ali his murder of King Duncan violates two todes of hhonor at once, as he himself recognizes: “He's here in double trust: First, as Uam his kinsman and his sublect.» sxanesreane AE! Strong both against the deed: then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife iysel. ‘As Macbeth discover, the consequences of disregard {ng order are terrible His violations plunge Scotland imo bloody cil war. Tits Andronicusfats o show the quality of ity os pleading ape Tamora an brings pe Sonal catastrophe crashing down upon hinvand his army. ‘And Bolingbrokes usurpation ofthe rightful King, Richar {infects the kingdom with a discase that wil fester for Years in the form of cul tebelion: asthe fallen Richard same the kingsaker Northing, “The te shall hot be man’ hours of age More than is ee foul sn, tathering head, Shalt bre into corruption, Since al living things were linked by the Great Chain of Being, violations of orderin society were though to set ‘off violent disturbances in the heavens or the world of nature. "Take but degree away.” Ulyses wars in Trias arid Cressida, “tne that string, And hark what discord foliows” Anything out ofthe ordisary—floods storms, un ‘ataral behavior n arimals-chilled Eheabsihan hears ‘with far fort signaled thatthe time was ou of join and disaster imminent In King Lear, Gloucester datkly pre- dicts, "These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no od ound Car, range and rl eg Gn are reported in Rome as the conspirators hatch fl ‘ssassination plot against the emperor: "A lioness hath helped in the sirets, And graves have yawned an ycied Up their dead --- Horses did neigh, and dving men did roan, Ard ghosis ddshrickand squeal about the sree” Similar signs and omens in Richard “foreran the Seath afta of ings" And Macbeth reaches murder of Duncan triggers a horrifying chain reaction in nature, a reports-Lamentings heard har strange seams of death, And prophesying with accents terrible OF dire ¢ombustion and conused events News hatched the woe: It these were the probable outcomes of disobedience, small wonder that order was so highly prized and so re peatedly urged on all good chizens. Elzabethans were Reminded over and over that any violation of duty, any rbeliousness, any tendency to disrespect the la and ‘ORDER TH COURT: HE RENUSEANCE 3 government ofthe land would have horrific consequences ‘not only for the individual but for the state. aa ant oy fal way that ti labore vey of 3 ivinely ordered universe, Uh “party line” put forth by the Upper classes, neither obscured nor prevented the trans. Formations that were going on in society. Things, were actually quite fui atleast when compared! with previous Centuries, All the’ pamphlets and sermons and prociar mations insisting on rigid obedience to's fixed System ‘were in the end. simply last-ditch efforts to fend off the tidal wave of change that threatened to overwhelm the socal oer. hea “Ando, paradoxically, the age of great change was also the age of great conservatism, Ethically, spiritually, and Personally tinread To accommodate al the new discov fries and advances, many Elizabethans reueated (9 the traditional ideal of an uachanging “establishments For the alterative=chaos and disorder—was too horible 10 contemplate, "Take away order from all things” wrote 2 Gontemporaty of Shakespeare's plaintive, hat shouldCHAPTER 3 ELIZABETHAN STAR WARS SUPERSTITION AND THE SUPERNATURAL Dereon ones oy nen ed nic oe why ea a bad jomen fora black cate cross your athe You sop to think about, you might contlade tat you Sean ert shea we Bh Youll ve oak lang and halo find a skyscraper that has a floor numbered thirteen. Many And aot lng ago, s National League bancball Coe ear teh eas ‘The Eizatethans wore no diferent in fact, in nage trap a acer 2 seamen i eerie iemePacyet aces i seionieiee areas aera seetieh ca atdieean cane practices: there might be a horthoe over the door fo "ELEABENHAN STAR WARS: SUPERSTITION AND THE SUPERNATURAL 33, Whether it was a magical cure for hips ora warning not to whistle after dark ew people questioned an ef hese belies or practices. The fact tha thei parents and parents had bbeved In he was good enough thes Persttious ek Shakespeare says in The Mery Wives of Windsor, deserbing one tration, “Receved ar ddd deliver to out age This fle of Heme the hunter fora {ruth Noone relly needed to know much more than tha. Bicep of cour th Church wich di seated courage black (rmalevolen) witcheraf. Vilage press eitybishopvall ver England preached that belief in witches, faites, ghons andthe inflaenceol the starswasvcked anal sl ewe ofthe Dl et rao and conte ‘withthe Prophet David they might thunder, “that we our Selves are the causes of cur alfictions;and not exclaim upon ‘itches, when we should call upon God for mercy satay wets preaching de cary an ter fons int meet with much succes, especialy among the peo. ple inthe countryside, Despite the law fequiring attend Ence at Protestant services om Sundays some people cide But oo much sick in churchgoing. One defiant olf worn Seclared that she could serve God as well in te falde sa inthe chureh, The behavior ofthe vast majority who did fp sualy Ii otto be desired, Children ran up and the aisles while disruptive servants and apprentices Glimibed onto the church roof More matare mcrobes of the congregation contented themsclees with spitting. ell ing jokes, aling asleep, shouting back atthe preacher and sometimes even fring of gun (accidentally), One fan waa hauled up tothe front of hs churgh and pubs lily scold for “his most loathsome farting The sevice rust have been quite a show, for one wert fermonized at length on the common peoples ‘heather: {sh'contempt of igion and dsdainil foathing of the ovine, priests had ah Jed good stand indeed. priests hadn't always enjoyed good standing ‘among the Ordinary people, capecally inthe days elore the Protestant Reformation. One man, for example, re fused to confess toa priest about fis sins witha certain woman because he was sure that “the priest would bets Feady within two or thee days to use horas he had ‘nd the dismantling ofthe Catholic rituals begun by Peat stant reformers set off an oray of pillaee and vlunder“ suaxesreane ave! fueled by resentment of the clergy. Sacred objects were dest priests’ robes vandalized and priests them= selves beaten up. ‘And yet, even after the period of Protestant reforms, many of the old habits and practices associated with the Catholic Church lingered on—and some seemed to lead a double life in the worlds of religion and magic. In pre- Reformation days, youn sn had prayed at saints’ shrines for the blessing of blonde hair (Saint Urbane) or ‘a boy baby (Saint Felicitas). People believed in those days that if they left church with the wafer of the Mass sil in their mouths, they would have magical powers; others ‘wore pages from the Scriptures as protective amulets against the Devil. One farmer even tried to cure his sick ‘cow by reading it chapters from the Bible! Were these things worship or wickedness? It wasn't always clea free ade te sips of he Cros ol spirits, was he engaging fo religion or Sas. ‘hems? Ifa local folk healer advised a troubled customer {orepeat the Lords Prayer seven times each moring when he woke up, was she advising magic or religion? And if Whole congregation believe inthe efficacy of touching eves or ging pecvconecrated tls due tng thunderstorms, were they being religious or supers tious? Shakespear's Dr. Pinch In The Comedy of Erors ‘lemonstates how easly the ies could be bhimed as he {rien tourethe supposedly possessed Antipbolusof Ephe- Ses ie char charge the Satan housed within this man, To yield possesion to ny holy prayers: and with this cumphant coniston, "conjure thee by all the saints in heaven he Catalé Church sce to gn the era for sdingushing between mage and religion uncesr, de. iding arbitrarily that one practice was worshipful and Sot at he estan rer ht expec mune views on the sect ingsted that there were no magical powers in any of the tld situs and practices. Sant" shrincs church bls ep Gttion of pravers, holy relics, special amults-all were Sept aay inthe Hoe cforms "Cota gradual fame to be equated wih superstious” and situa” wil Specromancy™ One ealous Protestant even called the sc zamenis “plan devil, witcheraft and all that naught Ig nstead of spel fcantatons, cars, and conjuring, estant preachers. recommended. prayer, penitence, fasting and ath in Gods imcutale wil ine this was notan easy exchange, twas one not often ‘made by mont people. Complicated and erudite theologr Gal debates didn't really Interest them; ttt approach 40 Teligion was fairly clementary. The world was divided into food and evil: the good was to be embraced, the ev tobe fstheed—by whatever ans were a han, incl Superstition and magi. And so they went right on makin the sign of the Cross, using holy eles, and raving on host ot nonreligious superstitions to help them avd oF Srvve the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. ‘There were many belies that guied day to-day act ties and gave great significance tothe most onary 9c. currences. When an Elizabethan fll Kom his horse, for ‘ample, he would carefully note the day and hour ofthe fallas an unlucky time to ride It eild or animal came between two frends as they stofed in the meadows was'a sure sign that they would soon be going the sep 2 shirt on wrong side out in the morn dng usualy foretold'a bad day. Birds had thelr uses, too chattering megpies announced the arrival of guests, whe 4 croaking raven issued the more ominous warning that the dreaded bubonic plague was on its way. in numbers, ofcourse, were luckier than others lf remarks in The Merry Wives of Windsor, "They fy there is divinity in add numbers” And particular days sth month were advnable for sarang pur, ove frops, or even culling fingernails! If paved sidewalks had been invented liabethans would undoubtedly have taken {reat care to avoid stepping on the cracks, STAR-STRUCK ‘Tas Exizanerians were great believers in the influence of the stars and the planets. How could they have been oth- erwise when the rhythms and routines of their daily lives Were so dependent on the skies? The stars were not dimmed,