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William Knell (actor)
William Knell (died June 13, 1587) was an Elizabethan era actor who played lead roles for the Queen's Men in the 1580s. It has been speculated that his sudden death in a brawl with another actor, while on tour in Thame near Oxford, gave William Shakespeare an opening to become a professional actor. Life Knell joined the Queen's Men in 1583. He seems to have quickly risen to play leading parts. He is known to have played the role of King Hevry V in the pre-Shakespeare play ''The Famous Victories of Henry V'', opposite Richard Tarlton who played the clown role (Dericke) in the play. A record of the event says that "Knel, then playing Henry the fift, hit Tarlton a sound boxe indeed, which made the people laugh the more". On 30 January 1586 he married the 15-year-old Rebecca Edwards (1561-1619). On 13 June 1587, the Queen's Men were in Thame, at the beginning of a tour of the provinces, when he got into an argument with another actor called John Towne. Knell drew his sword and att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabethan Era
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personification of Great Britain) was first used in 1572, and often thereafter, to mark the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over Spain. This "golden age" represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature. The era is most famous for its theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant Reformation became more acceptable to the people, most certainly after the Spanish Armada was repelled. It was also the end of the period when England was a separate r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Shakespeare
John Shakespeare (c. 1531 – 7 September 1601) was an English businessman in Stratford-upon-Avon and the father of William Shakespeare. He was a glover and whittawer ( leather worker) by trade. Shakespeare was elected to several municipal offices, serving as an alderman and culminating in a term as bailiff, the chief magistrate of the town council, and mayor of Stratford in 1568, before he fell on hard times for reasons unknown. His fortunes later revived and he was granted a coat of arms five years before his death, probably at the instigation and expense of his son, the actor and playwright. He married Mary Arden, with whom he had eight children, five of whom survived into adulthood. Career and municipal responsibilities He was the son of Richard Shakespeare of the Warwickshire village of Snitterfield, a farmer. John Shakespeare moved to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1551, where he became a successful businessman involved in several related occupations. At this time, Stratf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
16th-century English Male Actors
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century which saw the rise of Western civilization and the Islamic gunpowder empires. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1587 Deaths
Events January–June * February 1 – Queen Elizabeth I of England signs the death warrant of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, after Mary has been implicated in a plot to murder Elizabeth. Seven days later, on the orders of Elizabeth's privy council, Mary is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle. * February 12– 24 – Period of exceptionally severe cold in western Europe. * April 29 – ''Singeing the King of Spain's Beard'': On an expedition against Spain, English privateer Sir Francis Drake leads a raid in the Bay of Cádiz, sinking at least 23 ships of the Spanish fleet. * May 19 – John Davis sets out from Dartmouth, Devon, for a third attempt to find the Northwest Passage. July–December * July 22 – Roanoke Colony: A group of English settlers arrive on Roanoke Island off North Carolina, to re-establish the deserted colony. * August 18 – According to legend, Saul Wahl is named king of Poland; he is deposed the following day. * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duelling Fatalities
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in the late 18th century in England, duels were more commonly fought using pistols. Fencing and shooting continued to co-exist throughout the 19th century. The duel was based on a code of honor. Duels were fought not so much to kill the opponent as to gain "satisfaction", that is, to restore one's honor by demonstrating a willingness to risk one's life for it, and as such the tradition of dueling was originally reserved for the male members of nobility; however, in the modern era, it extended to those of the upper classes generally. On occasion, duels with swords or pistols were fought between women. Legislation against dueling goes back to the medieval period. The Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215) o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierce Penilesse
Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, West Virginia * Pierce, Wisconsin * Mount Pierce (New Hampshire), a peak in the White Mountains * Pierce County (other), several places Organizations * Pierce Biotechnology, an American biotechnology company focused on protein biology * Pierce Manufacturing, an American manufacturer of fire trucks * Franklin Pierce Law Center, a law school in Concord, New Hampshire * Franklin Pierce University, a liberal arts college in Rindge, New Hampshire People * Pierce (given name) * Pierce (surname) Other uses * Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company * Pierce Washington, one of the main characters of '' Saints Row 2'' and '' Saints Row: The Third'' * Pierce oscillator, an electronic oscillator * Pierce's disease, a grape disease * Pierce Protein Ass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Nashe
Thomas Nashe (baptised November 1567 – c. 1601; also Nash) was an Elizabethan playwright, poet, satirist and a significant pamphleteer. He is known for his novel ''The Unfortunate Traveller'', his pamphlets including ''Pierce Penniless,'' and his numerous defences of the Church of England. Life Nashe was the son of the parson William Nashe and Janeth (née Witchingham). He was born and baptised in Lowestoft, on the coast of Suffolk, where his father, William Nashe, or Nayshe as it is recorded, was curate. Though his mother bore seven children, only two survived childhood: Israel (born in 1565) and Thomas.Nicholl, Charles. ''A Cup of News: The Life of Thomas Nashe''. Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1984. The family moved to West Harling, near Thetford, in 1573 after Nashe's father was awarded the living there at the church of All Saints. Around 1581 Thomas went up to St John's College, Cambridge, as a sizar, gaining his bachelor's degree in 1586. From references in his own polemics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Roscius Gallus
Quintus Roscius (ca. 126 BC – 62 BC) was a Roman actor. The cognomen Gallus is dubious, as it appears only once as a scholia in a manuscript of Cicero's Pro Archia. Life ''Constiteram exorientem Auroram forte salutans '' '' cum subito a laeva Roscius exoritur. '' ''Pace mihi liceat, caelestes, dicere vestra '' ''mortalis visus pulchrior esse deo.'' I stood by chance to greet the uprising Aurora, when suddenly, on the left, Roscius rose up. Please, o heavenly gods, give me leave to say that a mortal seemed to me more handsome than a god.—Quintus Lutatius Catulus Roscius was born a slave in Lanuvium, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Rome. Later he would encourage the legend that his nursemaid once found a snake coiled around him in his crib, a very auspicious omen, but Cicero scoffed at the veracity of this story.Hermann Goll (1873) "Rome's Greatest Actor". ''The Galaxy'' Vol.16, Sheldon & Company, New York. pp.122–123 His master sent him to be trained as an actor after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Heywood
Thomas Heywood (early 1570s – 16 August 1641) was an English playwright, actor, and author. His main contributions were to late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre. He is best known for his masterpiece ''A Woman Killed with Kindness'', a domestic tragedy, which was first performed in 1603 at the Rose Theatre by the Worcester's Men company. He was a prolific writer, claiming to have had "an entire hand or at least a maine finger in two hundred and twenty plays", although only a fraction of his work has survived. Early years Few details of Heywood's life have been documented with certainty. Most references indicate that the county of his birth was most likely Lincolnshire, while the year has been variously given as 1570, 1573, 1574 and 1575. It has been speculated that his father was a country parson and that he was related to the half-century-earlier dramatist John Heywood, whose death year is, again, uncertain, but indicated as having occurred not earlier than 1575 and n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Teares Of The Muses
''Complaints'' is a poetry collection by Edmund Spenser, published in 1591. It contains nine poems. Its publisher, William Ponsonby, added an introduction of his own. ''The Ruins of Time'' The poem is narrated by Verulame, female spirit of Verulamium, and praises the late Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, though perhaps in an ironic tone. ''The Teares of the Muses'' This poem was dedicated to Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby. It was composed around 1580. We hear from the Muses in order: Clio, Melpomene, Thalia, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Erato, Calliope, Urania, and Polyhymnia. The order is traditional, following a Latin mnemonic poem ''De musarum inventis'', and had been adopted by the earlier English writer Gabriel Harvey in his ''Smithus''. The poem is concerned with the state of contemporary literature, but also mourns the death of the poet Richard Willes in about 1579. It was suggested by William Warburton in the 18th century that the lines from Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of nascent Modern English verse and is often considered one of the greatest poets in the English language. Life Edmund Spenser was born in East Smithfield, London, around the year 1552; however, there is still some ambiguity as to the exact date of his birth. His parenthood is obscure, but he was probably the son of John Spenser, a journeyman clothmaker. As a young boy, he was educated in London at the Merchant Taylors' School and matriculated as a sizar at Pembroke College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge he became a friend of Gabriel Harvey and later consulted him, despite their differing views on poetry. In 1578, he became for a short time secretary to John Young, Bishop of Rochester. In 1579, he published ''The Shepheardes Calender'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Schoenbaum
Samuel Schoenbaum (6 March 1927 – 27 March 1996) was a leading 20th-century Shakespearean biographer and scholar. Biography Born in New York, Schoenbaum taught at Northwestern University from 1953 to 1975, serving for the last four years of this period as the Frank Bliss Snyder Professor of English Literature. He later taught at the City University of New York (1975–76). He was the Distinguished Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Maryland (1976–93), director of UMD's Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies (1981–96), president of the Shakespeare Association of America, vice president of the International Shakespeare Association, and editor of the journal Renaissance Drama. At one point in his career he was a trustee of the Folger Shakespeare Library and was an American consultant for the Oxford University Shakespeare Project. He managed to uncover previously unrecorded manuscripts and biographical records pertaining not only to Shakespeare but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
