Robert Wilmot (c. 1550 – by 1608) was a Church of England clergyman, known as a playwright.

Life

Wilmot entered the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

by 1567. He matriculated as a sizar, at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, in 1572, graduating B.A. in 1577. He was ordained deacon in 1578. On 28 November 1582 Wilmot was presented by Gabriel Poyntz to the rectory of North Ockendon, about six miles from

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. then on 2 December 1585, by the dean and chapter of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

, to the vicarage of

Horndon-on-the-Hill Horndon on the Hill is a village, former civil parish and Church of England parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock, in the county of Essex, England. It is located close to the A13, around one mile northwest of Stanford-le-Hope and around tw ...

, a few miles away. He is described in 1585 as M.A. It does not appear when the vicarage at Horndon was vacated, but in 1608 the crown, by lapse of the patron's right, appointed to Okendon another Robert Wilmot, who died in 1619.

Works

Wilmot published, in 1591, '' The Tragedie of Tancred and Gismund'',''The Tragedie of Tancred and Gismund, compiled by the Gentlemen of the Inner Temple, and by them presented before her Majestie. Newly revived and polished according to the decorum of these daies. By R. W. London,’ 1591 (1592 in some copies) with a plot deriving from Boccaccio's ''

Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; it, label=Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dan ...

''. It is dedicated by to "Lady Marie Peter and the Lady Annie Graie", the latter being the wife of Henry Grey, esq., of Pirgo. After the dedication comes a letter to the author from

William Webbe William Webbe ( fl. 1568–1591) was an English critic and translator. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and was a tutor for distinguished families, including the two sons of Edward Sulyard of Flemyngs, Essex, and later the children of Henry ...

; before the play there are complimentary sonnets to the Queen's

maids of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen r ...

. The play was acted, as ''Gismund of Salern'', before

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

in 1568. In Wilmot's version the initials of five co-authors are given at the end of the five acts as follows: Rod. Staf.; Hen. No. ( Henry Noel?); G. Al.; Ch. Hat. ( Christopher Hatton); and R. W. (Robert Wilmot). The story is in William Painter's ''Palace of Pleasure'', tale 39, and originally the play was in decasyllabic rhyming

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greec ...

s. Wilmot in 1591 made it into blank verse. It has

dumb show ''Dumb Show'' is a three-character play written by Joe Penhall. First published in 2004, the play centers around the story of an out of control former TV comic named Barry. Performances ''Dumb Show'' first premiered at the Royal Court Theatr ...

s to begin and

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

es to terminate the acts. The 1591 edition was reprinted in

James Dodsley James Dodsley (1724–1797) was an English bookseller. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire in 1724. He was probably employed in the shop of his prosperous brother, Robert, by whom he was taken into partnership—the firm trad ...

's ''Collection'', vol. ii., in 1780 (4th edit. by Hazlitt, 1874, vol. vii.). Another work by Wilmot was ''Syrophenisia, or the Canaanitish Woman'' (1598), a sermon.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmot, Robert 1550 births 1608 deaths 16th-century English Anglican priests English male poets English dramatists and playwrights Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge