''If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody; or The Troubles of Queen Elizabeth'' is a two-part play by

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 ...

, depicting the life and reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

of England, written very soon after the latter's death. The title deliberately echoes that of

Samuel Rowley Samuel Rowley was a 17th-century English dramatist and actor. Rowley first appears in the historical record as an associate of Philip Henslowe in the late 1590s. Initially he appears to have been an actor, perhaps a sharer, in the Admiral's Me ...

's 1605 play '' When You See Me You Know Me''. Part 1 is a chronicle history of the main events in the reign of

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

, ending with the accession of Elizabeth. It was entered into the

Stationers' Register The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. This was a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with England's publishing industry, including prin ...

on 5 July 1605, and published in

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

soon after by the bookseller

Nathaniel Butter Nathaniel Butter (died 22 February 1664) was a London publisher of the early 17th century. As the publisher of the first edition of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' in 1608, he has also been regarded as one of the first publishers of a newspaper in ...

. The play was popular, and subsequent quartos were issued in 1606, 1608, 1610, 1613, 1623, 1632, and 1639. The play was most likely written for and performed by

Queen Anne's Men Queen Anne's Men was a playing company, or troupe of actors, in Jacobean-era London. In their own era they were known colloquially as the Queen's Men — as were Queen Elizabeth's Men and Queen Henrietta's Men, in theirs. Formation The group ...

, and remained in their repertory many years. The full title of Part 2 was entered into the Stationers' Register on 14 September 1605 and was first printed in quarto in 1606, again by Nathaniel Butter. Subsequent quartos appeared in 1609 and 1632, plus an undated edition that is thought to have been issued in 1623. The 1632 quarto features an alternative text of Act V. Part 2 devotes its first three acts to the building of the Royal Exchange by

Thomas Gresham Sir Thomas Gresham the Elder (; c. 151921 November 1579) was an English merchant and financier who acted on behalf of King Edward VI (1547–1553) and Edward's half-sisters, queens Mary I (1553–1558) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603). In 1565 Gr ...

and revolves around the character of Hobson, a haberdasher who desperately tries to curb his apprentices' reckless behaviour. He blames them for leaving his shop and going to taverns while he is away. Thomas Gresham decides to bind John Gresham, his nephew, as an apprentice to Hobson but this new apprentice reveals to be a prodigal who is only interested in taverns and disreputable wenches. John Gresham flees to France with 100 pounds he stole from his uncle, and proceeds to play tricks on his new master, sending him match instead of establishing a mercantile network in France. Hobson chases him there in his night gown and slippers and finds him in the house of a French courtesan. John tricks Hobson into believing that the courtesan is really a reputable business-woman, and then threatens to tattle on Hobson to his wife when the courtesan's identity is revealed. Hobson agrees not to punish John, but insists on bringing the troublesome factor back to England with him, thereby preventing any further tricks. During a pageant in honour of Queen Elizabeth, Hobson boldly introduces himself to the Queen and is sincerely surprised she does not remember him, hence the title of the play: "If you know not me, you know nobody". In fact Hobson has been gulled by a cony-catcher into believing the Queen asked him to give her some money, which he graciously provided. The Queen promises him he will be paid back. At this particular moment in the play, the action shifts from

city comedy City comedy, also known as citizen comedy, is a genre of comedy in the English early modern theatre. Definition Emerging from Ben Jonson's late-Elizabethan comedies of humours (1598–1599), the conventions of city comedy developed rapidly in ...

to history as the plot abruptly switches to the life of Queen Elizabeth. She escapes Doctor William Parry's assassination plot and faces the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

's attempted invasion of England with other characters of political importance (notably

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

). Drake's victory rounds off the play.

Chronological compression

The Exchange was founded in 1565, and granted the name "Royal" in 1571; the Parry plot took place in 1584–85, and the Armada was repulsed in 1588. In the play, all these events follow quickly on one another, and the news of the

battle of Alcazar A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

(1578) is received before the Exchange becomes Royal.

References

* Chambers, E. K. ''The Elizabethan Stage.'' 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. *Dobson, Michael, and Nicola J. Watson. ''England's Elizabeth: An Afterlife in Fame and Fantasy.'' Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003. *Sullivan, Ceri. 'The Rhetoric of Credit: Merchants in Early Modern Writing', Madison J: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2002.

External links

{{Commonscatinline 1605 plays Cultural depictions of Elizabeth I Cultural depictions of Mary I of England Plays set in England Plays set in the 16th century Biographical plays about British royalty English Renaissance plays Plays by Thomas Heywood