The Lady Elizabeth's Men, or Princess Elizabeth's Men, was a company of actors in Jacobean

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, formed under the patronage of King James I's daughter Princess Elizabeth. From 1618 on, the company was called The Queen of Bohemia's Men, after Elizabeth and her husband the

Elector Palatine This article lists counts palatine of Lotharingia, counts palatine of the Rhine, and electors of the Palatinate (), the titles of three counts palatine who ruled some part of the Rhine region in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire b ...

had their brief and disastrous flirtation with the crown of Bohemia. (In the winter of 1618–19, the two had their brief reign as the King and Queen of Bohemia, to start the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

.) The company received its royal patent on 27 April 1611; it is thought to have been composed largely of former child actors from the children's troupes – the Children of the Chapel and the

Children of Paul's The Children of Paul's was the name of a troupe of boy actors in Elizabethan and Jacobean London. Along with the Children of the Chapel, they were an important component of the companies of boy players that constituted a distinctive feature of ...

— who were now grown to manhood. They may have started out playing at the Swan Theatre. On 29 August 1611, the company signed a bond with Philip Henslowe; they would rely on Henslowe for financing and would in the future act at Henslowe's new theatre, the

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's own life, or the world at large. As a verb, Merriam-Webster defines ''hope'' as "to expect with confid ...

. Soon after their inception, the company was performing in the provinces; but by 1612 they were back in London, and in that year played four times at Court. '' The Honest Man's Fortune'' was one of their early offerings; the cast list added to that play in the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1679 names the actors

Nathan Field Nathan Field (also spelled Feild occasionally; 17 October 1587 – 1620) was an English dramatist and actor. Life His father was the Puritan preacher John Field, and his brother Theophilus Field became the Bishop of Llandaff. One of his bro ...

, Joseph Taylor, Robert Benfield, William Ecclestone, Emanuel Read, and Thomas Basse. In 1613, Lady Elizabeth's Men combined with the Children of Whitefriars; the combined troupe performed '' A Chaste Maid in Cheapside,'' by

Thomas Middleton Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelt ''Midleton'') was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jac ...

, at the Swan in

1613 Events January–March * January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendar ...

. Sometime in the next year or so, they joined in another combination with

Prince Charles's Men Prince Charles's Men (known as the Duke of York's Men from 1608 to 1612) was a playing company or troupe of actors in Jacobean and Caroline England. The Jacobean era troupe The company was formed in 1608 as the Duke of York's Men, under the titu ...

. The company acted

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

's ''

Bartholomew Fair The Bartholomew Fair was one of London's pre-eminent summer charter fairs. A charter for the fair was granted by King Henry I to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew in 1133. It took place each year on 24 August (St Bartholomew's Day) within the p ...

'' at the newly built Hope Theatre on 31 October

1614 Events January–March * January 22 – Led by Hasekura Tsunenaga, Japan's trade expedition to New Spain (now Mexico) arrives on the Mexican coast with 22 samurai, 120 Japanese merchants, sailors and servants, and 40 Spaniards and Port ...

. In 1615 the company had a falling-out with Henslowe, and as a result drew up a list of their grievances, the "Articles of Oppression against Mr. Hinchlowe." Most of their complaints were financial in nature – that Henslowe loaned them money on extortionate terms, and the like; but they also accused Henslowe of withholding play scripts that the actors had paid for, and of having "broken and dismemb'red five companies" in three years. After Henslowe's death in 1616, the Lady Elizabeth's Men dissolved their bond with Prince Charles's Men, and left London to tour the provinces; they are absent from the extant records of the London theatres for roughly six years. During this era, they lost important cast members. Nathan Field joined the King's Men in 1616. William Ecclestone became a King's Man in 1614, as John Rice did around 1620; Joseph Taylor, who had stayed with Prince Charles's company in 1616 and had become their leading man, replaced

Richard Burbage Richard Burbage (6 January 1567 – 13 March 1619) was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owne ...

as the King's Men's lead actor when Burbage died in March 1619. The leakage from Lady Elizabeth's troupe included plays as well as personnel: works by John Fletcher and his collaborators that had been in their repertory, including '' Cupid's Revenge,'' '' The Coxcomb,'' and '' The Knight of Malta,'' ended up as King's Men's plays. The company reappeared in London in 1622. The actors worked for Christopher Beeston; in April 1624, they performed

Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His plays, including '' A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', '' The City Madam'', and '' The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and soci ...

's '' The Renegado.'' Defections continued: in 1624 Eliard Swanston left to join the King's Men. In 1625, the Queen of Bohemia's Men were replaced by, or combined with, the newly created

Queen Henrietta's Men Queen Henrietta's Men was an important playing company or troupe of actors of the Caroline era in London, England. At their peak of popularity, Queen Henrietta's Men were the second leading troupe of the day, after only the King's Men. Beginnin ...

. In 1628 a new charter was granted to a successor company; this version of the troupe toured the provinces and showed little if any activity in London. It disappeared after 1632.Murray, pp. 259–62.

Repertory

The following list includes plays that are known or believed to have been acted by Lady Elizabeth's Men in the years cited, and suggests the general nature of their repertory: * '' Chabot, Admiral of France,''

George Chapman George Chapman ( – 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman is seen as an anticipator of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century. He is ...

, 1613? * '' A Chaste Maid in Cheapside,''

, 1613 * ''The Coxcomb,''

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather t ...

, ca. 1614 * ''Bartholomew Fair,'' Ben Jonson, 1614 * '' The Changeling,'' Middleton and William Rowley, 1622 * '' The Bondman,''

, 1623 * '' The Spanish Gypsy,'' Dekker, Ford, and Rowley, 1623 * '' Cupid's Revenge,''

, 1624 * ''The Captives,''

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 ...

, 1624 * ''The Renegado,'' Massinger, 1624 * '' Love Tricks,''

James Shirley James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb (writer), Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of ...

, 1625

Notes

References

* Gurr, Andrew. ''The Shakespearean Stage 1574–1642.'' Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. *Gurr, Andrew. ''The Shakespeare Company 1594–1642.'' Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004. * Halliday, F. E. ''A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964.'' Baltimore, Penguin, 1964. * Keenan, Siobhan. ''Acting Companies and Their Plays in Shakespeare's London''. London: Arden, 2014. 33–51. * Murray, John Tucker. ''English Dramatic Companies 1558–1642.'' Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1910. {{authority control 1611 establishments in England Organizations established in 1611 1632 disestablishments in England Organizations disestablished in 1632 17th century in London English early modern theatre companies