Prince Charles's Men (known as the Duke of York's Men from 1608 to 1612) was a

playing company In Renaissance-era London, playing company was the usual term for a company of actors. These companies were organised around a group of ten or so shareholders (or "sharers"), who performed in the plays but were also responsible for management. T ...

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 titular patronage of King James' second son, the eight-year-old

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

(1600–49), then the Duke of York. Upon the death of Charles's elder brother Prince Henry in 1612, the company became Prince Charles's Men. They played mainly in the provinces for the first two years of their existence, but in 1610 they received a renewed royal patent that authorized them to play in London, "in such usual houses as themselves shall provide." Seven actors are listed in the patent: John Garland, William Rowley,

Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...

, Robert Dawes, Joseph Taylor, John Newton, and Gilbert Reason. Rowley was their dramatist and clown; Joseph Taylor would be their leading man in future years, and then fill the same function with the King's Men, when he replaced the late

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 ...

in May 1619. Garland was a veteran, having been a founding member of

Queen Elizabeth's Men Queen Elizabeth's Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in English Renaissance theatre. Formed in 1583 at the express command of Queen Elizabeth, it was the dominant acting company for the rest of the 1580s, as the Admiral's Men and th ...

in 1583. Hobbes had a comparably long career ahead of him: he would be with the King's Men as late as 1637. Newton and Reason continued with the company until its end in 1625. For a short time around 1614–15, they joined forces with the Lady Elizabeth's Men at Philip Henslowe's recently built Hope Theatre, but separated again in 1616 when the Lady Elizabeth's company left London to tour the provinces. Taylor transferred to the King's Men in 1619; in the same year, Prince Charles's Men left Henslowe's Hope (a less-than-ideal venue for drama, since it doubled as a bear-baiting ring) and moved into Christopher Beeston's

Cockpit Theatre The Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was named The Phoenix. History The original building was an actual cockpit; that is, a s ...

, and were thereafter closely associated with Beeston's theatrical enterprise. They acted at the Cockpit from 1619 till 1622, and after that, at Beeston's Red Bull Theatre. When their patron became King Charles I in 1625, the King chose to renew his father's patronage of the King's Men, the company of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and Burbage that had maintained its reputation as the best in drama. Prince Charles's Men disbanded, at least officially; some of the troupe's members may have continued with the so-called Red Bull company that occupied that theatre from 1625 on. Little is known about them.

The Caroline era troupe

In the confused theatre scene of the Caroline era – what Andrew Gurr has called "a complex game of musical playhouses" in which companies switched theatres and changed their names – there was a troupe that acted under the name in the 1631–42 period, with royal patronage under the name of the infant Prince Charles, the future Charles II; scholars sometimes designate it Prince Charles's Men (II). This company, which included some personnel from the Admiral's/Palsgrave's company that had collapsed in 1631, was at Richard Gunnell's new Salisbury Court Theatre in the 1631–33 era, at the Red Bull Theatre in 1634–40, and at the

Fortune Theatre The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre in Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. From 1989 until 2023 the theatre hosted the long running play '' The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by aut ...

in 1640–42. The original 1631 sharers in this company were Andrew Cane (their star clown), Ellis Worth, Joseph Moore, Matthew Smith, Richard Fowler, William Brown, James Sneller (or Kneller), Thomas Bond, Henry Gradwell, and William Hall. The same men (except for Moore, who may have been a manager rather than an actor) were named Grooms of the Chamber on 10 May 1632. This second version of the company had a tempestuous existence, with small audiences and poor returns, lawsuits and controversies. The troupe lost almost half its sharers in the 1634–36 period alone, due to death or desertion. The company did perform 14 times at Court in the five years from 1631 through 1635 (compare 86 Court performances by the King's Men, and 62 by

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 the same years). The Prince's troupe left the Salisbury Court Theatre during the disruptions of the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...

epidemic of 1636–37, and finished its career at the Red Bull Theatre. Even after the London theatres closed in September 1642 at the start of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, a remnant of the company seems to have struggled on. William Hall and a few more, apparently joined by other displaced English actors, performed in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and Paris in 1644 and 1645.Judith Milhous and Robert D. Hume, "New Light on English Acting Companies in 1646, 1648, and 1660," ''Review of English Studies'' Vol. 42 No. 168 (November 1991), pp. 487–509.

References

{{authority control English early modern theatre companies 1608 establishments in England 1625 disestablishments 1631 establishments in England Charles I of England