Copyright by Matthew Bran Davies
Copyright by Matthew Bran Davies The Dissertation Committee for Matthew Bran Davies certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The 2nd Earl of Essex and the History Players: the Factional Writing of John Hayward, William Shakespeare, Samuel Daniel, and George Chapman. Committee: ____________________________________ Frank Whigham, Supervisor ____________________________________ James Loehlin ____________________________________ J.K. Barret ____________________________________ Alan Friedman ____________________________________ Brian Levack The 2nd Earl of Essex and the History Players: the Factional Writing of John Hayward, William Shakespeare, Samuel Daniel, and George Chapman By Matthew Bran Davies, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2012 To my mother, For her impeccable timing The 2nd Earl of Essex and the History Players: the Factional Writing of John Hayward, William Shakespeare, Samuel Daniel, and George Chapman Matthew Bran Davies, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Frank Whigham Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth’s last favorite and the last man she executed for treason, has been harshly treated by posterity. Given his leading role at court in what Patrick Collinson calls the “nasty nineties,” Essex has taken much of the blame for the divisive factional politics of Elizabeth’s final decade. However, leading recent efforts to salvage Essex’s reputation, historian Paul Hammer has uncovered a sophisticated bureaucracy operated by highly educated scholars and led by an intelligent, cultivated statesman. A considerable number of high-profile literary figures, moreover, willingly engaged with this ambitiously expanding Essex faction.
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