On this day...

English dramatist Thomas Middleton was born in 1580. Considered amongst th greatest of Jacobean playwrights, alongside contemporaries Ben Jonson and John Fletcher, Middleton began his literary career by writing topical pamphlets, such as 'Penniless Parliament of Threadbare Poets'. At the same time, records courtesy of Philip Henslowe, show Middleton writing for 'The Admiral's Men', and unlike Shakespeare, he probably remained a free-lance playwright, able to write for whichever company provided the most money.

 His early dramatic career was marred by controversy, as his friendship with fellow playwright Thomas Dekker started a long-running grudge with Ben Jonson, that found its way into several of Jonson's works, including 'The Staple of News'. Yet it was after 1603, the year in which the plague closed the theatres, that Middleton saw his most prolific writing era. Spanning a range of genre, such as tragedy, city comedy and history, Middleton's best known works include 'The Revenger's Tragedy', 'A Chaste Maid in Cheapside', and 'The Changeling'. Middleton also is said to have collaborated with Shakespeare on 'Timon of Athens', and revised both 'Macbeth' and 'Measure for Measure'.

On this day...

Philip Henslowe, Elizabethan theatre entrepreneur, died in 1616 at the age of 66, only three months before the greatest theatrical name of the era, William Shakespeare. A shrewd businessman from the start, Henslowe quickly developed interests in areas such as dyeing, pawn-broking, money lending and property. Yet he is best known for his work in the theatre industry, most details of which have only been uncovered thanks to his diary, which contains records of payments to writers, box office takings and expensive costume purchases. After a infamous split with James Burbage, Henslowe became the partner of 'The Admiral's Men' and used his own venues, The Rose and The Fortune Theatre, for their performances. Whereas the diary denotes numerous plays by Shakespearian titles, such as 'Hamlet', 'Henry V' and 'Troilus and Cressida', no record of payment is made to Shakespeare. Instead payments were listed for 27 Elizabethan playwrights, including the names Ben Johnson, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Middleton and John Webster. 

On this day...

Queen Mary I, died in 1558; leading to the ascension of Queen Elizabeth I to the throne, and sparking of one of the greatest periods of literature in history. The Elizabethan era is, of couse, best known for dramatist and poet William Shakespeare. 25 of his 37 plays were purportedly performed during Elizabeth's reign, and she herself was known to be an admirer; the Lord Chamberlain's Men said to have performed over thirty-two times at court. Yet Shakespeare was not the only influential playwright of the era; contempories Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe are equally renowned, the latter possibly even more so in his lifetime. Elizabethan literature also widely contributed to the field of poetry, not least with the reinvention of the sonnet by Shakespeare, but also through the works of Philip Sidney and the first writings of John Donne; Donne was voted this year, the nation's second favourite poet. Other figures of the era include; Thomas Kyd, John Webster and Thomas Middleton. Much of this prolific writing continued into the Jacobean period.