8 January, 1597 - Vortigern

Here's what the Admiral's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: y^e 8 of Jenewary 1597 ... R at valteger ... xij^s 

In modern English: 8^th January, 1597 ... Received at Vortigern ... 12 shillings

Vortigern in his burning
castle. From a 14th-century
manuscript of Peter of
Langtoft's Chronicle of
England.  

Today, the Admiral's Men chose to perform Vortigern, their play about the legendary British king whose actions brought about the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. You can read more about this play in the entry for 4th December, 1596. 

The company has waited a week to revive Vortigern after its successful New Year's Day performance. Today, the crowd is very small though, suggesting that things are returning to normal after the Christmas season. 

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow, as 9 January was a Sunday in 1597 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 10th, for a week that will include a new play. See you then!

Henslowe links

• Transcript of this page of the Diary (from W.W. Greg's 1904 edition)
• Facsimile of this page of the Diary (from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project)

Comments?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!