3 January, 1594 - Huon of Bordeaux

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

Henslowe writes: R at hewen of burdockes the 3 of Jenewary 1593 ... xiiij^s

In modern English: Received at Huon of Bordeaux, 3^rd January, 1594 ... 14 shillings

18th century French Huon text

Today, Sussex's Men revived their chivalric adventure, Huon of Bordeaux. This play was based on the epic French tale about a knight who travels to Babylon to steal the Admiral's teeth, aided by Oberon, King of the Fairies. You can read more about Huon of Bordeaux in the entry for 27th December.


The fortunes of Huon are identical with those that we saw of George a Greene yesterday: the first performance of the play had been an enormous success, but this time the attendance has plummeted into the doldrums. The honeymoon peroid is clearly over at the Rose and Sussex's Men cannot expect to play to packed houses any more.

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)

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