7 September, 1594 - The Massacre at Paris

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 6 7 of septembȝ 1594 ... R at the mesacar... xvij^s vj^d


In modern English: 7 September, 1594 ... Received at The Massacre ... 17 shillings and sixpence 

Henri, Duke of Guise, the villain of the play. 

Today, the Admiral's Men revived again Christopher Marlowe's tragedy about the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 16th-century Paris; you can read more about this play in the entry for 26 January, 1593.

The players have waited two weeks before returning The Massacre at Paris to the stage, but like so many once-popular plays, its audiences are collapsing to unsustainable depths. 17 shillings represents only a quarter-full theatre. While Marlowe's older play Tamburlaine is currently roaring back to the stage, this one seems to be approaching the end of its life.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 8th September was a Sunday in 1594 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 9th September. 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!