10 December, 1595 - Longshanks

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 10 of desembȝ  1595 ... R at prynce longshanke ... xxx^s 

In modern English: 10^th December, 1595 ... Received at Prince Longshank ... 30 shillings

Portrait of Edward I in
Westminster Abbey

Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Longshanks, their lost play about King Edward I of England; you can read more about it in the entry for 29 August.

The company has broken with its habit of performing Longshank every three weeks and has returned to it after only two - and has received higher box office than usual.

This is an intriguing entry, because just for once, Henslowe calls the play Prince Longshank, instead of his usual Longshank. This entry has led some scholars to wonder whether the play might have been about the exploits of the young Edward, who fought in the Crusades before he was king.

What's next? 

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because for some reason Henslowe records no performance on 11th December. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 12th. 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!