Country and Court: A System of Control Emerges, 1549–79

Abstract

The reign of Edward VI saw England pushed towards a more extreme Protestantism than was to prevail again until the Commonwealth, a move accompanied by an intense war of words on both sides of the Reformation divide.¹ Professional actors contributed to the controversy, since the authorities tried to stop them doing it, though we know neither who they were, nor where they performed, nor what plays they put on. The situation became so serious that, on 6 August 1549, a royal proclamation ordered ‘those that be common Plaiers of Enterludes and Plaies’ not to ‘openly or secretly plaie in the Englishe tongue any kynde of Interlude, Plaie, Dialogue or other matter set furthe in forme of Plaie in any place publique or private within this realm’ for a period of three months.² The extension of the ban to ‘private’ places, including the houses of the gentry and nobility, is a sign of how concerned the authorities were. In 1551 the Privy Council allowed the Marquis of Dorset’s players to play ‘only in his lordship’s presence’, a less extreme form of restriction, though the general constraint must have been tight if they required special permission for this (GR, p. 10). On the other hand the ban only covered playing ‘in the English tongue’; apparently performances in Latin (requiring an educated audience, such as might be found at the universities and the Inns of Court, but also at some great houses, including the court itself) were excluded.