Shakespeare's Kings: The Great Plays and the History of England in the Middle Ages: 1337-1485In a sparkling, fast-paced narrative, esteemed historian John Julius Norwich chronicles the turbulent events of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century England that inspired Shakespeare's history plays. It was a time of uncertainty and incessant warfare, a time during which the crown was constantly contested, alliances were made and broken, and peasants and townsmen alike arose in revolt. This was the raw material of Shakespeare's dramas, and Norwich holds up his work to the light of history to ask: Who was the real Falstaff? How accurate a historian was the playwright? Shakespeare's Kings is a marvelous study of the Bard's method of spinning history into art, and a captivating portrait of the Middle Ages. |
Contents
io King Henry 14141420 | 1 |
Edward III and the Black Prince 13 3713 | 13 |
Opening of Edward III Acts I and II | 21 |
Crecy in Edward III | 33 |
Calais and Poitiers in Edward III End of play | 39 |
The Young Richard 137713 81 | 49 |
Rebels advance Their depredations Confrontations at Mile End | 64 |
Latimer incident Scottish expedition Departure of John of Gaunt | 77 |
Henrys birth Bedford Gloucester Beaufort Hopelessness of the war | 221 |
Authorship Fidelity to truth Sources Telescoping of time FalstafF Joan | 235 |
The Gathering Storm 14451455 | 251 |
Henrys illness and insanity Birth of his son Arrest of Somerset York | 265 |
Yorks return from Ireland Telescoping time Yorks behaviour | 278 |
His liberation Welles rebellion Battle of Losecoat Field Warwick | 294 |
Crimes of Lancaster expiated after Tewkesbury Opening inaccuracies | 307 |
French expedition of 1475 Rivalry between Clarence and Gloucester Their | 321 |
Richard assumes personal responsibiHty for government John of Gaunt Results | 95 |
The Triumph of Bolingbroke 13981400 | 109 |
Shakespeares interpretation Richard sent to Pontefract Plot to reinstate him | 124 |
FalstaffOldcastle Hals riotous living His military record Percy rebellion | 139 |
The Kings sickness Growing responsibilities of Prince of Wales | 155 |
Kings final seizure and death His tomb | 161 |
Harfleur and Agincourt 14131415 | 171 |
Henrys claim to throne of France Beauforts mission Huge and unfulfillable | 178 |
The march to Agincourt | 184 |
The End of die Adventure 14151422 | 193 |
Defeat and death of Clarence at Beauge Henrys last campaign His inhumanity | 200 |
Chronological limitation of play Assistance of Chorus in dating Tennis balls | 207 |
The Final Reckoning 14831485 | 337 |
After Bosworth Fate of Richards body | 351 |
King Richard III 147114 | 353 |
The two legends Dating of the play | 355 |
and II Chronologies Clarences death Queens lamentations Undramatic treatment of Richards coup | 357 |
and IV Richards progress to the throne His murder of the Princes | 361 |
Bosworth | 365 |
Epilogue | 369 |
Chronological Table | 375 |
| 379 | |
| 383 | |
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Common terms and phrases
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