Today in 1593 the playwright Thomas Kyd gave evidence against Christopher Marlowe.
There is still a lot of mystery around the death of Marlowe – who was one of the greatest playwrights of the time, and whose light was extinguished way too soon when he was murdered shortly after this event. Either way, Kyd had been arrested on May 15, and tortured, suspected of treason. When he was told that heretical documents were found in his room, he signed a letter saying that they actually belonged to Marlowe – he had shared rooms with Marlowe before.
Marlowe was arrested on May 20, but he was able to post bail. He was then mysteriously killed in a bar brawl, ten days later.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 149: The Mysterious Life and Death of Christopher Marlowe
The Theater Part III: The Other Major Players Who Aren’t Named Shakespeare
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.