Shakespeare

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564 - 1616)

The Percy family reigned in Northumberland as virtual kings after 1309 and conducted hostilities along the northern frontier almost as a family affair. Alnwick Castle saw the death of the Scots king Malcolm in 1093 during his fifth invasion of England. This is Shakespeare's Malcolm, the slayer of Macbeth. Earl Siward (q.v.) of Northumberland also appears in the play.

In Richard II, one of Shakespeare's finest plays, Henry Percy, first Earl of Northumberland plays a significant part in placing the usurper Bolingbroke on the throne of England as Henry IV. Percy's son, Harry, known as Hotspur for his reckless courage, makes a brief appearance. The next play in Shakespeare's great historical sequence is Henry IV (Part One). By now, Henry Percy had come to feel ill-rewarded for his service against the Scots, and for his assistance to Bolingbroke in general. Besides this, the Percys distrusted the king's reliance on the hated Neville family. Meanwhile Harry Hotspur had distinguished himself in battle against the French and the Scots, and it is he who plays a major role in the drama. The question of ransoms after Hotspur's victory at Homildon Hill, near Wooler in 1402 is also raised.

Several characters contrast Hotspur favourably with Prince Hal, the future Henry V. Shakespeare in fact sharpened this contrast by altering Hotspur's age to make him as young as Hal, and so become a plausible rival. Shakespeare indicates that the chivalrous Hotspur is not calculating enough to be a king, while Hal alienates our sympathy by being just that. Certainly the future hero of Agincourt never enjoys the charming domestic scenes that Shakespeare gives Hotspur and his wife Kate at Warkworth Castle. After Hotspur's death on 21 July 1403 at a place north of Shrewsbury still called Battlefield, the play ends. Henry IV (Part Two) opens at Warkworth Castle, where Hotspur's widow and parents discuss plans, and the Earl of Northumberland leaves for Scotland. Historically, Henry IV had no trouble in reducing the great Northumberland fortresses in 1404, and Warkworth in fact became the first English castle to fall to artillery. There is nothing of this in the play, however, which is elegiac in mood and looks backward a good deal. Richard II and Hotspur are both recalled.

The Wars of the Roses may be said to have started with a skirmish between the Nevilles and the Percys at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire in 1453, and Shakespeare devotes no fewer than three plays to the troubled reign of Henry VI. However, though the sweet-natured king ruled England in name from Bamburgh Castle, 1464, and his indomitable wife Margaret, the 'she-wolf of France' lived on a herring a day after the disaster at Hexham in that year, the playwright's attentions lie elsewhere. The sardonic figure of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, grows ever more formidable until he dominates his own play Richard III. Like his brother, King Edward IV, Richard was the son of Cicely Neville, the 'Rose of Raby', and Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. The fine alabaster tomb of Richard's maternal grandparents stands in the church at Staindrop, near the great Neville seat at Raby Castle. Ralph Neville (1364-1425), his grandfather was Marshal of England in 1399. His was the prudent voice, according to Shakespeare, wishing for ten thousand more men at Agincourt. At this time, the Nevilles had become the greatest family in the realm. The Earl of Warwick, the formidable 'kingmaker' was a nephew of Cicely Neville and plays an important role in Shakespeare's Plantagenet plays.

The young Shakespeare was a member of the Queen's Players, a travelling group of actors who visited many places in the country in 1588 - including Newcastle (and Carlisle).

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564 - 1616) The Percy family reigned in Northumberland as virtual kings after 1309 and conducted hostilities along the northern frontier almost as a family affair. Alnwick Castle saw the death of the Scots king Malcolm in 1093 during his fifth invasion of England. This is Shakespeare's Malcolm, the slayer of Macbeth. Earl Siward (q.v.) of Northumberland also appears in the play. In Richard II, one of Shakespeare's finest plays, Henry Percy, first Earl of Northumberland plays a significant part in placing the usurper Bolingbroke on the throne of England as Henry IV. Percy's son, Harry, known as Hotspur for his reckless courage, makes a brief appearance. The next play in Shakespeare's great historical sequence is Henry IV (Part One). By now, Henry Percy had come to feel ill-rewarded for his service against the Scots, and for his assistance to Bolingbroke in general. Besides this, the Percys distrusted the king's reliance on the hated Neville family. Meanwhile Harry Hotspur had distinguished himself in battle against the French and the Scots, and it is he who plays a major role in the drama. The question of ransoms after Hotspur's victory at Homildon Hill, near Wooler in 1402 is also raised. Several characters contrast Hotspur favourably with Prince Hal, the future Henry V. Shakespeare in fact sharpened this contrast by altering Hotspur's age to make him as young as Hal, and so become a plausible rival. Shakespeare indicates that the chivalrous Hotspur is not calculating enough to be a king, while Hal alienates our sympathy by being just that. Certainly the future hero of Agincourt never enjoys the charming domestic scenes that Shakespeare gives Hotspur and his wife Kate at Warkworth Castle. After Hotspur's death on 21 July 1403 at a place north of Shrewsbury still called Battlefield, the play ends. Henry IV (Part Two) opens at Warkworth Castle, where Hotspur's widow and parents discuss plans, and the Earl of Northumberland leaves for Scotland. Historically, Henry IV had no trouble in reducing the great Northumberland fortresses in 1404, and Warkworth in fact became the first English castle to fall to artillery. There is nothing of this in the play, however, which is elegiac in mood and looks backward a good deal. Richard II and Hotspur are both recalled. The Wars of the Roses may be said to have started with a skirmish between the Nevilles and the Percys at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire in 1453, and Shakespeare devotes no fewer than three plays to the troubled reign of Henry VI. However, though the sweet-natured king ruled England in name from Bamburgh Castle, 1464, and his indomitable wife Margaret, the 'she-wolf of France' lived on a herring a day after the disaster at Hexham in that year, the playwright's attentions lie elsewhere. The sardonic figure of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, grows ever more formidable until he dominates his own play Richard III. Like his brother, King Edward IV, Richard was the son of Cicely Neville, the 'Rose of Raby', and Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. The fine alabaster tomb of Richard's maternal grandparents stands in the church at Staindrop, near the great Neville seat at Raby Castle. Ralph Neville (1364-1425), his grandfather was Marshal of England in 1399. His was the prudent voice, according to Shakespeare, wishing for ten thousand more men at Agincourt. At this time, the Nevilles had become the greatest family in the realm. The Earl of Warwick, the formidable 'kingmaker' was a nephew of Cicely Neville and plays an important role in Shakespeare's Plantagenet plays. The young Shakespeare was a member of the Queen's Players, a travelling group of actors who visited many places in the country in 1588 - including Newcastle (and Carlisle).
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