Christopher Marlowe tells reasons
for Roger Manwood's death

ANAGRAMS BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

extracted by
Roberta Ballantine

from

HENRY VI PART I

1 & 2 Hvng be ÿ heauens with black, yield day to night; Comets importing change of Times and States, Kit M. penn'd this trilogy because of his dad's symbolic chain. Then, to avenge ÿ game that went g–
his dad's symbolic chain. Roger's gold chain of office, seen in his portrait at the National Portrait Gallery and on the bust on his monument outside Canterbury. A. Wraight and Virginia F. Stern. In Search of Christopher Marlowe. New York: The Vanguard Press. 1965, p. 34. Robert J. Blackham. The Story of the Temple, Gray's and Lincoln's Inn. London: Samson Low, Marston, n. d.: "The significance of the letters S. S. has been hotly disputed. The portcullis in the.... collar refers to John of Gaunt, the loops to the union of the Houses of York and Lancaster, and the rose is, of course, the Tudor rose, as the collar of S. S. was first given to the Judges [one judge] by Queen Elizabeth. It was given in her reign to a Judge of Common Pleas [Roger Manwood], but since then has only been worn by the Lord Chief Justices... The Collars were private property."
3 & 4 Brandish your crystall Tresses in the Skie, And with them scourge the bad reuolting Stars, oring his dad's name, Kit bitterly teased th' Church t' show yts error in all ages. But SSS uener–

goring his dad's name. Before executing Roger on 14 Dec. 1592, Whitgift launched a campaign of character-assassination to destroy the image of this popular liberal judge. Catherine Drinker Bowen. The Lion and the Throne. Boston: Little, Brown. 1957, p. 65. She writes of the 1570's: "These great ones walked and talked in the garden... Sir Nicholas Bacon... Sir Thomas Bromley... Mr. Justice Manwood, beloved wherever he went..."

5 & 6 That haue consented vnto Henries death: King Henry the Fift, too famous to liue long, ated the clergy– had entire faith in those fools o' Kent– tut! UUhen fine hvmans go to no
7 & 8 England ne're lost a King of so much worth. England ne're had a King vntill his time: Matin – not a "deadlih sin"– nor need these gvll-men hang i' gags, or "rot in hell!" Fuck W.! Kn–

Fuck W.! Powel Mills Dawley. John Whitgift and the English Reformation. N. Y.: Scribner's, 1954, offers a largely sympathetic view of the archbishop.

9 & 10 Vertue he had, deseruing to command, His brandish't Sword did blinde men with his beames, owing o' th' vnreasoned, inhumane deeds– th' B. C. Bible shredded– Dad writ his satires." Mum him!"

th' B. C. Bible shredded. Whitgift disliked the Old Testament, punished ministers who read any version but the Authorized Bishops' Bible.

Dad writ his satires. Even now the public doesn't know Manwood was the mover behind the privately printed "Marprelate Papers" which were distributed at court in 1588 and 1589, causing laughter and consternation. Four of these he wrote himself: "The Epistle," "The Epitome," "Hay Any Work for Cooper" and "The Protestation" are in his Falstaffian style. It looks as if Kit wrote "Theses Martinianae" trying to preserve Roger's anonymity. "Schoolpoints" seems to have been created by a puritan divine – Roger wanted those minsters to have a chance to say what they believed – and the slimy "Reproof" was written by a provocateur who managed to betray several workers on the project. The set of pamphlets is available from The Scolar Press Limited, 93 Hunslet Road, Leeds 10, England, and can be found in many college libraries.

11 & 12 His Armes spred wider then a Dragons Wings: His sparkling Eyes, repleat with wrathfull fire, Angered, th' snarling prelate issued warrant for R. M. 's death. His ill wishes whip my grief! Pesk–

th' snarling prelate. In a monograph in Dictionary of National Biography, Sidney Lee writes of the archbishop: "In his examination of prisoners he showed a brutal insolence which is alien to all modern conceptions of justice or religion." There were many questionable executions – people publicly hanged or secretly killed in jail or at home. G. B. Harrison, An Elizabethan Journal, Being a Record of Those Things Most Talked about During the Years 1591-1594 . N. Y.: Cosmopolitan Book Corp. 1929: "27 February, 1593: ... a Barrowist, having died in Newgate, his body was taken by his friends and enclosed in a coffin which they laid at the door of Justice Young, bearing this inscription: 'This is... the last of sixteen or seventeen which that great enemy of God, the Archbishop of Canterbury, with his High Commissioners, have murthered in Newgate within these five years, manifestly for the testimony of Jesus Christ. His soul is now with the Lord; and his blood crieth for speedy vengeance against that great enemy of the saints... ' " Whitgift thought he was cleaning up. Roger and many good lawmen saw trouble ahead.

my. Here Marlowe turns a W upsidedown to make an M. In future ciphers, if W or M is underlined, it means it's used upside down.

13 & 14 More dazled and droue back his Enemies, Then mid-day Sunne, fierce bent against their faces. i craze for reuenge makes my drama touch Dad's fetid death-bed in slie scenae, 'n' nine, ten bish–
15 & 16 What should I say? His Deeds exceed all speech: He ne're lift vp his Hand, but conquered. ops 'n' a deacon, vpset, hurriedly exit th' queen's hall. See, chiefs wud heed Dad's belch! Hi–

exit th' queen's hall. The great hall of the palace of Hampton Court, where the Countess of Pembroke's Players performed Marlowe's play on Twelfth Night, 1592/3.

17 & 18 We mourne in black, why mourn we not in blood? Henry is dead, and neuer shall reuiue: s horrid murder must be reueal'd– 'n' can be, when "low kin"– hey, nonnie! Now all you, adieu!

 

Henry VI, Part I. First Folio of Shakespeare. Histories, p. 96. Only lines of dialogue are counted.

Translations copyright© 2000 R. Ballantine.

All rights reserved.