The Photograph

Welcome to Marlowe Month, dedicated to the memory of Professor Ken Pickering who passed away last month. Former Chair of the Marlowe Society and committee member for many years, he was extremely knowledgeable and multi-talented. He was a delightful man whom I had the great pleasure of meeting at a Marlowe Society lecture, and he will be greatly missed by so many around the world.

For decades, I have had a deep interest in both writing and history, with the Tudor era merging the two. In the late 16^th century, writing took on an almost unknown lease of life, producing reams of literature from the English Renaissance writers. The most famous of these, William Shakespeare, was certainly influenced by his contemporary Christopher (Kit) Marlowe whose mini biography below summarises known details of his life, as accurately as my findings allow. I would be extremely grateful for any corrections or additions. You can contact me on Twitter (see below the biography).

Audio version: https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/e1k5adi

The Photograph

(The Life of Christopher Marlowe – A Synopsis with Facts and Speculations)

I have a T-shirt displaying a photograph – of a portrait. While it is presumed to be of Christopher Marlowe, the Tudor poet, Latin translator, playwright and leading exponent of blank verse, there is also much controversy over the identity of the ornately dressed young man depicted. The portrait, by an unknown artist, was discovered in 1952 on a rubbish tip at Cambridge University’s Corpus Christi College, Marlowe’s alma mater. However, in the late Tudor era the college was known as St Bene’t (short for Benedict). The painting was in need of considerable restoration work, but the finished product is evidence of a fine piece of art.

Now, you may be wondering why I bought this T-shirt. The answer is quite simple but split into three parts. First of all, it is the closest I shall ever come to a picture of Christopher Marlowe, one of England’s finest dramatists, and beside the image is printed “Accursed be he that first invented war.” from Tamburlaine the Great (Part 1), one of his most famous plays. Secondly, I have many T-shirts proclaiming my interest in music and comedy but had none paying combined tribute to history and literature. Thirdly, not knowing whether this picture really shows Marlowe adds to the mystery of the life and death of one of Canterbury’s most famous sons, thus making this T-shirt more exciting to wear!

The clues which point to the possibility that it is Christopher Marlowe, known since childhood as Kit, are the inscriptions in the top left corner of the portrait, both in Latin. One of these is “Anno dni aetatis svae 21 1585” (“Aged 21 in the year 1585”), which would describe him, though a university would have been full of young men of the same age. Beneath this, it reads “Quod me nutrit me destruit” (“That which nourishes me destroys me”), said to be Kit’s motto, and a concept used in his plays. If events reported eight years later bear any truth, this phrase would seem to have been prophetic. Regarding his appearance, little is known though he is said to have had slim features, brown eyes and long brown hair. The subject of the portrait does largely conform to this description but whether the description emanates from this painting or from someone who actually knew Kit is unclear. There are also arguments suggesting that Kit was not the subject of the portrait, as someone of his status would not have been allowed to wear such fine clothes (there was a strict dress code in Elizabeth I’s reign), and there are even disputes over his age in relation to the date on the painting.

It might be sensible to mention here that in 16^th-century England, the Julian calendar was used, with 25^th March heralding the first day of each year, though 1^st January was also considered the start of the new year in some instances. The Gregorian calendar officially superseded the Julian in England in 1752 and is the one we use today. To simplify the dating system for the purposes of this mini biography, I am using the Gregorian calendar as it means more to us.

There is much speculation about Kit Marlowe’s life, though some facts are available. He was born in Canterbury, Kent, and though there is no official registration of his birth (not required then), the church records of St George the Martyr show his baptismal date as 26^th February 1564, with his name spelled Christofer. Back then, with high infant mortality, babies were usually baptised within a few days of birth, so it can be assumed that he was born towards the end of the month. He was the second child and eldest son of shoemaker John Marlowe and his wife Katherine. Kit was educated at The King’s School in Canterbury, said to be the world’s oldest school in existence today, and gained a Cambridge scholarship which led to his BA and MA achievements. In his apparently short life he translated into English lengthy Latin poems by Ovid and Lucan, penned his own poems plus seven extant plays and is said to have been a great influence on his contemporaries, including William Shakespeare, who was just two months younger than Kit. In fact, Oxford scholars recently concluded that the two dramatists did collaborate on Henry VI. As a result, the names of both playwrights appear together on the front covers of the 2016 New Oxford Shakespeare publication of all three parts of this historical saga. However, many other eminent academics disagree with this conclusion, so whether Marlowe and Shakespeare co-wrote this is still open to debate, but it is certain that Kit was something of an expert on British history and ancient civilisations.

It is generally believed that while at Cambridge Kit Marlowe was recruited into the shadowy world of espionage, working for Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth I’s “spymaster”, whether willingly or not is unreported. This is borne out by records referring to a 1587 letter received by his college from the Privy Council following the college’s hesitation in awarding Marlowe his MA. The letter explained that his lengthy absences were due to his working for the state (though the role in which he was employed was not specified), and as a consequence he received his second degree that year.

On gaining his MA, Marlowe moved to London and made a great success of writing plays. His strong characters and dramatic content, combined with iambic pentameter, proved very popular with theatre-goers, and he is considered to have revolutionised London theatre with this new style. All but Edward II were performed at The Rose, a theatre owned by businessman Philip Henslowe, with many main roles performed by the outstanding actor Edward Alleyn. Marlowe’s repertoire of seven plays includes Tamburlaine the Great (Parts 1 and 2), The Jew of Malta, The Massacre at Paris, Edward II, Dido Queen of Carthage and Doctor Faustus, though the exact chronology of their writing is not definite. Dido, like Tamburlaine the Great (Part 1), appears to have been written while Marlowe was still a student. As Kit was said to be a part-time spy, this probably allowed him to devote enough time to his writing. Without this extra job, perhaps he would have produced more plays but had less money!

During his time in London, Kit seems to have acquired a reputation not only for his writing talent but also for being a drinker, tobacco smoker and atheist with outspoken views, some of which conflicted with government policy. Whether all, or any, of these accusations were valid is open to speculation, some possibly having been made by people who, for reasons of jealousy or desperation, sought to disgrace him in the eyes of society.

Marlowe is recorded as having died on 30^th May 1593, from a stab wound inflicted by Ingram Frizer during a fight in a house in Deptford (back then this was in Kent; today it is part of South London) – not in a tavern brawl, the common but erroneous belief. However, in 1925 Leslie Hotson discovered the coroner’s report and on examination of the document concluded that it was unrepresentative of the actual facts, providing inadequate evidence of the events alleged to have taken place. He found flaws in it, with a number of important questions apparently never posed, let alone answered, combined with the probably unreliable statements made by Frizer, Robert Poley and Nicholas Skeres who were all present at the time of Kit’s alleged death but regarded as “professional liars”. Within a month Frizer had been acquitted on the grounds of “self-defence”, though there are some reports that Christopher Marlowe was unarmed.

As a result, there is a growing interest in the Marlovian Theory which puts forward the concept that Marlowe’s death was faked and he was secretly taken abroad for his own protection. The reason for this is that there had been a series of events which would have made his disappearance desirable, not least his awaiting trial for heresy, with a guilty verdict almost certainly leading to execution. Further conjectures have him living in France and Italy, before returning to England around 1595, in disguise, continuing to write but under a pseudonym, working with William Shakespeare or even writing all the Bard’s plays.

Scholars are divided on all this, but it has to be said that the Marlovian Theory raises some interesting ideas to support the fact that Kit did live beyond his 29 years. First of all, his alleged murder took place in a “government safe house” in the company of members of the espionage ring, who had hired the room for the day from the owner Eleanor Bull, a respectable widow and probably a relative of Walsingham. Kit is said to have had an argument with Ingram Frizer over payment for the meal (“the reckoning” – the bill as we say today) and it was during this altercation that Marlowe was supposedly stabbed just above the right eye – to a depth of two inches – dying instantly, though some present-day doctors have disputed this on the grounds that the wound inflicted would not cause immediate death. The coroner’s report states that Kit was laying on a bed when the disagreement began, but why would the group have booked a room with a bed for a daytime get-together? Was it the only room available, or was the plan to smuggle him out of the house and on to a boat? If the latter, it would make sense for Kit to have got a few hours’ sleep before his long journey along the Thames and across the Channel, though this is entirely my own speculation. On the practical side, the “safe house” in Deptford is thought to have had its garden adjoining the bank of the river and it would have been possible to smuggle Kit out, under cover of darkness, to a waiting boat.

As to Kit’s reported demise, he is said to have been buried on 1^st June 1593 in an unmarked grave in the churchyard of St Nicholas in Deptford. However, there is much speculation about this. One theory maintains that as the writer of some of the most popular plays of his day, and a part-time government employee known to Queen Elizabeth herself, Marlowe would have been given a burial more in keeping with his status. An opposing view suggests that if Marlowe had transgressed the rules and sensibilities of the government, he would have been considered unworthy of a high-profile burial place. Further speculation even incorporates the suggestion that Kit did flee from England and an unknown criminal was buried in the grave. Either way, today there is a modern plaque on the wall of St Nicholas’s churchyard, Deptford which reads:

NEAR THIS SPOT LIE THE MORTAL REMAINS OF CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE WHO MET HIS UNTIMELY DEATH IN DEPTFORD ON MAY 30TH 1593

Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight… (Doctor Faustus)

Whatever the truth, Christopher Marlowe certainly made his mark on English theatre in the late 16^th century, bringing phrases into popular use in the English language including:

“the face that launched a thousand ships” (Doctor Faustus)

“sink or swim” (Dido Queen of Carthage)

“che sarà sarà” (Doctor Faustus)

He is also known to have translated Ovid’s Amores from Latin into English and Book 1 of Lucan’s Pharsalia, when at Cambridge. It is believed the former was first published in 1582, under the title Ovid’s Elegies, though this book did not meet with the approval of all, due to its subject matter. In fact, the publication was banned in 1599 by John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Richard Bancroft, Bishop of London, due to its “adult” content as Marlowe had translated it extremely accurately and this immoral poetry was gaining popularity with the public. This is only one of many examples of Ovid’s works being banned, beginning in Ancient Rome in his lifetime.

Shortly after news of Marlowe’s death began circulating in London, some of his fellow writers remembered Kit with praise. George Peele dubbed him “The Muses’ Darling”, while Ben Jonson talked of “Marlowe’s mighty line” (a reference to his use of iambic pentameter, the first to do so successfully in plays, creating a style emulated by other playwrights, not least Shakespeare), with Michael Drayton recalling that Kit “Had in him those brave translunary things / That the first poets had”. All this proved that his writing talent was greatly admired by his contemporaries.

Memorials to “The Muses’ Darling” can be found in Canterbury. In the late 19^th century Edward Onslow Ford sculpted a bronze statue of the Muse of Poetry with four statuettes, one at each side, representing actors playing leading roles in Marlowe’s plays. There is also another planned – a more modern design, which is awaiting approval. The King’s School has a house named after its former pupil, and his home city proclaims the name of their famous son with the Marlowe Theatre, together with the Marlowe Kit – the theatre’s exhibition venue – as well as the Marlowe Arcade situated within the Whitefriars Shopping Centre, amid a variety of other establishments bearing Kit’s surname. In 2002, a stained-glass window dedicated to him and donated by the Marlowe Society (which included a question mark next to his date of death) was unveiled in Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey, London. The Marlowe Society exists to preserve and promote the known works of this influential writer, and much of my research online has been made so much easier by this well-informed group of literary enthusiasts, so my grateful thanks to them and their website, and for welcoming me as a society member.

From the little that is known of him, it strikes me that Kit would have approved of his image appearing on a T-shirt, although an article of clothing so far removed from the garments of the 16^th century that he could never have imagined such a fashion item! He seems to have been a forward-thinking free spirit who was London’s leading dramatist and poet in his day (before Shakespeare’s fame overshadowed him) and lived to write, always striving for wisdom and knowledge. In fact, to use a modern phrase, Kit would probably have been considered “cool” by his friends. Perhaps if he had been part of my generation, with his free-thinking views, long hair and obvious great talent for words, he would have been one of the foremost outspoken protest singer-songwriters of the 1960s, carving a niche for himself beside Dylan and his ilk.

Despite his possibly dubious lifestyle, it seems that more rumour than fact exists, and Kit may well have been more maligned than is justified. All in all, I am delighted to wear a T-shirt dedicated to this enigmatic genius and to speculate on whether his talents were curtailed that May evening in 1593 or whether he lived on to write alone, under a pseudonym and/or anonymously with Shakespeare. I continue to hope that some evidence will be uncovered one day to prove that he did live into old age, but only time will tell.

Whether the portrait actually does depict Christopher Marlowe will doubtless remain a mystery for the remainder of time. However, of more importance is that at least some of his plays, poems and translations are extant today and, as a result, he has left us a legacy of quality literature. 

© Chasqui Penguin, 2021

Twitter: @ChasquiPenguin