in 1 Sir John Oldcastle — Munday, Anthony; Drayton, Michael; Wilson, Robert; Hathaway, Richard
Metadata
Play
1 Sir John Oldcastle
Author
Munday, Anthony; Drayton, Michael; Wilson, Robert; Hathaway, Richard
Year (catalogued)
1600
First performance
1599
Decade
1600s
Genre
History
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Speech prefix(es)
Scroop. | Scroop | Scroope | Scrope | S • roope
Words
274
Characters
1443
Typicality
0.38 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A08469
BritDrama no.
1211
Cluster
Cluster 17 — Intriguers & schemers
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Once more my Lord of Cambridge make rehearsal, How you do stand entitled to the Crown, The deeper shall we print it in our minds, And every man the better be resolu'de, When he perceives his quarrel to be joust. So that it seems your claim comes by your wife, As lawful heir to Roger Mortimer, The son of Edmund, which did marry Philip Daughter and heir to Lyonell Duke of Clarence. What think you then of this? I am his bedfellow, And unsuspected nightly sleep with him. What if I venture in those silent hours, When sleep hath sealed up all mortal eyes, To murder him in bed? how Like you that? What shall we rise thus, and determine nothing? I am resolu'de our enterprise is joust. No more earl Cambridge, here I plighted my faith, To set up thee, and thy renowned wife. A ready way: here comes the man himself Booted and spurrd, it seems he hath been riding. That is indeed the thing we all desire. How say you then, will you first hunt with us? esides, you know your self is in disgrace, Held as a recreant, and pursued to death. This will defend you from your enemies, And establish your religion through the land. Weel swear to you. My pocket should have one: yea, here it is. And there is my name. And we would not be absent from the court, Lest thereby grow suspicion in the king. We never had a fitter time than now The realm in such division as it is. We lack but now Lord Cobhams fellowship, And then our plot were absolute indeed.
Plot summary
Plot — 1 Sir John Oldcastle
Despite a royal prohibition on disorder during the preparations for the invasion of France, Lords Herbert and Po·wys fall out over their religious differences, and brawl with their followers in the streets of Hereford;Herbert is wounded, and Powys flees, with orders given for his arrest. The Bishop of Rochester does his best to associate dissent and conspiracy with Sir John Oldcastle, but the King is not convinced. Powys takes refuge in Oldcastle's house, just before two orders arrive: one to attend at court, the other to answer charges before Rochester's ecclesiastical court; Oldcastle's servant Harpoole forces Rochester's summoner to eat his own summons, wax and all. The King advises Oldcastle to keep his religious views private: he can believe what he likes so long as he does not antagonize the bishops or encourage Protestant rebellion. In turn. Oldcastle intercedes for Powys, and the King signs his pardon. Rebellion is brewing in England. On the basis of a superior dynastic claim, the Earl of Cambridge intends to seize the throne with French support. Oldcastle is invited to join the plot, but he procures an incriminating document and takes it to court. Meanwhile, Protestant rebels muster their forces in London. The King plans to spy on them in disguise, but is robbed by the renegade priest Sir John; the priest gets him to promise to secure the King's pardon for robbery, and gives him half a coin as a token by which they can know one another again. On the night before the battle, the King. in his own person, plays dice with Sir John and wins back his stolen money, including the broken coin; as promised, he agrees to spare Sir John's life ifhe gives up his life of crime. The rebels are routed, but the prisoners falsely implicate Oldcastle. The charges collapse when it becomes clear that the rebels don't recognize him, and Oldcastle further demonstrates his loyalty with his evidence of the Cambridge conspiracy. The rebel leaders are executed, Cambridge exposed and arrested, and the King's faith in Oldcastle is restored. In the King's absence, Rochester has Oldcastle's property seized, and Oldcastle himself arrested for treason when he arrives home; his books are burnt when they are found to be in English. Rochester visits Oldcastle in prison in the hope that he may recant, but Oldcastle overpowers him and escapes in his clothes. On the run, he arrives with his wife in St Albans, but is forced to escape arrest by another illicit exchange of clothes.…