in The Hector of Germany, or The Palsgrave, Prime Elector — Smith, William (?)
Metadata
Play
The Hector of Germany, or The Palsgrave, Prime Elector
Author
Smith, William (?)
Year (catalogued)
1615
First performance
1614
Decade
1610s
Genre
Pseudo-History
Play type
Private
Theater
Red Bull;Curtain;Outdoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
English: | Englishman. | English. | Englishm:
Words
322
Characters
1629
Typicality
0.35 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A12548
BritDrama no.
1707
Cluster
Cluster 0 — Clowns, beggars & street sellers
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
And Englishman & a traveller; what are you? Then give way; For I am the better man. I, the better man, by the porambulation of 2. or 3. thousand miles, I have seen the great Turk borrow Money, and never mind the repayment ont. Is't possible? Sure thou art some N k emans bastard, thou canst tell their tricks so right. Now we are in the discourse of women, What Countrywomen dost thou love best? I love all, and to kiss them after the fashion of all Nations. You are no Traveller, and therefore I'll bear with your ignorance: but know this, your Spaniard, as he is proved, he kisses proudly, as if he scornde the touch of a Ladies lip; marry you Frenchmen draw it in, as if he would swallow her alive: Now the Itali and has soon done with the upper parts, to be tickling of the lower: and we Englishmen can never take enough at both ends. It is, and yours (I think should be Mon sieur do little. You must do as I do then, and since we were both appointed, to wait here for the French Queens coming, lets take her gold, and forswear our selves. I'll swear that the Lady is a good Lady, The Queen a good Queen that rs and end of swearing. Thats a brave boy that plays the Queens partly. And when the play's done, I'll be at charges To bid them all to supper. Would I were a bed, The reason is, least thou shouldst beg some of his New-liuing. And from this time forward, let us be forsworn brother's. As how? And more then you should get of me, but that the Queen gave us gold to say something: but who have we here S rr h? Begin, begin, we are set. God a mercy good Chamberlain. And I'll do as much as your Majesty will have me do.
Plot summary
Plot — The Hector of Germany, or The Palsgrave, Prime Elector
. Defeated in his attempt to seize power in Spain, Henry the Bastard attempts to get himself elected Holy Roman Emperor; he secures the support of three of the seven Electors, promising that Saxony will be the power behind his throne. But the other Electors, including the sickly Palsgrave, prefer the Duke of Savoy’s candidature, so the Bastard uses force: he defeats the opposing Electors in battle, imprisons two of them, and has himself crowned, then breaks his word and excludes Saxony from power. News of the ===== PAGE 311 ===== 1613 usurpation cures the Palsgrave, who prepares to mobilize an army. Spain is the theatre of war for their first confrontation. The Palsgrave is victorious, and the Bastard is captured, but rescued by Saxony. The warring potentates seek alliances against one another: the Palsgrave goes to England, the Bastard to France. The Palsgrave competes in an English tournament and is installed in the Order of the Garter. King John of France is reluctant to fight the English again (they have too good a track record of victory in France), and hopes to use diplomacy to secure Edward III’s neutrality. Refused the chance to conduct the mission, Saxony goes to England in disguise, but is identified by the Palsgrave, who dishonours him by pulling off a lock of his hair. Diplomacy fails, and Edward and the Palsgrave invade France, dispatching troops to free the imprisoned Electors. The Palsgrave defeats and kills Saxony in single combat. King John withdraws his support from the Bastard, and Savoy is formally crowned Emperor. In the sub-plot, Lord Fitzwaters is betrothed to Floramell, but discovers that she loves his son. He witnesses a secret assignation between the lovers in the garden of Lord Clinton, Floramell’s father. Clinton orders Young Fitzwaters off his land; Lord Fitzwaters goes further and banishes him from England. Floramell goes with him, leaving in her place a cross-dressed page, whom Lord Fitzwaters ‘marries’. The lovers are separated in a shipwreck: Floramell is washed up on the French coast and becomes a maid of honour at court; Young Fitzwaters is marooned on a barren rock and subsists on a fish diet until he is rescued by Saxony. King John is attracted to Floramell and offers to make way for her by having the Queen murdered. Floramell will not consent to adultery or murder, but agrees to give him a single kiss. Unfortunately this is witnessed by the Queen, who plans revenge and engages as her murderer an English newcomer to…