1609 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1609 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- January 1 - the Children of the BlackfriarsChildren of the ChapelThe Children of the Chapel were the boys with unbroken voices, choristers, who formed part of the Chapel Royal, the body of singers and priests serving the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they were called upon to do so....
perform MiddletonThomas MiddletonThomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
's A Trick to Catch the Old OneA Trick to Catch the Old OneA Trick to Catch the Old One is a Jacobean comedy written by Thomas Middleton, first published in 1608. The play is a satire in the sub-genre of city comedy....
at Court. - July 28 - The Sea VentureSea VentureThe Sea Venture was a 17th-century English sailing ship, the wrecking of which in Bermuda is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest...
is wrecked in Bermuda - this event is thought to be the inspiration for Shakespeare's The TempestThe TempestThe Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
. - December 21 - William AmesWilliam AmesWilliam Ames was an English Protestant divine, philosopher, and controversialist...
delivers a controversial sermon for St Thomas's Day, criticizing the "heathenish debauchery" of Cambridge students during the Twelve Days of Christmas. - Samuel DanielSamuel DanielSamuel Daniel was an English poet and historian.-Early life:Daniel was born near Taunton in Somerset, the son of a music-master. He was the brother of lutenist and composer John Danyel. Their sister Rosa was Edmund Spenser's model for Rosalind in his The Shepherd's Calendar; she eventually married...
completes the eighth and last book of his epic poem, Civil Wars. - Jacques Auguste de ThouJacques Auguste de ThouJacques Auguste de Thou was a French historian, book collector and president of the Parlement de Paris.-Life:...
's Historia sui temporis is placed on the Index Librorum ProhibitorumIndex Librorum ProhibitorumThe Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
. - The Sala Fredericiana, the first reading room of the Biblioteca AmbrosianaBiblioteca AmbrosianaThe Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo , whose agents scoured Western Europe and even Greece and Syria for books...
in Milan, opens to the public. - Francis Tregian the YoungerFrancis Tregian the YoungerFrancis Tregian the Younger was the son of the Catholic exile Francis Tregian the Elder .He was educated in France, and in 1592 obtained a position in Rome as chamberlain to Cardinal William Allen...
is imprisoned for his Catholic sympathies, and begins copying out the Fitzwilliam Virginal BookFitzwilliam Virginal BookThe Fitzwilliam Virginal Book is a primary source of keyboard music from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods in England, i.e., the late Renaissance and very early Baroque. It takes its name from Viscount Fitzwilliam who bequeathed this manuscript collection to Cambridge University in 1816...
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New books
- Douai BibleDouai BibleThe Douay–Rheims Bible is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by members of the English College, Douai, in the service of the Catholic Church...
- Inca Garcilaso de la VegaInca Garcilaso de la VegaGarcilaso de la Vega , born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, was a historian and writer from the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. The son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman, he is recognized primarily for his contributions to Inca history, culture, and society...
- Comentarios Reales de los IncasComentarios Reales de los IncasThe Comentarios Reales de los Incas is a book written by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the first mestizo writer of colonial Andean South America... - Edward Grimeston - A General History of the Netherlands
- Hugo GrotiusHugo GrotiusHugo Grotius , also known as Huig de Groot, Hugo Grocio or Hugo de Groot, was a jurist in the Dutch Republic. With Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law...
- Mare liberumMare LiberumMare Liberum is a book in Latin on international law written by the Dutch jurist and philosopher Hugo Grotius. In The Free Sea, Grotius formulated the new principle that the sea was international territory and all nations were free to use it for seafaring trade... - Thomas MiddletonThomas MiddletonThomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
- Sir Robert SherleyRobert ShirleySir Robert Shirley was an English traveler and adventurer, younger brother of Sir Anthony Shirley and of the adventurer Sir Thomas.-Diplomatic Activities:Robert went with his brother Anthony to Persia in 1598...
his Entertainment in Cracovia (translation) - The Two Gates of Salvation
- Sir Robert Sherley
- Thomas Dekker - Four Birds of Noah's Ark and The Gull's Hornbook
- Thomas Rowlands - A Whole Crew of Kind Gossips
- William RowleyWilliam RowleyWilliam Rowley was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626...
- A Search for Money
New drama
- Anonymous - Every Woman in Her Humour (published)
- Robert ArminRobert ArminRobert Armin was an English actor, a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. He became the leading comedy actor with the troupe associated with William Shakespeare following the departure of Will Kempe around 1600...
- The Italian Tailor and his Boy (published) - Fulke GrevilleFulke Greville, 1st Baron BrookeFulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, de jure 13th Baron Latimer and 5th Baron Willoughby de Broke , known before 1621 as Sir Fulke Greville, was an Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman....
- Mustapha (published) - Ben JonsonBen JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
(and collaborators?) - The Case is AlteredThe Case is AlteredThe Case is Altered is an early comedy by Ben Jonson. First published in 1609, the play presents a range of problems for scholars attempting to understand its place in Jonson's canon of works.-Date and publication:...
(published) - William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
- Pericles, Prince of TyrePericles, Prince of TyrePericles, Prince of Tyre is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio...
and Troilus and CressidaTroilus and CressidaTroilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was also described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus...
(published)
New poetry
- Alonso Jerónimo de Salas BarbadilloAlonso Jerónimo de Salas BarbadilloAlonso Jerónimo de Salas Barbadillo was a Spanish novelist and playwright, born in Madrid, and educated in Alcalá de Henares and Valladolid....
- La Patrona de Madrid restituida - William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
- The SonnetsShakespeare's sonnetsShakespeare's sonnets are 154 poems in sonnet form written by William Shakespeare, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. All but two of the poems were first published in a 1609 quarto entitled SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS.: Never before imprinted. Sonnets 138 and 144...
and A Lover's ComplaintA Lover's ComplaintA Lover's Complaint is a narrative poem published as an appendix to the original edition of Shakespeare's sonnets. It is given the title 'A Lover's Complaint' in the book, which was published by Thomas Thorpe in 1609...
Births
- February 10 - Sir John SucklingJohn Suckling (poet)Sir John Suckling was an English poet and one prominent figure among those renowned for careless gaiety, wit, and all the accomplishments of a Cavalier poet; and also the inventor of the card game Cribbage...
, poet (died 1642) - February 18 - Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of ClarendonEdward Hyde, 1st Earl of ClarendonEdward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...
, historian (died 1674) - August 19 - Jean RotrouJean RotrouJean Rotrou was a French poet and tragedian.Rotrou was born at Dreux in Normandy. He studied at Dreux and at Paris, and, though three years younger than Pierre Corneille, began writing before him. In 1632 he became playwright to the actors of the Hôtel de Bourgogne...
, dramatist (died 1650) - October 5 - Paul Fleming, poet (died 1640)
- December 24 - Philip WarwickPhilip WarwickSir Philip Warwick , English writer and politician, born in Westminster, was the son of Thomas Warwick, or Warrick, a musician....
, politician and memoirist (died 1683) - date unknown - Gerrard WinstanleyGerrard WinstanleyGerrard Winstanley was an English Protestant religious reformer and political activist during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell...
, political writer (died 1676) - probable - Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la CalprenèdeGauthier de Costes, seigneur de la CalprenèdeGauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède was a French novelist and dramatist. He was born at the Château of Tolgou in Salignac-Eyvigues . After studying at Toulouse, he came to Paris and entered the regiment of the guards, becoming in 1650 gentleman-in-ordinary of the royal household...
, novelist and dramatist (died 1663)
Deaths
- January 21 - Joseph Justus ScaligerJoseph Justus ScaligerJoseph Justus Scaliger was a French religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to include Persian, Babylonian, Jewish and Ancient Egyptian history.-Early life:He was born at Agen, the tenth child and third son of Italian...
, French Protestant writer (born 1540) - March 9 - William WarnerWilliam Warner (poet)William Warner was an English poet.-Life:William Warner was born in London about 1558. He was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, but left the university without taking a degree. He practised in London as an attorney, and gained a great reputation among his contemporaries as a poet...
, poet (born c1558) - August 22 - Judah Loew ben BezalelJudah Loew ben BezalelJudah Loew ben Bezalel, alt. Loewe, Löwe, or Levai, widely known to scholars of Judaism as the Maharal of Prague, or simply The MaHaRaL, the Hebrew acronym of "Moreinu ha-Rav Loew," was an important Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic, and philosopher who served as a leading rabbi in the city of...
, Jewish mystic and philosopher (born 1525) - October 19 - Jacobus ArminiusJacobus ArminiusJacobus Arminius , the Latinized name of the Dutch theologian Jakob Hermanszoon from the Protestant Reformation period, served from 1603 as professor in theology at the University of Leiden...
, theologian (born 1560) - December 4 - Alexander HumeAlexander HumeAlexander Hume was a Scottish poet.The son of Patrick, 5th Lord Polwarth, he was educated at the University of St. Andrews and on the Continent. He was originally destined for the law, but devoted himself to the service of the church, and became minister of Logie in Stirlingshire...
, poet (born c1560) - December - Barnabe BarnesBarnabe BarnesBarnabe Barnes , was an English poet. He is known for his Petrarchan love sonnets and for his combative personality, involving feuds with other writers and culminating in an alleged attempted murder.-Early life:...
, poet (born c1568) - probable - Mateo AlemánMateo AlemánMateo Alemán y de Enero was a Spanish novelist and writer.He graduated at Seville University in 1564, studied later at Salamanca and Alcalá, and from 1571 to 1588 held a post in the treasury; in 1594 he was arrested on suspicion of malversation, but was speedily released...
, Spanish novelist and man of letters (born 1547)