Fulgens and Lucrece
Encyclopedia
Fulgens and Lucrece is a late 15th-century interlude
by Henry Medwall
. It is the earliest purely secular English play that survives. Since John Cardinal Morton, for whom Medwall wrote the play, died in 1500, the work must have been written before that date. It was probably first performed at Lambeth Palace
in 1497, while Cardinal Morton was entertaining ambassadors from Spain
and Flanders
. The play is based on a Latin novella by Buonaccorso da Montemagno
that had been translated into English
by John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester
and published in 1481 by William Caxton
.
The play was printed in 1512-1516 by John Rastell, and was later only available as a fragment until a copy showed up in an auction of books from Lord Mostyn's collection in 1919. Henry E. Huntington acquired this copy, and arranged the printing of a facsimile.
of Pistoia, written in 1438. This treatise had been translated into French by as and printed by William Caxton
's friend, Colard Mansion, in Bruges
around 1475. The French version was later translated into English by John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester
and printed by Caxton in 1481, on the last pages of Cicero of Old Age and Friendship. Medwall used Tiptoft's translation as his source.
tells how , the daughter of the Roman senator , is wooed by the idle patrician and the studious plebeian . asks her father for advice, and asks the senate to decide on the matter. Each suitor then pleads before the senate. The senate's decision is not mentioned in the treatise.
and deals with the wooing of Lucrece, daughter of the Roman senator Fulgens, by , a patrician, and , a plebeian. They both plead their worthiness to Lucrece (and not to the senate, as in Medwall's source). Lucrece eventually chooses .
The play also contains a comic subplot which appears to begin outside the play and then merges with it. In this subplot, the characters A and B discuss a play that they expect to see, and B relates the plot, which is actually the plot of . A and B later turn out to be servants of Cornelius and Gaius, and they try to win the love of Joan, a handmaid of Lucrece.
The comic subplot and Lucrece's final choice were additions by Medwall.
Morality play
The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
by Henry Medwall
Henry Medwall
Henry Medwall was the first known English vernacular dramatist. Fulgens and Lucrece , whose heroine must choose between two suitors, is the earliest known secular English play. The other play of Medwall is titled Nature. He stayed at the court of Cardinal Morton, Chancellor in the time of Henry...
. It is the earliest purely secular English play that survives. Since John Cardinal Morton, for whom Medwall wrote the play, died in 1500, the work must have been written before that date. It was probably first performed at Lambeth Palace
Lambeth Palace
Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. It is located in Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames a short distance upstream of the Palace of Westminster on the opposite shore. It was acquired by the archbishopric around 1200...
in 1497, while Cardinal Morton was entertaining ambassadors from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. The play is based on a Latin novella by Buonaccorso da Montemagno
Buonaccorso da Montemagno
Buonaccorso da Montemagno was the name shared by two Italian scholars from Pistoia in Tuscany. The elder Buonaccorso da Montemagno was a jurisconsult and ambassador who made a compilation of Pistoia's statutes in 1371...
that had been translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester
John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester
John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester KG , English nobleman and scholar, was the son of John Tiptoft, 1st Baron Tiptoft and Joyce Cherleton, co-heiress of Edward Charleton, 5th Baron Cherleton. He was also known as the Butcher of England...
and published in 1481 by William Caxton
William Caxton
William Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. As far as is known, he was the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England...
.
The play was printed in 1512-1516 by John Rastell, and was later only available as a fragment until a copy showed up in an auction of books from Lord Mostyn's collection in 1919. Henry E. Huntington acquired this copy, and arranged the printing of a facsimile.
Source
The source of the play is the Latin treatise (On True Nobility) by the Italian humanist Bonaccorso or Buonaccorso da MontemagnoBuonaccorso da Montemagno
Buonaccorso da Montemagno was the name shared by two Italian scholars from Pistoia in Tuscany. The elder Buonaccorso da Montemagno was a jurisconsult and ambassador who made a compilation of Pistoia's statutes in 1371...
of Pistoia, written in 1438. This treatise had been translated into French by as and printed by William Caxton
William Caxton
William Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. As far as is known, he was the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England...
's friend, Colard Mansion, in Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
around 1475. The French version was later translated into English by John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester
John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester
John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester KG , English nobleman and scholar, was the son of John Tiptoft, 1st Baron Tiptoft and Joyce Cherleton, co-heiress of Edward Charleton, 5th Baron Cherleton. He was also known as the Butcher of England...
and printed by Caxton in 1481, on the last pages of Cicero of Old Age and Friendship. Medwall used Tiptoft's translation as his source.
tells how , the daughter of the Roman senator , is wooed by the idle patrician and the studious plebeian . asks her father for advice, and asks the senate to decide on the matter. Each suitor then pleads before the senate. The senate's decision is not mentioned in the treatise.
Plot
The plot is set in ancient RomeAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and deals with the wooing of Lucrece, daughter of the Roman senator Fulgens, by , a patrician, and , a plebeian. They both plead their worthiness to Lucrece (and not to the senate, as in Medwall's source). Lucrece eventually chooses .
The play also contains a comic subplot which appears to begin outside the play and then merges with it. In this subplot, the characters A and B discuss a play that they expect to see, and B relates the plot, which is actually the plot of . A and B later turn out to be servants of Cornelius and Gaius, and they try to win the love of Joan, a handmaid of Lucrece.
The comic subplot and Lucrece's final choice were additions by Medwall.
Editions
- F. S. Boas & A. W. Reed, eds.: Fulgens & Lucres. A fifteenth-century secular play. (Tudor and Stuart Library). Clarendon Press, 1926.
- Five Pre-Shakespearean Comedies: Fulgens and Lucrece, The Four P.P., Ralph Roister Doister, Gammer Gurton's Needle, Supposes Oxford University Press, 1958.
- Alan H. Nelson, ed.: The Plays of Henry Medwall (Tudor Interludes). D. S. Brewer, 1980. ISBN 0859910547.
- Fulgens and Lucres. The Henry E. Huntington Facsimile Reprints, 1. George D. Smith, 1920.
- Seymour De Ricci (Foreword): Fulgens and Lucres. Kessinger Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-0548726235.
- Oxford Text Archive: English 362: Henry Medwall's Fulgens and Lucres (complete text).
- From Stage to Page: Medieval & Renaissance Drama (University of Maine at Machias): Full text (plain text format).
Further reading
- William Anthony Davenport & Paula Neuss: Fifteenth-century English drama: the early moral plays and their literary relations. Boydell & Brewer, 1982. ISBN 0859910911. ISBN 978-0859910910.
- Internet Shakespeare Editions, University of Victoria: Interludes. Accessed 2009-07-09.
- The Oxford Dictionary of Plays: Fulgens and Lucrece.
- Robert P. Merrix: "The Function of the Comic Plot in "Fulgens and Lucrece"". Modern Language Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Spring, 1977), pp. 16-26.
- R. G. Siemens: "‘As Strayght as Ony Pole’: Publius Cornelius, Edmund de la Pole, and Contemporary Court Satire in Henry Medwall's Fulgens and Lucres". Renaissance Forum: An Electronic Journal of Early-Modern Literary and Historical Studies Volume One, Number Two - September 1996.