Shakespeare’s testament: England in 1623

Abstract

ABSTRACT The year 1623 is not one which tends to set racing the historical pulse. Indeed, if it were not for the publication of the First Folio it would be barely remembered at all. But if we look a little more closely, we can identify some events of that year which inhere a curious prescience. The first part of this essay looks at three of these events. The first is the Amboyna ‘massacre’, an early portent of the bloodshed which would attend the advance of empire. The second is the so-called ‘Fatal Vespers’, an incident which led to the death of 95 Catholics attending a surrogate Mass in London. God’s work for sure. The third was the notorious escapade which saw the future King Charles I don a false beard and chase off to Madrid to see the Infanta dance. The second part of this article will then juxtapose these variously odd events with themes which Shakespeare appears to have written into what is commonly thought to be his last play, The Tempest. The fact that The Tempest would be the first to appear in the First Folio may be mere coincidence, or it may not.