Strange’s/Derby’s Men, 1564–1620, and Pembroke’s Men, 1591–1601

Abstract

AbstractToo little is known about the involvement in playing of the Lancashire Stanleys, the earls of Derby, and especially about Lord Strange, Ferdinando Stanley, who became the fifth earl of Derby a few months before his death in 1594. The Stanleys were the largest landowners in Lancashire, and they liked plays: most of the major playing companies made regular visits to perform at their great houses. It was a family packed with historically famous names, which had exercised a peculiar if marginal role in Tudor government. One of the main questions is the Stanleys’ religious allegiances. The Puritans might have associated the Stanley enthusiasm for plays with an enthusiasm for ritual and the rites of the Catholic church. Whether that had anything to do with the strong Stanley tradition of patronizing playing companies there is no way of knowing. This chapter looks at the history of Strange’s/Derby’s Men and Pembroke’s Men, their performances, the plays they performed, the playhouses where they performed, their playing sharers, and their travelling records.