1612 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1612 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- January 6 - 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...
's masqueMasqueThe masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
Love RestoredLove RestoredLove Restored was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson; it was performed on Twelfth Night, January 6, 1612, and first published in 1616...
is performed. - January 12 - The King's MenKing's Men (playing company)The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare belonged through most of his career. Formerly known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it became The King's Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne and became the company's patron.The...
and Queen Anne's MenQueen Anne's MenQueen Anne's Men was a playing company, or troupe of actors, in Jacobean era London. -Formation:...
unite for the first of two Court performances in January, with Thomas HeywoodThomas HeywoodThomas Heywood was a prominent English playwright, actor, and author whose peak period of activity falls between late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre.-Early years:...
's The Silver Age - January 13 - The King's Men perform Heywood's The Rape of Lucrece.
- February 2 - Queen Anne's Men return to court to play Greene's Tu QuoqueGreene's Tu QuoqueGreene's Tu Quoque, also known as The City Gallant, is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by John Cooke. The play was a major popular success upon its premier, and became something of a legend in the theatre lore of the seventeenth century.-Performance:Cooke's play was performed by Queen...
. - May 11 - Shakespeare testifies in the Bellott v. MountjoyBellott v. MountjoyThe case of Bellott v. Mountjoy was a lawsuit heard at the Court of Requests in Westminster on 11 May 1612 that involved William Shakespeare in a minor role....
lawsuit. - November 6 - Henry Frederick, Prince of WalesHenry Frederick, Prince of WalesHenry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne...
, eldest son and heir to King James I of EnglandJames I of EnglandJames VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, dies of typhoid. His coterie of followers, which included literary figures like 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 John SeldenJohn SeldenJohn Selden was an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law...
, are forced to seek other patrons. - Death of Carlos Félix, the favourite son of Lope de VegaLope de VegaFélix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
. - The Accademia della CruscaAccademia della CruscaThe Accademia della Crusca is an Italian society for scholars and Italian linguists and philologists established in Florence. After the Accademia Cosentina, it is the oldest Italian academy still in existence...
publishes the first dictionary of the Italian languageItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
.
New books
- John BrinsleyJohn Brinsley the elderJohn Brinsley the elder was an English schoolmaster, known for his educational works.-Life:He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1584 and M.A. in 1588. He became the master of the school at Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, brought there by Henry Hastings,...
- Ludus literarius; or The Grammar Schoole - John DaviesJohn Davies (poet)Sir John Davies was an English poet and lawyer, who became attorney general in Ireland and formulated many of the legal principles that underpinned the British Empire.-Early life:...
- Discoverie of the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued - John Davies of HerefordJohn Davies of HerefordJohn Davies of Hereford was a writing-master and an Anglo-Welsh poet. He is usually known as John Davies of Hereford in order to distinguish him from others of the same name....
- The Picture of a Happy Man - Edward GrimestonEdward GrimestonEdward Grimeston was an English sergeant-at-arms and one of the most active translators of his day.-Life:He was sworn in as sergeant-at-arms to assist the Speaker in the Parliament of England on March 17, 1609/10. He married a daughter of Armiger Strettly. He had a son, Edward, and Sir Harbottle...
- The Generall Historie of Spaine (translated from French)
- The General History of the Magnificent State of Venice
- Thomas HeywoodThomas HeywoodThomas Heywood was a prominent English playwright, actor, and author whose peak period of activity falls between late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre.-Early years:...
- An Apology for Actors - Antonius Magirus - Koock-boeck ofte Familieren kevken-boeck
- Francisco de QuevedoFrancisco de QuevedoFrancisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, Luis de Góngora, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo...
- La cuna y la sepultura
New drama
- George ChapmanGeorge ChapmanGeorge Chapman was an English dramatist, translator, and poet. He was a classical scholar, and his work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been identified as the Rival Poet of Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Minto, and as an anticipator of the Metaphysical Poets...
- The Widow's TearsThe Widow's TearsThe Widow's Tears is an early Jacobean era play, a comedy written by George Chapman. It is often considered the last of Chapman's comedies, and sometimes his most problematic, "the most provocative and the most paradoxical of any of his dramatic works."...
published - Robert DaborneRobert DaborneRobert Daborne was an English dramatist of the Jacobean era.Little is known for certain of his birth, background, or early life; he may have come from a family in Guildford, Surrey. He is now thought to have been a "sizar"—an undergraduate exempt from fees—at King's College, Cambridge...
- A Christian Turn'd TurkA Christian Turn'd TurkA Christian Turn'd Turk is a play by the English dramatist Robert Daborne. It concerns the conversion of the pirate John Ward to Islam.-Characters:*Ward - English pirate captain*Dansiker - Dutch pirate captain...
published - Nathan Field - A Woman is a Weathercock 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...
- Love RestoredLove RestoredLove Restored was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson; it was performed on Twelfth Night, January 6, 1612, and first published in 1616...
(masqueMasqueThe masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
) - John WebsterJohn WebsterJohn Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
- The White DevilThe White DevilThe White Devil is a revenge tragedy from 1612 by English playwright John Webster . A notorious failure when it premiered, Webster complained the play was acted in the dead of winter before an unreceptive audience. The play's complexity, sophistication and satire made it a poor fit with the...
published
Poetry
- Luis de GóngoraLuis de GóngoraLuis de Góngora y Argote was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered to be the most prominent Spanish poets of their age. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorism...
- Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea (Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea) - Expanded edition of The Passionate PilgrimThe Passionate PilgrimThe Passionate Pilgrim is an anthology of 20 poems that were attributed to "W. Shakespeare" on the title page, only five of which are accepted by present-day scholars as authentically Shakespearean.-Editions:...
- George WitherGeorge WitherGeorge Wither was an English poet, pamphleteer, and satirist. He was a prolific writer who adopted a deliberate plainness of style; he was several times imprisoned. C. V...
- Elegy on the death of Henry Frederick, Prince of WalesHenry Frederick, Prince of WalesHenry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne...
Births
- February 28 - John PearsonJohn Pearson (scholar)John Pearson was an English theologian and scholar.-Life:He was born at Great Snoring, Norfolk....
, theologian and scholar (died 1686) - December 4 - Samuel ButlerSamuel Butler (poet)Samuel Butler was a poet and satirist. Born in Strensham, Worcestershire and baptised 14 February 1613, he is remembered now chiefly for a long satirical burlesque poem on Puritanism entitled Hudibras.-Biography:...
, poet (died 1680) - date unknown
- Antoine ArnauldAntoine ArnauldAntoine Arnauld — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician...
, theologian and philosopher (born 1694) - Anne BradstreetAnne BradstreetAnne Dudley Bradstreet was New England's first published poet. Her work met with a positive reception in both the Old World and the New World.-Biography:...
, female Colonial American poet (died 1672) - Thomas KilligrewThomas KilligrewThomas Killigrew was an English dramatist and theatre manager. He was a witty, dissolute figure at the court of King Charles II of England.-Life and work:...
, dramatist (died 1683) - Edward KingEdward King (British poet)Edward King , the subject of Milton's Lycidas, was born in Ireland in 1612, the son of Sir John King, a member of a Yorkshire family which had migrated to Ireland. Edward King was admitted a pensioner of Christ's College, Cambridge, on June 9, 1626, and four years later was elected a fellow...
, British poet (died 1637)
- Antoine Arnauld
- probable - John RushworthJohn RushworthJohn Rushworth , English historian, was born at Acklington Park in the parish of Warkworth, Northumberland, England. He compiled a series of works called Historical Collections , concerning the period of history covering the English Civil Wars throughout the 17th century.-Background:John Rushworth...
, author of the "Rushworth Collections" (died 1690)
Deaths
- March 16 - Thomas HollandThomas Holland (translator)Thomas Holland was an English Calvinist scholar and theologian, and one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible.He was a 1570 graduate of Exeter College, Oxford and Fellow of Baliol...
, theologian and translator of the Bible (born 1539) - April 11 - Emanuel van MeterenEmanuel van MeterenEmanuel van Meteren or Meteeren was a Flemish historian and Consul for "the Traders of the Low Countries" in London...
, historian (born 1535) - July 29 - Jacques BongarsJacques BongarsJacques Bongars , French scholar and diplomatist, was born at Orléans, and was brought up in the reformed faith. He obtained his early education at Marburg and Jena, and returning to France continued his studies at Orléans and Bourges...
, diplomat and scholar (born 1554) - August 4 - Hugh BroughtonHugh BroughtonHugh Broughton was an English scholar and theologian.-Early life:He was born at Owlbury, Bishop's Castle, Shropshire. He calls himself a Cambrian, implying Welsh blood in his veins. He was educated by Bernard Gilpin at Houghton-le-Spring and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he matriculated...
, Biblical scholar (born 1549) - September - Giovanni de' BardiGiovanni de' BardiGiovanni de' Bardi , Count of Vernio, was an Italian literary critic, writer, composer and soldier.- Biography :Giovanni de' Bardi was born in Florence....
, music theorist and critic (born 1534) - September 27 - Piotr SkargaPiotr SkargaPiotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...
, hagiographer (born 1536) - October 7 - Giovanni Battista GuariniGiovanni Battista GuariniGiovanni Battista Guarini was an Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat.- Life :He was born in Ferrara, and spent his early life both in Padua and Ferrara, entering the service of Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, in 1567...
, poet (born 1538) - date unknown
- 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...
, actor (born 1563) - Pierre de LariveyPierre de LariveyPierre de Larivey was a French dramatist of Italian origin. He is credited with introducing the Italian "comedy of intrigue" into France.-Life:Little is known of Larivey's biography...
, dramatist (born c1550)
- Robert Armin