ey became Admiral's men. After Spencer
was killed in a duel by Ben Jonson in 1598, his widow continued to be a
protege or pensioner of Henslowe's for some years.

The generally accepted belief that the old _Henry VI._, _The
Contention_, and _The True Tragedie_ were--like _The Troublesome Raigne
of King John_, _The Seven Deadly Sins_, and other plays owned by
companies with which Burbage was connected--originally Queen's plays, is
responsible for the otherwise unsupported assumption that Burbage was a
member and the manager of the Queen's company for several years.

As the disruption of the old Queen's company and its reorganisation into
a smaller company under the two Duttons, as well as the inception of
Henslowe's connection with Strange's men, evidently took place some time
between the Christmas season of 1590-91, when the Queen's company
performed four times at Court and the Admiral-Strange company only once,
and the Christmas season of 1591-92, when Strange's company performed
six times and the Queen's only once, and then for the last time on
record, it is evident that Pembroke's company was formed also in this
year. It is not unlikely then that Shakespeare's recast of _The
Troublesome Raigne of King John_ into _King John_ was made at the
instigation of the Earl of Pembroke himself at the time of Perrot's
arrest in 1591. As Pembroke's father was a lifelong friend of Perrot's
it is extremely probable that he also would be his partisan and
well-wisher.

In every poem or play written by Shakespeare from the time he made the
acquaintance of the Earl of Southampton at the end of 1591, and even for
some time after the accession of James I. in 1603, I find some
reflection of his interest in that nobleman or in the fortunes of the
Essex party with which he was affiliated. I find no reflection of this
interest in _King John_ nor in _The Comedy of Errors_, except in a few
passages which palpably pertain to a period of revision in the former
play. From this and other subjective evidence already advanced I date
the composition of both of these plays in 1591, and in doing so conform
to the chronological conclusions reached by authoritative text critics
whose judgments have been formed altogether upon textual and stylistic
grounds.

While nearly all writers upon the Elizabethan drama recognise the
topical, political, or controversial nature of much of the dramatic
representation of that age, it is usual to deny for Shakespear