IN the following pages an attempt has been made to
tell the history of one of the many and various strands
which, twisted and interwoven, form the brilliant and
heterogeneous Elizabethan Drama. There is always
a danger in thus seeking to separate what in reality is
part of an integral whole; for not only was the Eng-
lish Chronicle Play deeply influenced by the wealth
of literature in other forms which dealt with the gene-
ral subject of English history, but it influenced and was
in turn affected by many other varieties of drama that
flourished simultaneously with it. None the less the
Chronicle Play can be treated independently with
greater justice than any other form of the drama; for
whatever the superficial influences upon it, it retained
from first to last a character essentially national and
English.

The most potent influences on the English drama
when Marlowe, Shakespeare and Fletcher held the
stage were the spirit of culture which centered in the
court and emanated from Italy, and the spirit of learn-
ing, the seats of which were appropriately the Uni-
versities and the Inns of Court. The spirit of Italian
culture was earliest typified in the drama by the court
plays of Lyly the Euphuist, and later combined with

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