IN his Literary Relations of England and Germany in
the sixteenth Century, Herford makes the statement
(p. 171) that "the score or so of early plays which pro-
fess to be founded on German history treat it with an
open contempt much beyond what is demanded by the
exclusive pursuit of scenic effect. Historic truth is not
subordinated to dramatic truth but simply ignored."
After characterising Alphonsus of Germany as "a crude
and sanguinary travesty of an imperial election dispute
in which the chief interest attaches to a wholly mythical
love affair," he goes on to say that "the play is never-
theless probably the least unhistorical of the whole
group."

The plot evolves out of the contention of Alphonso X
of Castile and Richard, Earl of Cornwall, aspirants,
during the Interregnum of the thirteenth century, to
the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. The dramatis
personce include a large number of historic figures, but
the plot and the interpretation of character are for
the most part at variance with the record of history.
Alphonsus, who in the play is depicted as a monster of
iniquity, was an inoffensive monarch who never entered
the land over which the dramatist would have us believe
he established so bloody a rule. The partisan align-
ment credited to the different Electors does scant
justice to the stand they actually took. Prince Edward
(later Edward I of England) never placed foot upon
the soil of Germany and thus escaped the charms of

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