Marlowe as schoolboy
Alan Jones
From: "lyra" <mountai...@RockAthens.com>
Subject: Christopher Marlowe, the illegitimate son of Matthew Parker?
Date: 13 April 2003 22:42
In 1578 he [Marlowe] went to The King's School for two years. The
first of
many mysteries. Who paid the school fees? .......
The fees may have been a pension for a choirboy whose voice had
broken. [...]
Were fees charged at the King's School at that time? If so, for all boys or
only for non-choristers? Was Marlowe ever a chorister at the Cathedral?
Alan Jones
lyra
> From: lyra
I don't know the answer, I hope someone else does.
But it did send me on a web search, with one or two
of the first results being
1.http://www.hillside.co.uk/tour/d94.html
The King's School
The King's School is what we call a `Public School' which confuses
Americans, because we mean that the school is private. Basically,
parents pay for their children to come here, although there are some
places that are funded on merit.
The school was probably started by Augustine when he founded the
Cathedral in Canterbury, it was certainly well known a hundred years
later as a model for monastic schools. The school, known as the
Archbishop's or Almonry School was re-established by Lanfranc in 1095:
`both in the grammer and in music for the city and it's
neighbourhood'. The school survived Henry VIII's dissolution of the
Monasteries, and became the King's School.
* * * * * *
2. http://www.kings-school.co.uk/frmain.htm
597AD - Present : The longest run of education in British History
The King's School, 25 The Precincts, Canterbury CT1 2ES (01227) 595500
(and a nice picture of the school)
* * * * * *
more pictures can be found on
http://www.kings-school.co.uk/tour/mint_yard.htm
"A Brief Tour of The King's School, Canterbury
Start - The Mint Yard Gate
For most, this is their first view of King's.
This gateway leads from The Borough into The Precincts and the main
part of the School.
The Borough is the small section of road outside the Mint Yard
gate.
Here you will find the Old King's School Shop (now an art gallery)
with its famous leaning door. The New King's School Shop is on the
opposite side of the street a few yards along on the left
If you continue in this direction, you can follow St.Radigund's
street to the King's School Recreation Centre and Birley's, where we
have two artificial pitches, a swimming pool, tennis courts, squash
courts, a sports hall, restaurant and fully-equipped gym.
You may now continue with the whole tour of The School, or jump
ahead to any of the following locations:
The Mint Yard
The Shirley Hall and Grange
The Green Court
The Linacre/Luxmoore/MO "triangle"
St Augustine's
The Recreation Centre
Home Page"
* * * * * *
many other pages follow, all with pictures...
a nice visit for those interested.
* * * * * *
and if the questions cannot be answered here,
the following may be useful...
http://www.kings-school.co.uk/maps%20and%20contacts/maps,contacts.html#archives
School Archives
The Archivist
The King's School, Canterbury, CT1 2ES
Administration:
Headmaster: Canon Keith Wilkinson
Tel. 01227 595527, fax 01227 595595
e-mail headm...@kings-school.co.uk
and a lot more addresses are on the page.
* * * * * *
lyra
lyra
A follow-up to my first post...
http://www.kings-school.co.uk/departments/classics/classics_main.htm
"The playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe learnt his Latin and
Greek at The King's School, Canterbury before departing for Cambridge
University in 1580. In that same year the Headmaster of the King's
School, John Gresshop, died - leaving a library which contained copies
of works by all the great Classical authors.
Sixteenth century schoolboys here were expected by the third class
to reach a standard 'so that no noun or verb is to be found anywhere
which they do not know how to inflect in every detail'. In the top
class they read Horace and Cicero and were expected to speak to each
other only in Latin and Greek both in school and at play.
Things have changed. All the same it is pleasing to see that most
of the Classical authors in Gresshop's library are still to be found
on our syllabus."
lyra
Art Neuendorffer
> http://www.kings-school.co.uk/departments/classics/classics_main.htm
>
> "The playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe learnt his Latin and
> Greek at The King's School, Canterbury before departing for Cambridge
> University in 1580. In that same year the Headmaster of the King's
> School, John Gresshop, died - leaving a library which contained copies
> of works by all the great Classical authors.
>
> Sixteenth century schoolboys here were expected by the third class
> to reach a standard 'so that no noun or verb is to be found anywhere
> which they do not know how to inflect in every detail'. In the top
> class they read Horace and Cicero and were expected to speak to each
> other only in Latin and Greek both in school and at play.
George Mason's reading Cicero while I talk to him in Geek:
http://www.groundling.com/hlas/profiles/aneuendorffer.php
Art
Peter Farey
Alan Jones wrote:
>
> "lyra" wrote (the full quote from John Hunt):
>
> > "In 1578 he went to The King's School for two years.
> > The first of many mysteries. Who paid the school
> > many theories from the sensible to the fanciful.
> >
> > The fees may have been a pension for a choirboy whose
> > worthy, Sir Roger Manwood, for whom Marlowe wrote a Latin
> > eulogy at Manwood's death, and curiously before whom he
> > appeared in Court after a fight in London.
> >
> > Another explanation states that he was the illegitimate
> > son of Archbishop Mathew Parker (the original 'Nosy' Parker)
> > and one of his maids."
>
> Were fees charged at the King's School at that time? If so,
> for all boys or only for non-choristers? Was Marlowe ever a
> chorister at the Cathedral?
John Hunt was pursuing the wrong mystery, I fear.
Christopher Marlowe was admitted as a scholar to the King's
School (apparently referred to as 'The Queen's School' at the
time) in December 1578, and had his fees paid for him in the
same way as all of the other scholars - via the scholarship.
He also received a generous allowance of four pounds a year.
Boys were accepted for the scholarship up to the age of 15,
so it can be seen that - at 14 years and 10 months - Marlowe
was very near the upper age limit when admitted.
The unanswered question, rather than a mystery, therefore,
is where Marlowe had received his education before this,
since a grammar school education took some six years at least,
and he would not have been admitted to the Queen's School
at that age without already having an ability to read and
write English, and a good grounding in Latin grammar.
The scholarship was available for 'fifty poor boys, both
destitute of the help of friends, and endowed with minds apt
for learning'. The school did nevertheless accept additional
pupils on a fee-paying basis. There is the possibility, which
the records neither confirm nor rule out, that Marlowe had
been admitted on this basis much earlier. This is where any
speculation about who might have paid for it would arise.
There is no need to assume this, however, since there were
free schools in Canterbury to which he could have had access.
One such - and the one that to me seems to have the most
going for it - was a relatively new school at Eastbridge
Hospital which had been founded by the afore-mentioned
Archbishop Matthew Parker in 1569. It is therefore of
interest to note that funds from Eastbridge Hospital were
used to support two of Parker's Canterbury scholars at
Cambridge, and that the Master of Eastbridge Hospital
helped to select some of these scholars. Was he perhaps
also influential in the selection of Marlowe for another
of Parker's scholarships? Or was Marlowe even earmarked for
such an opportunity at the time he started at the Queen's
School?
Attendance at Eastbridge was restricted to four years, so
- if this is indeed where Marlowe had been before going to
the Queen's School - a further couple of years at petty
school would have probably been necessary first.
There is no record of Marlowe having ever been an actual
chorister at the cathedral. However, by the terms of his
scholarship he would have been required to 'assist' the
choristers (whatever that meant) and he would have had
to attend services in the cathedral some 80 times a year
(i.e Sundays and Saints' Days). His acceptance for the
Cambridge scholarship also depended among other things upon
an ability to sight read music and to sing plain song.
Peter F.
pet...@rey.prestel.co.uk
http://www2.prestel.co.uk/rey/index.htm
lyra
> Alan Jones wrote:
> >
> > lyra wrote (the full quote from John Hunt):
> >
> > > "In 1578 he went to The King's School for two years.
> > > The first of many mysteries. Who paid the school
> > > fees? As with so much of Marlowe's life there are
> > > many theories from the sensible to the fanciful.
> > >
> > > The fees may have been a pension for a choirboy whose
> > > voice had broken.
<with snips>
> > Were fees charged at the King's School at that time? If so,
> > for all boys or only for non-choristers? Was Marlowe ever a
> > chorister at the Cathedral?
>
> There is no record of Marlowe having ever been an actual
> chorister at the cathedral. However, by the terms of his
> scholarship he would have been required to 'assist' the
> choristers (whatever that meant) and he would have had
> to attend services in the cathedral some 80 times a year
> (i.e Sundays and Saints' Days). His acceptance for the
> Cambridge scholarship also depended among other things upon
> an ability to sight read music and to sing plain song.
>
Christopher Marlowe (anagram not mine)
Err with choral poems?
Earth whirl, composer?
Orpheos...wilt, charmer?
Nice, aren't they...
lyra
Peter Farey
lyra wrote:
>
> Peter Farey wrote:
> >
> > Alan Jones wrote:
> > >
> > > Were fees charged at the King's School at that time? If so,
> > > for all boys or only for non-choristers? Was Marlowe ever a
> > > chorister at the Cathedral?
> >
> > There is no record of Marlowe having ever been an actual
> > chorister at the cathedral. However, by the terms of his
> > scholarship he would have been required to 'assist' the
> > choristers (whatever that meant) and he would have had
> > to attend services in the cathedral some 80 times a year
> > (i.e Sundays and Saints' Days). His acceptance for the
> > Cambridge scholarship also depended among other things upon
> > an ability to sight read music and to sing plain song.
>
> Christopher Marlowe (anagram not mine)
>
> Err with choral poems?
>
> Earth whirl, composer?
>
> Orpheos...wilt, charmer?
>
>
> Nice, aren't they...
>
> lyra
Good grief!
Lorenzo4344
>From: "Peter Farey" Peter...@prst17z1.demon.co.uk
>Date: 4/16/2003
>Christopher Marlowe (anagram not mine)
>>
>> Err with choral poems?
>>
>> Earth whirl, composer?
>>
>> Orpheos...wilt, charmer?
>>
>>
>> Nice, aren't they...
>>
>> lyra
>
>Good grief!
Rilly, but at this one...
J Kennedy:
Why does 'Shakespearean Studies' attract such dolts? And such doltish
thinking?
Lyra:
well, *most like*, because it anagrams to
(Shakespearean Studies...)
an ass? a stupid...? seek here...!
... I am still laffin'.
Lorenzo
"Mark the music."
David L. Webb
mountai...@RockAthens.com (lyra) wrote:
Lovely. But "Christopher Marlowe, poet" admits a more suggestive
anagram:
Aw, rot -- Hermetic horse plop.
Spam Scone
> Lovely. But "Christopher Marlowe, poet" admits a more suggestive
> anagram:
>
> Aw, rot -- Hermetic horse plop.
VERy nice. I see nothing has changed during my time away.
Neil Brennen