Bastard is the derogatory term used by Master Joffelin to refer to Falconbridge.
BESS
Bess is the name used by King Edward in speaking with his wife the queen.
BILLY GRIME
Billy Grime of Glendale is the man that Jockey claims has taken Jockey's land.
BLUEBEARD
A "ghost character", Bluebeard is mentioned by Falconbridge in his oratory as a rascal who rose up against a monarch over a trifle.
BOY
The Boy is in service to Mistress Jane Shore. He brings news to Master Matthew Shore that Jane has been requested at court.
CADE
A "ghost character", Cade is mentioned by Falconbridge in his oratory as a rascal who rose up against a monarch over a trifle.
CAPTAIN CHUB
A chandler by trade, Captain Chub serves with the rebel Falconbridge. He reveals his compatriot Captain Spicing and shares in the pursuant reward.
CAPTAIN OF THE ILE OF WIGHT
This Captain of the Ile of Wight attends Falconbridge's execution.
CAPTAIN NED SPICING
Captain Ned Spicing is one of the rebels serving under Falconbridge. He is taken to the Mayor by the Miller and is executed for his part in the rebellion against the king.
CAPTAIN SMOKE
One of the rebels serving under Falconbridge, Smoke puns upon his name, claiming he will "smoke" those who will not be still while Falconbridge speaks.
CONSTABLE OF FRANCE
A "ghost character". The French Constable is mentioned in passing as having sent important letters to King Edward.
DAM OF BEDFORD
King Edward's mother, the Duchess of York, uses this term to refer to the queen's mother.
DUCHESS OF BEDFORD
A "ghost character". The Duchess of Bedford is the mother of the queen and does not appear in the play.
DUCHESS OF YORK
Mother of the king, the Duchess of York is quite displeased with her son's choice of wife.
DUDGEON
Dudgeon is the servant of Hobs the Tanner who announces the arrival of Hobs' dinner guests, who are the king and Sellenger disguised.
DUKE OF BEDFORD
A "ghost character". The Duke of Bedford, mentioned early in passing and not appearing in the play, is the father of the queen.
DUKE OF BURGUNDY
A "ghost character". The Duke of Burgundy is mentioned as having sent friendly letters to King Edward.
EDWARD IV
King Edward is the successor to the deposed Henry VI. Having created family unrest by wedding John Gray's widow, a woman that Edward's mother strongly dislikes, the king must next face national unrest when Falconbridge and his troops rebel. Spending some time disguised as a royal servant, Edward learns the common thought and gossip from Hobs the Tanner; he also meets and becomes enamored of Mistress Jane Shore. He eventually persuades her to leave her husband and come to court as paramour.
FALCONBRIDGE
Falconbridge is Thomas Neville, the bastard son of Lord Falconbridge. Violently opposed to the rule of King Edward and fiercely loyal to the deposed and imprisoned Henry VI, Falconbridge recruits 20,000 troops and assaults London. Repulsed by the London citizenry, whom he lauds for their chivalry despite their loyalist stance, Falconbridge joins the French and attempts to burn Southampton before he is captured and executed.
FIRST APPRENTICE
This First Apprentice, citizen of London and loyal to the king, applauds Lord Mayor Crosby's speech as giving courage to London's defenders against the Falconbridge faction.
FIRST HUNTSMAN
The First Huntsman comments that the queen shoots well during a hunting excursion with the king.
FIRST MESSENGER
The First Messenger brings news that Falconbridge stirs rebellion and hopes to rescue the deposed Henry VI from the Tower of London.
FRAUNCES EMERFLEY
Fraunces Emerfley is the brother of Jane Shore.
GLOSTER
The Duke of Gloster is one of King Edward's brothers.
HARRY
A "ghost character". Harry, or Henry VI, is mentioned by Hobs as the "other" king besides King Edward and likely the more honest of the two.
HARRY GRUDGEN
Harry Gruedgen is among the London citizens asked to subscribe funds for the king's war efforts. He grudgingly donates twenty pounds
HENRY VI
A "ghost character". Henry VI is the deposed king of England, held at the Tower of London and dead by the end of the play.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
A "ghost character". Bolingbroke does not appear in the play but is mentioned as he who deposed King Richard.
JOCKEY
Jockey is among the group of petitioners who ask for funds or some form of redress from Jane Shore.
JOHN GRAY
John Gray is the late husband of King Edward's queen.
JOHN HOBS
John Hobs is a tanner of Tamworth and the father of Nell. He mistakes the Queen for a "Mistress Ferris."
LORD HOWARD
A favorite in Edward's court, Lord Howard urges the king to be patient with the Duchess of York's ire concerning Edward's choice of wife. Howard also solicits funds from the London citizenry to support the war against France.
LORD MAYOR CROSBY
As Mayor of London, Crosby has organized the defense of the London citizenry against the attack of Falconbridge troops. Cousin to Master Matthew Shore, Crosby is knighted by the king as reward for meritorious service.
MASTER AFTON
Master Afton, a Justice in London, offers that the king's plan for voluntary subscription to the war fund is wiser than implementing taxes to raise the necessary monies.
MASTER HADLAND
Master Hadland is a citizen of London. He gives forty shillings to Howard toward the king's war effort.
MASTER MATTHEW SHORE
Called cousin by the Lord Mayor of London, Matthew Shore is perhaps one of the saddest husbands in all of Renaissance drama. Extremely devoted to his beautiful wife Jane, Shore is crushed when she voluntarily enters King Edward's court and the courtesan life. Before leaving England after his wife's desertion, Shore successfully leads two companies of troops against the rebel Falconbridge yet refuses the king's proffered knighthood, feeling unworthy of such a reward.
MASTER RALPH JOFFELIN
Among the first in the play to dub Falconbridge bastard, and remarkably defective in proper language use according to the Lord Mayor, King Edward nonetheless knights Joffelin for meritorious service in the defense of London.
MASTER RECORDER
Thomas Urswick holds the post of Master Recorder to the Mayor of London and is knighted by the king for meritorious service in the defense of London.
MASTER RUFFORD
Master Rufford is one of many petitioners seeking money or redress from Mistress Jane Shore. Jane refuses his request for license to sell English corn to foreign powers, causing a long-lasting enmity in Master Rufford.
MASTER OF STE. KATHARINE'S
The Master of Ste. Katharine's, arriving to present a five hundred pound war donation from his parish, unwittingly betrays the disguised king to Hobs the Tanner.
MAYORESSE
A "ghost character". This wife of the Lord Mayor of London is briefly mentioned and dies during the course of the drama.
MILLER
Arriving just in time to part the quarreling Spicing and Chub, the Miller presents these two Falconbridge rebels to the Lord Mayor.
MISTRESS BLAGUE
An acquaintance and confidante of Mistress Jane Shore, Mistress Blague at first claims inability to counsel Jane. Eventually, however, she implies Jane is damned is she accepts the invitation to court and damned if she doesn't.
MISTRESS FERRIS
A "ghost character". Mistress Ferris apparently looks enough like the Queen to cause Hobs the Tanner to mistake one for the other.
MISTRESS JANE SHORE
Mistress Jane Shore is the wife of Matthew Shore, a London goldsmith. Persistently wooed by King Edward, Mistress Shore eventually goes to the king's court, taking up the dual role of courtesan and mistress beneficent, offering relief to the poor and redress to the injured through her influence with King Edward.
NED
Ned is the name taken by King Edward as he visits hob the Tanner; as Ned he claims to be the king's butler.
NELL
A "ghost character". Nell, the daughter of John Hobs the Tanner, is not seen but is referred to by her father.
OFFICER
This unnamed Officer works with the Lord Mayor; he is sent by Crosby to fetch Master Shore.
PRINCESS BONA
A "ghost character". Princess Bona is a French princess for whose hand King Edward was negotiating before he wed John Gray's widow.
QUEEN "BESS"
The widow of John Gray and occasionally called Bess by King Edward, the Queen argues her status with the Duchess of York, claiming to have come as chaste to Edward's bed as she had to that of John Gray.
RICHARD
A "ghost character", Richard is mentioned by Shore in enumerating King Edward's rights as a royal descendant of the House of York.
ROBERT GOODFELLOW
Robert Goodfellow is a citizen of London. Though he keeps a "frolic house," Robert claims he has no monies to donate to the king's war effort against France beyond a "brace of angels."
SECOND APPRENTICE
The Second Apprentice offers the pledge that all the local apprentices will gladly die before losing their London liberty to Falconbridge's rebels.
SECOND HUNTSMAN
Out hunting with King Edward and his Queen, the Second Huntsman remarks that the King's mother, the Duchess of York, shot well in her younger days.
SECOND MESSENGER
The Second Messenger brings Lord Mayor Crosby news that the Lieutenant of the Tower has spotted Falconbridge's rebels.
SIR HARRY MORTON
Sir Harry Morton is Vice-Admiral to King Edward. At the execution of Falconbridge, Morton urges the rebel to discharge his conscience, confess, and die a Christian.
SIR HUMPHREY BOWES
Bowes is a Justice in King Edward's realm. He offers a dinner invitation to the King and Queen during a hunting expedition, and he proposes financial aid to the king's war effort against the French.
SIR THOMAS SELLINGER
A courtier and good companion to King Edward, Sellinger urges the king not to be worried or swayed by the remarks of the Duchess of York concerning the king's recent marriage to John Gray's widow. Calling himself Tom Twist he accompanies the disguised king to dinner at the home of Hobs the Tanner.
STRAW
A "ghost character", Straw is mentioned by Falconbridge in his oratory as a rascal who rose up against a monarch over a trifle.
THOMAS AYRE
Thomas Ayre is among the many who petition Mistress Jane Shore for relief or redress. He obtains from her a pardon for his son.
THOMAS URSWICK
Urswick serves as the Master Recorder for the Lord Mayor of London. He mans the bridge during Falconbridge's siege of London, and the king knights him for meritorious service.
TOM TWIST
Tom Twist is the name assumed by the disguised Sir Thomas Sellinger when he visits the home of Hobs the Tanner with the also-disguised King Edward.
TYLER
A "ghost character", (Wat?) Tyler is mentioned by Falconbridge in his oratory as a rascal who rose up against a monarch over a trifle.
WALWORTH
A "ghost character". Walworth is mentioned by Lord Mayor Crosby. Walworth was a past Lord Mayor of London who once killed a rebel in Smithfield during the reign of King Richard.
WARWICKE
Warwicke is cousin to King Edward and is the English ambassador to France. Before the king's recent marriage to the widow of John Gray, Warwicke had been negotiating a match for Edward with the French Princess Bona.
WIDOW NORTON
The widow of Wilkin Norton, this woman has traveled with the Master of Ste. Katharine's to donate twenty pounds to the king's war effort. When Hobs the Tanner faints at her revelation of the king's true identity, the Widow revives Hobs by having him bite on a stick of ginger.
WILKIN
A "ghost character". Wilkin is the deceased husband of Widow Norton.