Anonymous
(1653 title page ascribes this play to George Chapman, generally discounted)
(1653 Stationers' Register ascribes this play to "John" Peele, meaning George?)
THE TRAGEDY OF ALPHONSUS EMPEROUR OF GERMANY
before 1604?
(revised
circa
1630?)
a synoptic, alphabetical character list
ALBERTUS, ARCHBISHOP of COLLEN
Cologne is Chancellor of Galia and one of the seven Electors of Germany. A supporter of Richard's candidature, he was the first who sent for Richard to come to Germany. In Fortune's Revels, Collen draws the lot of cook. He solemnizes the wedding of Edward and Hedewick. He leaves the castle with Richard and turns soldier, putting his small army at Richard's disposal. He is captured along with Richard in the battle, but is vindicated at the end of the play, pronouncing Richard the new Emperor.
ALEXANDER
Alexander de Cypres, also referred to as Alexander de Tripes and Alexander de Toledo, is page to Alphonsus and son of Lorenzo. He is a boy at the start of the play, but Alphonsus makes him a man by giving him a ritual box on the ear. Alphonsus then persuades him that his father was murdered by the seven Electors with the connivance of Isabella and Richard, and Alexander embarks on a campaign of revenge against them, aided by the circumstances around Fortune's revels, in which he is allotted the role of master of the triumphs. He sends Hans and Jerrick to kill Edward, and he stabs Mentz to death. At Alphonsus' instigation, he deceives Hedewick in a bed-trick, and fathers her child. He entertains hopes of marrying her and is angered when Saxony murders her and the child. At the end of the battle he falsely tells Alphonsus that he has lost, thinking that Alphonsus will kill his two English captives on the spot. But instead Alphonsus confesses to him that it was he who murdered Lorenzo. Alexander ties him to a chair and makes him swear to renounce God. He then kills Alphonsus with his rapier, and attempts to escape, but is recaptured by the surviving Electors. He boasts of his crimes, and is sentenced to be taken away and hung on a Jewish gallows.
ALPHONSUS
Alphonsus is the Emperor of Germany, although he himself is Spanish in origin, and the King of Castile. He is married to Isabella. The Emperorship of Germany depends on the continuing support of the seven Electors of Germany, and although these electors have previously installed Alphonsus as sole Emperor, they are now considering the idea of demoting him in favour either of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, or of the King of Bohemia. Alphonsus therefore asks advice of his secretary Lorenzo, who shows him some poisons he could use, whereupon Alphonsus poisons Lorenzo with them, to ensure secrecy. Demoted to co-Emperor with Bohemia, Alphonsus tricks Lorenzo's son Alexander into joining in his intriguing against his enemies - the seven Electors, Richard of Cornwall, and Isabella, by whom he feels betrayed. During Fortune's revels, Alphonsus (who wears the costume of a forester) poisons Bohemia with a slow-acting poison in his drink, and feigns the same symptoms himself to divert suspicion. He has Mentz killed, and then denounces his wife Isabella, accusing her of adultery with Palatine. He intends to execute Isabella together with her nephew Edward, and does not take part in the battle with Richard, preferring instead to wait some distance off with Edward and Isabella, so that even if the battle is lost he can kill them personally. Alexander joins them there, telling them the battle is lost, and the astonished Alphonsus confesses to Alexander that it was he who killed Lorenzo. Thereupon Alexander ties Alphonsus to a chair, and reveals that the story of the lost battle is a lie. Alphonsus pleads for his life, and Alexander makes him swear to renounce God, and then kills him.
AUGUSTUS, DUKE of SAXONY
Augustus, Duke of Saxony is one of the seven Electors of Germany, and arch-Marshal to the Emperor. Alphonsus has previously tried, unuccessfully, to banish him, and he is a supporter of Richard's claim to the Empire at the start of the play. The decision to elect Bohemia instead causes Saxony and Palatine to leave the court in disgust, so that he is not present to be allotted a role in Fortune's Revels. In his absence, Isabella arranges a match between his daughter Hedewick and Prince Edward. Saxony returns to the court disguised as one of the murdered boors, and leaves again with Richard and Collen via Isabella's chamber window. When his daughter is raped, Saxony treats Edward's denials that he was responsible as indicating that Edward is attempting to escape from the marriage, and is so enraged that he abandons Richard's cause and sides again with Alphonsus. Months later he kills, first the baby, and then Hedewick, in front of Edward's eyes. Saxony fights for Alphonsus in the battle, but sees the error of his actions on hearing Alexander's confession, and is the first to ask Richard to be the new Emperor.
CAESAR
An alternative title referring to Alphonsus.
CAPTAIN of the GUARD
The captain of Alphonsus' guards takes part in the arrest and killing of the Palsgrave.
CHILD
Hedewick's unnamed baby, fathered by Alexander, has its brains dashed out on stage by Saxony.
COUNT MANSFIELD
A "ghost character." Mansfield is mentioned as having been captured, along with Mentz, by the Duke of Brunschweige. Unlike Mentz, Mansfield was not ransomed, and was put to death by the Duke.
EDWARD, PRINCE
Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, is son of King Henry III of England. He is nephew to Isabella, and to Richard, and is visiting the German court. Appointed Emperor in Fortune's Revels, he falls in love with Hedewick, daugher of the Duke of Saxony, and woos her in a clumsy English fashion. A marriage between them is arranged, but on the wedding night, Hedewick modestly escapes from the marriage-chamber via a trapdoor, so as to postpone the loss of her virginity. In the darkness, though, she is raped by Alexander, and everyone assumes that this is done by Edward. Edward's protestations that he has not committed this rape are seen by the Germans as an attempt to escape from his marriage with Hedewick, and he is imprisoned. In prison, he is appalled to witness Saxony's murder of Hedewick and the child. He is sentenced to be executed along with his aunt, and Alphonsus takes them aside with the intention of killing them personally, but both aunt and nephew are saved by the murder of Alphonsus, and Edward finishes the play a free man.
EMPRESS
Used in stage directions to refer to Isabella.
FREDERICK, ARCHBISHOP of TRIER
Frederick, Archbishop of Trier and Duke of Lorrain, is one of the seven Electors of Germany, and Chancellor of Italy. He and Brandenburg are described as "simple men that wish the common good". He supports the election of Bohemia as co-Emperor; is Secretary in the revels; and fights for Alphonsus against Richard.
GEORGE CASSIMIRUS
George Cassimirus, Palatine or Palsgrave of the Rhine, is one of the seven Electors of Germany, and is also Taster to the Emperor. Alphonsus killed his father, and the Palsgrave is a supporter of Richard, leaving the court after the Electors abandon their plan to appoint him Emperor. He finds Richard in the woods after his fight with the boors, and accompanies him back to court. When Bohemia and (apparently) Alphonso are poisoned during te dinner, the Palsgrave, who drank from the cup immediately before them, becomes the prime suspect. The Englishmen flee the court, but the Palsgrave elects instead to hide in Isabella's closet, but he is discovered and is killed on the spot by Alphonsus's guards.
HANS
Hans is one of the two boors in the woods, whose speeches are mostly in German. He and Jerick come across numerous letters promising rewards to the killer of Richard, and then find Richard in the woods. They fight him and knock him to the ground, but then fall out with each other in an argument about the spoils. Jerick kills Hans with a hatchet.
HEDEWICK
Hedewick is daughter of the Duke of Saxony. She plays the goddess Fortune during the first part of Fortune's revels, and then draws the lot of Empress. Embarrassed by Edward's over-familiar courting of her, she nonetheless falls in love with him and marries him, but devises a strategy to preserve her virginity as long as possible: on her wedding night she escapes from the marriage-chamber through a trapdoor and hides in an inner bedchamber in the dark. There, she is surprised by Alexander, whom she mistakes for her husband, and is raped and made pregnant. Edward, who denies fathering the child, is imprisoned. Hedewick gives birth, and Saxony brings her and her child before Edward. He dashes the child's brains out and kills Hedewick.
HENRY III
A "ghost character." King Henry III of England is mentioned as father to Edward, and brother to Richard and to Isabella.
HENRY, KING of BOHEMIA
Henry, King of Bohemia, is one of the seven Electors of the German Empire, and Churfurst and Sewer to the Emperor. He is power-hungry and intrigues successfully to be made co-Emperor with Alphonsus. He draws the role of taster in Fortune's Revels, and during those revels Alphonsus administers to him a slow poison in his drink. Bohemia grows sicker and sicker, and dies from the poison.
ISABELLA
Empress Isabella is wife of Alphonsus. She is an Englishwoman, being daughter of King John, sister of Duke Richard, and aunt of Prince Edward. To celebrate the settlement whereby Bohemia is appointed co-Emperor alongside Alphonsus, she organizes "Fortune's revels", a set of revels customarily accompany such coronations. In these revels each character draws lots to discover what role they must take - she herself drawing the lot of chambermaid. She helps Richard and his allies to escape from Alphonsus' castle through her bedroom window, and hides Palatine in her closet, a plan that goes wrong when Alphonsus uses this as a pretext to falsely accuse her of adultery and to kill Palatine on the spot. She is sentenced to death and is to be executed along with Prince Edward on the day of the battle. Alphonsus takes her aside, intending to kill her personally, but is killed before he can complete his plan, and Isabella survives.
JAILOR
A jailor accompanies Edward in the scene where he is in prison.
JERICK
Jerick is Hans's friend. He fights Richard in the woods, and then, thinking him dead, argues with Hans about the spoils. Jerick kills Hans with a hatchet, and is then attacked and killed by Richard.
JOACHIM CAROLUS, MARQUESS of BRANDENBURG
Joachim Carolus, Marquess of Brandenburg, is one of the seven Electors of Germany, and Treasurer to Alphonsus. He and Trier are described as "simple men that wish the common good", and he himself is an aged man. He supports the election of Bohemia as co-Emperor; is physician in the revels; and fights for Alphonsus against Richard.
JOHN I
A "ghost character." King John is mentioned as the father of Richard and Isabella.
JULIO LENTULUS
A "ghost character." Julio Lentulus is referred to by Lorenzo. Lorenzo states that he obtained his poisons from Julio Lentulus, a famous Neapolitan poisoner, and then poisoned him himself.
JULIUS FLORIUS, ARCHBISHOP of MENTZ
Julius Florius, Archbishop of Mentz, Chancellor of Germany and Duke of Pomerland, is one of the seven Electors of Germany. He has cause to be grateful to Richard, having previously been captured by the Duke of Brunschweig and ransomed by Richard. However, bribed by Alphonsus, he fails to support Richard in council and instead backs Bohemia. Mentz draws the lot of jester in Fortune's Revels, and witnesses the arrest and killing of the Palsgrave. When Alphonsus feigns to be dangerously ill, Mentz incautiously declares that he would give his own life to make Alphonsus better, and Alexander stabs him to death on the spot as Alphonsus stages a miraculous recovery.
LEICESTER, EARL of
A "ghost character." the Earl of Leicester is mentioned as currently leading a rebellion in England.
LORENZO
Lorenzo de Cypres, also referred to as Lorenzo de Toledo, is secretary to Alphonsus. He is a Machiavellian scholar, whom the emperor visits in his bed. Lorenzo gives Alphonsus advice on plotting, and shows him various poisons: Alphonsus immediately puts him to sleep with one of them, and then poisons him with another of them.
MESSENGER
A messenger reports the arrival of the army led by Richard.
OTHO, DUKE of BRUNSCHWEIGE
A "ghost character." Otho, Duke of Brunschweige has previously fought against the Archbishop of Mentz and captured him in battle. Only a ransom provided by Richard saved Mentz's life. The Duke also captured, and killed, Count Mansfield.
PALATINE
And alternate designation of George Cassimirus, Palsgrave of the Rhine.
PALSGRAVE
George Cassimirus, Palatine or Palsgrave of the Rhine, is one of the seven Electors of Germany, and is also Taster to the Emperor. Alphonsus killed his father, and the Palsgrave is a supporter of Richard, leaving the court after the Electors abandon their plan to appoint him Emperor. He finds Richard in the woods after his fight with the boors, and accompanies him back to court. When Bohemia and (apparently) Alphonso are poisoned during te dinner, the Palsgrave, who drank from the cup immediately before them, becomes the prime suspect. The Englishmen flee the court, but the Palsgrave elects instead to hide in Isabella's closet, but he is discovered and is killed on the spot by Alphonsus's guards.
RICHARD
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, is the the son of King John of England, the brother of King Henry III of England and of Isabella, and the uncle of Prince Edward. An experienced man who has travelled in Palestine, he has received a unanimous invitation from the Electors of Germany to come to Germany, as they are considering appointing him Emperor in place of Alphonsus. However, the Electors change their minds, and instead make Alphonsus and Bohemia co-Emperors. Richard stays for Fortune's Revel s, at which he draws the lot of the boor, and has to travel to the forest to gather wood There, Hans and Jerick are sent to murder him, but he is able to kill Jerick and returns to court along with Palatine and Saxony. Richard escapes Alphonsus' castle and takes to the battlefield with the support of Collen's small army in the hope of rescuing his sister and nephew from the tyrannical Alphonsus. They lose the battle, and are captured, but at the end of the play when Alphonsus is dead and his treachery is known, Richard is appointed the new Emperor of Germany.
SAXONY'S SISTER
A "ghost character." According to Bohemia, Saxony has invited Prince Edward to Germany in the hope of arranging a match between him and Saxony's sister. However, Edward states he has travelled here to marry Saxony's daughter, which he does, and Bohemia's statement is presumably an error.
SOLDIERS
Mute characters, six soldiers take part in the killing of the Palsgrave.
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