William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was a great playwright who burst upon the London theater scene several months before, according to Ruled Britannia, the Spanish Armada defeated Queen Elizabeth's forces and soon rivalled even the great Christopher Marlowe. His most popular play was Prince of Denmark.

He had cared little for politics and actually had a religious preference for Catholicism. He recognized that neither the Queen Isabella nor Queen Elizabeth was an entirely benevolent ruler, that both suppressed political and especially religious dissent. However, he became distrustful the draconian rule of the Spanish occupiers and the heavy handed tactics of the English Inquisition after witnessing an auto da fe.

His fame among fans of the English theater was noticed even by the Spanish Duke commanding the occupation of England, who invited him to compose an English-language play celebrating the life of the dying Philip II. At the same time, he was invited by William Cecil to write a play celebrating the ancient Icini queen Boudicia, who had led a revolt against Roman rule in ancient times.

Over the next year, Shakespeare became swept up in ever-deepening plots of intrigue, during which he was indirectly responsible for several murders by naming possible betrayers of the Boudicia Plot to Cecil's unsavory associates, Nick Skeres and Ingram Fraser. Shakespeare befriended Spanish soldier and fellow playwright Lope de Vega, to whom he promised a role in King Philip--which meant the Spaniard was often near the theater, making it extremely difficult to keep Boudicia secret.

When Philip died, the Spaniards ordered Shakespeare to perform King Philip. Cecil's men (now answering to the late William's son, Robert Cecil) ordered him to perform Boudicia instead. He could not decide which order to obey until almost immediately before the designated time to give the performance. He finally chose Boudicia.

Boudicia was a powerful, moving play that evoked love of Elizabeth in the hearts of his English audience. They were inspired to join a much larger uprising engineered by Cecil; even Shakespeare himself joined this revolt. By the next night the Spaniards had been expelled from London, and Elizabeth restored to the throne. Shakespeare also saw two Catholic priests hanged and mutilated in front of their church, and he knew that this he had not been faced with morally easy choice.

The legend of Shakespeare's role in this plot grew, and Elizabeth herself became grateful to him. She knighted him, she allowed his company of actors to refer to themselves as "The Queen's Men," and she offered Shakespeare other favors--one of which he used to obtain the release of de Vega, who had been captured during the revolt.

For all the benefits which came of his year-long intrigue in the end, throughout the ordeal all Shakespeare wanted was to be left alone to write his plays.