Christopher Marlowe 1564-1593

Christopher Marlowe was born in 1564, two months before William Shakespeare. He was born and raised in Canterbury, then the religious capital of England. His father was a tradesman, a member of the shoemaker’s guild. In 1580 Marlowe went to Cambridge to study at Corpus Christi College. He went there on a scholarship that was given to men who wanted a career in the Church. But, gradually it became clear that that was not what Marlowe wanted and he did not take holy orders. During his time at Cambridge, he wrote his first play: Tamburlaine.

When he was almost finished at Cambridge, the university did not want to give him his degree. They had suspicions that he was part of a Catholic plot against Queen Elizabeth I. Fortunately for Marlowe, it did not come this far. The Privy Council intervened and made sure that Marlowe received his degree.

In the past centuries, much sensational information has been discovered about Marlowe’s life. It is very likely that he worked as a secret agent (a spy) for the English government. During his time at Cambridge it was his job to provide the government with any information on Catholics and Catholic converts. Charles Nicholl wrote a book, The Reckoning, about Marlowe’s work as a spy and his suspicious death.

Marlowe was just 23 years old when Tamburlaine, his first play, was performed for the first time. The play became a great success. Besides writing, Marlowe continued to work in the world of spies, double agents and swindlers. He was accused by several people of being a blasphemer, an atheist, and a homosexual. On May 30 1593, when he was 29 years old, he died. He was stabbed to death in an inn in London, probably because he had a fight over the dinner bill.