Christopher Marlowe's Accomplishments

1215 Words3 Pages

Cognoscere est esse (laten), To know is to be.A great defining quotes from Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639). Defines the renaissance. The renaissance was a time of rebirth. Art, Ideas, Way of life. They all changed. Neoclassicism new/old ideas emerged. The people became enlightened once again. This was one age of new light the rebirth from the “dark ages” they discovered new/old ideas that were lost. There were also inventions that were important at this time like the printing press. The printing was important because it made literal material copyable. This affected people. This help them become more literal. This means more people were readers. Elevating their intelligences. More intelligent people more enlightenment. This new intelligence …show more content…

While Christopher Marlowe's literary career lasted less than six years, and his life only 29 years, his achievements, most notably the play The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus, ensured his lasting legacy. Early Years Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury around February 26, 1564 (this was the day on which he was baptized). He went to King's School and was awarded a scholarship that enabled him to study at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, from late 1580 until 1587. Marlowe earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1584, but in 1587 the university hesitated in granting him his master's degree. Its doubts (perhaps arising from his frequent absences, or speculation that he had converted to Roman Catholicism and would soon attend college elsewhere) were set to rest, or at least dismissed, when the Privy Council sent a letter declaring that he was now working "on matters touching the benefit of his country," and he was awarded his master's degree on schedule. Was Marlowe as a Secret Agent? The nature of Marlowe's service to England was not specified by the council, but the letter sent to Cambridge has provoked abundant speculation, notably the theory that Marlowe had become a secret agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham's intelligence service. No direct evidence supports this theory, but the council's letter clearly suggests that Marlowe was serving the government in some secret capacity. Surviving Cambridge records from the period show that Marlowe had several lengthy absences from the university, much longer than allowed by the school's regulations. And extant dining room accounts indicate that he spent lavishly on food and drink while there, greater amounts than he could have afforded on his known scholarship income. Both of these could point to a secondary source of income, such as secret government work. But with scant hard evidence and rampant speculation, the mystery surrounding

Open Document