The Clifton Star Chamber Case and Kidnapped Child Actors

In Early Modern England, there was a rash of abductions of boys, who were being forced to work as actors. Then a child was taken whose father was in a position to actually do something about it.

Research:

• Soth, Amelia. “Her Majesty’s Kidnappers.” JSTOR Daily. 12/17/2020. https://daily.jstor.org/kidnapping-for-the-queens-choir/
• Early Modern London Theaters. “Viewing Event Record: Star Chamber, Clifton v Robinson et al: Clifton States His Case.” https://emlot.library.utoronto.ca/db/record/event/93/
• Reynolds, Patricia. “Kidnapped to order: child actors in Shakespeare’s day.” The National Archives. 5/12/2016. https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/kidnapped-order-child-actors-shakespeares-day/
• Map of Early London. “Blackfriars Theatre.” https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/BLAC6.htm
• Shapiro, Michael. “Children of the Revels: The Boy Companies of Shakespeare’s Time and Their Plays.” New York: Columbia University Press. 1977.
• Fleay, Frederick Gard. “A Chronicle History of the London Stage 1559-1642.” New York. G.E. Stechert & Co. 1909.
• Benet, William Rose. "Blackfriars." Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, 3rd ed., Harper & Row, 1987, p. 103. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18034327/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=fefb4932. Accessed 21 June 2023.
• Munro, Lucy. "Living by Others' Pleasure: Marston, The Dutch Courtesan, and Theatrical Profit." Early Theatre, vol. 23, no. 1, June 2020, pp. 109+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A638900245/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=ce5c9645. Accessed 21 June 2023.
• Dutton, Richard. “The Revels Office and the Boy Companies, 1600-1613: New Perspectives.” English Literary Renaissance , SPRING 2002, Vol. 32, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43447637
• Wridgway, Neville. "Giles, Nathaniel (c. 1558–1634), choirmaster and composer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Date of access 22 Jun. 2023, https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-10724
• Barrie, Robert. “Elizabethan Play-Boys in the Adult London Companies.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 , Spring, 2008, Vol. 48, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40071333
• Mamujee, Shehzana. “'To serve us in that behalf when our pleasure is to call for them': performing boys in Renaissance England.” Renaissance Studies , NOVEMBER 2014, Vol. 28, No. 5. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24423452
• Jones, Roger T. “The Role of the Junior English Schools in the Development of the Drama.” A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Loyola University September, 1944.
• Bradbrook, M.C. “’Silk? Satin? Kersey? Rags?’ The Choristers' Theater under Elizabeth and James.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 , Spring, 1961. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/449339

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