1656 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1656 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- September - performance of The Siege of Rhodes, Part I by Sir William DavenantWilliam DavenantSir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
, the "first English opera" - November 12 - John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
marries Katherine Woodcock. - Baruch SpinozaBaruch SpinozaBaruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
is excluded from the Jewish religious community. - In London, the Council of State, usually busy with larger matters, takes on the censorship of individual books. On April 25 it orders the Lord Mayor of the City of London to burn a volume titled Sportive Wit, or the Muses' Merriment for its "scandalous, lascivious, scurrilous, and profane matter." On May 9 an item called Choice Drollery, Songs, and Sonnets is similarly ordered destroyed.
- Two playbooks published in London in this year, The Careless ShepherdessThe Careless ShepherdessThe Careless Shepherdess is a Jacobean era stage play, a pastoral tragicomedy generally attributed to Thomas Goffe. Its 1656 publication is noteworthy for the introduction of the first general catalogue of the dramas of English Renaissance theatre ever attempted.-Date and performance:The dates of...
and The Old LawThe Old LawThe Old Law, or A New Way to Please You is a seventeenth-century tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, and Philip Massinger...
, contain the first "play lists" or catalogues of published dramas ever issued in England.
New books
- Cyrano de BergeracCyrano de BergeracHercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duelist. He is now best remembered for the works of fiction which have been woven, often very loosely, around his life story, most notably the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand...
- Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon - Méric CasaubonMéric CasaubonMéric Casaubon , son of Isaac Casaubon, was a French-English classical scholar...
- A Treatise Concerning Enthusiasm - Margaret CavendishMargaret CavendishMargaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne was an English aristocrat, a prolific writer, and a scientist. Born Margaret Lucas, she was the youngest sister of prominent royalists Sir John Lucas and Sir Charles Lucas...
- Nature's Pictures - Andreas GryphiusAndreas GryphiusAndreas Gryphius was a German lyric poet and dramatist.Asteroid 496 Gryphia is named in his honour.-Life and career:...
- Kirchlzofsgedanken (lyrics) - James HarringtonJames HarringtonJames Harrington was an English political theorist of classical republicanism, best known for his controversial work, The Commonwealth of Oceana .-Early life:...
- The Commonwealth of OceanaThe Commonwealth of OceanaThe Commonwealth of Oceana, published 1656, is a composition of political philosophy written by the English politician and essayist, James Harrington . When first attempted to be published, it was officially censored by Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell... - Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
- Questions concerning Liberty, Necessity and Chance - Elizabeth Major - Honey on the Rod
- Marchmont NedhamMarchmont NedhamMarchmont Nedham, also Marchamont or Needham was a writer, publisher, and political commentator of the middle seventeenth century...
- The Excellency of a Free State - Adam OleariusAdam OleariusAdam Olearius , born Adam Ölschläger or Oehlschlaeger, was a German scholar, mathematician, geographer and librarian...
, German traveller - Vermehrte Newe Beschreibung Der Muscowitischen und Persischen Reyse So durch gelegenheit einer Holsteinischen Gesandtschaft an den Russischen Zaar und König in Persien geschehen - Francis OsborneFrancis OsborneFrancis Osborne was an English essayist, known for his Advice to a Son, which became a very popular book soon after the English Restoration.-Life:He was born, according to his epitaph, on 26 Sept...
- Advice to a Son (an anti-marriage book, condemned and burned for immorality) - Gerard Winstanley - The Law of Freedom
- Blaise PascalBlaise PascalBlaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
- Provincial Letters (first letter in series — completed in March 1657)
Published plays
- Robert Cox - John Swabber the Seaman
- Thomas Dekker & John FordJohn Ford (dramatist)John Ford was an English Jacobean and Caroline playwright and poet born in Ilsington in Devon in 1586.-Life and work:...
- The Sun's DarlingThe Sun's DarlingThe Sun's Darling is a masque, or masque-like play, written by John Ford and Thomas Dekker, and first published in 1656.The Sun's Darling was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on March 3, 1624... - Thomas GoffeThomas GoffeThomas Goffe a minor Jacobean dramatist.-Life:Thomas Goffe was born in Essex in 1591. He first studied at Westminster School where he was considered a Queen Scholar. Goffe received a scholarship on 3 November 1609 to attend Christ Church, Oxford...
- Three Excellent Tragedies; The Careless ShepherdessThe Careless ShepherdessThe Careless Shepherdess is a Jacobean era stage play, a pastoral tragicomedy generally attributed to Thomas Goffe. Its 1656 publication is noteworthy for the introduction of the first general catalogue of the dramas of English Renaissance theatre ever attempted.-Date and performance:The dates of... - Sir William Lower - Horatius
- Thomas MiddletonThomas MiddletonThomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
, William RowleyWilliam RowleyWilliam Rowley was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626...
, & Philip MassingerPhilip MassingerPhilip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
- The Old LawThe Old LawThe Old Law, or A New Way to Please You is a seventeenth-century tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, and Philip Massinger... - Walter Montague - The Accomplished Woman
- Edmund Prestwich - The Hectors, or the False Challenge
New poetry
- Abraham CowleyAbraham CowleyAbraham Cowley was an English poet born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the 17th century, with 14 printings of his Works published between 1668 and 1721.-Early life and career:...
- The Miscellanies - William DavenantWilliam DavenantSir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
- Wit and Drollery: Jovial Poems
Births
- September 14 - Thomas Baker (antiquarian)Thomas Baker (antiquarian)Thomas Baker , English antiquarian, was the grandson of Colonel Baker of Crook, Durham, who won fame in the English Civil War by his defence of Newcastle upon Tyne against the Scots. Thomas was educated at the free school at Durham, and went on to St John's College, Cambridge, where he later...
, antiquarian author (died 1746) - date unknown - Charles DavenantCharles DavenantCharles Davenant , English economist, eldest son of Sir William Davenant, the poet, was born in London.-Overview:He was educated at Cheam grammar school and Balliol College, Oxford, but left the university without taking a degree...
, economist, son of Sir William DavenantWilliam DavenantSir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
(died 1714) - date unknown - Jean Galbert de CampistronJean Galbert de CampistronJean Galbert de Campistron was a French dramatist-Biography:Campistron was born in Toulouse, France to a noble family.At the age of seventeen he was wounded in a duel and sent to Paris...
, dramatist (died 1723)
Deaths
- September 8 - Bishop Joseph Hall (English Bishop and satyrist)Joseph Hall (English Bishop and satyrist)Joseph Hall was an English bishop, satirist and moralist. His contemporaries knew him as a devotional writer, and a high-profile controversialist of the early 1640s...
, satirist (born 1574) - October 3 - Myles StandishMyles StandishMyles Standish was an English military officer hired by the Pilgrims as military advisor for Plymouth Colony. One of the Mayflower passengers, Standish played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its inception...
, American colonist, best known through the LongfellowHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
poem (born c.1584)