COMMENTARY NOTES

DRAMATIS PERSONAE The ms. lacks a list of dramatis personae. I have compiled this one, listing the characters in the order of their appearance.
Cacodaemon The Latin text identifies the demonic character in Act I as Cacodaemon. Because of an uncertainty whether to translate his name as “the Devil” (i. e., Satan himself) or “a devil,” it seems safer merely to identify him as Cacodaemon in the English translation.
I.i A meeting of Henry’s Privy Council, just on the verge of adjourning. Present are John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Sir Thomas Audley, Speaker of the House of Commons, who will soon replace More as Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Sir Thomas More’s young son John.
3 Cf. Seneca, Thyestes 200, flecti non potest, frangi potest.
21 Henry had captured Tournai during his Aquitaine campaign, in 1513.
26ff. To quote from the Catholic Encylopedia’s article on Henry:

In 1512 Henry joined Pope Julius II, Ferdinand of Spain, and the Venetians in forming the “Holy League” against the King of France. Julius was feverishly bent on chasing the “barbarians” (i.e. the French and other foreigners) out of Italy, and Henry cooperated by collecting ships and soldiers to attack the French king in his own dominions. No very conspicuous success attended his arms, but there was a victory at Guinegate outside Therouanne, and the Scotch, who, as the allies of France, had threatened invasion, were disastrously defeated at Flodden in 1513. During all this time Henry remained on excellent terms with the Holy See. In April, 1510, Julius sent him the golden rose, and in 1514 Leo X bestowed the honorific cap and sword, which were presented with much solemnity at St. Paul’s.

28 Clement VII.
33 Romans bore torches at their weddings. By a kind of strained image, a “black torch” is used to symbolize divorce.
37 Cf., perhaps, Ovid, Heroides xvii.149, sensi mala murmura vulgi.
39 For pectus indomitum cf. Ps. -Seneca, Hercules Furens 714.
46 Henry had tried to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled on the grounds that, because she had previously been married to his brother Arthur, their marriage was unlawful.
48f. The “great victor” is his father, Henry VII.
50 For the idiom sceptra firmavit cf. Seneca, Thyestes 971.
I.ii The Devil enters the Council chamber. As was the custom in academic drama of the time, the five Acts of the play are subdivided into numbered scenes. Each of these, prefaced by a list of the speaking parts in it, is precipitated either by a change in the grouping of characters or when the stage is momentarily cleared. As such, these scene-divisions often serve as a rather imperfect means of indicating entrances and exits, and no discontinuity of time or place is necessarily implied.
62 A Roman lustrum was a period of five years. Accordingly the War of the Roses should have lasted fifty years, although in point of fact it lasted thirty (1455 - 1485).
63 Cf. mutua caede at Seneca, Medea 470.
69 For the idiom gradum refers cf. Seneca, Oedipus 429 and Thyestes.
70 For sana consilia cf. Seneca, Phaedra 180.
71 Cf. pone irae frena modumque at Juvenal viii.88.
72 For sisti furor cf. Seneca, Phaedra 248.
73 For in auctorem redit cf. Seneca, Oedipus 706 (also Troades 870).
78f. Although the charge that Elizabeth was illegitimate (because the marriage of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn was illegal) was a standard Catholic complaint, I have not previously encountered this absurd claim that Anne Boleyn was herself Henry's illegitimate daughter, born of a liason between Henry and her mother Elizabeth Boleyn. Dr. Martin Wiggins suggests to me this may be intended to make her seem Oedipus-like.
81 Cf. attonitus stupet at Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 35.
83 Baetici = Spanish. They are clamoring that King Carlos of Spain, should regard Henry’s mistreatment of his kinswoman as a causa belli.
84 For the idiom fulmen quatit cf. Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 542. The thunderbolt in question is Pope Clement’s edict of excommunication (1533).
85 Cf. ultrice manu at Seneca, Hercules Furens 1103.
87 For the idiom statuo modum in Seneca cf. Hercules Furens 206, Medea 397, and Thyestes 483.
92f. Cf. impia face at Seneca, Agamemnon 119 and Oedipus 21.
97f. Cf. concussit horror at Oedipus 576.
98 Evidently Henry has been a skeptic and did not believe in heaven and Hell. Confronted with the evidence of the Devil, he now doubts his former belief.
I.iii Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s principal agent in the dissolution of the monasteries.
104 Cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 237, sed quid trementis circuit pallor genas(?).
107 For scrutabor ense cf. Seneca, Medea 1013.
120 For sermo popularis in a similarly dismissive context, cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 352.
125 Cf. the idiom depono animos cf. Seneca, Troades 1158.
129 For the idiom addo stimulos cf. Medea 833.
131 Cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 32, terribile dirum pestilens atrox ferum.
140 For rabido…decantat ore cf. Seneca, Oedipus 562.
143ff. Cf. Seneca, Phaedra 219ff.:

non umquam amplius
convexa tetigit supera qui mersus semel
adiit silentem nocte perpetua domum.

146 Cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 462f.:

exigua nubes sordido crescens globo
nitidum cadentis inquinat Phoebi iubar

151 Cf. pellisque nubes at Seneca, Agamemnon 803.
153 For cura solicia cf. Seneca, Oedipus 981 and Thyestes 76.
158 For the idiom necto verba cf. Oedipus 92.
162f. Cf. Oedipus 585f., gelidus in venis stgetit / haesitque sanguis.
166 Cf. igneos volvens globos at Seneca, Phoenissae 315.
167 For dirum fulmen cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 495.
168 Cf. Oedipus 401, dum nos profundae claustra laxamus Stygis and Troades 430f., Stygis profundae clausra et obscuri specus / laxantur. Seneca designates Pluto with the phrase inferni Iovis at Hercules Furens 47.
170 Cf. nube involvet at Seneca, Thyestes 624.
174 See the note on line 50.
176 For turbata ossa cf. Statius, Thebais IX.11f.
192 For vanos metus cf. Seneca, Oedipus 700.
208 For irati Iovis cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 528 and Hercules Furens 932.
217 I. e., a rain of blood.
218 For sic, sic agendum cf. Hercules Furens 1218 and Ps. - Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 846.
226f. For patet aditus cf. Seneca, Phoenissae 153 and 228.
234 For praefert facem cf. Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 594.
240 Cf. animi tumores at Phoenissae 585.
245 Since this is an incantation, the Devil shifts into a lyric meter (anapaestic dimeters).
248 For fallere doctus cf. Tibullus I.ix.37.
249 For iucundo furto cf. Ovid, Amores II.viii.3.
250 The second foot of this meter can scan like the end of a dactylic hexameter: in hexameter lines the words taedia vitae appear at line-end at Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto I.ix.31, Metamorphoses X.482, X. 675, Ps.-Ovid, Nux 159, Juvenal xi.207, and Statius, Thebais VII.464.
251 Cf. Aeneid VI.522, dulcis et alta quies placidaeque simillima morti.
260 Cf. ib. V.854, ecce deus ramum Lethaeo rore madentem.
263 For devinctos torpore gravi cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 1078.
264 Cf. Tibullus II.i.89f.:

Postque venit tacitus furvis circumdatus alis
Somnus et incerto Somnia nigra pede.

266 For placida quiete in Seneca cf. Agamemnon 60 and Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 717.
267 Cf. Propertius IV.vii.96, inter complexus excidit umbra meos.
I.v One presumes that a significant amount of time has passed since the events of I.i - I.iv. The setting is in Henry’s palace. The other characters in this scene are Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk, and his son Henry, Earl of Surrey, Admiral of the Fleet.
276 For rerum vices cf. Seneca, Troades 276.
278 For invicta manu in the Senecan corpus, cf. Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1179 and Octavia 246.
284 For dura tuleris cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 649.
285ff. The historical background of this speech is that Henry commissioned Surrey to clear the seas of pirates. The most memorable result was the capture of Sir Andrew Barton in a sea fight, a Scottish pirate memorialized (under a transmogrified name) in the ballad “Sir Henry Martin” (Child 250 — but in the ballad the pirate wins).
286 The prow is of course white because of the water it casts up. For tumida freta in Seneca, cf. Hercules Furens 955.
287 Seneca uses the word superbificus at ib. 58.
289 For spicula vibrant cf. Aeneid XI.606. For the purposes of my translation I assume that Surrey is describing contemporary weaponry.
290 Thetis, the goddess of the sea; our author uses her name by metonymy for the sea itself.
291 Cf. vagas ratis at Statius, Silvae III.ii.78.
294 Subin This neologism is discussed in the Introduction. Cf. et fata instantia pellit at Germanicus, Aratea 304.
299 Turbe This neologism is discussed in the Introduction.
300 For libero metu in Seneca, cf. Medea 185, 270, Phoenissae 642, and Troades 551.
301 For my translation I assume that arma portant literally translates the familiar English idiom.
302 Here verticem may mean their flag (the word could also designate the ship’s tophamper, but this would be redundant since he has just ordered them to lower their sails).
304 Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses IV.8, iusserat et saevam laesi fore numinis iram.
305 For trilici lora cf. Aeneid III.467, V.259, and VII.639.
307 Cf. the tag ocior Euro (Aeneid VIII.2223, XII.744, Horace, Odes II.xvi.24, Statius, Thebais VI.521).
308 Enyo is a cult name for Mars.
309 For clangor tubae cf. Aeneid VIII.528 and Lucan, Bellum Civile X. 401.
311 For igneae faces cf. Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 808.
312 Probably by liquefacta he means sulfur.
314 For telorum seges cf. Aeneid III.46 (but our author is describing the smoky barrage of artillery).
315 Cf. Aeneid I.88f.:

eripiunt subito nubes caelumque diemque
Teucrorum ex oculis.

321 Cf. Lucretius III.562, cassum anima corpus.
324 For celeri manu cf. Ovid, Ars Amatoria III.576.
325 For adversa in ora cf. Aeneid XII.652, Ovid, Heroides xii.63, Metamorphoses XII.237, and Statius, Thebais V.75.
326 For modo turbinis cf. Seneca, Troades 230.
328 For sonantem sylvam cf. Vergil, Georgics I.76.
330f. For pigra hyeme cf. Seneca, Thyestes 863 (also Ovid, Amores III.vi.94 and Ars Amatoria III.186). The author is describing flooding caused by the melting of ice. For rapidus torrens in the Senecan corpus, cf. Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1037.
336 For nescia remitti cf. Lucan, Bellum Civile I.17.
337 For exanimis metu cf. Horace, Sermones I.i.76.
339 Cf. decuit hunc finem dari at Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1479.
343 Astraea was the Roman goddess of justice.
349 Cf. Lucan, Bellum Civile IX.1102f.:

Magne, tuam dignaque satis mercede laborum
contentus par esse tibi.

356 For summa votorum attigi cf. Seneca, Thyestes 888.
360 I do not understand the reason for this remark that there was some special link between Surrey and Cromwell; certainly there was no familial alliance, and the Howards and Cromwell belonged to opposing parties at Court.
363 The Earl of Surrey (the present Earl’s grandfather), subsequently created second Duke of Norfolk, had commanded the English army that inflicted a terrible defeat on the Scots at Flodden Field in 1514, where James IV was killed. This Earl can scarcely be described as a iuvenis at the time of his victory, having been born in 1443. These lines are not well written, since the the linkage between the beginning of the sentence and the allusion to Flodden Field is rather tenuous (the idea seems to be “our family has been conspicuous for its military prowess since that victory, I am pleased to see my son carryong on the tradition.” Also, in 363 a word has been crossed out but not replaced, leaving the line with only five feet.
372 Cf. the oath at Aeneid IV.24ff. that begins sed mihi vel tellus optem prius ima dehiscat.
375f. For tumidas minas cf. Seneca, Thyestes 291, subibit gurgitis tumidi minas.
378 Cf. urit pectus at Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 620.
379 Cf. cohibet manus at Seneca, Medea 63.
385 Cf. Seneca, Oedipus 692, donata multis gratia nostra salus.
392 For ambage missa cf. Horace, Sermones II.v.9 and Ovid, Heroides vii.149.
393f. Cf. Aeneid XI.453, fremit arma iuventus.
397 This assent had been procured from the theology faculties of various universities in 1529.
403 For inferni incolis cf. my remarks on the author’s style in the Introduction.
404 For sorte pari cf. Martial IV.xxxv.2.
414 A list of natural impossibilities (adunata) such as this is a stock feature of Senecan rhetoric. For this use of flexis cf. Troades 388.
436ff. Meter: hendecasyllables. The adjective regificus is taken from Aeneid VI.605.
438 Cf. rubenti freto at Troades 11. In this case, the reference is to the shellfish used to make purple dye.
439 Cf. sic tulit celsum caput at Seneca, Phaedra 656.
440 Cf. Seneca, Thestes 343, regnum quo iaceat loco (also ib. 378 and Troades 407).
442 For turba clientium cf. Horace, Odes III.i.13.
443 For celsis honoribus cf. Statius, Silvae I.ii.113.
452 Cf. Horace, Odes III.xxiv.28f., indomitam audeat / refrenare licentiam. Cf. also fraena licentiae at ib. IV.xv.10.
453 Cf. Ovid, Ibis 226, Qua cava de Stygiis fluxerat unda vadis. But the idea is a bit puzzling: maybe the idea is that the water’s downward rush is so violent that, if not checked, it would continue down to the Underworld itself.
456 For amnis volvitur cf. Aeneid VI.659.
458 See the note on 87.
464 Perhaps the author was thinking of Aeneid IV.366f., sed duris genuit te cautibus horrens / Caucasus. Comparisons to the barbarism and savagery of these faraway places is a stock feature of Senecan rhetoric.
465 For dulce periculum cf. Horace, Odes III.xxv.18 and Statius, Silvae IV.v.25.
468 For this use of duco in fishing cf. Ovid, Heroides xix.13, nunc piscem ducitis hamo.
469 For cupidis mentibus cf. Catullus lxiv.147, 398, and Ovid, Heroides vi.71.
474 See the note on 343.
480 Taminet. This neologism is discussed in the Introduction.
481 For sanguine polluo cf. Lucan, Bellum Civile VI.307 and Statius, Thebais II.113.
482 The adjective Phoebigenus comes from Aeneid VII.773. It is even rarer than the proverbial rara avis (Horace, Sermones II.ii.26, Juvenal vi. 165).
483 Cf. Ovid, Amores II.vi.54, et vivax phoenix, unica semper avis.
II.i - iii This sequence of scenes occurs within Henry’s palace.
485 For lux dubia cf. Seneca, Phaedra 41. Cf. also Aeneid III. 198f., invluere diem nimbi et nox umida caelum / abstulit.
487 For infecit auras cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses III.76.
503 I suppose he means that Henry’s passion for Anne Boleyn is affecting the fortunes of great households (such as the Howards), and exposing some to attack.
504 For sanguinem sitit cf. Seneca, Troades 957.
512 For vires capit cf. Ps.-Seneca, Ocavia 54 and 784.
528 Cf. mollire temptas precibus at Seneca, Phoenissae 141.
531 For admissum scelus cf. Seneca, Troades 45.
534 For caeli rector cf. Seneca, Thyestes 1077.
539 For votis fave cf. Seneca, Phaedra 423.
540 Cf. pretium vitae at Propertius IV.xi.100.
546 Cf. facili deus annuit aure at Propertius I.i.31.
II.ii Surely the character who replaces John More in the second redaction is meant to be Sir Henry Norris, a young scion of the Howard family. He is destined be destroyed for his alleged sexual involvement with Anne Boleyn, which adds extra piquancy in the naivete of this optimistic newcomer to the royal court.
567 For spumas agit cf. Vergil, Georgics III.203.
569 For stabili pede cf. Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto IV.iii.32.
576 (stage direction) Another all-male dance, as in Thomas Cantuariensis (see the initial note on scene II.ii of that play).
592 See the note on 290.
596 Cf. Statius, Thebias X.365, arcanae moderatrix Cynthia noctis.
603 Cf., perhaps, the linking of decus and praesidium at Ps. -Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 749.
614 For iuvenum manus cf. (e. g.) Aeneid X.167 and Ovid, Metamorphoses VIII.300.
619 For consilia produnt cf. Seneca, Thyestes 332.
639 See the discussion of this image in the Introduction.
640 Cf. the Vergilian Culex 122, et dulci fessas refovebat in umbra.
686 For praeceps Notus cf. Aeneid VII.411, Ovid, Amores I.vii.16, II.xi.51, Ars Amatoria III.771, Heroides x.30, and Statius, Thebais II.194.
690 For vela laxes cf. Seneca, Troades 1179. For spes fovet cf. Tibullus II.vi.21.
II.iv - v The setting is unclear, perhaps a London street.
693 For inferni specu cf. infernos specus at Seneca, Thyestes 105.
698 Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses I.733, cum Iove visa queri finemque orare malorum. Cf. also Seneca, Troades 954, prima mors miseros fugit.
699 For finem impono cf. Aeneid II.619, IV.639, and V. 463.
701 Cf. Seneca, Thyestes 13, in quod malum transcribor?
708 For antiquum chaos cf. Ovid, Fasti I.103, Metamorphoses II.299, and Lucan, Bellum Civile I.103.
712 For humana mens cf. Metamorphoses I.55 and Juvenal xiv.175.
713 For ora solvis cf. ib. I.181, VII.190f., IX.9.427f. etc.
716 For cumulo crescit cf. Lucan, Bellum Civile VI.180.
721 Cf. Propertius IV.ib.149, cavum tellus diducat hiatum.
722 For this idiom in the Senecan corpus, cf. Hercules Oetaeus 1988, iter ad superos gloria pandit. Cf. also gentes innumeras at Hercules Furens 556.
727 For aterque luctus cf. ib. 694. For infoelix dolor cf. Agamemnon 649.
729 For scelere caret cf. Seneca, Troades 339.
736 For carceris nigri cf. Juvenal xiii.245.
739 For clarum micat cf. Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 239.
743 For quid gravo terras? cf. Seneca, Phoenissae 235.
II.v Antonio Bonvisio was an Italian Humanist living in London in the 1530’s, the kind of visitor who would naturally gravitate to More. According to John Stow’s Chronicle, “About the 20^th year of Henry VIII, Anthony Bonvise, an Italian, came to this land, and taught English people to spin with a distaff, at which time began the making of Devonshire kersies and Coxall clothes.”
756 For medicam opem cf. Ovid, Amores II.ixa.8, Epistulae ex Ponto I.iii.6, III.iv.8, and Remedia Amoris 76.
758f. For premit tempestas cf. Statius, Thebais XI.89.
761 For inhiat pauper cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 167f.
765 For pectus oppono cf. Horace, Sermones II.ii.136 and Statius, Thebais VII.281.
781 Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses I.364, atque animas formatae infundere terrae.
786 Cf. quae regit et nunc deseret astra at Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 768.
791 For ore impio cf. Seneca, Thyestes 1067.
797 Cf. pone iam trepidos metus at Seneca, Agamemnon 916.
806 For nauta vagus cf. Statius Sylvae III.i.4, , Thebais V.185, and VI.799.
808ff. Cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 577f.:

postquam litatum est Ilio, Phoebus redit
et damna noctis tristis ostendit dies.

809 For lenique Zephyro cf. Ovid, Amores II.ivi.55, Heroides xiv.39, Seneca, Hercules Furens 699, and Oedipus 37.
820ff. Meter: hendecasyllables with interspersed Adonics. The beginning of this chorus is obviously patterned after Horace, Odes I.xx, which begins
Integer vitae scelerisque purus.
825 For equitare campis cf. Horace, ib. II.ix.24 and Seneca, Oedipus 115.
835 The dogstar and the constellation Leo, both dominant in the hot summertime.
840ff. St. Hilarion rendered valuable assistance to the citizens of Epidaurus after the great earthquake of 366: the ocean waves are supposed to have retreated when he stood on the beach making the sign of the cross.
846 In 452, after sacking Aquileia, Attila was marching toward Rome when he was met by Pope Leo I near Mantua (on the river Mincio, a tributary of the Po), who dissuaded him from the attempt.
851 For leni susurro cf. Horace, Odes I.ix.19.
867f. For the phrase infernos lacus in the Senecan corpus, cf. Hercules Oetaeus 1293.
869 For animum iacentem cf. Seneca, Troades 1022.
III.i - iii Another meeting of Henry’s Privy Council.
875 Cf. Aeneid IX.641, macte nova virtute, puer, sic itur ad astra, and Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1942f., iam virtus mihi / in astra et ipsos fecit ad superos iter.
877ff. Suggested by Seneca, Medea 225ff.

hoc reges habent
magnificum et ingens, nulla quod rapiat dies:
prodesse miseris, supplices fido lare
protegere.

886 For sedes vacet cf. Seneca, Phoenissae 121.
891 For iners senectus cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 696.
912f. For extremo labori cf. Aeneid III.714.
930 Cf. pulchrae studium virtutis at Statius, Silvae IV.viii.58.
934 For obstinatae auri cf. Horace, Odes III.xi.8f.
943 For benignum numen cf. ib. IV.iv.74.
946 For noctis horas cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 815.
947 Cf. Martial XII.xviii.26, Sic me vivere, sic iuvat perire.
948 Spoken to his attendant.
949 For auro decorum cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 223 and 475. Cf. oppressum levet at ib. 1052.
961ff. A great legal abuse in the author’s day (and perhaps in the earlier Tudor period as well) was the unnatural protraction of cases to inflate legal fees.
975 For absolvit manus cf. Seneca, Oedipus 935.
976 For sceptri decus cf. Statius, Thebais VI.193.
991 For regia stirps cf. Seneca, Hercles Furens 360, Medea 18, and Phoenissae 320.
995f. Cf. Seneca, Oedipus 526f.:

CREO. Vbi non licet tacere, quid cuiquam licet?
OED. Imperia soluit qui tacet iussus loqui.

999 For fugam praebet cf. Seneca, Thyestes 629f.
1012 For venerandum caput cf. ib. 644.
1014 For eximium decus in Seneca, cf. Phoenissae 238.
1021 For regni debiti cf. Statius, Thebais I.314 and XII.211.
1025 For certa progenies cf. Seneca, Troades 461.
1036 For aures invitas cf. Ovid, Ars Amatoria II.449.
1037 For caelum tonat cf. Aeneid IX.541, XII.757, and Lucan, Bellum Civile VI.467.
1049 Cf. positos furores at Ovid, Remedia Amoris 497. Cf. also Seneca, Hercules Furens 398, et disce regum imperia ab Alcide pati and Medea 189f., regium imperium pati / aliquando discat.
III.iv - viii This sequence of scenes is played on a London street.
1100 For materia facilis cf. Seneca, Phaedra 686.
1105f. For blando ore cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses XIII.555 and Lucan, Bellum Civile VI.488.
1111 For pestis, exitium, lues cf. Seneca, Troades 892.
1112 For vendit fidem cf. Tibullus, I.ix.32.
1116 For cura recti cf. Ovid, Heroides xx.169.
1120 Persecution of Christians was especially harsh under Diocletian.
1126 For mali sensus cf. Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto I.ii.30, IV.xvi.50, Tristia I.iii.99, and IV.vi.22
1130 Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses X.56, metuens avidusque videndi.
1131 St. Bruno founded the Carthusian Order. A number of Carthusians, including Priors John Houghton of London, Robert Lawrence of Beauvale, and Augustus Webster of Axholme, were martyred under Henry VIII.
1134 Richard Fetherston, who was in fact not martyred until 1540. For cita quadriga cf. Aeneid VIII.642.
1138 Possibly the author was thinking of Ovid, Remedia Amoris 527, Corpora vix ferro quaedam sanantur acuto.
1145 Cf. vulgus omne stupet at Seneca, Troades 1143 and Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1745.
1149 Cf. the note on 26ff.
1150 For urgens opus cf. Tibullus I.ix.8, Ovid, Amores III.i.70, Ars Amatoria II.730, Fasti IV.837, IV.948, Metamorphoses IV.390, VIII.328, and Martial VIII.xxxiii.16.
1054f. The allusion is to the Franciscan convent that stood near Greenwich Palace.
1155 For futuris malis cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 208f. and Thyestes 958f.
1160 For carcere squalido cf. Ovid, Amores II.ii.42.
1164 For prospero statu cf. Seneca, Phaedra 435.
1166 For providae mentis cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 872 (also Horace, Odes III.vi.13 and Ovid, Metamorphoses VII.712).
1171 For purum pectus cf. Lucretius V.18, Horace, Epistulae I.ii.67, Sermones I.vi.64, and the Vergilian Culex 68.
1175f. For duodena signa cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses XIII.619, cum sol duodena peregit / signa. Cf. also the note on 414.
1181 Ida is a mountain on Crete, from where Venus fetched dittany (Aeneid XII.412, Statius, Silvae I.iv.101). Paphos was an island sacred to Venus.
1186 Our author does not seem deeply interested in chronology or in giving firm shape to his play’s internal time scheme. In point of fact, the Carthusian monks were martyred on May 4, 1535, Fisher on June 22, 1535, and More on July 26. Even more strikingly, More’s imprisonment for refusing to accept Henry’s new marriage consumed an entire year. Without actually violating the historical truth, by his silence the playwright manages to convey an impression of much more compressed action.
1192 The urn from which lots are cast out. Cf. Seneca, Troades 974, Versata dominos urna captivis dedit and (e. g.) Ovid, Metamorphoses XV.44ff.:

calculus inmitem demittitur ater in urnam:
quae simul effudit numerandos versa lapillos,
omnibus e nigro color est mutatus in album,

1194 For discat pati cf. Seneca, Medea 189f.
1198 For fragilis favor cf. Seneca, Phaedra 489.
1200 An allusion to the appearance of Halley’s Comet in 1531.
1202 For iaculatus ignus cf. Aeneid II.276.
1206 The pun on More’s surname is all but untranslatable.
1212 For quaero latebras cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 1335 (also Aeneid X.663 and Lucan, Bellum Civile VIII.780).
1218 For firma gradum cf. Statius, Thebais II.261 and 586.
1231 For acerba sors cf. Seneca, Phaedra 991 and Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 838.
1245 For ultra quaero cf. Seneca, Oedipus 860, Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 754, 1320, and Horace, Sermones II.iii.188.
1247 Cf. Hercules Furens 525, quam non aequa bonis praemia diuidis!
1251ff. Meter: Anapaestic dimeters with a concluding Adonic.
1251 For Felix nimium cf. Aeneid IV.657, Statius, Silvae III.iii.25, V.v.59, and Lucan, Bellum Civile VIII.139.
1264ff. Once again, the Phoenix.
1269 For reddidit astris cf. the Vergilian Aetna 70, Germanicus, Aratea 560, and Statius, Thebais VI.885. Phaeton is of course the sun.
1271 See the note on 290.
1274 For pulsata mari cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 1165.
1283 For patrio caelo cf. Statius, Achilleis VII.269.
IV.i A room in the palace.
1285 I am not quite sure what gradum retinete is meant to signify. Perhaps the idea is that they are walking along, and Henry commands all but the man to whom he is speaking to drop back a little.
1298 Pope Clement could procure More’s release by consenting to Henry’s marriage with Anne Boleyn (hence the subjunctive levat).
1306 The missing word is obliterated because heavy writing on the other side of the page shows through on my photographic copy of the ms.
1300f. For imago mortis cf. Aeneid II.369, Ovid, Amores II.ixb.41, Metamorphoses X.729, and Tristia I.xi.23.
1313 Sensa is a neologism, I do not quite know how the author defined it, although I translate it as “sentiments.”
1317 For calcanda via cf. Horace, Odes I.xxviii.16.
1328ff. The author is drawing a long bow here: Norfolk did not fall out of favor until the downfall of Catherine Howard in 1542, and was not imprisoned until the reign of Edward VI. Surrey was not executed until 1547, and both fell for reasons having nothing to do with the events of 1535.
1341 For serena fronte cf. Martial VII.xii.1, Statius, Silvae I.iii.91, and II.vi.65.
1342 The meaning is probably that he is no less artful a dissembler than Henry himself.
1351 Fragari. This neologism is discussed in the Introduction.
1355f. Presumably he means the “new hour” of a Protestant England. Henry’s threats are entirely ineffectual, since Cranmer survived until his own martyrdom under Mary.
1385 For terram quatit cf. Horace, Odes I.iv.7.
1387 For frontem explicat cf. ib. III.xxix.16 and Sermones II.ii.125.
1391 For speciem veri cf. Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto III.iii.4.
1406 For the idiom cingo latus used in this way, cf. Seneca, Oedipus 777.
1412 Cf. favente caelo at Statius, Silvae IV.iii.125.
IV.ii The setting is Norfolk’s house.
1422 Cf. Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 422ff.:

neglecta terras fugit et mores feros
hominum, cruenta caede pollutas manus
Astraea uirgo, siderum magnum decus.

1423 For rerum habenas cf. Aeneid VII.600.
1427 For gubernator poli cf. Seneca, Phaedra 903.
1440f. For manum adhibere medicam cf. Vergil, Georgics III.455.
1445 See the discussion of this image in the Introduction.
1446 For insanae procellae cf. Seneca, Phaedra 739, Phoenissae 420, and Thyestes 636.
1448 For the idiom dare aditum in the Senecan corpus, cf. Hercules Oetaeus 1356.
1451f. For vetas sperare cf. Ovid, Tristia I.145 and Lucan, Bellum Civile X. 451.
1454 For nomine dignum cf. Ovid, Tristia V.viib.45, Ps.-Ovid, Halieutica 133, Martial II.ii.4, III.xxxiv.1, IX.lxx.5, and IX.xlix.6.
1455ff. Another reference to Flodden Field (see the note on 363), a battle that had been fought in a heavy rain.
1463 For patriae decus cf. Statius, Silvae V.iii.124.
1466 For flagrat face cf. Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 50.
1467 See the note on 78f. Cf. violare toros at Octavia 193.
1468 For aequalis astris cf. Seneca, Thyestes 885.
1469 For tumido fastu cf. Ovid, Ars Amatoria I.715.
1471 For Gyarisque dignos cf. Juvenal i.73.
1472 Cf. intacta/um manet cf. Lucretius III.813, V.358, Catullus lxii.45 and 56.
1474 For perferat manus cf. Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 272.
1475 For mundi angulus cf. Propertius IV.ix.65.
1486 For iuvenile vitium cf. Seneca, Troades 250.
1489 Cf. ib. 251 aetatis alios fervor hic primus rapit.
1490f. Our author’s equivalent of festina lente, a favorite saying of Augustus (Suetonius, Augustus xxv, where it is quoted in Greek).
1492 For longa temporis mora cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses IX.134.
1498 For capita devota impiae cf. Seneca, Thyestes 712.
1499 He means the monks, whose death has been described in the previous Act.
IV.iii More’s trial.
1507 For dubium statum cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 308f., and Oedipus 83.
1511 For terra sterilis cf. Ovid, Fasti III.856.
1532 For amor patriae cf. Aeneid VI.823, XI.892, Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto I.iii.29, Fasti V.653, Tristia I.iii.49, and Lucan, Bellum Civile IX.385.
1533 Cf. Statius, Achilles I.145, nam superant tua vota.
1541 For locus dabitur cf. Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 78 amd 123.
1546 For Quis iste mos? cf. Seneca, Troades 298.
1560 For vox excidisse cf. Aeneid VI.686, IX.112, and Statius, Thebais V.646.
1562 The martyr’s purple.
1564 For sana mens in Seneca, cf. Hercules Furens 1243, Medea 123, and Phaedra 386.
1566 For commoda regni cf. Ovid, Fasti III.622. Cf. also commoditate frui at Heroides xvi.312.
1586 See the note on 87.
1600 For falsi nominis cf. Seneca, Thyestes 446 (also Ovid, Tristia III.xiii.29, Juvenal i.98, and Statius, Thebais XII.626).
1616 For scelere careo cf. Seneca, Troaede7s 339 and Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 481.
1617f. For dolor iustus cf. Ovid, Heroides xii.133 and Tristia IV.iii.31.
1619 For nocentes facit cf. Juvenal vi.647.
1633 Cf. reclusis pectoris at Aeneid IV.63 and Statius, Thebais V.252.
1636ff. See the discussion of this speech in the Introduction.
1660 For votis petitum cf. Seneca, Oedipus 205, Phoenissae 502, and Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 693.
1668ff. See the discussion of this speech in the Introduction.
1669 For aures praebeant cf. Horace, Sermones I.i.33, Ovid, Metamorphoses XV.465, Tristia III.vii.25, V.xii.53, Germanicus, Aratea 99, Propertius II.xxi.15, and Juvenal v.107.
1675 The reference is to Matthew 16:18, et ego dico tibi quia tu es Petrus
et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam.
1676 For gentes vagas cf. Lucan, Bellum Civile VIII.812.
1687 Europe, Asia and Africa. Cf. mundi plaga at Seneca, Hercules Furens 1138, Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 95 and 1797.
1689 Cf. revolutaque saecula at Ovid, Fasti IV.29f.
1693ff. The African heresiarch Donatus of Carthage (fourth century, who was deposed as Bishop and died in exile). The heretics mentioned before and after Donatus in this passage appear to be generalized types, not specific historical individuals.
1701 For sceleris infandi cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 983, Phoenissae 252, and Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 304.
1704f. For verba fundis cf. Aeneid III.348, and Ovid, Metamorphoses IV.429.
1727 For vestro coetui cf. Seneca, Medea 265.
1728 For consilia sana cf. Seneca, Phaedra 180.
1736 For nos nequiores cf. Horace, Odes III.vi.47.
1739 For atrox facinus cf. Seneca, Troades 289. For infidum caput cf. Lucan, Bellum Civile V.361.
1742ff. Meter: glyconics until 1774, then Alcaic strophes.
1743 Cf. Ps.-Ovid, Epicedion Drusi 62, Res hominum ex tuto cernere. Cf. also Aeneid I.223f., cum Iuppiter aetere summo / despiciens.
1764 Cf. geminus honor at Aeneid V.365 and Martial III.ii.8.
1787 This line = Horace, Odes I.xxxvii.29.
1790 For exanimes artus cf. Ovid, Amores I.vii.53 and Lucan, Bellum Civile VI.721.
V.i - iii A street near the place of execution.
1793 For medio foro cf. Horace, Sermones I.iv.74, Ovid, Amores II.xvii.24, Fasti VI.684, Tristia V.x.44, Propertius III.ix,224, Lucan, Bellum Civile II.16, VI.324, and Martial, VI.lxxvii.6.
1797f. For duram sortem cf. Seneca, Thyestes 879.
1798 For pandit sinus cf. Seneca, Phaedra 1190 and Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 136 and 405.
1799 For spes nulla cf. Seneca Medea 162 and Phaedra 360. See also the note on 343.
1800 For luctus, dolor at line-end, cf. Seneca, Troades 595.
1801f. For summam sedem cf. Lucan, Bellum Civile X.174.
1808 Conceivably suggested by Propertius I.xviii.3, hic licet occultos proferre impune dolores.
1809 Cf. Aeneid VI.365, eripe me his, invicte, malis and Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1335, vindicem vestrum malis / eripite.
1810 For futurus comes cf. Horace, Epodi i.17, the Vergilian Ciris 338, and Ovid, Amores II.xvi.43.
V.2 Although this is perhaps not certain (since playwrights of this period were fond of including anonymous citizens to represent current popular opinion), it is of course likely that the Citizen here is the same individual whom More rescues from despair in II.iv.
1823 This line = Seneca, Phaedra 1263.
1825 For affatus peto cf. Seneca, Medea 187.
1826 Cf. redde vices at Ovid, Metamorphoses XIV.36.
1832 For vultus lugubres cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 922, Phaedra 990, and Ovid, Tristia I.viii.28. For madidas genas cf. Ovid, Ars Amatoria I.660, Heroides v.72, and Tristia V.iv.6.
1853 For doloris immensi cf. Seneca, Phoenissae 352.
1856 For mentis vigor cf. Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 740.
1857 For vocis sonum cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 981 (also Statius, Achilleis I.583).
1858 For proximum letho cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses VIII.399.
1862f. For mentis recessus cf. Persius ii.73.
1864 Cf. amoris aestus at Catullus lxviiib.108 and Ovid, Amores III.v.36. For cohibet gradum cf. Statius, Thebais X.393.
1870 For vultus rigat in Seneca, cf. Agamemnon 922, Oedipus 953, and Phaedra 990.
1871 For falsus amor cf. Ovid, Ars Amatoria I.618, and Tristia II.i.340.
V.iv A room in Henry’s palace.
1887 He believes he is being hounded by Cerberus.
1888 For frui quiete cf. Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 717.
1890 For the owl and its ominous song cf. Aeneid IV.462 and Ovid, Metamorphoses X.453.
1891 Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses VIII.83f., prima quies aderat, qua curis fessa diurnis / pectora somnus habet.
1892 For arte blanda cf. Ovid, Ars Amatoria I.362.
1893 For saevus dolor cf. Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1282, Aeneid I.24, XII.945, Ovid, Ars Amatoria II.235, and Lucan, Bellum Civile IX.111. For exundat dolor cf. Seneca, Oedipus 924.
1894 In antiquity, and also in contemporary medicine, the liver was regarded as the seat of the passions.
1895 Cf. Seneca, Phaedra 1222f.:

et ardet intus qualis Aetnaeo vapor
exundat antro.

For caminis Aetneis cf. Hercules Furrens 106, Phaedra 190, and Hercules Oetaeus 1157.
1896 For Occurrit animo cf. Ovid, Heroides x.81. For status regi cf. Medea 879.
1904 See the note on 72.
1905 For caecus furor in Seneca cf. Hercules Furens 992, Oedipus 690, and Thyestes 27.
1910 For turpe iugum cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 1019 and Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 250.
1912 For premere servitio cf. Aeneid I.285.
1915 For celeri gradu cf. Seneca, Troades 1178.
1917f. With an abrupt change of subject, Henry speaks these lines as he sees Cromwell approach and cannot refrain from expressing his disgust.
1920 For dirum caput cf. Seneca, Thyestes 244, Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 227 and 861.
1922 See the note on 1194. For iram principis cf. Octavia 265 and 649.
1927 Cf. Seneca, Troades 750, O machinator fraudis et scelerum artifex.
1932 For dira libido cf. Seneca, Phaedra 207, 981, and Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 299.
1934 Cf. mori iubere at Octavia 498.
1937 For rectae mentis cf. Ovid, Tristia II.i.275.
1951 For aura vulgi cf. Ps.-Ovid, Halieutica 70.
1957 Cf. stabile regnum at Hercules Furens 345.
1958 Cf. Seneca, Phoenissae 659, languida regnat manu.
1967 For nomen perit cf. Ovid, Fasti IV.486.
1968f. The typical attitude of a tyrant in Senecan tragedy. Cf., for example, the sentiment of Lycus at Hercules Furens 342ff.:

omnis in ferro est salus:
quod ciuibus tenere te inuitis scias,
strictus tuetur ensis. alieno in loco
haut stabile regnum est;

1970 For Deo similes cf. Aeneid I.589.
1975 For notam fidem cf. Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 845 (also Catullus cii.2, Ovid, Fasti III.386, Propertius III.viii.18, Martial XII.xcvi.1, Statius, Achilleis I.735, and Silvae III.v.44).
1980 For facta damnet cf. Ovid, Heroides viii.84 and Tristia II.i.131.
1981 Cf. capite truncum at Martial VII.xx.15.
1982 For tumidum spiritum cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 248. Cf. also spiritum effudi at Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 607.
1983 For segnis anime cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 108. Cf. also Oedipus 1024, Quid, anime, torpes?
1984 Cf. Octavia 693f.:

certe petitus precibus et votis dies
nostris refulsit.

1990 For celeri pede in Seneca, cf. Phaedra 763 and 902.
1993 For exportet pedem cf. Seneca, Medea 180.
1997 For ferro peremptus cf. Seneca, Thyestes 245 and Ps.-Seneca, Octavia 606.
2000 See the note on 1927.
2008 For praemium feres cf. Seneca, Phoenissae 590 and Troades 292.
2012 For effunde habenas cf. Seneca, Phaedra 450.
2013 Cf. Seneca, Agamemnon 169, o scelera semper sceleribus vincens domus.
2017 Cf. Thyestes 746f., Sceleris hunc finem putas? / gradus est.
2019 Cf. Aeneid IV.366f., sed duris genuit te cautibus horrens / Caucasus.
2020 For rigida mens cf. Ovid, Heroides iii.96.
V.ult. The same street as before in this Act.
2031 For rigens corpus cf. Seneca, Thyestes 634.
2035 I. e., London, which was supposed to have originally been named Caer-Lud after an at least semi-fabulous pre-Roman king who ruled there.
2037 For turba supplex cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses I.92.
2038 For obsedit aedes cf. Juvenal x. 17.
2041 For pleno foro cf. Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto III.v.8.