The Talented Playwright Who Was Secretly A Gay Atheist Spy? | Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe is an enigma - a man who is famous as a talented playwright, rising to success from being a shoemaker's son, who may have also been a spy for the Elizabethan government, an atheist, and homosexual. The little we know about him comes mostly from other people, or from the few times he pops up with a play or criminal record! This video looks at Marlowe's extraordinary life, rising from a grammar school boy in Canterbury's lower-class districts, to a playwright admired by his fellow dramatists, as well as the circumstances of his bloody and violent death...
Sources/Related Books:
The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe by Charles Nicholl - amzn.to/3VdJMov
The World of Christopher Marlowe by David Riggs - amzn.to/4c6Lv5O
The Complete Plays (Penguin Classics) by Christopher Marlowe - amzn.to/3Rir3He
Christopher Marlowe: Poet & Spy by Park Honan - amzn.to/3KAJfIv
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Marlowe [Marley], Christopher by Charles Nicholl - doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/18079
For my images and footage, thanks to:
Pexels
Pixabay
Wikimedia Commons, especially:
Nick Allen
Robert Cutts
Diliff (David Iliff)
Ymblanter
Many of my images in this video were made with Midjourney, see if you can spot which ones! Other clips are from iStock or the sources listed above.
I strive to always credit everyone whose images I use, and try as much as possible to use images freely in the public domain (purchased where not possible) - please let me know if I have missed you so I can give you due credit.

[@ShinigamisBlade]

I appreciate you commenting on how his sisters and future generation of women did the housework which allowed men to have the free time to go to school and pursue hobbies. It's important to learn about the past but we should remember the unsung labor and lives of those that allowed the historical figure to flourish

[@FranzBieberkopf]

You make huge and wrong assumptions that the way many people think today 1-Is universal and unarguable. Contemporary thinking is somehow transcendental 2-That people in the past should have thought the way we do. I think anthropologists call this way of thinking "presentism".

[@ShinigamisBlade]

@FranzBieberkopf I never said they should have thought the way we do. I do think we should appreciate the hidden labor woken have always carried, though. Nothing you said applies to what I said.

[@Philip-bk2dm]

I like your final comment. And thanks for the clarification. I had always heard that he died in a low tavern brawl. It goes to show how far from the truth a person's reputation can deviate.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

The false story of how he died was just like Edgar Allen Poe.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

The tavern brawl rumours started really on, so it's the story most of us learn about him (me included, many years ago)! I think it was a case of gossip getting muddled up, but I it was a murder, we could argue those who did the crime would welcome misinformation and help spread it.

[@leeannproctor2966]

​@@HistorysForgottenPeoplewhat do you believe about Marlowe's death?

[@catherinenelson9909]

I was an English major. Quite late in my mother’s life, I had to defend Shakespeare to her, in spite of his offensive dirty jokes, etc. I told her he was writing plays to make a living and then that other playwrights of the time put sexual matters into plays where they clearly didn’t belong. I didn’t remember Marlowe specifically, but thanks for proving my point.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

They didn't have women's rights or the social conscience we have today so in your discussion with your mom I'll be taking your side.

[@leeannproctor2966]

Racism was unfortunately a common thing all over the world, not just the British empire.

[@monicatindercosmos]

Wonderful overview! I’m an English major and this was a great reminder of how layered Marlowe was then and now.

[@leeannproctor47]

Can't help but wonder how honest his contemporaries were?

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

Have you read Marlowe's plays?

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you! 😊 He certainly was very layered! And we're not even sure what those layers really were.

[@abbyonyoutube]

Mind blown. Marlowe is so much more interesting than I already thought he was!

[@MichelleBruce-lo4oc]

Hi, awesome live history video I enjoyed it. How are you doing and Mallard your cat? How is the weather where you are? I'm doing well. And so is my cat Benjamin. We have lots of rain in Ontario Canada. In the next video in the future could you do King John the First. He was King of England in the 11th century and the 12th century. Have a great weekend. See you next video 😊 all your live history videos are always enjoyable to watch

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Hi Michelle, we're doing well, but unfortunately the weather is wet and grey again - typical Britain! 😂 I'm glad you and Benjamin are doing well, and hopefully keeping dry. I've definitely got to do King John at some point - I will make sure he's on my list. And thank you so much, that's very kind! 😊

[@goeegoanna]

Fascinating, as always. Thank you. Life can be somewhat....complicated as a gay atheist today, one can only imagine how it may have been then. It is surprising he lasted so long, so it goes to show how witty and aware he was. Alas, like the influencers of today, he just couldn't keep his big trap shut. Smug, charismatic glibness can't always work, sooner or later they vex the wrong people, as the internet has proven over and over and over and....In other words was it almost an inevitability?

[@leeannproctor2966]

What's sad is his plays weren't introduced in my schools or seen a movie adaptation of his works.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

Wouldn't surprise me he had other jobs since the theater is the best place for a steady income.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I think you make a good point! 😅 And a lot of people come to the same conclusion - that Marlowe's personality meant it was only a matter of time before it came back to bite him. I could definitely see him as a TikToker expressing the wrong viewpoint one day and doubling down! 🤣

[@DarthDread-oh2ne]

Great job with the video.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

I absolutely agree.

[@leeannproctor2966]

I hope you do more playwright contemporaries of Marlowe and Shakespeare.

[@lfgifu296]

Idk anything about him (yet👀) but I once read a poem of his and he sounded like a cottagecore lesbian lmao. But truly, he wrote very well and in a slightly complex but beautiful and understandable way, I liked it a lot.

[@DarthDread-oh2ne]

Hi friend. I was worried about you.

[@leeannproctor2966]

Did Marlowe ever write poetry?

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I just snorted my tea out at 'Cottagecore lesbian'! 🤣 That's definitely in my lexicon now. And yup, Marlow definitely liked making his writing complex, but I'll argue it was very good. I first read Doctor Faustus years ago when starting my degree, and it's one of the few books I had to dig into so much I can still remember most of the critique I wrote for it. 😅

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

​@@HistorysForgottenPeoplewhere did you come across cottagecore lesbian? I want to find that.

[@lfgifu296]

@@DarthDread-oh2ne Oh, I’m fine, thanks:) I just didn’t get the chance to comment first. Hope you too are well

[@user-gi8pk9uc7q]

And to think they used to put we atheists to death for not believing in their friend in the sky!

[@leeannproctor47]

Does anyone know if Christopher still had a relationship with his parents when he died?

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

I heard his ghost is still around.

[@jenssylvesterwesemann7980]

That was a very satisfying watch. Instantly subscribed.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you so much! Great to have you here. 😊

[@helpinyerdasellavon]

Amazing video on this controversial historical figure! Loved your in-depth take on his complicated life and events. Excellent presentation beautifully narrated as always 💖

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you so much! I'm really pleased you enjoyed it. 😊

[@Andy_Babb]

Thank you again for another fantastic upload!

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

You're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it! 😊

[@leeannproctor2966]

​@@HistorysForgottenPeoplewere there any women playwrights back then?

[@hisbigal]

I had an idea about Marlowe’s death. He had a cousin, Anthony Marlowe who was a trader with the East Russia Company, a company created by Elizabeth in 1563. The main shipping port was in Deptford, the same port city where Christopher met his end. Since there is still much speculation about his death, I proposed that the actual target was Anthony, and Christopher was either a victim of mistaken identity, or his killer assumed he also worked for the company, and he was killed for far more nefarious reasons.

[@RobCarmina]

Marlowe's greatest line is commonly thought to be 'Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?' - uttered by Faustus when he's presented with the figure of Helen of Troy - but an equally important line in the play, simply because of where it is placed, is that echoed from Ovid's 'Amores' - 'Lente, lente, currite noctis equi' - spoken as Faustus faces his final hour. It has a profound irony: in Ovid's poem it is the cry of the lover who prays that the dawn will be delayed, so that he can spend more time embracing his beloved; in Marlowe's play, of course, it has far greater anguish, because in saying it Faustus is recognising that this is the moment when he has to relinquish all the joys and beauties of the world, and face eternal damnation.

[@theConquerersMama]

Hit subscribe again. It seems YT had unsubscribed me. Fascinating as always. Thank you for such quality offerings.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you for coming back! 😊I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@leeannproctor47]

​@@HistorysForgottenPeople have you ever visited England or France?

[@williammartin2593]

Well , literacy is always a fine thing but the king had an agenda. Thousands of lower class people were taught and became clerks in the church and courts, and they all owed loyalty to him, not other nobles or the pope. And history is full of intelligent people who knew many of the teachings of religion were nonsense. Shakespeare , using the text of the plays as a guide, was also an atheist.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

Did Shakespeare actually claimed to being atheist ?

[@leeannproctor47]

Were playwrights becoming more successful by this period?

[@jenniferlevine5406]

Fascinating. Interesting how much detail there actually is, from what I was 'told' when studying Marlow - many years ago. Thank you!

[@FranzBieberkopf]

The narrator makes it clear that the Elizabethans didn't acknowledge the idea of homosexuality as an identity. Yet the title says Marlow was gay. I like the idea that Marlow's reputed atheism and homosexuality were a cover for his spying, but there's no evidence( as opposed to theorising and conjecture) that he was a spy. I enjoyed the film, but it reminded me of the Shakespeare authorship (alleged) debate-lots of smoke, very little, if any, fire.

[@JangianTV]

What's this? A subject who isn't female?! Look forward to this one when I get around to it. 😁

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

Will there be more obscure playwrights?

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Hehe, I do sometimes remember there are many interesting men in history! 🤣 I hope you enjoy it. 😊

[@JangianTV]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople I didn't know if profiling historical ladies only was your niche, but cool! Look forward to your future content. 😁

[@leeannproctor2966]

There is more speculation than known facts about Christopher Marlowe.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

That's absolutely true! And as I say in the video, aside from his plays, criminal record, university records, and baptism, most of what we know comes from other people - although that does give us a view of what contemporaries thought of him.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

​@@HistorysForgottenPeopleyou have mentioned a lot of playwrights I've never heard of? I hope you do a segment on these other men.

[@Julie-me8hk]

Thank you.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

The most information I've ever had about this man.

[@anweshabiswas4813]

Fascinating ❤❤❤❤

[@leeannproctor47]

The rise of education for common people was very informative.

[@user-bf3pc2qd9s]

Not forgotten

[@alananimus9145]

9:15 "Roommates"

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I had the same thought! But as I said in the video, it's difficult when there would be those who were platonic roommates, and those who were not but were appearing as such, so historically it's impossible to say, "Yes, they were more than roommates".

[@alananimus9145]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople So I understand why you and others think what you said sounds reasonable but it's not as reasonable as people assume. In order to reach that conclusion one must make unreasonable assumptions and not consider the practicality of living arrangement or actual living conditions. History is always "best guess" from the available data. But the data that gets excluded from conclusions like this is known human behavior. You have young men literally living in each others pockets in an all male environment. We know homosexuality (even and especially among straight men) activity is insanely common in such conditions today. To the degree that it is actually unreasonable to assume otherwise. It's not impossible historically to say "Yes, they were more than roommates.". It is impossible to say "They were in a romantic relationship." but it is unreasonable to say they were not more than roommates (ie they engaged in sexual activities together. I will point to another case that people often say something similar. In C.S. Lewis's auto biography he makes a queer reference to how all the boys but him in his boarding school engaged in homosexual behavior. Assuming the activity was as common as he claims should historians believe his claim that he abstained from engaging in the common behavior of his peers? No of course not. First the inclusion of this detail is extremely queer. First in the passage in question he is doing the taboo. The taboo here is acknowledging the practice and acknowledging how wide spread it was. The inclusion of the detail is an anomaly. Second he has motivation to lie. Third being the exception to the common behavior of his peers violates known human behavior. Is it possible that Lewis did not engage in homosexual behavior? Yes it is possible. Is it probable that Lewis did not engage in homosexual behavior? No, it is not probable. In the same way is it possible Marlow did not engage in homosexual behavior with the guys he was sharing a room with? Yes, it is possible. Is it probable? No. Further it's actually unreasonable to claim he did not.

[@arealphoney]

At 31:56 The massacre od Peris is described as having been written in 1572 with the event taking place "a few months earlier" .... No. The event was 1572, but the play was 1593. Marlowe was a child when the event took place. So the play is positioned correctl in this videoy in terms of chronology but with the wrong date. There follows a whole narrative here about recent migration, and the events being recent as Marlowe wrote the play. No, and No. Oh dear! this is how a simple mistake in a date, can suddenly evolve itself into a Mythology. The Huguenots had fled Paris nearly 20 years earlier. Marlowe was NOT relying on recent events, but memories, possibly gleaned from those living in Canterbury.

[@arealphoney]

With all the hundreds of churches in England, it really bothers me that the "church" is continually represented here by a French Baroque building of the 1600s, in other words Counter-Reformation architecture at its most foreign and Catholic. It is a really bad choice.

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Like deployed 👍

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

Is there any evidence that Marlowe and Shakespeare were friends?

[@leeannproctor47]

Wonder if his parents were atheists?

[@margheritatimeus3400]

Of course the movie Shakespeare in Love was absolutely not reliable, on a historic point of view, nevertheless it left me the impression of Christopher Marlowe with the face of Rupert Everett... 😝

[@johnholmesinchesahead342]

The Sonnets prove Shapespeare was just as gay - or at least bi - if you insist on going down this path.

[@theshamanarchist5441]

He liked it ruff (that's a Jacobean joke btw).

[@lfgifu296]

For the question, who’s your least favourite player of the Wars of the Roses? Mine is Richard, Duke of York. In my opinion Henry VI’s mental illness was the perfect excuse for him to get what he must have thought of at some point and brew in his mind: the throne. The fact Cecily granted him a pardon if he returned and he didn’t take it, so he had the option of peace and chose war, dragging England behind w him.

[@leeannproctor2966]

Did Marlowe do a play based on the war of the roses?

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

We are completely in agreement on this one! I also really don't like Richard, Duke of York, and although there were tensions and infighting with other members of the two families, I absolutely believe he is the instigator of the Wars of the Roses. His taking of the throne didn't come from a place of justice, or or believing he really was the right person to lead England, but purely from a place of selfishness. I have no doubt that had Richard succeeded in securing the throne for himself, he would have messed it up - he didn't do great in the time he acted as a sort of regent for Henry when he was comatose. All rulers of course come from a place of wanting power for themselves, but it usually comes alongside a belief that they can rule the country better than anyone else. I honestly don't think Richard went that far, he seems to have just decided, "I could have that". And even that could be understandable, if it was not for the fact that many members on both sides made it clear his actions would cause a civil war if he went ahead, and _he did it anyway_ knowing that.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

​@@HistorysForgottenPeopleis the war of the roses your favorite English Civil War?

[@doriamurriola7188]

Elizabeth i was not a religious moderate, only in Ireland she ordered the killing of at least 30,000 innocent irish people as a group punishment for an irish revolt unrelated to those poor people, and she executed more than 800 catholic priests allegedly as "treason", but we know it was religious persecution, saying flowery words but doing unspeakable things anyways when it suits you doesnt count as religious tolerance, for all her faults Mary Queen of Scots was wayyy more tolerant than any of the tudors

[@alisonarmstrong8421]

Iambic pentameter not special to Marlowe--see Shakespeare's sonnets ...

[@darlingstuff1560]

YAWN

[@altinaykor364]

He doesn't seem like much of a good person, the more I think about the details, the more confusing he gets and I might have said he probably had some sort of mental illness or something. Although I can agree with him on somethings (perhaps) since time really hasn't been kind to the view I have of religions, especially the Abrahamic ones. but the boldness he had and things he expressed about it, scares me as well, even in 21th century😨well no wonder he had a lot of enemies

[@leeannproctor47]

Wonder what dirt can be dugged up on Ben Johnson another fellow playwright.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Someone else in the comments likened Marlowe to an influencer (my mind went to TikTok influencer, haha), and I think that's probably really accurate! He certainly was intelligent and talented, but also didn't know when to stop bragging, be quiet, or simply not talk about his opinions to the wrong people. If he lived today you can guarantee he would be on TikTok with a massive following, doubling down on any opinion stated, whether right or wrong! 😂

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

​@@HistorysForgottenPeopleif you could, would you have liked to have met Marlowe?

[@Andy_Babb]

Ohhh, they did _not_ like gaytheists in the 16th century. No, sirry.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

Don't forget about the women.

[@leeannproctor47]

They might not have liked gamblers either.

[@josephinemiller68]

The only reason why you discuss this issue in this video is to get views. Why can’t he just be appreciated for his intellectual prowess without always speculating on how one chooses to have sex? I am positive he would be offended by this speculation.

[@leeannproctor47]

On speculation of historical people's sexuality I agree with you.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

I would like to know his actual relationship with Shakespeare.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I highly doubt the man who purposely put sexual scenes in plays with no correlation to the rest of the story would be offended. It is discussed because it is important historical fact - Marlow possibly being homosexual was directly related to how he was seen by contemporaries, and may also have contributed to his death, or at least how he was treated. All academic historians who have written about Marlowe also discuss it, because it is important. You might like to consider why you feel triggered by it.