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 XIII

THE ADULT COMPANIES

i. The Court Interluders. ii. The Earl of Leicester's men. iii. Lord Rich's men. iv. Lord Abergavenny's men. v. The Earl of Sussex's men. vi. Sir Robert Lane's men. vii. The Earl of Lincoln's (Lord Clinton's) men. viii. The Earl of Warwick's men. ix. The Earl of Oxford's men. x. The Earl of Essex's men. xi. Lord Vaux's men. xii. Lord Berkeley's men. xiii. Queen Elizabeth's men. xiv. The Earl of Arundel's men. xv. The Earl of Hertford's men. xvi. Mr. Evelyn's men. xvii. The Earl of Derby's (Lord Strange's) men. xviii. The Earl of Pembroke's men. xix. The Lord Admiral's (Lord Howard's, Earl of Nottingham's), Prince Henry's, and Elector Palatine's men. xx. The Lord Chamberlain's (Lord Hunsdon's) and King's men. xxi. The Earl of Worcester's and Queen Anne's men. xxii. The Duke of Lennox's men. xxiii. The Duke of York's (Prince Charles's) men. xxiv. The Lady Elizabeth's men.

i. THE COURT INTERLUDERS

Henry VII (22 Aug. 1485—21 Apr. 1509); Henry VIII (22 Apr. 1509—28 Jan. 1547); Edward VI (28 Jan. 1547—6 July 1553); Mary (19 July 1553—24 July 1554); Philip and Mary (25 July 1554—17 Nov. 1558); Elizabeth (17 Nov. 1558—24 Mar. 1603).

The doyen of the Court companies, when Elizabeth came to the throne, was the royal company of Players of Interludes. This had already half a century of history behind it. Its beginnings are probably traceable in the reign of Henry VII. Richard III had entertained a company, as Duke of Gloucester, in 1482; but nothing is known of it during his short reign from 1583 to 1585. Nor is a royal company discoverable