Francis Bacon Research Trust

The Shakespeare History Plays

(Title-page to the 1642 Latin edition of Francis Bacon’s History of the Reign of Henry VII)

The Shakespeare history plays, from the beginning of The Life and Death of Richard the Second until the end of The Life and Death of Richard the Third, form an uninterrupted sequence, spanning the reigns of seven kings. The sequence covers key events in the history of the royal houses of York and Lancaster, and the devastating time of the first English civil war, the Wars of the Roses. Their final ending in the evil machinations of Richard III paves the way, in the Shakespeare story, for the coming of the Tudors to the throne of England and the restoration of justice and peace. From a political point of view it is a big propaganda build-up for the Tudors; but, extraordinarily, the history of the first Tudor on the throne of England, Henry VII, who began the dynasty, is never written as a play, whereas the story of Henry VIII is dramatised in a highly favourable way, up to the birth and prophetic looking forward to the reign of Elizabeth I.

Uniquely, Francis Bacon's prose history of Henry VII fills in the gap left between the Shakespeare play of Richard III and that of Henry VIII. It begins at the exact point where the play of Richard III leaves off—on Bosworth field after the defeat of Richard and the informal coronation of Henry VII.

The historical sequence concerning the royal houses of York and Lancaster is begun with the play of Richard II, who is the last of the Plantagenets before they divided into the houses of Lancaster and York, and who was forced to resign his throne to his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, the Duke of Lancaster (who thereupon became Henry IV). Likewise the sequence concerning the Tudors was begun with the play of Richard III, the last of the Yorkists and final sovereign of the whole Plantagenet line. One other Shakespeare play, which appears to stand alone, is that of The Life and Death of King John. This play sees the end of the Angevins in King John, making way for the Plantagenets. However, except for the last king, Richard II, the pre-Lancastrian Plantagenet kings are not covered by any Shakespeare plays. Interestingly, however, the gap is made up by plays written by or attributed to other playwrights with Shakespearean connections, so that there is an all but complete sequence of historical dramas covering England’s history from King John to Henry VIII—the omission being that of Henry VII, which is made up for by Bacon’s prose history.

The Life and Death of King John	W. Shakespeare	John (1199-1216)
Hon. History of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay	R. Greene	Henry III (1216-1272)
Edward the First	G. Peele	Edward I (1272-1307)
Edward the Second	C. Marlowe	Edward II (1307-1327)
The Raigne of King Edward the third	Anonymous	Edward III (1327-1377)
The Life and Death of Richard the Second	W. Shakespeare	Richard II (1377-1399)
King Henry the Fourth	W. Shakespeare	Henry IV (1399-1413)
King Henry the Fift	W. Shakespeare	Henry V (1413-1422)
King Henry the Sixt	W. Shakespeare	Henry VI (1422-1471)
The Life and Death of Richard the Third	W. Shakespeare	Edward IV (1461-1483) Edward V (1483) Richard III (1483-1485)
*History of the Reign of Henry VII*	F. Bacon	Henry VII (1485-1509)
The Life of King Henry VIII	W. Shakespeare	Henry VIII (1509-1547)