William Cecil, Sundrie Horrible Conspiracies

Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne)
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As John Drakakis writes in his essay on Shakespeare’s

The Merchant of Venice

elsewhere in this Encylopedia,

commentators on The Merchant of Venice have occasionally suggested that the specific stimulus to Shakespeare’s creative imagination may have been the Roderigo Lopez affair. Lopez was a Portuguese Jew who had become Elizabeth I’s personal physician in 1586 and who was arraigned, convicted, and executed for allegedly trying to poison the queen.

commentators on

The Merchant of Venice

have occasionally suggested that the specific stimulus to Shakespeare’s creative imagination may have been the Roderigo Lopez affair. Lopez was a Portuguese Jew who had become Elizabeth I’s personal physician in 1586 and who was arraigned, convicted, and executed for allegedly trying to poison the…

1218 words

Citation: Forsyth, Neil. "Sundrie Horrible Conspiracies". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 May 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33191, accessed 19 March 2024.]

33191 Sundrie Horrible Conspiracies 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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