List of Historical Figures Dramatised By Shakespeare - C

C

• Caesar:
  • Julius Caesar is the title character of Julius Caesar, an Emperor of Rome who is stabbed in the Capitol, on the Ides of March.
  • Octavius Caesar is one of the Triumvirs, the three rulers of Rome after Caesar's death, in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
• Caius:
  • Doctor Caius is a French doctor in The Merry Wives of Windsor. He challenges Parson Hugh to a duel.
  • See also (Caius) Cassius, Caius Martius Coriolanus and Caius Ligarius.
• Calphurnia is the wife of Caesar, whose dream predicts her husband's death, in Julius Caesar.
• The Earl of Cambridge is one of the three conspirators against the king's life (with Scroop and Grey) in Henry V.

For Cardinal Campeius see Cardinal.

• Canidius is a follower of Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.

For Canterbury see Archbishop of Canterbury.

• Lord Caputius is an ambassador from the Holy Roman Emperor in Henry VIII.
• Cardinal:
  • Cardinal Bourchier delivers the little Duke of York from sanctuary, and into the hands of Richard and Buckingham, in Richard III.
  • Cardinal Campeius is the papal legate at the trial of Katherine in Henry VIII.
  • Cardinal Wolsey orchestrates the fall from grace of Buckingham and Katherine, but himself falls from grace and dies, in Henry VIII.
  • See also the Bishop of Winchester, who becomes a Cardinal in the course of Henry VI, Part 1.

For The Bishop of Carlisle see Bishop.

• Casca is one of the conspirators against Caesar in Julius Caesar. He has an important role in the early parts of the play, reporting offstage events.
• Caius Cassius, usually known just as Cassius, is a central character in Julius Caesar. He incites the conspiracy against Caesar, and recruits Brutus to the conspirators' ranks.
• Catesby is a double agent—seemingly loyal to Lord Hastings but actually reporting to Buckingham and Richard—in Richard III.

For Lord Chamberlain and Lord Chancellor see Lord Chamberlain and Lord Chancellor.

• King Charles VI of France is Henry's hated enemy in Henry V.

For King Charles VII of France see Dauphin.

For The Lord Chief Justice see Lord Chief Justice.

• Christopher Urswick is a minor character: a priest acting as messenger for Lord Stanley in Richard III.
• Cinna:
  • Cinna is one of the conspirators against Caesar in Julius Caesar.
  • Cinna is a poet, mistaken for the conspirator Cinna in Julius Caesar. Realising they have the wrong man, the mob "kill him for his bad verses".
• Clarence:
  • George, Duke of Clarence is the younger brother of Edward and the elder brother of Richard in Henry VI, part 3 and Richard III. He is often known as "perjured Clarence", having broken his oath to Warwick and fighting instead for his brother's faction. He is eventually drowned in a butt of malmesy wine.
  • Thomas, Duke of Clarence is Hal's younger brother, who appears in Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.
• Cleopatra is the lover of Antony in Antony and Cleopatra. She commits suicide using a poisonous asp.
• Clifford:
  • Clifford (sometimes called Young Clifford) is a staunch Lancastrian, and is the Yorkists' most hated enemies—as the killer of Rutland—in Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3.
  • Old Clifford, father of Clifford, is a Lancastrian leader in Henry VI, Part 2.
• The Constable of France leads the French forces in Henry V.
• Constance is Arthur's mother in King John and a fierce advocate for her son's right to the English throne.
• Caius Martius Coriolanus, usually known just as Coriolanus, is the central character of Coriolanus, who earns the tile "Coriolanus" in recognition of his skill at smiting Volscians in Coriolai.

For Thomas Cranmer see Archbishop of Canterbury.

• Thomas Cromwell is secretary to Wolsey, and later to the Privy Council, in Henry VIII.
• Cymbeline, the title character of Cymbeline, is king of the Britons, and father to Imogen, Guiderus and Arviragus.