Holland's Leaguer - The Brothel

The Brothel

The actual brothel called Holland's Leaguer was located on the Bankside, on the southern shore of the River Thames across from London. It was situated in the liberty of Paris Garden, in a street that is still known as Holland Street. The building had formerly been the Paris Garden manor house, and was equipped with a moat, portcullis, and drawbridge. Brothels were commonly located on the Bankside, to be outside the control of the London civil authorities — just as the theatres were. Henry VIII had suppressed the Bankside whorehouses in the 1540s; but his measures were only temporarily effective.

Holland was reportedly the name of the woman who ran the establishment — though a popular rumor also linked the house specifically with Dutch prostitutes.

The brothel was a topical subject in 1631, because it had been attacked and damaged during the annual Shrove Tuesday tumult by the London apprentices. Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) was the 'prentices' holiday, and they often celebrated by running wild and causing destruction. (The Cockpit Theatre was damaged in their Shrove Tuesday rioting on 4 March 1617.) Brothels were a regular target of the 'prentices. The play refers directly to this riotous habit, in Act IV scene 3:

Good Sir, let's think on some revenge; call up

The gentleman 'prentices, and make a Shrove Tuesday.

(The 'prentices' Shrove Tuesday riots were sometimes severe. On 24 March 1668, they attacked the London brothels — including the house of Damaris Page, favored by King Charles's brother the Duke of York, later King James II. The action was so violent that troops had to be called up in response. In the aftermath, eight 'prentices were executed, including four who were hanged, drawn and quartered. Two of their severed heads were set up on London Bridge, to convey a cautionary message to the public.)