Decline
In 1583, the foundation of a new company, Queen Elizabeth's Men, stripped Leicester's Men of its three most talented and prominent members, Robert Wilson, John Laneham, and Richard Tarlton. (William Johnson may also have joined the Queen's Men at this time or soon after.) It is thought that Leicester's company was rifled of its best men deliberately, to tamp down the rivalry between Leicester and the Earl of Oxford as they expressed it through their competing companies of actors. Leicester's Men never fully recovered their former prominence and prestige after 1583.
Still, the company persevered: it was on tour in 1584 and '85. In the latter year the Earl of Leicester was appointed commander of the English troops in The Netherlands; his progress through Utrecht, Leyden and The Hague was noted for the lavish pageants that were enacted in his honor. At least one member of Leicester's Men, William Kempe, accompanied the Earl to Holland; others also may have made the journey. The company was touring again through the 1586–88 period, and performed at Court in December 1586.
With the Earl's death in 1588 Leicester's Men passed out of existence. Kempe and some other members went on to work with other companies.
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Famous quotes containing the word decline:
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