ABSTRACT
In the spring of 1593, the authorities were anxious to find, under a general warrant, persons suspected of libel or sedition, or just ‘unsafe’ opinions. The Privy Council issued a warrant for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May, with instructions to seek him at Scadbury in Kent, Sir Thomas Walsingham's house. On 12 May they arrested Thomas Kyd, the author of ‘The Spanish Tragedy’ (15587–94?), then a conspicuous plajrwright, apparently tortured him, and secured a document from him in two letters to the Lord Keeper, Sir John Puckering. It must be remembered that Kyd wrote in fear.
