ABSTRACT
The recent discovery of a lost text of Ben Jonsons entertainment entitled Britains Burse, originally performed in 1609. Jonsons city comedies, which he wrote early in his career, favored classical comedy, with its pedagogy of correction, in order to satirize contemporary forms of urban, financial deceit. Jonson first gained the attention of the Jacobean court in his contributions to the royal entry of King James in 1604. In the face of economic uncertainty, the king impressed Parliament for ordinary revenue in 1606, but dissolved it immediately after the vote. Jonson uses James title for the New Exchange, Britains Burse, connecting the commercial enterprise with the kings failed plan to unify England, Scotland, and Wales. Jonsons Entertainment at Britains Burse suggests that some aspects of foreign commerce remained beyond the monarchs control. The structure of English monarchical hierarchy is thus circumscribed by foreign exploration and trade, especially to the New World.
