ABSTRACT
The evidence of topical allusions, theatrical borrowings, and so forth, found in Oldcastle leads to the conclusion that Oldcastle was written in the fall of 1599. The play displays a strong antipathy to the controversial Earl of Essex and that fractious lord’s escapades in Ireland in the late summer of 1599 and his hasty return to England in September could have affected some episodes in Oldcastle. Both the first scene’s rebellion and also the Murley scenes seem to be the ones most affected by the great musters of soldiers and horsemen who were in London in August to train for a possible Spanish attack. The Prologue was probably written when Oldcastle went to press for it seems addressed to a reader rather than to a member of an audience. The use of “Oldcastle” in speech headings for the second-half scenes is another reason to assign them to one collaborator.
