ABSTRACT
The Third Earl of Pembroke, like his less famous brother and heir, shared a similar interest in the theatre and it was this interest that prompted the most famous double dedication in literary history. Pembroke’s support of ‘true religion’ – Calvinism – prompted many other writers to ask Pembroke for protection and preferment. Pembroke was honoured and well served by the historians to whom he gave his patronage. In 1612 Henry Peacham, later famous for his The Compleat Gentleman, sought Pembroke’s patronage when he dedicated to the Third Earl his book of emblems. The playwright and poet George Chapman were patronised by Pembroke when he was Lord Chamberlain, but their association began much earlier. Pembroke’s very personal acts of favour, though illuminating as to his character are, nevertheless, secondary to his position as the greatest patron of the arts in the early seventeenth century.
