William Kemp, Clown of the Chamberlain's Men, Dancing the Morris

The Lord Chamberlain's Men, or Chamberlain's Men, was the most illustrious of the companies of players in Renaissance England. They performed the works of Shakespeare, Jonson, Dekker, Beaumont and Fletcher, among others, and were the resident company at the Globe playhouse.

The company underwent many name changes, respective of who the patron was at the time. It is often the source of confusion, but can be summed up thus:

	1564-67		Lord Hunsdon's Men, patronized by Henry Carey, 1st Lord Hunsdon.
	1585		Henry Carey made Lord Chamberlain.
	1590		The Lord Chamberlain's Men.
	1592		Theatres closed for the plague.
	1594		Theatres reopened.
	1596		Henry Carey dies.
	1596		The company under protection of his son George Carey, 2nd Lord Hunsdon; Once more known as Hunsdon's Men.
	1597		George Carey takes office as Lord Chamberlain; Once more known as Chamberlain's Men.
	1603		Queen Elizabeth dies. Succession of James I. Company taken under royal patronage, renamed the King's Men.

Around 1564-7 a company of players, known as Hunsdon's Men, was under the patronage of Henry Carey, 1st Lord Hunsdon.¹ In 1583, company members absorbed into the Queen's Men.  After Carey was made Lord Chamberlain in 1585, another company was created from the original Hunsdon's Men and members from several other theatre companies, including the Lord Strange's Men; this new company, Lord Chamberlain's Men, began performing around 1590. The plague closed the theatres in 1592, but from the reopening of the theatres in the summer of 1594, the Chamberlain's Men played nearly continuously in London until 1603, save for a tour of the provinces in 1597. Their home was at first the theatre in Newington Butts, and possibly the Cross Keys Inn in London, before the company is thought to have moved to James Burbage's The Theatre in Shoreditch. Their chief rivals were the Admiral's Men.

After Henry Carey's death in 1596, his son, George Carey, 2nd Lord Hunsdon, became patron to the company, which again came to be known as Lord Hunsdon's Men. In 1597, George Carey took office as Lord Chamberlain, and accordingly, the company again changed to the Lord Chamberlain's Men. In 1599, the company took residence at the Globe Theatre, built by Cuthbert Burbage and Richard Burbage, the company's famous tragedian. At the Globe, profits were divided between the company owners (Shakespeare among them)and the players, who also included Burbage and Shakespeare. Needless to say, Shakespeare was the company's chief dramatist.

After Queen Elizabeth's death, the new monarch, James I, took over the patronage of the company, and granted the company letters patent as the King's Men. Their rival company, Admiral's Men, were taken under the protection of Prince Henry at this time and renamed the "Prince's Men."

In addition to the Globe, the company frequently played at court. Around 1608, the company began to play the winters at the second Blackfriars. This theatre was also owned by Burbage, and had its own company of "housekeepers", or owners, who shared in the profits. Plays by Shakespeare, and later by Beaumont and Fletcher, were played there. The Lord Chamberlain's Men were finally dissolved at the closing of the theatres in 1642.




¹ Encyclopedia Britannica.

Other Local Resources:

• Location Map of Elizabethan London
  

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Books for further study: Aaron, Melissa D. Global Economics; A History of The Theater Business,
           The Chamberlain's/King's Men, And Their Plays, 1599-1642.
           Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 2005.

Bentley, G. E. The Profession of Player in Shakespeare's Time, 1590-1642.
           Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.

Chambers, E. K. The Elizabethan Stage. 4 vols.
           Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1923.

Cook, Judith. Roaring Boys: Shakespeare's Rat Pack. Playwrights and
           Players in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.
           Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 2005.

Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearean Stage 1574-1642.
           Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Sharpe, Robert B. Real War of the Theatres : Shakespeare's Fellows
            in Rivalry With the Admiral's Men.
           Boston: Modern Language Association, 1935.

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Chamberlain's Men on the Web:

• The Lord Chamberlain's Men - The Encyclopedia Britannica
  
• The Lord Chamberlain's Men - UVictoria
  
• The Chamberlain’s Company - Cambridge History of English and American Literature
  
  

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Article Citation:

Jokinen, Anniina. “The Lord Chamberlain's Men.” Luminarium.
             2 Sept 2006. [Date when you accessed the page].              <http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/chamberlainsmen.htm>

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