Sir Thomas Benger Master of the Revels (ca. 1520? – 1572) succeeded Sir Thomas Cawarden as Elizabeth I's Master of the Revels on 18 January 1560. He served until 1572 when it appears Sir Thomas Blagrave stepped in. Benger was considered to be an ineffectual master of the revels, purely on account that a charter for his successor hadn't been drawn up at his death. Benger had been a loyal member of the Princess Elizabeth's household at Hatfield during the several imprisonments she had suffered under her sister, Mary I.
On 5 June 1555, he had been examined by Secretary Bourne, the Master of the Rolls, Sir Francis Englefield, Sir Richard Read and Doctor Hughes, "upon such points as they shall gather out of their former confessions, touching their lewd & vain practises of calculating or conjuring, presently sent unto them with the said letters."[1][2] In 1559, he was elected to Parliament for Lancaster.[3]
Benger produced forty-six plays and masques that dealt with the factional intrigues surrounding the Queen's marriage negotiations between 1560 and 1572. Only eleven of his plays were performed by adult acting troupes, notably the Grey's Inn Men, and it is thought to be his group of child actors to which William Shakespeare refers in Hamlet act ii, scene ii, "an aery of children, little eyases that cry out on the top of question and are most tyrannically clapped for it: these are now the fashion; and so berattle the common stages that many wearing rapiers are afraid to goose quills and dare scarce come hither."[citation needed]
Benger's use of boy actors from Children of Paul's, realistic three-dimensional scenery, and stage effects, were to define the courtly entertainments of Elizabeth's reign and set the standard required from the noble lords the Queen visited on her regular summer progressions.[citation needed]
Benger found the financial burden of the office too much for his family to bear and he made a special plea to the Queen as 'one of the last of the poor flock of Hatfield' to pay off his debts when he died as 'the charges for making of masks cam never to so little a sum as they do this year.'[a]
Benger died in 1572, though his will was not finally proved until 1577.[3]
Preceded by
Sir Thomas Cawarden
Master of the Revels 1560–1572
Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Blagrave
^Foxe's Book of Martyrs along with Dr. John Dee
^Fox, John (1837). Clarke, Adam (ed.). Martyrology. Fisher, Son, & Company. p. 419. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
^ abBENGER, Sir Thomas (d.1572), of Milton, Oxon, History of Parliament. Accessed 28 December 2022.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
Sir ThomasBenger Master of the Revels (ca. 1520? – 1572) succeeded Sir Thomas Cawarden as Elizabeth I's Master of the Revels on 18 January 1560. He served...
Benger may refer to: Benger, Western Australia Benger Swamp, Western Australia Sutton Benger, Wiltshire, England Elizabeth Benger (1775–1827), English...
where his official papers were preserved. Sir ThomasBenger succeeded Cawarden, followed by Sir Thomas Blagrave (1573–79), and Edmund Tylney followed...
century. Cawarden was succeeded as Master of the Revels by Sir ThomasBenger. Thomas Cawarden's official papers survived at his executor's descendants'...
son and heir of Clement Heigham of Lavenham, Suffolk, the fourth son of Thomas Heigham of Heigham (died 1492). His mother was Matilda (Maud), daughter...
Richard Falke 1378 Hugh Osborne 1379 Richard Falke 1380 Richard Palmer 1381 Richard Falke 1382 Richard Falke 1383 ThomasBenger 1384– Mayors of Hereford...
with John Prideaux, accused John Dee and his associates, including Sir ThomasBenger, of conjuring, casting nativities, plotting on behalf of Princess Elizabeth...
College, Cambridge In office 1 October 2016 – 1 October 2023 Preceded by Dame Jean Thomas Succeeded by Sir John Benger Website eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/mew10...
succeeded Sir John Benger on 1 October 2023 following Benger's appointment as Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. "Goldsmith, Thomas, (born 28 Nov...
needed] Causes of autism Conditions comorbid to autism spectrum disorders Benger, Matthew; Kinali, Maria; Mazarakis, Nicholas D. (December 2018). "Autism...
and his wife Lady Mare. Most of the other works were first published by Thomas Goodwin and Philip Nye, after Sibbes died. The content belied the mainly...
Benger was an English 16th-century university vice-chancellor, Benger was a Doctor of Decretals and a Fellow of New College, Oxford. In 1520, Benger was...
1884, p. 208. Benger 1827, p. 444. Benger 1827, p. 445. Arthur J. Collins, Jewels and Plate of Elizabeth I (London, 1955), pp. 14, 268. Benger 1827, p. 446...
John Benger when he retired on 1 October 2023. 1363 – Robert de Melton 1385 – John de Scardeburgh 1414 – Thomas Haseley 1440 – John Dale 1461 – Thomas Bayen...
or Doke 1520 William Broke or Brook, Richard Benger 1521 Richard Benger 1522 Richard Benger 1523 Thomas Musgrave 1527 Martin Lyndsey, John Cottisford...
wishes my friends! Can you believe I'm 30 lol wtf..." (Tweet) – via Twitter. Thomas-Corr, Johanna (13 November 2012). "Gabrielle Aplin: the jingle belle who...
Queens Matter in Early Modern Studies, Springer, p. 159, ISBN 978-3319640488 Benger, Miss (1821). Memoirs of the Life of Anne Boleyn, Queen of Henry VIII. Vol...
William Winberry, John Wood; Aboriginal men Benbow, Derrimut, Baitlange (Ben Benger) and Ballyan, and Sydney Aboriginal men Bullett, Stewart and Joe the marine –...
Thomas Crosse (22 October 1680 – 27 August 1736) was an Anglican clergyman, who was Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and Vice-Chancellor of...
Global Information