View source for Rollo Duke of Normandy

{{Short description|Play by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson and George Chapman}}
{{For|the person|Rollo}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Italic title}}
'''''Rollo Duke of Normandy''''', also known as '''''The Bloody Brother''''', is a play written in collaboration by [[John Fletcher (playwright)|John Fletcher]], [[Philip Massinger]], [[Ben Jonson]] and [[George Chapman]]. The [[title character]] is the historical [[Viking]] duke of Normandy, [[Rollo]] (lived 846 – {{circa|931}}). Scholars have disputed almost everything about the play; but it was probably written sometime in the 1612–24 era and later revised, perhaps in 1630 or after. In addition to the four writers cited above, the names of [[Nathan Field]] and [[Robert Daborne]] have been connected with the play by individual scholars.

==Synopsis==
Rollo, Duke of Normandy, is locked in a struggle for power with his brother Otto. Urged on by the sycophantic LaTorch, Rollo eventually murders Otto.

After he commits a number of other bloodthirsty deeds, Rollo is lured into a private meeting with the beautiful Edith, daughter of one of his victims, who plots to murder him. As Edith hesitates, Hamond, captain of the guard and brother of another of Rollo's victims, breaks in and murders Rollo. Hamond is himself killed in the process.

Aubrey, Rollo's cousin, succeeds to the dukedom; he has Edith cloistered and LaTorch whipped and hanged.

==Performance and publication==
Details of the play's earliest productions are not preserved in the historical record. The play was seen at the [[Globe Theatre]] on 13 May [[1633 in literature|1633]],<ref>[[Gerald Eades Bentley|G. E. Bentley]], "The Diary of a Caroline Theatergoer," ''Modern Philology'' Vol. 35 No. 1 (August 1937), pp. 61–72; see p. 63.</ref> and was acted at [[Hampton Court Palace]] on 24 January [[1637 in literature|1637]] ([[Old Style and New Style dates|new style]]). It was entered into the [[Stationers' Register]] on 4 October [[1639 in literature|1639]] by the booksellers John Crook and Richard Sergier, as the work of "J. B." It was first published later in 1639, in a [[book size|quarto]] printed by R. Bishop for John Crook and Thomas Allot, under the title ''The Bloody Brother''. The title page of this quarto attributes the play to "B. J. F." A second quarto appeared in 1640 under the title ''The Tragoedy of Rollo Duke of Normandy'', published at Oxford by stationer Leonard Lichfield, "Printer to the University." Q2 assigns the play to Fletcher, and asserts that it was acted by the [[King's Men (playing company)|King's Men]].<ref>E. H. C. Oliphant, ''The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher: An Attempt to Determine Their Respective Shares and the Shares of Others,'' New Haven, Yale University Press, 1927; pp. 457–9</ref> Q2 appears to derive from a theatre prompt-book, while Q1 shows less sign of direct contact with the stage and is a more "literary" text.<ref>Terence P. Logan and Denzell S. Smith, eds., ''The Later Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama,'' Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1978; p. 71.</ref> The play was included in the [[Beaumont and Fletcher folios|second Beaumont and Fletcher folio]] of [[1679 in literature|1679]].

Though the theatres were officially closed from 1642 to 1660, surreptitious performances occurred sporadically through the era. 1647 was a year of relative official lenience, when the actors were surprisingly active; but the London authorities soon cracked down. On 5 February 1648, King's Men players were arrested in the midst of a clandestine performance of ''Rollo'' at the [[Cockpit Theatre]].<ref>[[Andrew John Gurr|Andrew Gurr]], ''The Shakespeare Company 1594–1642'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004; pp. 203–4.</ref>  [[Joseph Taylor (17th-century actor)|Joseph Taylor]] was acting Rollo; [[John Lowin]] played Aubrey, [[Charles Hart (17th-century actor)|Charles Hart]] Otto; [[King's Men personnel|Nicholas Burt]] was Latorch, and [[Thomas Pollard (actor)|Thomas Pollard]] the Cook. The actors were arrested, and imprisoned in Hatton House for a time; their costumes were confiscated.<ref>Judith Milhous and Robert D. Hume, "New Light on English Acting Companies in 1646, 1648, and 1660," ''Review of English Studies'' Vol. 42 No. 168 (November 1991), pp. 487–509.</ref>

==Authorship==
Scholars have been divided about the nature of the play's authorship. Some have regarded it as a play that was originally written by Jonson and Chapman and later revised by Fletcher and Massinger; while this scheme makes a good deal of sense, others have disputed it. In his sweeping study of authorship problems in the Fletcher canon, [[Cyrus Hoy]] provided this breakdown among the shares of the four dramatists —<ref>Logan and Smith, pp. 70–2.</ref>

:Massinger — Act I; Act V, scene 1 (lines 1–90);
:Massinger and Fletcher —Act V, 1 (remainder) and 2 (first part);
:Fletcher — Act II; Act III, 1 (middle portion) and 2; Act V, 2 (second part);
:Chapman — Act III, 1 (excluding middle portion); Act IV, 3;
:Jonson — Act IV, 1–2.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Beaumont and Fletcher canon}}
{{George Chapman}}
{{Ben Jonson}}
{{Philip Massinger}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Plays by George Chapman]]
[[Category:English Renaissance plays]]
[[Category:1610s plays]]
[[Category:1620s plays]]
[[Category:Plays by John Fletcher (playwright)]]
[[Category:Plays by Philip Massinger]]
[[Category:Plays by Ben Jonson]]
[[Category:Plays by John Fletcher and Massinger]]
[[Category:Rollo]]