the nearly-comprehensive list of English history plays
Because ricardienne asked about it in the last thread and it was too long for a comment. I'm sure there is something suitably amusing and random we could do with it, such as forging the lost ones or writing "The History of England as Gleaned From Elizabethan Drama" or something. ;)
I have now added e-texts for all plays where they are available.
Early Modern History Plays
Plays marked with an asterisk (*) no longer extant. Plays marked with a plus sign (+) exist only in manuscript.
I got the titles from this site and from Benjamin Griffin's Playing the Past -- I just split it up by reigns.
PRECONQUEST
*Earl Godwin and His Three Sons (2 parts) - Chettle/Dekker/Drayton/Wilson, 1598
Bonduca - Beaumont/Fletcher, 1609
Hengist, King of Kent - Middleton, 1616
Cymbeline - Shakespeare, 1610ish
Arviragus and Philicia (two parts) - Carlell, 1636
*The Siege of London - Anon, 1594?
*Hardicanute - Anon, 1597
*Cutlack - Anon, 1594
Edmund Ironside - Anon, 1590ish
The Love-Sick King - Brewer, 1617
A Knack to Know a Knave - Anon, 1592
*William Longsword - Drayton, 1599
WILLIAM I
Fair Em - Anon, 1590
WILLIAM II RUFUS
*Rufus I - Anon, 1595
HENRY I
*The Life and Death of Henry I - Anon, 1597
*The Famous Wars of Henry I and the Prince of Wales (The Welshman's Prize) - Chettle/Dekker/Drayton, 1598
Henry I - Davenport, 1624
STEPHEN AND/OR MAUDE
HENRY II
Look About You - Anon, 1600ish
*Henry II - Davenport, 1624
RICHARD I
The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (1 Robin Hood) - Chettle/Munday, 1598
*Robin Hood's Pennorths - Haughton, 1601 (presumably)
JOHN
The Troublesome Raigne of King John (2 parts) - Anon, 1587
*The Funeral of Richard Coeur de Lion - Chettle/Drayton/Munday/Wilson, 1598
The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (2 Robin Hood) - Chettle/Munday, 1598 (e-text is only excerpted)
King John - Shakespeare, 1596
King John and Matilda - Davenport, 1628
HENRY III
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay - Greene, 1589 (seems to have been adapted by Middleton, 1602; only tangentially historical)
EDWARD I
Edward I - Peele, 1590
*Longshanks - may be the same as Peele's Edward I
EDWARD II
Edward II - Marlowe, 1593
*The Spencers - Porter and Chettle, 1599
*Mortimer - Anon, 1602
Mortimer His Fall - Jonson, 1637 (unfinished, curse it all)
EDWARD III
Edward III - Anon, 1595ish
RICHARD II
Jack Straw - Anon, 1590
*The Famous History of John of Gaunt - Anon, 1594
*The Conquest of Spain by John of Gaunt - Hathway/Rankins, 1601
+Thomas of Woodstock - Anon, date uncertain
Richard II - Shakespeare, 1595
*Richard Whittington - Anon, 1605
*Richard II - Anon, 1610 ( contemporary description)
[*Pierce of Exton - Chettle/Dekker/Drayton/Wilson, 1598]
HENRY IV
1 Henry IV - Shakespeare, 1597
2 Henry IV - Shakespeare, 1598
HENRY V
The Famous Victories of Henry V - Tarleton?, 1586
*Henry V - Anon, 1595 (not the same as Famous Victories?)
Henry V - Shakespeare, 1599
The Shoemaker's Holiday - Dekker, 1599 (pseudohistorical; included because of Henry V's cameo at the end)
Sir John Oldcastle - Drayton/Hathway/Munday/Wilson, 1599 (there is also a lost second part)
*Oldcastle - Anon, 1599 (may be the same as the extant Sir John Oldcastle?)
*Owen Tudor - Drayton/Hathway/Munday/Willson, 1600 (may be Henry VI instead)?
HENRY VI
1 Henry VI - Shakespeare, 1590-2
2 Henry VI - Shakespeare, 1590-2
3 Henry VI - Shakespeare, 1590-2
EDWARD IV
1 Edward IV - Heywood, 1599
2 Edward IV - Heywood, 1599 (q.v. Richard III)
*Jane Shore - Chettle/Day, 1603
*The Battle of Hexham - Barnes, 1607
RICHARD III
Richardus Tertius (three parts) - Legge, 1579 (in Latin)
The True Tragedy of Richard III - Anon, 1588
Richard III - Shakespeare, 1592
2 Edward IV - Heywood, 1599 (q.v. Edward IV) ( scene)
*Richard Crookback - Jonson, 1602
*Richard III, or the English Profit - Rowley, 1623
HENRY VII
*Henry Richmond II - Wilson, 1599 (presumably there is also a Henry Richmond I)
Perkin Warbeck - Ford, 1632
HENRY VIII
+Sir Thomas More - Munday/Dekker/Shakespeare et al., date uncertain
*Long Meg of Westminster - Anon, 1595
Thomas Lord Cromwell - W.S., 1601
*Cardinal Wolsey (two parts) - Chettle/Drayton/Munday/Smith, 1601
Sir Thomas Wyatt - Dekker/Heywood/Webster, 1602
When You See Me, You Know Me - Rowley, 1604
Henry VIII - Shakespeare/Fletcher, 1613
EDWARD VI
MARY I
*Lady Jane Part I - Chettle/Dekker/Heywood/Smith/Webster, 1602 (presumably there was also a Part II)
1 If You Know Not Me, You Know No Body - Heywood, 1605 (q.v. Elizabeth I)
The Duchess of Suffolk - Drue, 1624
ELIZABETH I
The Battle of Alcazar - Peele, 1591ish?
*Stukeley - Dekker, 1596
Captain Thomas Stukeley - Anon, 1596
A Larum for London - Anon, 1599 (I've also seen it dated 1602)
1 If You Know Not Me, You Know No Body - Heywood, 1605 (q.v. Mary I)
2 If You Know Not Me, You Know No Body - Heywood, 1605
The Whore of Babylon - Dekker, 1606 (allegorically)
WELSH/SCOTTISH/IRISH HISTORY
*The Tragedy of the King of Scots - Anon, 1568
The Scottish History of James IV - Greene, 1590/ James IV - Anon (attrib. Greene?), 1590 (only very tangentially historical)
*Robert II, or the Scot's Tragedy - Chettle/Dekker/Jonson/Marston, 1599
*Malcolm King of Scots - Massey, 1602
Macbeth - Shakespeare, 1606
The Valiant Welshman - R.A., 1612
The Valiant Scot - J.W., 1632 (about William Wallace)
Saint Patrick for Ireland - Shirley, 1639
LEGENDARY HISTORY
Fuimus Troes - Fisher, 1625
*The Conquest of Brute, Part I - Day, 1598
*The Conquest of Brute, Part II - Chettle, 1598
Locrine - Anon, 1591ish
*Uther Pendragon - Anon, 1597
Birth of Merlin - Rowley, 1620
*Vortigern - Anon, 1596
*Arthur King of England - Hathaway, 1598
The Misfortunes of Arthur - Hughes, 1587
Tom a Lincoln - Heywood? 1611
*Chinon of England - Anon, 1596
*Connan Prince of Cornwall - Dekker/Drayton, 1598
Gorboduc - Sackville and Norton, 1562
*Ferrex and Porrex - Haughton, 1600
King Leir - anon, 1605ish
King Lear - Shakespeare, 1606ish
Guy, Earl of Warwick - Anon, 1593
UNSORTED
*Black Bateman of the North (2 parts) - Chettle/Dekker/Drayton/Wilson, 1598
*The English Fugitives - Haughton, 1600
*Pierce of Winchester - Dekker/Drayton/Wilson, 1598
*Sir Martin Skink - Heywood/Brome, 1634
*Too Good to Be True - Chettle/Hathaway/Smith, 1601
*The Wise Man of Westchester - Anon, 1594
I have now added e-texts for all plays where they are available.
Early Modern History Plays
Plays marked with an asterisk (*) no longer extant. Plays marked with a plus sign (+) exist only in manuscript.
I got the titles from this site and from Benjamin Griffin's Playing the Past -- I just split it up by reigns.
PRECONQUEST
*Earl Godwin and His Three Sons (2 parts) - Chettle/Dekker/Drayton/Wilson, 1598
Bonduca - Beaumont/Fletcher, 1609
Hengist, King of Kent - Middleton, 1616
Cymbeline - Shakespeare, 1610ish
Arviragus and Philicia (two parts) - Carlell, 1636
*The Siege of London - Anon, 1594?
*Hardicanute - Anon, 1597
*Cutlack - Anon, 1594
Edmund Ironside - Anon, 1590ish
The Love-Sick King - Brewer, 1617
A Knack to Know a Knave - Anon, 1592
*William Longsword - Drayton, 1599
WILLIAM I
Fair Em - Anon, 1590
WILLIAM II RUFUS
*Rufus I - Anon, 1595
HENRY I
*The Life and Death of Henry I - Anon, 1597
*The Famous Wars of Henry I and the Prince of Wales (The Welshman's Prize) - Chettle/Dekker/Drayton, 1598
Henry I - Davenport, 1624
STEPHEN AND/OR MAUDE
HENRY II
Look About You - Anon, 1600ish
*Henry II - Davenport, 1624
RICHARD I
The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (1 Robin Hood) - Chettle/Munday, 1598
*Robin Hood's Pennorths - Haughton, 1601 (presumably)
JOHN
The Troublesome Raigne of King John (2 parts) - Anon, 1587
*The Funeral of Richard Coeur de Lion - Chettle/Drayton/Munday/Wilson, 1598
The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (2 Robin Hood) - Chettle/Munday, 1598 (e-text is only excerpted)
King John - Shakespeare, 1596
King John and Matilda - Davenport, 1628
HENRY III
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay - Greene, 1589 (seems to have been adapted by Middleton, 1602; only tangentially historical)
EDWARD I
Edward I - Peele, 1590
*Longshanks - may be the same as Peele's Edward I
EDWARD II
Edward II - Marlowe, 1593
*The Spencers - Porter and Chettle, 1599
*Mortimer - Anon, 1602
Mortimer His Fall - Jonson, 1637 (unfinished, curse it all)
EDWARD III
Edward III - Anon, 1595ish
RICHARD II
Jack Straw - Anon, 1590
*The Famous History of John of Gaunt - Anon, 1594
*The Conquest of Spain by John of Gaunt - Hathway/Rankins, 1601
+Thomas of Woodstock - Anon, date uncertain
Richard II - Shakespeare, 1595
*Richard Whittington - Anon, 1605
*Richard II - Anon, 1610 ( contemporary description)
[*Pierce of Exton - Chettle/Dekker/Drayton/Wilson, 1598]
HENRY IV
1 Henry IV - Shakespeare, 1597
2 Henry IV - Shakespeare, 1598
HENRY V
The Famous Victories of Henry V - Tarleton?, 1586
*Henry V - Anon, 1595 (not the same as Famous Victories?)
Henry V - Shakespeare, 1599
The Shoemaker's Holiday - Dekker, 1599 (pseudohistorical; included because of Henry V's cameo at the end)
Sir John Oldcastle - Drayton/Hathway/Munday/Wilson, 1599 (there is also a lost second part)
*Oldcastle - Anon, 1599 (may be the same as the extant Sir John Oldcastle?)
*Owen Tudor - Drayton/Hathway/Munday/Willson, 1600 (may be Henry VI instead)?
HENRY VI
1 Henry VI - Shakespeare, 1590-2
2 Henry VI - Shakespeare, 1590-2
3 Henry VI - Shakespeare, 1590-2
EDWARD IV
1 Edward IV - Heywood, 1599
2 Edward IV - Heywood, 1599 (q.v. Richard III)
*Jane Shore - Chettle/Day, 1603
*The Battle of Hexham - Barnes, 1607
RICHARD III
Richardus Tertius (three parts) - Legge, 1579 (in Latin)
The True Tragedy of Richard III - Anon, 1588
Richard III - Shakespeare, 1592
2 Edward IV - Heywood, 1599 (q.v. Edward IV) ( scene)
*Richard Crookback - Jonson, 1602
*Richard III, or the English Profit - Rowley, 1623
HENRY VII
*Henry Richmond II - Wilson, 1599 (presumably there is also a Henry Richmond I)
Perkin Warbeck - Ford, 1632
HENRY VIII
+Sir Thomas More - Munday/Dekker/Shakespeare et al., date uncertain
*Long Meg of Westminster - Anon, 1595
Thomas Lord Cromwell - W.S., 1601
*Cardinal Wolsey (two parts) - Chettle/Drayton/Munday/Smith, 1601
Sir Thomas Wyatt - Dekker/Heywood/Webster, 1602
When You See Me, You Know Me - Rowley, 1604
Henry VIII - Shakespeare/Fletcher, 1613
EDWARD VI
MARY I
*Lady Jane Part I - Chettle/Dekker/Heywood/Smith/Webster, 1602 (presumably there was also a Part II)
1 If You Know Not Me, You Know No Body - Heywood, 1605 (q.v. Elizabeth I)
The Duchess of Suffolk - Drue, 1624
ELIZABETH I
The Battle of Alcazar - Peele, 1591ish?
*Stukeley - Dekker, 1596
Captain Thomas Stukeley - Anon, 1596
A Larum for London - Anon, 1599 (I've also seen it dated 1602)
1 If You Know Not Me, You Know No Body - Heywood, 1605 (q.v. Mary I)
2 If You Know Not Me, You Know No Body - Heywood, 1605
The Whore of Babylon - Dekker, 1606 (allegorically)
WELSH/SCOTTISH/IRISH HISTORY
*The Tragedy of the King of Scots - Anon, 1568
The Scottish History of James IV - Greene, 1590/ James IV - Anon (attrib. Greene?), 1590 (only very tangentially historical)
*Robert II, or the Scot's Tragedy - Chettle/Dekker/Jonson/Marston, 1599
*Malcolm King of Scots - Massey, 1602
Macbeth - Shakespeare, 1606
The Valiant Welshman - R.A., 1612
The Valiant Scot - J.W., 1632 (about William Wallace)
Saint Patrick for Ireland - Shirley, 1639
LEGENDARY HISTORY
Fuimus Troes - Fisher, 1625
*The Conquest of Brute, Part I - Day, 1598
*The Conquest of Brute, Part II - Chettle, 1598
Locrine - Anon, 1591ish
*Uther Pendragon - Anon, 1597
Birth of Merlin - Rowley, 1620
*Vortigern - Anon, 1596
*Arthur King of England - Hathaway, 1598
The Misfortunes of Arthur - Hughes, 1587
Tom a Lincoln - Heywood? 1611
*Chinon of England - Anon, 1596
*Connan Prince of Cornwall - Dekker/Drayton, 1598
Gorboduc - Sackville and Norton, 1562
*Ferrex and Porrex - Haughton, 1600
King Leir - anon, 1605ish
King Lear - Shakespeare, 1606ish
Guy, Earl of Warwick - Anon, 1593
UNSORTED
*Black Bateman of the North (2 parts) - Chettle/Dekker/Drayton/Wilson, 1598
*The English Fugitives - Haughton, 1600
*Pierce of Winchester - Dekker/Drayton/Wilson, 1598
*Sir Martin Skink - Heywood/Brome, 1634
*Too Good to Be True - Chettle/Hathaway/Smith, 1601
*The Wise Man of Westchester - Anon, 1594