| The Marprelate tracts are among the most interesting anonymous
works of the Elizabethan period. The identity of their author has always
been a mystery. However, internal evidence in the tracts (including a slip
in the Protestation in which Martin speaks of himself "and other great men")
renders it almost certain that he was Edward De Vere (1550-1604), 17th
Earl of Oxford. Click here for an introduction setting out the reasons for attributing authorship to Oxford, genealogical charts showing Oxford's relationship to persons connected with the tracts, a note on the secret press, a chronology of the printing of the tracts, photographs of locations connected with the tracts, a list of clerics Oxford may have known personally, and a bibliography. Click here for modern spelling editions of the Marprelate tracts and other documents related to the Marprelate tracts. |
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