Who was Ben Jonson?
Ben Jonson, after Shakespeare, was the most eminent writer for the Elizabethan stage. he was born in 1572, the son of a clergyman. Jonson joined the theatrical company of Philip Henslow in London as an actor and playwright. in 1597 he was imprisoned for his involvement in a satire entitled “The Isle of the Dogs”, declared seditious by the authorities. the following year Jonson killed a fellow actor, Gabriel Spencer, in a duel in the fields at Shoreditch and was tried at the Old Bailey for murder. He escaped the gallows only by pleading “benefit of clergy”. Jonson’s second known play “Every Man in his Honour” was performed in 1598 by the Lord Chamberlain’s men at The Globe with William Shakespeare in the cast. They became life long friends. Having converted to Catholicism, Jonson was also the object of deep suspicion after the Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawks. Jonson received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Oxford University. He died on August 6th 1637 and was buried in Westminster Ab
