Language and Politics in the Sixteenth-Century History Play examines a key preoccupation of historical drama in the period 1538-1600: the threat presented by uncivil language. 'Unlicensed' speech informs the presentation of political debate in Tudor history plays and it is also the subject of their most daring political speculations. By analyzing plays by John Bale, Thomas Norton, Thomas Sackville, and Robert Greene, as well as Shakespeare, this study also argues for a more inclusive approach to the genre.

Acknowledgements Abbreviations and Conventions Introduction The Paradox of Sedition in John Bale's King Johan The Language of Counsel in Gorboduc Language, Temperance, and the Nation in Robert Greene's The Scottish History of James IV Misreading History: Rumour in King John The Language of Treason in Richard II Henry V and the Reformation of the Word Bibliography Index

DERMOT CAVANAGH is Lecturer in English at the University of Northumbria.