226 just distance half way (just = exact: cf. 23n.). The source is Holinshed, 3.530: ‘iust in the midwaie betwixt both the armies’.

  226.1 *I preserve Q’s placement of Prince John’s entrance to ensure the fluidity of action. As Q and F agree that the scene is continuous and stipulate no break in the action, the rebels presumably walk forward to meet Prince John at centre stage, their lines (227–8) indicating movement simultaneous with his entrance. Many editors, however, have adopted F’s later placement of the SD and, following Capell, begun a new scene after 228, with a general exit followed by the return of the rebels on one side of the stage and the entrance of Prince John on the other.

  223 SD] QF (after 224) 223–4 Be … Westmorland.] F; one line Q 225 Pleaseth] QF; [to Mow.Pleaseth Capell 226 .1] Q; Enter Prince Iohn. F (after 228)

  228 Before go before. Berger and Williams (‘Variants’) conjecture that the Archbishop directs this to Mowbray, who then would move across the stage to greet the Prince in advance of the others.

  229–30 Prince John addresses Mowbray first presumably because he arrives first; he then greets the others by order of rank.

  229 cousin a form of address common among the nobility, not necessarily indicative of blood relationship. Cf. 306, 311, and see 3.1.66n.

  230 gentle See 1.1.189.

  232–8 Prince John’s attack on the Archbishop echoes that of Westmorland at 41–52.

  232 better … you suited you better

  233 When that when; that serves as an intensifier.

  assembled … bell a reference to church bells calling a congregation to mass

  236 iron i.e. clad in armour, as in Holinshed, 3.529; or, possibly, merciless, as in 1H4: ‘tales of iron wars’ (2.3.47). The Archbishop is dressed for battle, with armour over his clerical garb, as in Holinshed.

  *man Q’s ‘talking’, a flat word which makes the line hypermetric, was probably meant to be cancelled in favour of Cheering (237), which stands in apposition to it.

  237 rout See 33n.

  227 God’s] Q; heauen’s F set] Q; not in F 228 SD1] (Berger&Williams); not in QF grace. My lord,] grace (my lord) QF; Grace; my lord, Theobald; Grace. – My lord, (Johnson) SD2] this edn; not in QF SD3] this edn; not in QF; They go forward. Cam1; They march over the stage. Oxf; [Exeunt. Capell 229 encountered] Q (incountred), F 236 Than] Then F; That Q man] F; man talking Q

  238 Turning … sword turning Scripture (the word of God) into a call to war. The homophonic play on word and sword is now lost to us but may have informed Ephesians, 6.17: ‘The sword of the Spirit, which is the worde of God’ (Geneva Bible). Cf. MW 3.1.41–2: ‘What, the sword and the word? Do you study them both, Master Parson?’

  240 ripens … favour possibly influenced by Nashe, Pierce Penilesse his Supplication to the Diuell, 1.186: ‘which of them all [famous men] sate in the sun-shine of his souereignes grace’ (Ard1)

  241 Would he has subjunctive force: if he were to

  241, 252 countenance protection, support, favour (OED sb. 8)

  242 set abroach set afoot, stir up (OED abroach adv. 2)

  243 In … greatness when out of the King’s favour

  245 within … God both (1) in the study of theology (Holinshed, 3.529, mentions the Archbishop’s ‘incomparable learning’), and (2) in God’s good graces. Cf. the proverb ‘To be in (out of) one’s books’ (Dent, B534).

  246 speaker … parliament the person who represents the nation before God. To a greater degree in Tudor times than today, the Speaker served as intermediary between the monarch and the House of Commons (Ard2).

  247 th’imagined QF’s ‘th’imagine’ may have resulted from a scribal or compositorial misreading of a d as an e.

  248 opener interpreter, exegete

  intelligencer messenger, mediator (OED sb. b)

  249 sanctities holiness; but possibly, too, the hierarchy of saints sitting in God’s parliament. Cf. Paradise Lost, 3.60–1: ‘Above him all the Sanctities of Heaven / Stood thick as Stars.’

  250 our dull workings the limits of our earthly understanding: dull = slow (OED adj. 1; cf. 3.1.15); and workings = functions or operations, as of the brain (OED vbl. sb. 5)

  251 But you that you do not

  245 God] Q; Heauen F 246 His] his QF 247 th’imagined] Rowe; th’imagine QF God Himself] Q; Heauen it selfe F

  252 Imply involve, implicate (OED v. 1), with a moral imputation stronger than F’s ‘Employ’

  countenance See 241n.

  253 false duplicitous

  254 ta’en up levied, enlisted; subjects (256) is the direct object. Cf. 2.1.185.

  255 counterfeited zeal Herford suspects a pun on ‘seal’ which would imply that the Archbishop is only pretending to act with God’s approval. The phrase may echo Romans, 10.2: ‘They haue the zeale of God’ (Geneva Bible).

  256 His substitute Tudor doctrine insisted that the monarch was God’s anointed deputy in the state; but as the Archbishop claims to be acting on God’s behalf, Prince John chastises him by invoking the long-standing conflict between royal absolutism and ecclesiastical authority. Cf. R2 1.2.37–41: ‘God’s is the quarrel, for God’s substitute, / His deputy anointed in His sight, / Hath caused his death, the which if wrongfully, / Let heaven revenge, for I may never lift / An angry arm against His minister.’ In Romans, 13.3–6, earthly rules are called ‘God’s ministers’.

  257 against … him possibly a formulaic phrase. Cf. Sir Thomas Smith, De Republica Anglorum (1583), 3.3: ‘The Prince … must see iustice executed against all … offenders against the peace, which is called Gods and his.’

  258 upswarmed caused to swarm, like bees

  261 in common sense an ambiguous phrase: (1) as anyone can see; or (2) in our shared feeling of grievance

  262 Crowd … crush a redundant phrase. OED cites this line as the earliest use of ‘crowd’ to mean ‘crush’ (v. 6d).

  monstrous form distorted or unnatural course of action. The phrase anticipates the image of monstrosity at 266–7.

  263 hold … up ensure our safety

  264 parcels details. Perhaps because it inflates his case, the Archbishop is fond of redundancy: parcels and particulars mean the same thing. Cf. 262n.

  grief grievances

  252 Imply] Q; Employ F 253–4 name, … dishonourable? You] F; name: … dishonorable you Q 254 ta’en] Q (tane); taken F 255 God] Q; Heauen F 256 His] Q (his); Heauens F

  265 hath On the use of singular verbs with plural subjects, see 84n. on Hath.

  266 Hydra … war ‘many-headed monster born of war’. The Hydra was proverbially identified with the wav’ring multitude (see Dent, H278; also Ind.18–19), but here seems to signify the unchecked growth of – and difficulty of quelling – civil war (see OED hydra sb. 2). Ovid (Met., 9.70–4) recounts that the Hydra was a snake of the Lernaean marshes whose heads grew back faster than they could be cut off, and which was finally killed by Hercules. The image may have been inspired by Daniel, CW, 3.86: ‘And yet new Hydraes, lo, new heades appeare / T’afflict that peace reputed then so sure’ (Ard2).

  267 In a conflation of classical myths, the Archbishop metamorphoses the many-headed Hydra into the hundred-eyed monster Argus, Juno’s watchman who was guarding Io when he was charmed asleep by the music of Mercury (Ovid, Met., 1.622–721).

  269–70 Here, True obedience is personified as a loyal subject ‘stooping’ (bowing) before the King, its madness (rebellion) cured by the granting of the rebels’ desires (268). The syntax is obscure: ‘eyes may … be charmed asleep’ (267) and ‘obedience … Stoop tamely’ seem to be paralleled as consequences of the rebels’ conditions being met.

  272–7 And … generation These lines extend the analogy begun at 266 of war to a many-headed Hydra, and also prophesy the Wars of the Roses, which Shakespeare had dramatized in his first tetralogy.

  272 though … fall down even if … fail

  273 supplies to second reinforcements to renew. Cf. 1.3.12.

  274 miscarry are turned back

  theirs … them analogous to the Hydra’s growing new heads; also perhaps a recollection of the Archbishop’s claim that one rebel killed ‘Revives two greater in the heirs of life’ (200)

  275 success of mischief a succession of troubles

  266 Hydra, son] Q; Hydra-Sonne F

  276 hold … up perpetuate the quarrel

  277 Whiles so long as

  generation offspring, or the power to produce offspring. Pronounced as five syllables.

  279 sound the bottom plumb the depths (OED sound v.2 2a, 5); what a sailor does to find out how deep the water is. The nautical play on shallow and bottom as opposing terms invests shallow (278) with a double meaning: England’s future is too deep for Hastings to fathom.

  280–93 Westmorland may interrupt Prince John for fear that any further insults will turn the rebels away and thereby spoil the plot to trap them. In essence, Westmorland tells Prince John to get to the point, and the Prince picks up the cue at 282. This exchange indicates that Westmorland has masterminded the plot, as Holinshed attests (3.530). In both Stow and Holinshed, Westmorland himself negotiates with the rebels at Gaultree, Prince John being only 16 at the time. By having Prince John – here clearly older than the historical prince – negotiate the peace, Shakespeare suggests a fellowship of deceit and attaches to the royal household a duplicity not attributed to it in the sources.

  280 Pleaseth See 225n.

  281 How far forth to what extent

  281, 282 like approve of

  282 allow accept as reasonable or valid (OED v. 4a)

  285 about in attendance on

  lavishly loosely, freely

  286 Wrested twisted, perverted (OED v. 5)

  289 powers soldiers, troops. Cf. 1.1.133n.

  several respective

  276 his] Q; this F 278] Q; F lines (Hastings) / shallow, / 287 SD] Oxf1 subst. 288 soul] Q; Life F

  292 That so that

  293 SD As Prince John and Westmorland have known from the first that they would negotiate a peace, drinks may have been brought on by an attendant when Prince John entered at 226.

  295–9 *Q’s attribution of the first two lines to the Archbishop as a continuation of 294 is wrong, because they are clearly Prince John’s response to the Archbishop: the compositor may inadvertently have transferred to 297 the SP intended for 295. Q’s attribution of 297–9 to Prince John, therefore, is also wrong, because he issues a command to discharge the royal army at 320. F correctly attributes these lines to a rebel leader: without Hastings’s instructions here to dismiss the rebel army, the report of their behaviour at 330–3 would make no sense.

  298 part depart

  299 Hie thee make haste, go quickly (OED hie v. 2).

  300–1 To … grace Formal pledges of faith or friendship were made while raising a cup. Cf. 306.

  301–4 if … hereafter With an irony undetected by the rebels, Westmorland acknowledges his role in the trick about to be played on them. See 280–93n.

  301–2 pains … breed The imagery suggests childbirth.

  293 SD] this edn 294 redresses.] F; redresses, Q 295 SP] F; not in Q 296 SD] Collier2; not in QF; [drinks and gives the cup to the Archbishop. Capell 297 SP] F (Hast.); Prince Q 299] Q; F lines them. / Captaine. / SD] Exit. F; not in Q Captain] Steevens3; Colevile. / Rowe; Officer. Capell 300 SD] Oxf subst.; not in QF 301 SD] this edn; not in QF 301–2] Q; F lines Grace: / bestow’d / Peace, /

  303 freely liberally

  307 happy season appropriate or fitting time (OED happy adj. 5b)

  308 something somewhat

  309–10 These lines are one version of a proverbial sentiment common in literature of the period, as illustrated in ‘A lightening before death’ (Dent, L277), or ‘When men are merriest death says “checkmate”’ (Dent, M599), or an amalgamation of the two in RJ 5.3.88–90: ‘How oft when men are at the point of death / Have they been merry! Which their keepers call / A lightning before death.’

  309 Against in the face of

  chances events

  310 heaviness sadness, sorrow, with an implicit glance at merry (309), meaning light, as its antithesis. Cf. passing light at 313.

  311–12 The rhyming couplet reinforces the sentiment as an aphorism but also hints at Westmorland’s artifice.

  311 coz a fond abbreviation of cousin. Westmorland’s feigned familiarity has nothing to do with kinship; rather, it disguises his darker purpose.

  312 some good thing a deliberate ambiguity. The meaning of good depends on whether one is of the King’s or the rebels’ party.

  313 passing light surpassingly cheerful. Cf. 309–10.

  306 SD] Collier2; not in QF; [drinks, and gives to Mow. Capell 311 coz] Q (coze), F (Cooze), Rowe

  314 your own rule Mowbray refers to the Archbishop’s aphorism at 309–10. Mowbray’s suspicion of Westmorland’s motives and his unease with a negotiated peace are consistent throughout. See especially his premonition at 183–4.

  315 rendered proclaimed

  316 had been conditional: would have been

  318 For then in so far as

  nobly i.e. because peace is a noble end

  320 discharged dischargèd

  321 so please you See 178n.

  trains ranks of soldiers (OED sb. 11)

  322 peruse inspect

  323 coped withal encountered, fought with (OED cope v.2 2 obs.)

  325 lie tonight together spend the night in the same place, as a sign of accord. The veiled pun in lie, however, hints at duplicity.

  314 SD] Capell ([Shouts within); Shout. Q; not in F 319 loser] QF (looser) SD] Oxf1 320 SD] Rowe3; Exit. F (opp. 322); not in Q 321 SD] Oxf1 subst. 324 SD] Rowe subst.; Exit. F; not in Q

  326 wherefore why

  329–33 This incident plays out as an object lesson in good and bad governance. The royal army, disciplined in war, knows the hierarchy of command and so awaits the order from Prince John, while the rebel army, lacking both loyalty and discipline, behaves in a manner emblematic of insurrection itself (see 330–3). Yet this lesson is qualified by deviousness on the part of Westmorland, who has instructed the troops not to disperse until they have had the royal order.

  331–2 take … south i.e. fly in all directions

  332 broke up that has just been let out

  334 tidings news. Westmorland, not Prince John, swoops in for the kill: see 280–93n.

  335, 340 thee the objective case of thou, still used in the 16th century as a form of address to one’s intimates or inferiors. When addressing Lord Hastings and the Archbishop, Westmorland and Prince John twice substitute thee for you, which heretofore they have used exclusively. These exceptions may connote a disdain of the rebels which now, in victory, they are free to express.

  335 high treason defined in 1350–1 as an act ‘compassing or imagining’ the death of a king, a member of his immediate family or one of his judges, and the levying of war against the king or aiding of his enemies (Davison). As all treason was punishable by death, the capital treason mentioned at 337 presumably signifies high treason as well.

  325.1] F, Q (after 324) 330 SD] this edn My lord,] Q; not in F already] Q; not in F 331 take … courses] Q; tooke … course F 333 toward] Q; towards F

  337 capital punishable by death

  attach arrest

  339 assembly As Humphreys notes, this refers to legislation against unlawful assembly, which ‘is where people assemble themselves together to do some vnlawfull thing against the peace’ (An exposition of certaine … Termes of the Lawes, 1598; fol. 120r).

  340 pawned thee none pledged no faith to you. Prince John draws a distinction between the deed and the doer: he has promised only to redress the rebels’ grievances (287), not to pardon the rebels themselves. Treachery, he implies, is a separate and unpardonable offence. Whether this constitutes acting in good faith is debatable. Technically he is fulfilling the letter of his pledge to the rebels. Davison cites a decree by the Council of Constance (1410–15) issued while Henry IV was on the throne, that faith need not be kept with heretics, in whose company the rebels, by disobeying the divinely anointed King, may be counted. On the other hand, because Prince John has spoken reassuringly of the ‘restored love and amity’ (293) between himself and the rebels which will result from redressing their grievances, he seems to violate the spirit of his pledge to them. Shakespeare’s audience may have regarded John’s distinction between deed and doer as false, a perfidious expedient for trapping the enemy and an illustration of the machiavellian policy that the Prince would have learned from his father.

  343 with … care Whether or not the Prince intends it, his use of Christian sounds ironic in light of his implicit betrayal of the rebels in the following lines.

  344 look … due i.e. expect to suffer the punishment

  345 *Meet appropriate. Most editors flesh out Q’s hemistich as F does, but the words may be a scribal afterthought. As Weis argues, the arresting of the line at rebellion creates an emphatic caesura appropriate in this context. It also marks a major shift from blank verse to rhymed couplets: cf. 346–51n.

  345 rebellion.] Q; Rebellion, and such Acts as yours. F

  346–51 *The fact that this speech ends in three rhymed couplets suggests that it concludes a scene, despite the fact that neither Q nor F indicates a break in the action. See 4.2n.

  346 shallowly frivolously, ill-advisedly, without consideration. As at 278, Shakespeare may keep echoes of the name Shallow in circulation as a reminder that injudicious behaviour is not exclusive to the rebels.

  these arms commence possibly means ‘begin these hostilities’, but the next line requires a meaning such as ‘raise these armies’.

  347 Fondly … foolishly parallel verb phrases introduced by adverbs which mean the same thing

  348 scattered stray fleeing stragglers. Prince John’s command anticipates the alarum and excursions that follow at 4.2.0.1. Since the rebel leaders have been arrested, one might expect the Prince to excuse the common soldiers; but John permits no leniency. See Falstaff’s assessment of him at 4.2.84–94.

  349 A traditional attribution of victory to divine intervention, as in H5 4.8.107–13. In the circumstances, since no battle has been fought and the rebels have been defeated through guile, the sentiment rings hollow. As so often in this scene, language serves to mask hidden purposes: it is used strategically to obscure rather than clarify intention.