CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

* Baptised at St. George's Church in Canterbury on February 26, 1564 (T.E.L.)

 

* Father was a shoemaker (NAD 672)

 

* Some believe he faked his own death, fled the country and later produced sonnets and plays falsey attributed to Shakespeare (T.E.L.)

 

* At least 20 of Shakespeare's plays "bear the marks of Marlowe's influence" and eight of Shakespeare's plays have direct quotations from Marlowe's works (Brandt 755)

 

* Regarded as the greatest English dramatist other than Shakespeare (Columbia Encyclopedia)

 

* Educated at Cambridge University earning his B.A. in 1584 and M.A. in 1587 despite regularly missing classes (NAD 672)

 

* Known for Tamburlaine the Great(c.1587), Dr. Faustus (c.1588), The Jew of Malta (c.1589), and Edward II (c.1592) (Columbia Encyclopedia)

 

*Murdered May 30, 1593 at the age of 29 during a controversial bar brawl (T.E.L.)