Baptistes (1540 Buchanan), play

Baptistes <Latin> / The Baptist (1540) is a play by George Buchanan.

Abstract

This political allegory in Latin was intended for performance by students at the College of Guienne at Bordeaux, France (amongst whom was numbered Montaigne). The dramatis personae are to be sought among English men and women--Henry VIII [Herod Antipas], Anne Boleyn [Herodias], Sir Thomas Moore [John the Baptist]. Not surprisingly in 1642 the Puritans commissioned John Milton to translate the work which was published by order of a rebellious House of Commons and presented to the King as a solemn warning.

Editions, performances

Translated into English by John Milton (1642).

Performance history

Premiered in Bordeaux, France: College of Guienne, 1540.

References

• Francis Peck, "Baptistes: A Sacred Dramatic Poem, in Defence of Liberty; as written in Latin by George Buchanan, and translated into English by John Milton," Mew Memoirs of the Life and Poetical Works of John Milton (London: 1740) 265-428
• J.T.T. Brown, "An English Translation of George Buchanan's Baptistes attributed to Milton," in George Buchanan: Glasgow Quatercentenary Studies, 1906 (Glasgow: 1907) 61-90
• See Coleman (1931); Greg (1939); Harbage (1964); Roston (1968); Berger (1975)