Histriomastix

The Histriomastix by William Prynne was published in 1632, although it had been in preparation by its author for almost ten years prior to its final printing. It represents the culmination of the Puritan attack on the Elizabethan theatre. Running to over a thousand pages, it marshals a multitude of ancient and medieval authorities against the "sin" of dramatic performance.

Its Puritan theology was in any case unwelcome to the ecclesiastical authorities led by the Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud, but its attack on women actors as "notorious whores" was taken as a direct reference to Queen Henrietta Maria who was appearing in a play at court. Prynne had to appear before the Star Chamber and sentenced in 1633 to be pilloried, branded, imprisoned for life and was fined £5,000.

Books

• The Idolatrous Eye: Iconoclasm and Theater in Early Modern England by Michael O'Connell ISBN 019513205X contains an attempt to shed light on the Puritans' fanatical opposition to the theatre