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SHIRLEY (or SHERLEY), SIR ANTHONY (15...

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 991 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SHIRLEY (or SHERLEY), See also:SIR See also:ANTHONY (1565-c. 1635)  , See also:English traveller, was the second son of See also:Sir See also:Thomas See also:Shirley (1542-1612), of Wiston, See also:Sussex, who was a member of See also:parliament during the reigns of See also:Elizabeth and See also:James I. and who was heavily in See also:debt when he died in See also:October 1612 . Shirley's imprisonment in 1603 was an important event as in consequence thereof the See also:House of See also:Commons successfully asserted one of its privileges—freedom of its members from See also:arrest . Educated at See also:Oxford See also:Anthony Shirley gained some military experience with the English troops in the See also:Netherlands-and also during an expedition to See also:Normandy in 1591 under See also:Robert Devereux, See also:earl of See also:Essex, who was related to his wife, Frances See also:Vernon; about this See also:time he was knighted by See also:Henry of See also:Navarre (Henry IV. of See also:France), a proceeding which brought upon him the displeasure of his own See also:sovereign and a See also:short imprisonment . In 1596 he conducted a predatory expedition along the western See also:coast of'See also:Africa and then across to Central See also:America, but owing to a See also:mutiny he returned to See also:London with a single See also:ship in 1597 . In 1598 he led a few English See also:volunteers to See also:Italy to take See also:part in a dispute over the See also:possession of See also:Ferrara; this, however, had been accommodated when he reached See also:Venice, and he decided to See also:journey to See also:Persia with the twofold See also:object of promoting See also:trade between See also:England and Persia and of stirring up the Persians against the See also:Turks . He obtained See also:money at See also:Constantinople and at See also:Aleppo, and was very well received by the shah, Abbas the See also:Great, who made him a mirza, or See also:prince, and granted certain trading and other rights to all See also:Christian merchants . Then, as the shah's representative, he returned to See also:Europe and visited See also:Moscow, See also:Prague, See also:Rome and other cities, but the English See also:government would not allow him to return to his own See also:country . For some time he was in See also:prison in Venice, and in 16o5 he went to Prague and was sent by the See also:emperor See also:Rudolph H. on a See also:mission to See also:Morocco; afterwards he went to See also:Lisbon and to See also:Madrid, where he was welcomed very warmly . The See also:king of See also:Spain appointed him the See also:admiral of a See also:fleet which was to serve in the See also:Levant, but the only result of his extensive preparations was an unsuccessful expedition against the See also:island of Mitylene . After this he was deprived of his command . Shirley, who was a See also:count of the See also:Holy See also:Roman See also:Empire, died at Madrid some time after 1635 . Sir Anthony's See also:elder See also:brother, Sir Thomas Shirley (1564-c .

1620), was knighted while serving in See also:

Ireland under Sir See also:William See also:Fitzwilliam in 1589 . In 16o1 he was chosen a member of parliament, but his time was mainly passed in seeking to restore the shattered fortunes of his See also:family by piratical expeditions . In See also:January 1603 he was captured by the Turks and he was only released from his captivity at Constantinople in See also:December 1605 . One of his sons was Henry Shirley (d . 1627) the dramatist, who was murdered in London on the 31st of October 1627, and one of his grandsons was Thomas Shirley (1638-1678), the physician and writer . Sir Anthony's younger brother, Sir Robert Shirley (c . 1581-1628), went with his brother to Persia in 1598, remaining in that country when the latter returned to Europe in 1599 . Having and exhibiting characters after types whose effectiveness on the See also:stage had been proved by ample experience . He spoke the same See also:language with the great dramatists, it is true, but this See also:grand See also:style is sometimes employed for the artificial See also:elevation of See also:commonplace thought . " Clear as See also:day " becomes in this manner " day is not more conspicuous than this cunning"; while the See also:proverb " Still See also:waters run deep " is ennobled into " The shallow See also:rivers glide away with See also:noise The deep are silent." The violence and exaggeration of many of his contemporaries See also:left him untouched . His scenes are ingeniously conceived, his characters boldly and clearly See also:drawn; and he never falls beneath a high level of stage effect . Shirley's tragedies are: The Maides Revenge (acted, 1626; printed, 1639) ; The Traylor (licensed, 1631; printed, 1635), which See also:Dyce reckoned as Shirley's best tragedy; Love's Crueltie (1631; printed, 164o) ; The See also:Duke's Mistris (acted, 1636; printed, 1638) ; The Politilian (acted, 1639; printed, 1655) ; The See also:Cardinal (acted, 1641; printed, 1652), a See also:good example of Shirley's later style, and characterized by See also:Edmund See also:Gosse as perhaps the last great See also:play produced by the giants of the Elizabethan See also:age .

His comedies are: Love Tricks, or the School of See also:

Complement (licensed, 1625; printed under the latter See also:title, 1631) ; The See also:Wedding (licensed, 1626; printed, 1629) ; The See also:Brothers (acted, 1626; printed, 1652) ; The Wittie Faire One (acted, 1628; printed, 1633); The Gratefull Servant (licensed in 1629 as The Faithful Servant; printed, I63o); Changes: Or Love in a See also:Maze (acted and printed, 1632) ; Hide Parke (acted, 1632; printed, 1637) ; The See also:Ball (acted, 1632; printed, 1639) ; The See also:Bird in a Cage (acted and printed, 1633), ironically dedicated to William See also:Prynne; The See also:Young Admirall (licensed, 1633; printed, 1637) ; The Gamester (played at See also:court, 1634; printed, 1637), executed at the command of See also:Charles I. who is said to have invented or proposed the See also:plot; The Example (acted, 1634; printed, 1637); The Opportunity (licensed, 1634; printed, 164o); The See also:Coronation (licensed, 1635, as his, but printed, 164o, as by See also:Fletcher) ; The See also:Lady of See also:Pleasure (licensed, 1635; printed, 1637); The See also:Constant Maid, or Love will find out the Way, printed in 164o under the former title with St See also:Patrick for Ireland; The Royall See also:Master (acted and printed, 1638), an excellent See also:comedy of intrigue, with an See also:epilogue addressed to See also:Strafford; The Doubtfull See also:Heir (printed, 1652), licensed as Rosania, or Love's Victory in 164o; The See also:Gentleman of Venice (licensed, 1639; printed, 1655) ; The Imposture (acted, 164o; printed, 1652) ; The Sisters (licensed, 1642; printed, 1653); The Humorous Courtier (perhaps identical with The Duke, licensed, 1631), printed, 164o; The Court See also:Secret (printed, 1653) . Poems (1646), by James Shirley, contained " See also:Narcissus," and a masque dealing with the See also:Judgment of See also:Paris, entitled The See also:Triumph of Beautie . A Contention for See also:Honour and Riches (1633) appeared in an altered and enlarged See also:form in 1659 as Honoria and See also:Mammon . In 1653 a selection of his pieces was published as Six New Playes . He wrote the magnificent entertainment presented by the members of the Inns of Court to the king and See also:queen in 1633, entitled The Triumph of See also:Peace, the scenery being devised by Inigo See also:Jones and the See also:music by W . See also:Lawes and See also:Simon Ives . In this See also:kind of See also:composition he had no See also:rival but See also:Ben See also:Jonson . His Contention of See also:Ajax and Ulysses (printed, 1659) closes with the well-known lyric, " The Glories of our See also:Blood and See also:State." The See also:standard edition of Shirley's See also:works is The Dramatic Works and Poems of James Shirley, with Notes by William See also:Gifford, and Additional Notes, and some See also:Account of Shirley and his Writings, by See also:Alexander Dyce (6 vols., 1833) . A selection of his plays was edited (1888) for the " Mermaid " See also:series, with an. introduction by Edmund Gosse .

End of Article: SHIRLEY (or SHERLEY), SIR ANTHONY (1565-c. 1635)
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