Katie Gallamore
On a cold, rainy day in September of 1598, playwright Ben Jonson was arrested for manslaughter.
Between his birth in 1573 and his death in 1637, Ben Jonson was at different times a soldier, an actor, a playwright, a poet, an essayist, and a translator. His fortunes and misfortunes were equally varied: from branded felon to poet laureate, from lionized man of letters to impoverished pensioner. Though he was incredibly influential as a mentor to young writers (The “Sons of Ben”) Jonson is remembered primarily as a dramatist, not simply for his dozens of masques and tragedies, but for his renowned comedies.
As arrogant and brash as he was talented and innovative, Ben Jonson lived a life as rife with drama as any of his many plays. At an early age Jonson joined the army and traveled to Flanders, where he killed a man in single combat. Back in England by 1594, he became an actor and playwright.
In 1597 a play titled The Isle of Dogs, written by Jonson and Thomas Nashe, was suppressed after greatly offending the royal court. The content of the play remains unknown as every copy was destroyed and none are known to exist. However, it is known that the play was reported to the authorities as “lewd” and full of “slanderous matter”. The play was referenced in The Return from Parnassus (II) which alluded to the satirization of Queen Elizabeth I, herself. Consequently, the Queen issued arrest warrants for Jonson, Nashe and Gabriel Spenser (who we’ll see later), resulting in Jonson’s imprisonment in Marshalsea Prison.
Jonson wrote many short poems that can be very telling of his feelings toward certain people and things, although never directly stated. He wrote one poem titled To My Lord Ignorant which goes:
Thou call’st me POET, as a term of shame ;
But I have my revenge made, in thy name.
Similarly in his poem To Fool or Knave he writes:
Thy praise or dispraise is to me alike ;
One doth not stroke me, nor the other strike.
In the fall of 1598, Jonson was imprisoned yet again for killing Gabriel Spenser (I told you he’d come up again), a fellow actor, in a duel on Hoxton fields in London. Jonson would later comment that the duel was initiated by Spenser and that Spenser was given the advantage of a longer sword. During the duel, Spenser managed to wound Jonson’s left arm, but in the end Spenser fell after Jonson’s sword was stuck six inches deep in his side.
Charged with manslaughter, Jonson pleaded guilty, which would’ve resulted in his being hung from the nearest tree, if he hadn’t claimed “benefit of clergy” (the ability to read from the Latin Bible). This allowed him to be sentenced by the ecclesiastical courts. Although considered lenient at the time, the court branded Jonson’s left thumb and ordered him to forfeit all of his possessions over to them.
To pass the time in his new home, Newgate Prison, Jonson converted to Catholicism. This conversion led to suspicion from his peers and from the courts and in 1606 Jonson and his wife were brought before the consistory court in London to explain their lack of participation in the Anglican church. Jonson denied that his wife was guilty but admitted that his own religious beliefs wouldn’t permit him to attend Anglican services. Can we just take a second to marvel at the balls this guy had, I mean, the royal court would sentence you to drawing and quartering without batting an eye. We all know what they did to Thomas More for being a Catholic and we’ve all seen Braveheart. However, this is Ben Jonson we’re talking about, 
so the whole matter was patched up through his agreement to confer with learned men, who might persuade him if they could. However, he wasn’t known as the most learned poet of the age for nothing and persuading him in any way was a daunting task not easily accomplished. It took six years for him to conform… yeah, six years.
Jonson really became renowned with his comedy Every Man in His Humor, which was performed in 1598 by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, featuring William Shakespeare in a leading role. The comedy included many personal experiences of Jonson’s, including prison. Jonson’s poetry, masques, and plays brought a level of humor, intellect, and formal discipline to English letters that had rarely been seen before.
In 1605, Jonson wrote the first of his many masques, a popular form of court entertainment involving elaborate and elegant spectacle. But later that year he was imprisoned, YET AGAIN, along with John Marston and George Chapman, for poking fun at the King’s Scottish countrymen in Eastward Ho!
He won favor at court and in 1616 was given a royal pension, becoming England’s first poet laureate.
Though often an angry and stubborn man, no one had more followers than Jonson at the time. His poetry was much admired by younger writers including Robert Herrick and Thomas Carew, who called themselves the “Sons of Ben.” The Sons of Ben were characterized by the lightness, grace, and polish of their verse and by the wit and gallantry of their attitudes. Several were soldiers and courtiers first and poets second, similar to Jonson before he gained renown as a poet.
Resources:
“Ben Jonson.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/ben-jonson
“Ben Jonson.” Ben Jonson – New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017. http://web.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ben_Jonson
Tinker. “17th Century Poetic Movements – Trailblazers, Poetic Movements.” Poetry Magnum Opus. N.p., 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F2331-17th-century-poetic-movements%2F
“Ben Jonson – His Life, Work, and Relationship with Shakespeare.” Ben Jonson – His Life, Work, and Relationship with Shakespeare. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/benjonson.html
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Cavalier Poet.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 July 1998. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cavalier-poets
“Ben Jonson (1572-1637).” Ben Jonson (1572-1637). N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017. http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/jonson/