In his 1623 Folio dedication, Ben Jonson referred to Shakespeare as to the Swan of Avon. This argument had been working against the Marlovian version because according to the traditionally accepted biography, Christopher Marlowe is considered to be a son of a Canterbury cobbler. That biography does not contain any detail which would make it possible to attribute Jonson's metaphoric definition to Marlowe.
Considering the fact of the granting to Manwood the manor in Hackington, it was a natural thought queen Elizabeth was going to deliver the baby there. But there is no information of her visiting the St. Stephen's Place or Canterbury or at least the county of Kent in early 1564.
According to a dispatch of the ambassador of Spain to his monarch, queen Elizabeth was to deliver a baby in April 1564 in Robert Dudley's castle in Warwickshire. Be it the Dudley's family Warwick castle or the Kenilworth castle where Robert Dudley officially entertained the queen on two occasions, anyway that baby was born on the same river Avon where Stratford is situated. In that case the metaphor Ben Jonson employed would be well justified. Besides, if Marlowe's death in 1593 was staged, the most suitable place the Shakespeare canon could be created and/or edited was the Wilton house which is also situated on river Avon.
It should be added that Robert Dudley was bestowed with the title of earl of Leicester in September of the same year. I do not assert that event was connected in any way with the birth of Christopher Marlowe. I just compare dates.
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Copyright © Alfred Barkov 2000, 2003