Commentaries on
Shakespeare’s History Plays
Shakespeare, William [and possibly Christopher Marlowe]. The Second Part of Henry the Sixth. Folio. (The Norton Shakespeare: Histories, 3rd ed. 147-218.) *Norton lists Shakespeare as sole author of this play.
Shakespeare Sources & Resources: RSC Resources | ISE Resources | S-O Sources | 1623 Folio 503-28 (Folger) | The True Tragedie … (HathiTrust) | Holinshed & Plays Compared: 3 Henry VI | Holinshed Chronicles onHenry VI | Holinshed Chronicles onEdward IV | Hall’s Chronicle, Henry VI | Mirrour for Magistrates: Duke of York | Mirrour for Magistrates: Henry VI | Historic Royal Palaces: Henry VI | “Attributing the Authorship of the Henry VI Plays …” (Ribeiro/JSTOR) | “Shakespeare and Marlowe” (Folger Shakespeare Unlimited Podcast)
Encyclopedias/Lexica: Britannica.com| World History Encyclopedia | Wikipedia | Wiktionary | C. T. Onions’ Shakespeare Dictionary | A. Schmidt’s Shakespeare Dictionary | Concordance (Shakespeare Network)
Comprehensive Shakespeare: Folger Shakespeare Library | RSC Shakespeare’s Plays | Shakespeare-Online (Mabillard) | Internet Shakespeare Editions (U-Vic)
Text/Media Repositories: U-Penn Books Page | Holinshed Project | Early English Books (EEBO) | Renascence/Luminarium | Gutenberg | HathiTrust | Internet Archive | München Digital Lib. (MDZ) | Wikisource | Wikimedia Commons
English & European Royals: English Monarchy Timeline (Drake) | English Monarchs | Kings & Queens of Britain (Historic UK) | Historic-UK.com | Shakespeare & History | Family Trees: Edward III / Neville / Percy (Hist. of Eng.) | Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford) |Burke’s Peerage | European Royal History | French Rulers 840 CE to Present (Thoughtco)
Hundred Years’ War: Medievalists.net | 100 Years’ War (Britannica) | 100 Years’ War (WHE) | 100 Years’ War Timeline
Wars of the Roses: Wars of the Roses: Home | People | Battles Timeline | Battles (British Battles) | Battles (Battlefield Trust) | R-III Society: Wars of the Roses | History Extra | Yorkist Timeline (R-III Soc.)
The Tudors: Tudor Society | TudorHistory.org | The Tudors (Eng-Heritage UK) | Life in Elizabethan England (M. Secara) | Elizabethan Era.org
Date and New Oxford Shakespeare Attribution Note: The editors of the Oxford Shakespeare give a date for 2 Henry VI of 1590, with a range of 1587-91, and probable revisions by Shakespeare in the mid-1590s. As for authorship, they identify in their Folio-based 1623 copy Scenes 9-12 (i.e., Act 3) and Young Clifford’s speech at Scene 24.31-65. Marlowe, they suggest, probably wrote in large part the Jack Cade material in Act 4. Authorship for all else in this play is described as “contested.”
I intend to add commentary and questions for this play by mid-to-late January 2026.
Copyright © 2026 Alfred J. Drake
Document Timestamp: 1/10/2026 5:47 PM