the school of night

The School of Night was a cabal of men centered around Sir Walter Raleigh. They were a collection of poets and scientists who included Christopher Marlowe, George Chapman, Thomas Hariot, Richard Baines (who testified against Marlowe in his trial for atheism), and the assassin of Marlowe, Ingram Frizer. They studied science, philosophy, and religion, and all were suspected of atheism. William Shakespeare seems to refer to them in Love's Labour's Lost when he says, ". . . Black is the badge of hell/ The hue of dungeons and the School of Night." Atheism at that time was a charge nearly the equivalent of treason, since the monarch was the head of the church and to be against the church was, ipso facto, to be against the monarch. However, it was also a sign of anarchy, and it was a charge frequently brought against the politically troublesome. There is no reason to believe that any of the figures were, or were not, atheists or revolutionaries.

References

*Muriel C. Bradbrook, The School of Night: A Study in the Literary Relationships of Raleigh (1936)

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