Kyd is also often attributed a 1588 translation of Torquato Tasso's Il Padre di Famiglia. For all its popularity, the play was never printed under Kyd's name until the eighteenth century. Scholars can trace its authorship only because of three lines quoted and attributed by Thomas Heywood in his Apology for Actors (1612). The Spanish Tragedy was first published in 1592, anonymously. There is one notice that associates him with the Queen's Company during the period 1583–1585. There is also little trace of his name in the theatrical records. Thomas was enrolled in 1565 at Merchant Taylors' School, and there is no evidence of college attendance.

Historians believe that an infant named Thomas Kyd, baptized on November 6, 1558, is the playwright if so, then he would be the son of Francis Kyd, a London secretary of some standing, and his wife, Anna. The era lasted from 1558 until her death in 1603, and was most notable for two great accomplishments: The rise of British sea superiority, demonstrated by both the British defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and the extensive oceanic explorations of Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh and the advancement of English theater to a popular and enduring art form, demonstrated by the works of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. Kyd lived his entire life during the Elizabethan era, the time period during which Queen Elizabeth I ruled England and Ireland. Except for one spectacular event-his arrest for libel in 1593-the biographical record is uncertain.

Mysterious Beginnings There exists very little evidence of Kyd's life as context for his influence on Elizabethan drama. Works in Biographical and Historical Context Kyd is best known for The Spanish Tragedy, a great popular success that established the genre of “revenge tragedies” and greatly influenced the course of English drama. The Truth of the Most Wicked and Secret Murdering of John Brewen (1592) OverviewĪlthough little is documented in the historical record of Thomas Kyd's life and work, it is clear that he was a playwright who made important contributions to the repertoire of the public playhouse during the Elizabethan era and beyond.

The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd