As You Like It and Henry V are both traditionally dated to
1599. There is a very strong connection between these plays and Neville’s
diplomatic writing from that year. Look
at this sentence Neville wrote on 16 May 1599, about two weeks after his
arrival in France [spelling modernized]:
I repaired to Fontainebleau,
and had Access unto the King, where I delivered at large unto him that which I comprised more briefly in the Proposition I presented in writing.
(WW, 1.29-30)
“Proposition” first appears in Shakespeare’s
works in As You Like It:
It
is as easy to count atomies as to resolve the
propositions of a lover (As You Like It, 3.2)
Though
“proposition” was not a rare word, Shakespeare never used it before 1599; he
uses it once later in Troilus and
Cressida, 1.3. Neville wrote a proposal to the French government in French and titled the document: “Proposition faicte à Messieurs du
Conseil du Roy” (WW, I, 27). He refers again to these propositions in a letter he
wrote in French on 6 June 1599:
La response que
vous m’avez envoyé au nom du Roy, aux propositions
que j’avois presentées (WW, 1.37)
So
in 1599, while Neville is using the word “proposition” in both English and
French, the word simultaneously make its first appearance in Shakespeare’s
work. The same thing is true for “comprised”:
I
comprised more briefly in the Proposition I presented in writing. (WW, I, 42)
HENRY V. Yet
leave our cousin Katharine here with us:
She
is our capital demand, comprised
Within the fore-rank
of our articles. (Henry V, 5.2)
Though
“comprised” was not uncommon at the time, it appears only once in Shakespeare’s
works, in Henry V. This use is in the
exact same sense as Neville’s; it references demands included in “articles”
similar to the demands made in Neville’s “proposition.” According to the OED, “comprise” is derived
from the French “compris.”
A
very similar thing happens with “predecessor.” Neville had his first audience
with the King of France on 8 May 1599. He wrote a letter about it to Secretary
of State Robert Cecil on 15 May. Here are three passages from the letter where
both Neville quotes himself and the King using the word “predecessor”:
Wherein I said,
that her Majesty did acknowledge his great Wisdom in discovering the Errors of
his Predecessors (WW, 1.21)
The King's
Answer was, That no Man could better discover the Errors of his Predecessors Counsel in that point then
himself, for that it was he against whom they did chiefly put it in Execution.
((WW, 1.21-22)
Prayed him to
take order the Intercourse might be continued, in such ample sort as it had
been in his Predecessors Times (WW,
1.24)
The
word, also a borrowing from French though not uncommon in English, occurs first
in in Henry V, and later in Macbeth and Coriolanus:
ARCHBISHOP
OF CANTERBURY. Than ever at one time the clergy yet
Did
to his predecessors part withal (Henry V, 1.1)
AMBASSADOR.
Of your great predecessor, King
Edward the Third.
In
answer of which claim, the prince our master
(Henry V, 1.2)
In
the same letter describing this first audience with the King, Neville quotes
the king directly in French:
He wished with
as great Affection to the Queen, as to himself, to whom if she were a Man he
would call himself a perfect Friend, but being as she is, Je me diray son Serviteur. (WW, 1.21)
Neville
uses this word again in a letter from 3 Jan 1600, quoting the King again:
acknowledging
himself infinitely beholden to her, and that he would ever remain her Serviteur. (WW, 1.142)
The
same word first appears in Shakespeare in Henry
V and again, shortly thereafter, in Twelfth
Night:
Laissez,
mon seigneur, laissez, laissez: ma foi, je
ne
veux point que vous abaissiez votre grandeur en
baisant
la main d'une de votre seigeurie indigne
serviteur; excusez-moi,
je vous supplie, mon
tres-puissant
seigneur. (Henry V, 5.2)
Et
vous aussi; votre serviteur. (Twelfth Night, 3.1)
Serviteur was not an
uncommon word in French, though its use in English at the time, judging by a
search of Early English Books Online (EEBO), was quite uncommon. Shakespeare is
using it as a French word in both cases; “servitor,” which is apparently
related etymologically, appears in many plays as an English word.
It
is important to emphasize that none of these words appeared in earlier
Shakespeare plays. They are words that were important in Neville’s experience
as ambassador. Two, “predecessor” and “serviteur,”
are used during his first audience with the King of France; one, “proposition,”
is used over and over, in English and French, related to his main diplomatic
purpose; and “comprised” is used in almost exactly the same context in his
letter and the play. The timing and context of these shared uses transcends
mere coincidence. There appears to be a real connection.
