We know from Raleigh’s letter to Robert Cecil of July 6, 1597, that Essex had very much upon his mind the notion of deposing the Queen and establishing a Regency. It is fair to assume that he brought pressure upon Francis Bacon to have the play printed. Whether or not it had been staged before, there is certainly some reasonable ground for surmising that it was one of the two plays performed before Essex’s personal friends and Catholic adherents assembled in force at Essex House on February 14, 1597–98. Cecil and Raleigh were away in France at that date, and Essex was in full charge of the Government.