69.]

This annoyance, serious enough in itself, was aggravated by the fact
that most of the troupes were under the patronage of great noblemen,
and some were even high in favor with the Queen. As a result, the
attempts on the part of the Lord Mayor and his Aldermen to regulate
the players were often interfered with by other or higher authority.
Sometimes it was a particular nobleman, whose request was not to be
ignored, who intervened in behalf of his troupe; most often, however,
it was the Privy Council, representing the Queen and the nobility in
general, which championed the cause of the actors and countermanded
the decrees of the Lord Mayor and his brethren. One of the most
notable things in the City's _Remembrancia_ is this long conflict of
authority between the Common Council and the Privy Council over actors
and acting.

In 1573 the situation seems to have approached a crisis. The Lord
Mayor had become strongly puritanical, and in his efforts to suppress
"stage-plays" was placing more and more obstacles in the way of the
actors. The temper of the Mayor is revealed in two entries in the
records of the Privy Council. On July 13, 1573, the Lords of the
Council sent a letter to him requesting him "to permit liberty to
certain Italian players"; six days later they sent a second letter,
repeating the request, and "marveling that he did it not at their
first request."[28] His continued efforts to suppress the drama
finally led the troupes to appeal for relief to the Privy Council. On
March 22, 1574, the Lords of the Council dispatched "a letter to the
Lord Mayor to advertise their Lordships what causes he hath to
restrain plays." His answer has not been preserved, but that he
persisted in his hostility to the drama is indicated by the fact that
in May the Queen openly took sides with the players. To the Earl of
Leicester's troupe she issued a special royal license, authorizing
them to act "as well within our city of London and liberties of the
same, as also within the liberties and freedoms of any our cities,
towns, boroughs, etc., whatsoever"; and to the mayors and other
officers she gave strict orders not to interfere with such
performances: "Willing and commanding you, and every of you, as ye
tender our pleasure, to permit and suffer them herein without any your
lets, hindrances, or molestation during the term aforesaid, any act,
statute, proclamation, or commandment heretofore made, or hereafter to
be made, to the