Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure 1581

A protest against severe punishments for minor offences
Anne Vavasour affair
Sir Thomas Knyvet was also her lover, but she married Sir Henry Lee, Elizabeth’s champion, but was charged with Bigamy.
Sir Gilbert Gerard appointed May 30, 1581, settling scores from his prosecution of Norfolk
“Nineteen zodiacs”, since Oxford became an Earl.
“Pompey” references to the play of that name
“fourteen years” since the “biting laws” of 1567
“five years” from 1576-1581 that Oxford was estranged from his wife, Anne Cecil

Continental scholars point out the similarity between this play and a case in the Paris courts of the time.