Rosamund Clifford, often called "The Fair Rosamund" or "Rose of the World", was a medieval English noblewoman and mistress of Henry II, King of England, who became famous in English folklore.
John Barnett was an English composer and writer on music.
The Merry Wives of Windsor or Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a reference to the town of Windsor, also the location of Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England. Though nominally set in the reign of Henry IV or early in the reign of Henry V, the play makes no pretence to exist outside contemporary Elizabethan-era English middle-class life. It features the character Sir John Falstaff, the fat knight who had previously been featured in Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2. It has been adapted for the opera at least ten times. The play is one of Shakespeare's lesser-regarded works among literary critics. Tradition has it that The Merry Wives of Windsor was written at the request of Queen Elizabeth I. After watching Henry IV Part I, she asked Shakespeare to write a play depicting Falstaff in love.
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. The de Veres were also hereditary holders of the office of Master Chamberlain of England from 1133 until the death of the 18th Earl in 1625. Their primary seat was Hedingham Castle in Essex, but they held lands in southern England and the Midlands, particularly in eastern England. The actual earldom was called "Oxenford" until at least the end of the 17th century. Medieval sources thus refer to "my lord of Oxenford" when speaking of the earl.
Roberto Devereux is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after François Ancelot's tragedy Elisabeth d'Angleterre (1829), and based as well on the Historie secrète des amours d'Elisabeth et du comte d'Essex (1787) by Jacques Lescène des Maisons. Devereux was the subject of at least two other French plays, both titled Le Comte d'Essex: one by Thomas Corneille and one by Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède.
King Arthur, or The British Worthy, is a semi-opera in five acts with music by Henry Purcell and a libretto by John Dryden. It was first performed at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden, London, in late May or early June 1691.
The terms "semi-opera", "dramatic[k] opera" and "English opera" were all applied to Restoration entertainments that combined spoken plays with masque-like episodes employing singing and dancing characters. They usually included machines in the manner of the restoration spectacular. The first examples were the Shakespeare adaptations produced by Thomas Betterton with music by Matthew Locke. After Locke's death, a second flowering produced the semi-operas of Henry Purcell, notably King Arthur and The Fairy-Queen. Semi-opera received a deathblow when the Lord Chamberlain separately licensed plays without music and the new Italian opera.
Rosmonda d'Inghilterra is a melodramma or opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Felice Romani originally for Coccia's Rosmunda (1829). It is based on the legend of Rosamund Clifford.
Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford was an English noble involved in the succession conflict between King Stephen and Empress Matilda in the mid-twelfth century.
Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland was a member of the Clifford family, seated at Skipton Castle from 1310 to 1676. His wife was Lady Eleanor Brandon, a niece of King Henry VIII.
Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford was the only son and heir of Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Isabel de Bolebec, daughter and eventually sole heiress of Hugh de Bolebec.
Henry II ruled as King of England from 1154 to 1189 and at various times he also partially controlled Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Duchy of Brittany. He has been depicted in various cultural media.
Farinelli is an opera in two acts, described as 'serio-comic', by John Barnett, to a libretto by his brother Charles Zachary Barnett. Produced in 1839, it is the third of the composer's large-scale operas, and was the last to reach the stage. The hero is the castrato singer Farinelli, although the storyline of the opera is fictional.
The Merry Zingara; Or, The Tipsy Gipsy & The Pipsy Wipsy was the third of W. S. Gilbert's five burlesques of opera. Described by the author as "A Whimsical Parody on The Bohemian Girl", by Michael Balfe, it was produced at the Royalty Theatre, London, on 21 March 1868.
Rosamond is an opera in three acts by Thomas Clayton with a libretto by Joseph Addison. It was first performed on 4 March 1707 at Drury Lane.
Queen Eleanor is an 1858 oil-on-canvas painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist Frederick Sandys which depicts Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, the wife of King Henry II of England, on her way to poison her husband's mistress, Rosamund Clifford. The painting is displayed at the National Museum Cardiff, which obtained it in 1981.
Charles Zachary Barnett was an English librettist and playwright of Jewish descent notable for writing the libretti for two operas by his brother the composer John Barnett as well as for his early theatrical adaptations of the works of Charles Dickens.
Rosamund's Bower, also called Rosamund, is a pictorial game of patience or card solitaire that uses a single pack of 52 playing cards. Peter Arnold, author of the 2011 book Card Games for One, connects it to Rosamund Clifford, known as "Fair Rosamund", the mistress of King Henry II of England. The aim is to unite Rosamund and Henry at the top of the single foundation pile. Meanwhile, the "sinister object" of the Jack of Spades is to dispose of Henry and the guards and capture Rosamund.
