Encyclopedia of the Renaissance and the Reformation

a similar evolution from the performances of wandering
players given in the yards of inns. Although the acting
companies also used indoor theaters, such as that at
Blackfriars. A famous sketch of the Swan made c. 1596
shows three tiers of galleries enclosing the courtyard at
the back of which is the thatched three-story stage build-
ing with the stage projecting in front of it. The public
playhouses of London were sited on the south bank of the
River Thames among other venues for popular entertain-
ment and attracted an audience from all social classes.
This was partly because admission was very cheap for
“groundlings” (those who were willing to stand in the area
in front of and below the stage); those able and prepared
to pay more sat in the galleries or even on stools on the
stage.
Further reading: John Orrell, The Human Stage: Eng-
lish Theatre Design 1567–1640 (Cambridge, U.K.: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1988).

Theatine Order (Congregation of Clerks Regular of the
Divine Providence) A religious order founded in 1524 by
Gaetano da Thiene (St. Cajetan) and Giampietro Caraffa,
Bishop of Chieti (Theate), who later became Pope PAUL IV.
Members were bound by vows and lived in common; they

held no property, but were not mendicants, and they were

distinguished from the secular clergy by their white socks.

They engaged in pastoral work to combat heresy, were

zealous promoters of the COUNTER-REFORMATION, and

sought to remove abuses and to encourage piety in the life

of the Church. The order spread from Italy to Spain and

central Europe and from 1583 it included some nuns.

Theotokopoulos, Domenikos See GRECO, EL

Thirty-nine Articles A set of formulations in which the

Anglican Church defined its position on various doctrinal

questions. Such formulations had been sought from 1536

onward, but eventually it was Archbishop Matthew

PARKER’s industry that led to a definitive text being estab-

lished at the 1571 Convocation. Eschewing both Roman

Catholicism and Anabaptist or Puritan extremes, the Arti-

cles, together with the BOOK OF COMMON PRAYERand the

Ordinal, elucidate the Church of England’s thinking on

the main points that had split Christians during the 16th

century. In doing so, they embody Anglicanism’s unique

compromise between Catholic conservatism and Protes-

tant innovation.

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TheaterAn Elizabethan theater in which spectators either sat in covered galleries or stood in the open pit. The 1996 replica of
the original Globe Theatre in London (1598–1642) is virtually identical to this illustration, except that the galleries form a
complete circle round the pit.