Kilcolman is likely sacked and razed around this date. “Spenser and his family are reputed to have escaped through an underground passage known as the Fox hole, which led to caves north of the castle.” (CSPI202.113; Maley, 73) [No such…
Sir Thomas Norris writes to Sir Robert Cecil from Cork advising him of the traitor David Maurice and that some of Spenser’s neighbors, the Barrys, had also joined the rebellion. (Hadfield, 383)
Spenser made Sheriff of Cork, though he may not have been aware of his appointment until his later trip to England since he was a refugee. (Judson, 200)
Spenser in England at Whitehall, where he delivers Norris’s letters detailing the state of affairs in Ireland. (Judson, 201) Hadfield says Spenser “may well have attended the court in session at Whitehall…but he probably completed his business before…
Spenser is paid £8 for delivering Norris’s letters, which indicates that “Ben Jonson’s claim that Spenser died ‘for lack of bread’ is unfounded.” (PROE. 351/543, f. 40r; Maley, 76; Hadfield, 386, 391)
Spenser dies in London. (Burlinson and Zurcher, 234; Judson, 202) “Ben Jonson told Drummond ‘that the Irish having robbed Spenser’s good and burnt his house and a little child new born, he and his wife escaped, and after[wards] he died for lack of…
