Bussy D'Ambois

The Tragedy of Bussy D'Ambois
Written by	George Chapman
Characters	Bussy D'Ambois; Monsieur; Montsurry; Guise; King Henry; Tamyra; Comolet; Behemoth; Cartophylax; Beaupre; Annable; Pero; Dutchesse
Date premiered	1603-1604
Place premiered	London
Original language	English
Subject	French History
Genre	Tragedy
Setting	France

The Tragedy of Bussy D'Ambois (1603–1607) is a Jacobean stage play written by George Chapman. Classified as either a tragedy or "contemporary history," Bussy D'Ambois is widely considered Chapman's greatest play, and is the earliest in a series of plays that Chapman wrote about the French political scene in his era, including the sequel The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, the two-part The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron, and The Tragedy of Chabot, Admiral of France.

The play is based on the life of the real Louis de Bussy d'Amboise, who was murdered in 1579.

Bussy D'Ambois was probably written in 1603-4, and was performed soon after by the Children of Paul's. The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on 3 June 1607, and published in quarto the same year by the bookseller William Aspley, who issued a second quarto the next year. A revised version of the text was printed in 1641 by the stationer Robert Lunne, with the claim that this text was "much corrected and amended by the author before his death." Scholars have disputed the truth of this claim, though the weight of argument seems to fall in its favor. There are 228 variants between the two versions, "including thirty long alterations and additions and five excisions; their extent and tone show a concern only an author could feel." Some commentators have argued that Chapman revised the original Bussy when writing its sequel, The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, c. 1610, to make the two works flow together more smoothly. Robert Lunne issued a Q4 iN 1647; Q5 was published by Joshua Kirton in 1657.

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