Hengist, King of Kent

Hengist, King of Kent, or The Mayor of Quinborough is a Jacobean stage play by Thomas Middleton, first published in 1661.

The date of authorship of the play is uncertain, though it is usually dated to c. 1615–20. Some critics have argued that the close relationship between Hengist and The Changeling indicates that the plays were written in fairly close conjunction. "Both plays are lavish in the use of dumb-show; both revolve around a licentious woman (Beatrice-Joanna, Roxena) believed to be virtuous, and a chaste one (Isabella, Castiza) mistreated by an unworthy husband; and the role taken by Horsus, the secret love of Roxena, in planning villainies is not dissimilar to that of De Flores."

The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on 4 September 1646, by Humphrey Robinson and Humphrey Moseley; but it was not published until 1661, when the bookseller Henry Herringman issued it under the title The Mayor of Quinborough. The title page of the first quarto assigns the play to "Tho. Middleton," and states that the play was acted by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre (though no specific performances are known).

There are also two extant manuscripts of the play, both of which are scribal copies of the theatre prompt-book. The Lambarde MS. is 1487.2 in the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C., while the Portland MS. is in Nottingham University Library. The subject matter is derived from the Matter of Britain; it tells the story of Saxon king Hengist during his wars against the Britons.

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