Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
We don't know anything about John Webster, aside from extremely basic biographical info…but he might have been a coachmaker and an actor, in addition to being a playwright. Just maybe. (Source)
In his preface to The White Devil, Webster doesn't just show off his Latin translation and quotation abilities: he pays tribute to the leading playwrights of his time. He mentions such famous figures as Ben Jonson and Shakespeare, along with Beaumont and Fletcher, Dekker, and Heywood. Gotta give credit where it's due. (Source)
Webster mixed up his popes: Cardinal Monticelso (or, in real-life, Montalto) became Pope Sixtus V, not Pope Paul IV (who was a real pope, as well, but earlier)….but we'll let this one slide. (Source)
In real life, Vittoria and Bracciano may have both been innocent—the entire initiative of Camillo's (actually named Francesco Peretti) murder may have lain with Vittoria's brother Marcello (the inspiration for Flamineo). But Vittoria really was stabbed to death by assassins led by Count Lodovico—and Lodovico really was executed. This is definitely not a crew we'd want to be hanging out with, noble or not. (Source)