Christopher Marlowe, (baptized Feb. 26, 1564, Canterbury, Kent, Eng.—died May 30, 1593, Deptford, near London), Elizabethan poet and Shakespeare’s most important predecessor in English drama, who is noted especially for his establishment of dramatic blank verse. Christopher Marlowe was an Elizabethan poet and William Shakespeare’s most important predecessor in English drama. He is noted especially for his establishment of dramatic blank verse. In a playwriting career that spanned little more than six years, Marlowe’s achievements were diverse and splendid. On May 30, 1593, Christopher Marlowe was killed by Ingram Frizer, in the dubious company of Nicholas Skeres and Robert Poley, at a lodging house in Deptford, outside London, where they had spent most of the day and where, it was alleged, a fight had broken out between them over the bill.

1564 - 1593