In fact, Edward might not have been murdered at all. The real Edward II was almost certainly not murdered in the karmic way Marlowe and Holinshed describe-i.e. Marlowe's only major departure from historical fact concerns Edward's murder, though his depiction is, again, based on Holinshed's. The rising tensions in the play over Edward's military defeats and personal favoritism are also true to life, though it's difficult to say with certainty that the historical relationship between Edward and Gaveston was sexual. It does, however, significantly compress the timeline, since the real Edward II ruled for nearly 20 years (1307–1326). Marlowe's play (based largely on the work of a chronicler of English monarchy named Rapheal Holinshed) is broadly historically accurate in its treatment of Edward II's reign. Marlowe was enormously popular as a playwright, however, and his style (including his use of blank verse and his experimentation with historical drama) influenced Shakespeare, whose own career as a playwright overlapped with Marlow’s, significantly.

He died in a tavern fight shortly after a warrant had been issued for his arrest, and most of his plays were published posthumously.

What is clear is that after graduating, Marlowe moved to London to pursue a career as a playwright, but was frequently sidetracked by problems with the authorities (among other things, Marlowe was suspected of blasphemy and atheism). Marlowe likely began writing plays while still at Cambridge, but the exact date of most of his work is uncertain. The school also awarded him a master’s degree, apparently on the recommendation of the government, which had praised Marlowe for services to his country-possibly a reference to a role as a secret agent.

The son of a shoemaker, Christopher Marlowe nevertheless earned a scholarship to study at Cambridge, where he completed a bachelor’s degree.

Edward the second marlowe