Having been Ramus without having actually been killed sounds like a thoroughly enviable experience.

Épernoun is an interesting figure--whom Marlowe would of course have been keenly interested in: Épernoun, the *grand mignon* of Henri III was referred to as "Gaveston" in a scandalous pamphlet--so when writing *Edward II*, Marlowe was indirectly but prpbbaly also consciously also engaging with contemporary French history.

About which, small comment: contemporary stuff could be sensitive and even censored, but not forbidden or even uncommon, although few of those plays survive (like news pamphlets, they had a short shelf life). What was anathema was the representation of contemporary English political events, contemporary political figures, and especially of royalty. I am super curious though about your conversation about Greenblatt's Marlowe book--I was away from here, did not see it, can't find it, any conclusions? (Do I need to read it?)

(I first read the Massacre at the library of the Beaubourg when I was first there for a few months, and the nostalgia for that time, even for standing in line to get in during busy times during the semester, still adds a weirdly sentimental tinge to my memories the play.)