Christopher Marlowe is a name that is a part of the very fabric of Canterbury, and by extension, King’s. He was Canterbury born and raised, and later became known as one of the most popular playwrights in British history. While his career took off around the same time as Shakespeare, some may say that he had a more ‘colourful’ character. During his time, he was labelled a ‘heretic’, rumoured to be a spy, and the myth of his death in a pub brawl continues to to be a topic of debate and mystery amongst scholars. Marlowe is also one of our most distinguished OKS – a connection of which the School is very proud of. Now, a new exhibition in Canterbury invites visitors to discover more about the playwright, and the city that shaped him.

Around age 14, Marlowe became a pupil at King’s on a scholarship. We do not know much about his time at King’s, but he was a pupil at the School at around 1579 to 1581, less than 40 years after the School was re-founded by a Royal Charter in 1541.

In the BBC Radio 3 podcast series The Life and Death of Christopher Marlowe, Peter Henderson (School Archivist) offers some insight into life at King’s during Marlowe’s time: 

The School was in its first twenty years and was certainly dramatic in terms of what was happening nationally, politically and with religion, and that would have had an effect on the School. Scholars were required to go to Cathedral services, for instance, lots of scholars would have been conscious of these shifts.

The School has since memorialised Marlowe’s legacy in several ways. Most notable to most OKS is Marlowe House, which is located next to the Deanery and overlooking the Green Court. Today, Marlowe House is home to 70 pupils. Many pupils are also part of the long established English extra curricular at King's: The Marlowe Society. There is also a plaque dedicated to Marlowe in Green Court. It reads: 'Poet & Dramatist: the Muses darling'.

The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge in Canterbury are currently hosting an exhibition entitled The Making of Marlowe: Poet, Playwright, Provocateur. The exhibit showcases artefacts, historical documents, and interactive displays that promise to encapsulate the life of Christopher Marlowe. It also features some details about King’s. The exhibit is on display until Sunday 22 November 2026, and is highly recommended to OKS wanting to find out more about Marlowe and his life in Canterbury. Charlotte Cornell (Common Room 2007-17) is Canterbury’s Cabinet Member for Culture and tells us: 

The exhibition is wonderful. More importantly, it uses the surviving evidence to take us back into the Canterbury that made Marlowe, making the case that the city of his childhood nourished his later imagination and creative genius. Much of what follows here is drawn directly from the stories, objects, records and research brought together at The Beaney. That Canterbury should echo so loudly through Marlowe’s writing is hardly surprising.

Find out more here.

Our Cantuarian Archive hosts a pleathora of King's history from 1980 to the present. Explore the archive exclusively here.