The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21). Volume VI. The Drama to 1642, Part Two. X. The Elizabethan Theatre. § 2. Triumph of the Professional Actor and Patronised Company over the Stroller. A few months after her accession, Elizabeth issued a proclamation providing that no interlude should be played without being notified beforehand and licensed by the mayor or chief officer of a town, or, in the country, by lieutenants or two local justices of the peace. And, in 1572, the question of these unattached companies was finally settled by a law providing that common players in interludes not belonging to a baron or honourable personage of greater degree, or not having a licence from two justices of the peace, should be deemed rogues and vagabonds. This, practically, is the close of the history—so far as their influence on the progress of the drama is concerned—of any theatrical bodies except those definitely under patronage. The early part of Elizabeth’s reign saw not only the triumph of the professional actor over the amateur, but the supplanting of the old player of interludes by the better equipped companies then newly formed by nobles anxious to please their sovereign.   3