Christopher Marlowe

Born the son of a shoe-maker two months before the birth of another famous playwright, 'William Shakespeare' (qv), 'Christopher Marlowe' (qv) achieved fame as an Elizabethan dramatist as well as an atheist. He was killed in a tavern brawl by a former friend, allegedly over a bill. There is now some evidence that suggests his death was in fact an assassination.::Nichol