The Kit Marlowe Networking Project

This exhibit aims to visualize the people in Kit Marlowe’s social networks. The goal is to picture the diverse individuals he interacted with in order to gain a deeper understanding of the time period and the events. By building this network of writers, explorers, and court members, we hope to help others grasp an unfolding timeline that adds context to Marlowe’s life and times. The story of Marlowe is not only historically vital, but also fascinating and just as dramatic as the plays he is known for.

Getting Under The Hood With Graph Commons

The visualizations are being built out in Graph Commons, an open-source platform that provides starter templates and tips to help anyone jump in and create network visualizations! After creating a free account, one can start a new graph, and then select “Import” from the left-hand menu. This feature will bring up the option to copy a Google Sheet template that has been designed for the GC interface.  The first sheet in the template is where one sets out the “nodes” or entities, and the “edges” that indicate how the entities relate to one another. In the second Google Sheet, we can add more details, including individuals’ biographies and images that one may click through to from the network visualization.

While the formatting of this Sheet can be a bit tricky, it is easy to learn! Here’s a brief guide to Graph Commons, specific to this particular project:

• Edges:
  • From Type: Profession of Profile 1
• • From Name: Name of Profile 1
• • Edge: Connection to Profile 2
    • IE: acquaintances, employed, collaborated, etc
    To Type: Profession of Profile 2
  • To Name: Name of Profile 2

• Nodes:
  • Node Type: Profession of Profile
  • Name and birth/death dates
  • Image Link
  • Learn More: link to either to KMP, or another credible online source
  • Bio: Overview of profile
    • Include quick explanation of profession, connections, and what they are most well known for.

Click Here to view the most updated version of the Networking project, or explore it below:

The First Degree

The first degree includes people that directly knew Kit Marlowe and had significant interactions with him. As the project continues, this list will grow. Presently, we have identified 21 first-degree connections:

The Second Degree

The second degree includes anyone who didn’t interact directly with Kit Marlowe but engaged with someone in his first-degree network. An example of may be Ben Jonson, a playwright and poet who had acted in Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, and collaborated with Thomas Nashe, William Shakespeare and others. Jonson admired Marlowe’s work, but does not appear to have known him personally, making this a second-degree connection.

This degree is quite a bit more expansive than the first and can be a bit daunting. One source for finding people in the second degree has been The Six Degrees of Francis Bacon, a more comprehensive networking platform. Working from this list, research can be done to expand the network, adding more people such as those found in Marlowe’s biographies; the indexes to these provide great starting points for research! The more thorough the research, the more data there is for the visualization.

The Research

As you research each person and add their profiles, there might be some events or groups that include multiple people, such as The School of Night, or The Gunpowder Plot. If you happen upon one of these instances, compile a brief description of the event, including Marlowe’s involvement so it can be added as an encyclopedia entry on the KMP. This grows the information in the database and helps update and advance the KMP!