Illyria, Nicea's Exile for Arians, Thomas Kyd, and Twelfth Night

Why did Shakespeare use Illyria as a setting for Twelfth Night? Is there any historical meaning to Illyria that may have made this a creative, illuminating, and relevant setting for Early Modern England, still in the throes of the Reformation? Consider: 

On JUNE 19, 325 A.D., at the end of the Council of Nicea, Arian schismatics were exiled to Illyria, 1700 years ago this year. 

IF ALL WE KNEW ABOUT ILLYRIA and Twelfth Night was two things: 
1. That it was where Arius and his schismatic followers were exiled by Emperor Constantine and the First Council of Nicea; and 
2. That Shakespeare’s contemporary, playwright Thomas Kyd, was arrested in 1593, tortured, and falsely accused of the heresy of Arianism [1]; 
these facts would color our reading of Shakespeare’s play–set in Illyria. [2]

What happened after Arians were exiled to Illyria? After Nicea, Constantine’s successors flip-flopped, opposing or supporting Arianism (337-378 AD). 

Flash-forward: 
During the English Reformation, Catholics and Protestants called each other schismatics (circa 1517-1648). Like the post-Nicene Roman Empire, England flip-flopped: Catholic – Protestant (1534-1600s), and various people were executed as heretics or for schismatical and/or separatist religious activities [3]. 

Shakespeare and playwright Thomas Kyd were likely both active in Pembroke’s Men (circa 1589-1593) [4]. On May 13, 1593: Thomas Kyd was accused of Arianism, arrested and tortured [5]. Kyd was released but so physically, mentally, and socially harmed that he died within a year and three months at the age of 35. 

1601-2: Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night, set in Illyria, featuring:
- A mock-exorcism torture of a falsely accused steward, Malvolio, perhaps a satire of William Cecil, likely instrumental in the arrest of Kyd. (Turnabout is fair play?)
- Reconciliation of national enemies, joined in marriages (healing schisms?).
- Gender disguise and confusion, possibly related to confusion about Greek terms related to Arianism like “Homoousion” in documents found upon Kyd’s arrest [6].

If the reference to Illyria was a nod to the exile of Arians after the Council of Nicea, this doesn’t mean Protestant England was heretical, or that Rome was, but some at the time certainly believed so. 

Perhaps Illyria is not only a land of pirates and rebellion [7], but an allusion to Arianism, schism, and Kyd’s arrest and torture under harsh steward, William Cecil…

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2025/06/illyria-niceas-exile-for-arians-thomas.html
~~~~~
See also my index for posts in the series on the TWELVE DAYS of CHRISTMAS in Shakespeare’s time (and possible influences on the plays):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-in-churches-of.html

NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu

[1] Arianism involved a sect that believed Jesus was son of God, but that God the Father existed before Jesus, understanding Jesus as a bit more human and a bit less divine than the official conclusion of the First Council of Nicea. 

[2] Much has been written about Illyria in Shakespeare, mostly as the setting for his play, Twelfth Night, but none that I have found so far connects Illyria with the location of exile for Arians, or with the arrest and torture of Kyd. For example, see Juric, Lea Puljcan, Illyria in Shakespeare’s England, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2019:
 https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781683931775/Illyria-in-Shakespeare%E2%80%99s-England  

[3] See page 34, Winnifred Cockshott, The Pilgrim Fathers: Their Church and Colony, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, London, METHUEN & CO., 1909
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/The_Pilgrim_Fathers%2C_their_church_and_colony_%28IA_cu31924028814858%29.pdf

[4] Darren Freebury-Jones, Excerpt: "Shakespeare's tutor: The influence of Thomas Kyd," July 18, 2023:
https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/excerpt-shakespeares-tutor-the-influence-of-thomas-kyd-by-darren-freebury-jones/

[5] Thomas Kyd was arrested in May, 1993, after government concern over the “Dutch Church Libel,” which involved a pamphlet in verse that alluded to works of Christopher Marlowe, a former lodging mate of Kyd’s. When arrested, Marlowe was away, and papers were found that seemed to the investigators to refer to Arianism, but Kyd who was tortured said the papers were Marlowe’s. The fact that Kyd was released, and that Marlowe (probably a spy) later turned himself in, implies that investigators did not have enough evidence against Kyd to prove he was Arianist, but Kyd lost his patron over the affair and therefore had great financial difficulty. Kyd died in August 1994, a year and three months later at the age of 35.

[6] For more on the arrest and torture of Thomas Kyd on charges of Arianism, blasphemy and libel, see The Center for Rule of Law: “May 12, 1593 -- Thomas Kyd is Arrested for libel” posted 5/12/2021:
“With respect to Marlow, Kyd and others caught up in the libel scandal, however, this belief was generated as the result of a misunderstanding of the terms used in by Arianists, including Marlow, who was as much a philosopher as a poet and playwright, -- Homoousion, Homoiousianism, Homoeanism and Heteroousianism -- these terms, derived from Greek, were used to describe the different possible natures of Christ in relation to God the Father and the Holy Spirit, but to the uneducated were mistaken for references to sexuality.”
https://www.thecenterforruleoflaw.org/rule-of-law-blog/may-12-1593-thomas-kyd-is-arrested-for-libel

[7] Henry VI part II, Earl of Suffolk: 
This villain here,
Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more
Than Bargulus, the strong Illyrian pirate.
 - 4.1.112-115

Illyria implies “‘wild riot and drunkenness, and the lawless profession of piracy” to Leslie Hotson, observing various references in Shakespeare. 
See Hotson, Leslie, The First Night of ‘Twelfth Night’. London & New York. 1954.

The pirate from Ragusa in Measure for Measure is thought to be from Ragusa in Illyria. 

In the most acclaimed recent (2019) resource on Illyria in Shakespeare, Lea Puljcan Juric notes Illyria referenced in a variety of Shakespeare plays: Comedy of Errors, 2 Henry VI, Measure for Measure, and Cymbeline.
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781683931775/Illyria-in-Shakespeare%E2%80%99s-England


IMAGES: 
Left: William Hamilton  (1751–1801). 
A Scene from Twelfth Night (by William Shakespeare: Act V, Scene i), circa 1797
Private collection, New Haven, Connecticut.
Public domain via 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/William_Hamilton%2C_A_Scene_from_Twelfth_Night.jpg

Right: English: Icon from the Mégalo Metéoron Monastery in Greece, representing the First Ecumenical Council of Nikea 325 A.D., with the condemned Arius in the bottom of the icon (under the feet of Emperor Constantine).
Photograph of icon by Jjensen. 
Used by GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Nikea-arius.png