Rodrigo Lopez as the Inspiration for Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

“On June 7, 1594, Rodrigo Lopez, the number one physician to Queen Elizabeth I of England was executed before a London crowd, on charges that included conspiring to poison the queen (Green).” His family and religious background play an important detail about the parallels of personalities in his trial and the characters in Shakespeare’s play. The events in the trial of Lopez and The Merchant of Venice are also pointing to Shakespeare’s inspiration of the historical event in his writing.

Dr. Roderigo Lopez’s Family and Religious Background

Roderigo Lopez was born in Crato, Portugal in 1517 and he was raised as a Jew that converted to Christianity. His family was several of Marranos in England as “Converso” or “New Christian”. Lopez himself was known to be Jewish, but he seems to have been primarily thought of as Portuguese (Conspiring against the Queen-Roderigo Lopez). In 1559, Dr. Lopez changed his name to Ruy or Roger Lopez. Lopez began to practice medicine and became the head doctor of Queen Elizabeth I('1594: Rodrigo Lopez, Shylock inspiration?').Roderigo Lopez married with Sarah Anes in 1559 and lived in East London. Ten years later he became a fellow of the College of Doctors and got listed in the College Honor Roll. He gained great prominence, helping many influential English figures including the most important of all, Queen Elizabeth I. A letter in 1589 from Lopez states which Lopez had served the Queen for 3 years (Jacobs). One of the patients of Dr. Lopez was Dom Antonio, the Earl of Leicester and Leicester's step-son, the Earl of Essex. Lopez good standing with the powers that be was not enough compared to the stereo-typing of the Jews in his time ('1594: Rodrigo Lopez, Shylock inspiration?').

In the 16th century, under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I, the strong anti-Semitism was present and it became greatest during the trial and execution of her head doctor, Roderigo Lopez. Lopez was charged with treason as he tried to murder Elizabeth I. The verdict was guilty and in June of 1594, he was executed (On This Day In Messianic Jewish History). The trial and execution of Roderigo Lopez influenced English writing of the Elizabethan period, most notably William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Shylock’s portrayal and characteristic reflect those of Lopez society’s opinions towards Jewish people. Lopez’s trial affects a lot to the society, and it was shown from the similarities between names of Shakespeare’s characters and the plot of the play. “In 1594, his position as Queen Elizabeth’s personal physician put him at the center of court intrigue; he was accused by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex of having conspired with Spanish emissaries to poison the Queen (Strachey).”

The Trials of Dr. Roderigo Lopez and Shylock

The time and process of Dr. Lopez was an important piece of evidence. This is because he didn’t have a chance to prove his innocence. The judges had already decided that Dr. Lopez was guilty even before the trial started. Although Lopez was trusted that he wouldn't reveal secrets heard during his visits and that he wouldn't harm any of his patients, he was accused guilty (“Conspiring against the Queen-Roderigo Lopez”).

Don Antonio claimed that he was wrongly deprived the throne of Portugal by the King and came to London to raise anti-Spanish feeling in order to win back the throne. England’s government supported and offered asylum to many enemies of King Philip due the war with Spain. After many years of working with Lopez, Antonio began to constantly question Lopez and his companions, and the doctor resigned his post. Soon after him falling out, King Philip II hired Spanish agents to come to Lopez and many of Antonio’s previous supporters to kill Antonio for a big amount of money. However, King Philip and his agents had an evil plan that to poison Queen Elizabeth. Lopez was not sure to follow the orders that stood him against the queen, but he did not want to give up revenging Antonio. Elizabeth did not listen to Lopez even he tried to warn her by dropping hints of the Spanish king’s plan. This was the sign of his loyalty to the Queen of England and Ireland, Queen Elizabeth (Abernethy).

Consistently, a Spanish agent was staying with Lopez in London, which brought suspicion onto the doctor. Essex had the spy and his accomplices arrested and put in prison. The prisoners believed that Lopez revealed their names and roles in the King’s plan to Essex, and they argued that Lopez played an important role in the plan as them. However, the queen refused to believe their announcements. “In these times, to be indicted was to be convicted and many believed the trial was decided before it even started (Abernethy).” Lopez continuously denied his involvement in the plot to murder Queen Elizabeth, but finally confessed his part of the plan in order to avoid the rack, which was an excruciatingly painful torture machine. Two weeks after his confession, the trial was held. Because of the high level of treason in question, Roderigo Lopez did not receive a regular English trial. Instead of twelve qualified judges, the Lord Mayor of London and other advisers to the Queen judged the trial. The trial was held in Guildhall, the town hall, to give the case maximum exposure. The main prosecutor, Sir Edward Coke strongly stressed that Dr. Lopez was a Jew, calling him a perjured and murdering traitor and Jewish doctor who is worse than Judas himself. Lopez repeatedly denied his role in the plan and claimed he had only confessed in order to save himself from extreme torture. His statement, however, had no effect on the jury and the doctor was found guilty. The verdict was well accepted by the public (Seaman).

Queen Elizabeth did not believe that her doctor was guilty and refused to sign the warrant for his execution. It was not until one of Devereux’s minions was made Lord Chief Justice, Queen was prompted to sign off on Lopez’s execution seven weeks after the trial. It is rumored that right before June 7, his executed date. Roderigo Lopez claimed that he had “loved the Queen even more than Jesus Christ,” to which the mob scoffed and replied in 1594, “He is a Jew! He is a Jew!” Shylock and Dr. Lopez were both given unfair decisions by courts (Sinsheimer 66).

Dr. Roderigo’s Inspiration to Shakespeare

Dr. Roderigo Lopez was the inspiration of Shylock in the play The Merchant of Venice. It should be noted that the whole play was written by Shakespeare after the execution of Dr. Lopez. In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock’s actions and characteristics reflect Roderigo Lopez. Both of them set out to get revenge on their enemies. Antonio wrongs and disrespects Lopez so the doctor agrees to kill him for money. Shylock enters into a bond with the Venetian merchant, Antonio, with lending money to him without interest. However, if Antonio cannot payback money, Shylock could cut off a pound of flesh from any part of Antonio’s body. The under meaning of a pound of flesh mean to kill him, and Shylock could get revenge on his enemy. In addition, both Lopez and Shylock are described as unreliable. Essex sought out to find the doctor’s papers, but when he could not, he said, “He [Lopez] burned them like the other Jews (Sinsheimer 65).” In court, the doctor was shown as a “murdering traitor” and worse than Judas himself and his accounts of innocence were totally disregarded by the judges. Some of the characters’ names and the relationships between them result from the personalities and actions that led up to Roderigo Lopez’s execution, Antonio needed the doctor as a translator, and the merchant needs Shylock’s money so he can send his dear friend Bassanio to meet his wife, the beautiful Portia. Shylock tells Antonio, “You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, and spit upon my Jewish gabardine and all for the use of that which is mine own” (Shakespeare 1.3). The impact Dr. Lopez’s trial had on Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is obvious in the trial scene of the play. As in the head-physician’s case, unqualified, unfair judges, such as the Duke and Senator of Venice, unlawfully judge Shylock’s trial. Before the trial starts, the chosen judges have already decided that Shylock is guilty. The Duke tells Antonio, “I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer a stony adversary, a Seaman inhuman wretch incapable of pity, void and empty from any dram of mercy (Shakespeare 4.1).” The Venetian Duke says sorry to Antonio for having to deal with such a villainous and irrational man; an “inhuman wretch incapable of pity” who will not provide mercy to the merchant for the Jew is selfish. The Duke cannot honestly judge the trial because he is a Christian and by nonpayment opposes the Jewish moneylender, Shylock (Seaman).

The influence the trial and execution of Dr. Roderigo Lopez in 1594 had on William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is very clear. Shakespeare lived in London during the time of the trial and could witness first-hand the injustices faced by the Jewish doctor. It can be safely assumed that Jews lived in London during his lifetime that opportunities of more or less intimate intercourse with them were for many years open to Shakespeare. Shakespeare was friends with both the Earl of Essex and the Earl of Southampton, and was bound to be confronted by the complexity of Jewishness in the conspicuous fate of that Jew Lopez. The parallels between the events of Lopez’s life and the plot lines in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice are too evident to deny. Clearly Shakespeare was profoundly impacted by the infamous trial of the Queen’s head-physician, as he models his play around the life and times of the well-known doctor (Abernethy).