born Nov. 6, 1558, London, Eng.
died 0441; December 1594, London
English dramatist.
With The Spanish Tragedie (1592), he initiated the revenge tragedy, a favourite dramatic form in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras in which the main motivation was revenge. One of the most popular plays of its time, it prepared the way for William Shakespeare 's Hamlet and other plays. The only other play certainly by Kyd is Cornelia (1594). He was arrested and tortured in 1593 after "atheistical" documents were found in his room; he claimed the papers belonged to Christopher Marlowe , with whom he had shared lodgings. His reputation ruined, he died the next year at age 36.