in the day when a cannonball cut off his legs—or perhaps, as tradition asserted, he was murdered by his Italian soldiers after the Portuguese had been defeated. The historian Jerry Brotton writes of him, "He might not have 'given a fart' about Elizabeth, but it may have been one of her cannonballs that killed him". Legacy Stucley's career made a considerable impression on his contemporaries, and in death he attracted as much speculation and gossip as he had in life. A play generally assigned to George Peele, The Battell of Alcazar with the Death of Captain Stukely, printed in 1594, was probably acted in 1592. It deals with Stucley's arrival in Lisbon and his Moorish expedition; in a long speech before his death he recapitulates the events of his life. A later piece, The Famous History of the Life and Death of Captain Thomas Stukeley, printed for Thomas Pavier (1605), which is possibly the Stewtle, played, according to Henslowe, on 11 December 1596, is a biographical piece dealing with successive episodes, and seems to be a patchwork of older plays on Dom António and on Stucley. His adventures also form the subject of various ballads. There is a detailed biography of Stucley, based chiefly on the English, Venetian and Spanish state papers, in R Simpson's edition of the 1605 play (School of Shakespeare, 1878, vol. i.), where the Stucley ballads are also printed. References in contemporary poetry are quoted by Dyce in his introduction to The Battle of Alcazar in Peele's Works. References Sources T. Wright The History of Ireland v.II pp. 461 et seq. Richard Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors 3 vols. (London, 1885–1890) John O'Donovan (ed.) Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters (1851). Calendar of State Papers: Carew MSS 6 vols (London, 1867–1873). Calendar of State Papers: Ireland (London) Nicholas Canny The Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland (Dublin, 1976); Kingdom and Colony (2002) Steven G. Ellis Tudor Ireland (London, 1985) Cyril Falls Elizabeth's Irish Wars (1950; reprint London, 1996) Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895. Further reading Sir Thomas Stucley, c. 1525-1578: Traitor extraordinary by John Izon (1956) The Mistresses of Henry VIII by Kelly Hart (2009) The Stukeley Plays: 'The Battle of Alcazar' by George Peele and 'The Famous History of the Life and Death of Captain Thomas Stukeley' by Charles