The Court Secret is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by James Shirley, and first published in 1653.
Though The Court Secret can seem, to a modern taste, a confection of romantic fluff, exaggerated and wildly unrealistic (see the Synopsis below), it has been read as an index of the social anxieties and stresses of England at the crisis point of 1642, suggesting the conflict "between royalty and the rest," between the demands of royalist absolutism and the urges of ordinary humanity at the start of the English Civil War.
[1] The play's title page in its first edition states that The Court Secret was never acted, but was intended to be produced at the Blackfriars Theatre.
This identifies the play as belonging to the final phase of Shirley's professional career: he wrote regularly for the King's Men at the Blackfriars in the 1640–42 era, after he had returned from Ireland and the Werburgh Street Theatre.
The manuscript shows the play in an early stage of its development; it is in the hand of a professional scribe, but contains corrections and additions in Shirley's handwriting.
"[6] The MS. also shows signs of preparation for production, so that it is uncertain which version of the play, the MS. or the printed text, was acted onstage in 1664.
The fact that this is not strictly true does not bother Roderigo; the play's Machiavellian stage villain, he creates as much trouble as he can.
Arriving at the place appointed for the duel, Manuel hears cries of alarm; a page runs to him and says that a Moor has killed Don Carlo.
At the same time, Princess Isabella arrives from Portugal, and the court is thrown into disorder when Don Carlo cannot be found.
He swears to punish Duke Mendoza — which prompts Piraquo and Pedro to reveal the rest of the court secret: that they were the pirates who kidnapped the infant Carlo...who is actually Don Manuel.