[3] The play was acted by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre, and was published in quarto in 1636 by the bookseller John Marriot; Massinger dedicated the work to one of his patrons, Sir Robert Wiseman,[4] in gratitude for his "supportment and protection."
Massinger is thought to have based his plot on the traditional story of Ethelwald and Elfrida, available to him in several versions; he may also have been influenced by an earlier play, A Knack to Know a Knave.
In the play, Massinger exploits the richness of a courtly style, full of "gay flourishes of language" (Act IV, scene ii), perhaps more successfully than in any other of his works.
Massinger based the play's titular character on Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, though in a loose and ahistorical manner.
At the start of the play, Cozimo's nephew and heir Giovanni has spent several years living at the country house of his tutor, Carolo Charomonte, where he has pursued academic subjects as well as all the training suitable for a youth of his social position – music, horsemanship, swordsmanship and the like.
Now, however, Giovanni has been called back to the Duke's court; he takes a sad leave of his tutor and Lidia and travels to Florence with his servant Calandrino.
Cozimo is reminded of his private vow to live in single widowerhood after the death of his beloved duchess; and he forgives the young men and allows the marriages of Giovanni with Lidia and Sanazarro with Fiorinda.