It was written by Francis Beaumont and is known to have been performed on 20 February 1613 in the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace, as part of the elaborate wedding festivities surrounding the marriage of Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of King James I, to Frederick V, Elector Palatine.
The masque itself was scheduled to be staged that evening, but had to be postponed for four days, due to the press of crowds at the Banqueting House and the fatigue of the King.
[1] John Chamberlain thought that the masque was spoiled by the delay, since the surprise value of the costumes and set had been lost; but the King enjoyed it when he saw it, and ordered the dances repeated.
This second anti-masque was reproduced in a slightly simplified form in The Two Noble Kinsmen later in 1613—one sign of the influence that masques had on the stage drama of the era.
[4] Beaumont's masque was entered into the Stationers' Register on 27 February 1613 and published soon after in an undated quarto by the bookseller George Norton.