Modo he's call'd, and Mahu Devils from Samuel Harsnett's Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603); the frequent borrowings from Harsnett in King Lear (such as Flibbertigibbet, line 115 and Smulkin, line 140) set the earliest composition date for the play.
| The devil attacking a window a detail from St Anthony the Hermit by Matthias Grunewald (c.1470-1528) |
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| Source: www.historytoday.com |