Christopher Marlowe died on May 30th 1593, apparently in a pub brawl, aged only 29. Had he lived and continued to write his mighty lines, would Marlowe, not Shakespeare, now be remembered as the foremost marvel of the age? The opaque world of an Elizabethan literary genius The author of “Dr Faustus” and “Tamburlaine” died on this day in 1593 ECONOMIST.COM