The origins of the prodigal son on the English stage might be traced to around 1513, with the publication of the anonymous The Interlude of Youth. Although only a loose representation of the Lukan theme, the interlude marks the first of a dozen or so dramatic works about the rise, fall, and reformation of a youth who needs to be appropriately schooled in Protestant Christian values. These are the beginnings of the Tudor and early Stuart tradition of prodigal son plays. This chapter discusses the first seventy years of English prodigal son drama in the morality plays, addressing their origins in continental schoolmaster plays, preoccupation with humanist pedagogy, and the development of the prodigal youth archetype. A reasonably comprehensive list of sixteenth-century English adaptations of the parable includes: The Interlude of Youth (c. 1513), Hick Scorner (c. 1515–16), Pater, Filius & Uxor (c. 1530–4), Lusty Juventus (c. 1547–53), Nice Wanton (c. 1547–53), Jack Juggler (c. 1553), Jacob and Esau (c. 1557–68), The Contention between Liberality and Prodigality (c. 1560–70), The Disobedient Child (c. 1559–70), Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes (c. 1570), The Glass of Government (1575), Common Conditions (c. 1576), Misogonus (c. 1570–7), The Famous Victories of Henry V (c. 1583–8), The Scottish History of James IV (1598), and a number of Shakespeare's works. I limit my discussion here to those that most overtly engage with the parable: The Interlude of Youth, Lusty Juventus, Nice Wanton, The Disobedient Child, Pater, Filius, et Uxor, and Misogonus, whereas two other morality plays – The Contention between Liberality and Prodigality and The Glass of Government – will be discussed in more detail in Chapters Two and Five respectively. I am excluding those works that engage less actively with the parable and prodigality, as well as Shakespeare's work: he will be discussed on his own terms.