What contemporary/writer/colleague of William Shakespeare (who formed the Shakespeare consortium) was a devout Roman Catholic?

What writer was an insider to the Court of Elizabeth the Queen?

What writer was enamored of phantasmagoria?
Who was a master of the language?

What writer was primarily a poet?

What writer preferred Histories of his time?

What writer looked to ancient histories for his muse?
What writer was homosexual? (It wasn’t Will Shakespeare himself.)

What writer preferred male/female complications?

What writer looked to political machinations for his inspiration?

And what writer had a tendency to science, magic, or alchemy?

(The task at hand isn’t as difficult as it seems.)