Online Shakespeare

Contents  The Life and Times of William Shakespeare

The Early Years

A complete, authoritative account of Shakespeare's life is lacking; much supposition surrounds relatively few facts. It is commonly agreed that he was born in 1564 and it is known that he was baptised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. His birth day now is commonly accepted to be on 23 April that year as it was customary to baptise children three days after they were born. The parish register for Stratford on 26 April 1564 records William's birth:

The entry is in Latin and reads "Guiliamus filius Johannes Shakspere"; that is "William son of John Shakspere"

23 April is St. George's Day, and the association of Shakespeare's possible date of birth with the patron saint of England transports the appropriateness of his birth date into the realm of the legendary.

He was born to middle class parents who lived in Henley Street, Stratford. His father John, was a local businessman: a glove maker who owned a leather shop. He was a well-known and much respected man holding several important local governmental positions including that of Borough ale-taster to bailiff, the highest public office in Stratford. Other recorded jobs include:

William Shakespeare's mother was Mary Arden (see Mary Arden's House). Though she was the daughter of a local farmer, she was related to a family of considerable wealth and social standing: a lesser branch of an aristocratic family. (The family gave its name to the nearby Forest of Arden, which is mentioned in 'As You Like It'.) Although many references to John Shakespeare's activities survive, only the date of Mary Shakespeare's burial (9 September 1608) was recorded which was typical of the time.

Shakespeare's Birthplace

Stratford-upon-Avon in the sixteenth century was an important agricultural centre and market town, its market being licensed in the twelfth century by Richard I. Shakespeare's 'birthplace' in Henley Street was in fact, at the time of his birth two adjacent buildings that his father John acquired at different times and made into one. No original illustrations of the original house survive. A lot of the knowledge that is derived today is based on an18th century water colour by Richard Greene painted after the two buildings were joined together. Any other knowledge that has been gained over the years in purely speculative: again, little can be based upon fact.

William's parents - Mary Arden and John Shakespeare, were married in 1557.The third of eight children, he was probably educated at the local grammar school: The King's New School - dedicated by Edward VI in 1553. Shakespeare later wrote a small scene in the play 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' in which a student, Master William Page, is called on in class to recite for his mother's benefit. This could well be a reflection of Shakespeare himself as a student as it is known that his school teacher was Welsh, as in the play. It is a lively scene, and has become known as "The Latin Lesson."

Records have been lost over time but it would probably be safe to say that he attended here as the school was built and maintained expressly for the purpose of educating the sons of prominent citizens with the sons of burgesses attending free. Shakespeare like the rest of his peer group spent long hours at school. A high proportion was devoted to the learning of Latin grammar based on Lily's Grammaticis Latina (Lily was the grandfather of the playwright John Lily, sometimes spelt Lyly). Progression was made from what was considered relatively easy Latin such as Aesop's Fables (translated from the Greek), to Caesar, and finally to Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Suetonius, Livy, and, notably for a dramatist, Seneca, Terence and (perhaps) Plautus . Again, a lot of speculation can be made here. School began at sunrise (06:00 or 07:00 depending on the time of year) and lasted throughout the day with breaks for meals, six days a week.

As well as a strong grounding at grammar school the other significant educational opportunity afforded all middle-class Elizabethans was the mandatory attendance at church where they read either the Geneva Bible (translated 1560) or the Bishops' Bible (translated 1568). The 'Authorised', or King James Bible was not studied by William as it was not published until 1611. The attendance at church also brought them into contact of The Book of Common Prayer (composed 1549), Foxe's Acts and Monuments (1563), homilies and preaching.

Nothing is known nowadays about how long he attended school but from it he obviously obtained a good grounding for the work which he was to write in later life. Nicholas Rowe (first editor of Shakespeare's Works after the Folio editions and his first biographer in1709) reported that "...the want of his assistance at Home, forc'd his Father to withdraw him from thence" . Rowe's source was the actor Thomas Betterton (1634-1710), who made "a journey to Warwickshire on purpose to gather up what remains he could, of a name for which he had so great a veneration."

Shakespeare's boyhood was no doubt fascinating and highly stimulating. Stratford was a lively town and during holidays it was known to hold pageants and popular shows. It also held several large fairs during the year. Shakespeare's' poems and plays show his love of nature and rural life reflecting his childhood. This passage from Henry V is an example:

Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart,
Unpruned dies; her hedges even-pleach'd,
Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair,
Put forth disorder'd twigs; her fallow leas
The darnel, hemlock, and rank fumitory,
Do root upon, while the coulter rusts,
That should deracinate such savagery;
The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth
The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover,
Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank,
Conceives by idleness, and nothing teems
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs,
Losing both beauty and utility.

As the eldest son, Shakespeare ordinarily would have been apprenticed to his father's shop so that he could learn and eventually take over the business, but according to one account he was apprenticed to a butcher because of declines in his father's financial situation. According to another, he became a schoolmaster. A local legend from the time regarding Shakespeare's early working life said that "...his father was a Butcher, & I have been told heretofore by some of the neighbours, that when he was a boy he exercised his father's Trade, but when he kill'd a Calfe, he would do it in a high style, & make a Speech" (from 'Aubrey's Brief Lives' (1681) - Aubrey was a seventeenth century gossip and raconteur).

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

From about 1577, when William was 13, John Shakespeare suffered financial loss, and ceased to play a part in local government. Previous to this, in 1575 William's father was wealthy enough to buy two houses, but in 1577 he stopped attending council meetings, though still an alderman. The following year he mortgaged a property of his wife's and sold her share in another. Later he faced various fines and lost his aldermanic seat. In 1592 he was listed among those who failed to attend church "for feare of process for debtte." However, his situation improved from 1596 when he applied for and was granted, a coat of arms, which would elevate both himself and his family to that of members of the gentry. It seems likely that William's undoubted success as shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain's Men (his company of actors) allowed him to restore his father's fortunes.

Little is known of Shakespeare's siblings. However, it is known that William's brother Edmund was born in Stratford in 1580. The next mention of him which survives is the baptism of his own son Edward at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, on 12 July 1607; however, the boy was buried at St. Giles' Cripplegate exactly one month later on 12 August 1607. The burial record indicates that the infant was 'base borne' with his baptismal entry indicating that Edmund and/or his son came from "morefilds", e.g. Moorfields, the location of the Curtain theatre where Queen Anne's Company acted that same year. However, the burial in St. Giles Cripplegate points to the Fortune Theatre and Prince Henry's Men. Edmund may have acted with one of these companies, or possibly he was a hired man and played for both. However, there's always the possibility that he played with neither of course. Edmund himself followed his son to the grave a scant four and a half months later and was buried in St. Saviour's Southwark, the parish of the Globe Theatre on 31 December 1607. This was probably due to the influence of his brother William, a possibility which is strengthened by the fact that Edmund was buried in the church (as opposed to the churchyard) and his funeral featured a forenoon knell of the great bell (as opposed to the lesser bell). Edmund's funeral cost 20 shillings, whereas burial in the churchyard with a knell of the lesser bell only cost 3 shillings, the difference doubtless being paid for by William.

Major dates of the Shakespeare children:

Timeline

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