In 1564, in the
picturesque town of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, John
and Mary Shakespeare welcomed their third child and first
son, called William. The exact date of his birth is not known,
as it was not the custom of the time to record birth dates;
however, records from Stratford’s Holy Trinity Church show
that William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26th, and general
legend has given his birth date to be April 23rd.
John Shakespeare was a solid, middle class
citizen at the time of his son’s birth, and therefore it is
generally accepted that young William was educated at King’s New
School of Stratford-upon-Avon, though no records exist to prove
this definitively. It is here Shakespeare would have been taught
the classical languages of Latin and Greek, which, for an
intelligent and inquisitive boy would easily open the doors to
literature, legends and mythology, many of which would find their
ways into his plays.
As a young adult, it is assumed that
William Shakespeare was trained in his father’s business as a
“whittawer”, a maker, worker and seller of leather goods such as
purses, belts and gloves, although again, there is no real record
of this.
The next definitive record in Shakespeare’s life
is that of his marriage. On November 28, 1582, the Bishop of
Worcester issued the marriage bond for "William Shagspere" and
"Ann Hathwey of Stratford." The daughter of a prosperous farmer,
Ann Hathaway was several years older than William Shakespeare, and
was already pregnant when they were married, as evidenced by the
fact their first daughter, Susanna was baptized six months later,
on May 26th, 1583. Two years later, Anne gave birth to twins,
Hamnet and Judith.
Unfortunately it is hear that history
draws a veil over Shakespeare’s life, and nothing is known about
the years between 1585 and 1592, when Shakespeare’s name turns up
in a complaint written by Robert Greene, who called him an
"upstart crow". By this time Shakespeare was beginning to be
recognized as an actor, poet and playwright.
In 1593 and part of 1594, a virulent outbreak the Bubonic
Plague caused the London theaters to close, which was certainly
a crushing financial and creative blow for William Shakespeare.
Personal tragedy struck him as well during this time, when
his only son, Hamnet, died at the age of eleven.
However, when
the theatres re-opened 1594, Shakespeare was a founding member of
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, and his career began to soar. For the
remainder of that decade he wrote several plays while continuing
as a principal actor and manager in the company. He prospered
financially, and is known to have made investments in his native
Stratford, thus assembling a comfortable life and a solid estate.
It was in 1599, he became part owner in the most prestigious
public playhouse in London, the Globe.
The Globe was
assembled south of the Thames, and was owned by a syndicate made
of up of Richard and Cuthbert Burbage, who shared in half the
profits and expenses, and a group of actors, Shakespeare among
them, who divided the other half.
When King James ascended
the throne in 1603 Shakespeare's acting company was designated by
the new king as the King's Men, charged to "freely to use and
exercise the art and faculty of playing Comedies, Tragedies,
Histories, Inerludes, Morals, Pastorals, stage plays...as well for
recreation of our loving subjects as for our solace and pleasure."
Ten years later during a gala performance of Henry VIII a
canon fired during the play set fire to the thatch of the Globe’s
room, and the building was burned to the ground. Fortunately there
were no casualties, and the following spring the company had
re-built the theatre. Although investing in the rebuilding,
Shakespeare took this opportunity to retire from the stage, and
moved back to the Great House of New Place Stratford, where he
continued to write plays until his death on April 23rd 1616.
