WEEK 2 - Who was Shakepeare?

William Shakespeare was born sometime around the 26^th of April 1564 (as this is when he was baptised  although we don’t know the exact date of his birth). He was born in Stratford- upon- Avon, into a wealthy family. His father was called John and his mother was called Mary. Mary was the daughter of a local farmer and John was a glove-maker and a wool trader. They had a large family house. John was elected Bailiff (basically the mayor) of Stratford- upon- Avon when William was four years old.

                                          William Shakepeare's birthplace.

William’s early life was hard. He was the third of eight children but both of his older sisters died at a very young age, therefore William was the oldest of his surviving siblings. William was very lucky to survive because when he was a baby (in 1564) the plague killed 200 people from Stratford- upon- Avon (20% of the population).

Stratford- upon- Avon was a market town in the Midlands. It was based in a farming area in which approximately 1000 people lived.

From the age of seven, Shakespeare probably went to grammar school. This is because there was one in Stratford (which is still there today) and most middle class children went to grammar school from the age of seven. However, school was quite different in those days, children were expected to read, speak and write in Latin. Another thing which they were expected to do was perform stories from history, this would’ve been a very useful skill for Shakespeare to learn for his later life as an actor/ writer. He probably left school at the age of 15.

In 1582 Shakespeare got married to a local farmer’s daughter called Anne Hathaway. He was only 18 at the time, whereas the average man got married in their mid- to late- 20’s. The reason he married so young was because he got Anne pregnant and so six months after they got married, their daughter, Susanna, was baptised.

                                                           A sketch of Anne Hathaway.

Unfortunately, we don’t know very much about Shakespeare’s family life. We know that William went on to have two more children with Anne. They were twins, called Hamnet and Judith, they were born in 1585. It would’ve been a strange family life for Anne and the three kids because they lived in a large house in Stratford, whilst William spent most of his time 100 miles away, in London.

Shakespeare mainly lived in London between 1590 and 1613. He was a well-known actor in London. His first play, Henry VI, was performed in 1592 at the Rose theatre. After that he went on to write about 40 plays and in 1609 he published a book of 154 sonnets. He was also a part-owner of the Globe Theatre (from 1599) and of a theatre company called The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Therefore, he would’ve been very wealthy because, for about twenty years he made money from writing, acting, co-running a theatre and co-running a theatre company.

Shakespeare moved back to Stratford- upon- Avon in 1613. He sadly died three years later on the 23^rd of April 1616 (which is also St Georges Day). He was buried in the Holy Trinity Church. However, although his skeleton still remains, his skull is missing, and rumor has it that it was stolen.