8-5PrimaryArtifacts

WHAT PRIMARY ARTIFACTS OR DOCUMENTS FROM SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE EXIST TODAY? WHAT DO THEY TELL US ABOUT SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE? //Answer prepared by Maddie L.// There are just two groups of primary sources for information, his works, and various legal and church documents. As said in //Shakespeare: The Life, The Works, The Treasures// “an illustrated and documented chronological record of his life and work, beginning in the sixteenth-century Stratford and London and progressing to the present day,” shows that even today Shakespeare is still prominent in world culture. There are many documents that deal with his father, John Shakespeare. For example, there is a view of the court dated April 29, 1552 recording that he and others were fined for making an illegal refuse heap. Also, there is a conveyance of property showing that he leased Ingon Meadow in the parish of Hampton Lucy in Warwickshire from William Clapton in 1570. Church records from Holy Trinity Church say that William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, so we can assume he was born on April 23, 1564. According to the church register he was the third of eight children born to John and Mary Shakespeare. PBS’ In Search of Shakespeare is explains that John Shakespeare, William’s father, is elected bailiff of Stratford-upon-Avon in 1568. This shows that his father is doing fairly well. We know this because of the Stratford Council Records. His father is soon fined for illegal wool trading in 1572 as the Court Documents at the Public Records Office read. The next documented event was the bond issued by the Bishop of Worcester allowing William Shakespeare and Anne Hatheway to marry on November 28, 1582. The day before a marriage bond was issued to grant permission for William to marry an Anne Whateley. If there were two Anne’s in his life, or it was just a mistake, we will never know. Next is the registration of baptism for their first daughter Susanna, on May 26, 1583, followed by the twins, Hamnet and Judith, on February 2, 1585. Shakespeare’s Life and Times website states that the next seven there are no records of William Shakespeare. This time period is called the “Lost Years”. Even though, Shakespeare isn’t mentioned in this time we still know things about his family. William’s father was voted off the Stratford council, for non-attendance. This tells us that the Shakespeares must have been going through rough times. The Stratford Council records give us lots of information of the rise and fall of John Shakespeare. Also, there is a murder of an actor in The Queen’s Men. They were on their way to Stratford, and were in Thames when a fight broke out between William Knell and John Towne. Knell was the unlucky one, says William Knell coroner’s report. The next document would be a critical attack from the London playwright Robert Greene in 1592. It shows that Shakespeare is in London acting. The next couple of years Shakespeare wrote and published many plays. There are many different artifacts from then, such as dedications of various plays, diaries of viewers of his plays, license to play from King James etc. During this time Hamnet, William’s son, dies in 1596 at age 11. The evidence is Hamnet Shakespeare’s burial registry entry. Not long after the death William takes his father to the College of Arms. His application for a Coat of Arms for his father shows he must have felt very sentimental. In the same year William Waite summonsed Shakespeare to keep the peace in the neighborhood by moving away his theatre. There are Public Record Office documents showing William’s summons. On May 4th, 1597 the exemplification of the final agreement confirming the purchase of New Place by Shakespeare from William Underhill was signed. The New Place was one of the largest houses in Stratford-upon-Avon. Richard Quiney, William Shakespeare’s family friend, send him a letter asking him for a loan. They were close friends; Quiney’s son married Judith, Shakespeare’s daughter. The next non-career related artifact was Shakespeare’s will. The will was written in 1611. It gave his first daughter Susanna his property. He gave his other daughter 300 pounds. To his wife, he gave his “second best bed”. He was interred at Holy Trinity on April 25, 1616, says his burial record in the Stratford parish register. So we can predict he died on April 23, his birthday. The last thing Shakespeare wrote was his epitaph: “Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbeare To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones.”

Works Cited Gray, Terry. "Life & Times." //Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet//. 04 Feb 2009. 12 Apr 2009 <[]>.

 Love, Mark. "In Search of Shakespeare." // PBS //. 2003. 12 Apr 2009 <[]>. Alexander, Catherine. //Shakespeare The Life, The Works, The Treaures//. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Print.