Biography

1564 - William Shakespeare is born in April in Stratford-On-Avon (94 miles from London.)

1582 - Marries Anne Hathaway on November 27.

1583 - Susanna Shakespeare is born.

1585 - The twins Judith and Hamnet Shakespeare are born.

1592 - After leaving Stratford for London, William was recognized as a successful actor, as well as a leading poet. He was a member of 'The Chamberlain's Men'.

1596 - Hamnet dies at the age of eleven. Shakespeare becomes a "gentleman" when the College of Heralds grants his father a coat of arms.

1597- He bought a large house called "The Great House of New Place".

1599 - The 'Globe Theater' is built from the pieces of 'The Theater' in July.

1603 - 'The Lord Chamberlain's Men' became 'The King's Men' on May 19.

1613 - The 'Globe Theatre' burns during a performance of Henry VII when a canon fired on the roof sets fire to the straw thatch. The theatre is rebuilt, but Shakespeare retires.

1616 - April 23, in Stratford, on his 52nd birthday he died.

William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon There's no record of his birth, but his baptism was recorded by the church,so his birthday is assumed to be the 23 of April.


John, the son of Richard Shakespeare, was a whittawer (a maker, worker and seller of leather goods such as purses, belts and gloves) and a dealer in agricultural commodities. He was a solid, middle class citizen at the time of William's birth, and a man on the rise. He served in Stratford government successively as a member of the Council (1557), constable (1558), chamberlain (1561), alderman (1565) and finally high bailiff (1568)--the equivalent of town mayor. About 1577 John Shakespeare's fortunes began to decline for unknown reasons. There are records of debts. In 1586 he was replaced as alderman for shirking responsibilities, and in 1592 was reprimanded for not coming to church for fear of process of debt.


Mary, the daughter of Robert Arden, had in all eight children with John Shakespeare. William was the third child and the first son.


All that is known of Shakespeare's youth is that he attended the Stratford Grammar School, and did not proceed to Oxford or Cambridge. The next record we have of him is his marriage to Anne Hathaway in 1582. The next year she gave birth to his daughter, Susanna, followed by the twins Judith and Hamnet two years later.


Seven years later Shakespeare is recognized as an actor, poet and playwright, when a rival playwright A few years later he joined up with one of the most successful acting troupe's in London: The Lord Chamberlain's Men. When, in 1599, the troupe lost the lease of the theatre where they performed, (called The Theatre) they were wealthy enough to build their own theatre across the Thames, south of London, which they called "The Globe." The new theatre opened in July of 1599, built from the timbers of The Theatre, with the motto "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (A whole world of players) When James I came to the throne (1603) the troupe was designated by the new king as the King's Men (or King's Company). The Letters Patent of the company specifically charged Shakespeare and
eight others "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."


Shakespeare entertained the king and the people for another ten years until June 19, 1613, when a canon fired from the roof of the theatre for a gala performance of Henry VIII set fire to the thatch roof and burned the theatre to the ground.


Amazingly there were no casualties, and the next spring the company had the theatre "new builded in a far fairer manner than before." Although Shakespeare invested in the rebuilding, he retired from the stage to the Great House of New Place in Statford that he had purchased in 1597, and some considerable

land holdings ,where he continued to write until his death in 1616 on the day of his 52nd birthday.


In his time William wrote 13 Comedies, 13 Historical

Plays, 6 Tragedies, 4 Tragicomedies, as well as many sonnets (154) , which were mostly dedicated to his patron, Henry Wriothsley, The Earl of Southampton.