

Another possibility is that he might have been working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire. One theory is that he might have gone into hiding for poaching game from the local landlord, Sir Thomas Lucy. Scholars call this period the "lost years," and there is wide speculation on what he was doing during this period. There are seven years of Shakespeare's life where no records exist after the birth of his twins in 1585. Hamnet later died of unknown causes at age 11. Two years later, on February 2, 1585, twins Hamnet and Judith were born. Their first child, a daughter they named Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. Shakespeare was 18 and Anne was 26, and, as it turns out, pregnant. Hathaway was from Shottery, a small village a mile west of Stratford. Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Province. But this uncertainty regarding his education has led some to raise questions about the authorship of his work (and even about whether or not Shakespeare really existed).
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Scholars have surmised that he most likely attended the King's New School, in Stratford, which taught reading, writing and the classics.īeing a public official's child, Shakespeare would have undoubtedly qualified for free tuition. Scant records exist of Shakespeare's childhood and virtually none regarding his education. However, records indicate John's fortunes declined sometime in the late 1570s. Shakespeare had two older sisters, Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and Edmund.īefore Shakespeare's birth, his father became a successful merchant and held official positions as alderman and bailiff, an office resembling a mayor. Shakespeare was the third child of John Shakespeare, a leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a local landed heiress. Located about 100 miles northwest of London, during Shakespeare's time Stratford-upon-Avon was a bustling market town along the River Avon and bisected by a country road. From this, it is believed he was born on or near April 23, 1564, and this is the date scholars acknowledge as Shakespeare's birthday.

No birth records exist, but an old church record indicates that a William Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564. However, these provide only brief sketches of specific events in his life and yield little insight into the man himself. One is his work - the plays, poems and sonnets - and the other is official documentation such as church and court records. There are two primary sources that provide historians with an outline of his life. And yet, the personal life of William Shakespeare is somewhat a mystery. Known throughout the world, Shakespeare's writings capture the range of human emotion and conflict and have been celebrated for more than 400 years. He was an important member of the King’s Men company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward. William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor of the Renaissance era.
