Timeline of Shakespeare's Life
1564. William
Shakespeare is born in Stratford upon Avon
to local tanner John and Mary Shakespeare. His actual birthday is unknown but
assumed and celebrated today on April the 23rd, just three days before his
baptism was recorded in the Parish register of the Holy Trinity Church on April
the 26th. April 23 is the Feast Day of England’s patron saint, St. George.
1571. Shakespeare is likely to have begun his formal education. By
local tradition, boys in the Stratford area, entered the local grammar school
at age seven.
1582. Shakespeare is in love... At age 18, he marries the
considerably older Anne Hathaway (26
years old) from Shottery on November the 27th at Temple Grafton, a village just
five short miles (8 km) from Stratford.
1583. Susanna, William and Anne Shakespeare’s first child who
lives a full 66 years, is born just five months after Shakespeare and Anne
Hathaway’s wedding (May 26th). Illegitimacy was not uncommon in the 1500s.
1585-1592. Shakespeare is believed to have left his family in
Stratford to join a company of actors as both playwright and performer,
starting his career in theatre.
1585. Shakespeare’s twins, Judith and Hamnet are born, (February
2) Hamnet living only eleven years whilst Judith lived 77.
1589-1590. Shakespeare is believed by most academics to have written
his very first play, Henry VI, Part One in this year.
1592. Shakespeare begins to be noticed as a force within London
theatre; Robert Greene’s Groatworth of Wit famously calls Shakespeare an
"upstart crow". He attacks Shakespeare as lacking originality
since he borrows ideas from other for his own plays. Academics see this
criticism as proof that Shakespeare was in London at this time..
1593. Shakespeare begins to compose the first of what will amount
to a 154 sonnet collection. His narrative poem Venus and Adonis is his
first ever published work.
1597. Shakespeare buys the New Place, one of Stratford’s most
preeminent homes
1598. Shakespeare’s reputation as an actor is confirmed his
performance in Ben Jonson’s Every Man in his Humor which clearly lists
his name as a principal actor in the London play.
1599. The Major shareholders of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men lease
land from Nicholas Brend, The Globe
theatre opening later that same year.
1603. A Midsummer’s Night
is performed at Hampton Court before Queen Elizabeth who dies later that year.
James I originally James VI of Scotland proves to be an enthusiastic patron of
the arts granting The Chamberlain’s Men a patent to perform. In return
the Company renames itself The King’s Men to honour James I and they
quickly become a favorite with the new king.
1605.. King Lear is
believed to have been composed in this year and as is Macbeth, the play’s Scottish background and kind portrayal of
ancestor Malcolm being intended as a celebration and honoring of King James
Scottish ancestry.
1607. Hamlet and Richard
III are performed aboard the British ship Dragon off the west coast
of Africa at Sierra Leone.
1608. The King’s Men take on a twenty-one year lease of London’s
first permanently enclosed theatre, the Blackfriars Theatre in this year. Notes
on stage directions, suggest The Tempest was penned with a performance
at this theatre in mind.
The return of the plague forces a closure of all playhouses
and theatres from the spring of 1608 through to early 1610.
1612-1613. Shakespeare is thought to have written Cardenio, his only lost play during this period and with John Fletcher
as a likely contributor, composes Henry
VIII.
1613. The Globe Theatre burns to the ground. The Two Noble Kinsmen is penned. Co-authored by Shakespeare and
John Fletcher..
1614. The Globe Theatre reopens.
1616. William dies on April 23rd, his burial being recorded in
the Stratford Holy Church Register two days later.
