Gulielmus (old spelling
of William) Shakspere (spelling was not standardized of surnames in English at
this time) was born probably on April 22nd or 23rd in
1564 to Mary Arden (daughter of a wealthy farmer and landowner) and Johannes
(John) Shakspere (glovemaker and whitawer or soft white leather maker). He was
one of seven siblings and William was definitely baptized on April 26th
1564 in Stratford. Stratford was in 1564, a market town of 1,450 people which
mainly dealt with haymaking, barley and hop growing and beer brewing.
William Shakespeare’s early
days were probably spent at John and Mary Shakespeare's Henley Street house in
Stratford upon Avon (this may be the house in Henley Street which is still
standing and signposted as Shakespeare's birthplace). William probably started
his education at the local Grammar school King’s New School in Guild Hall in Church Street in Stratford upon Avon, soon after his
father became a town councilor in 1572 and probably studied at the school from the age
of 8 or 9 until he was 14 or 15 in 1578 or 1579. The school day normally went from 6 in the morning until 6 in the evening for 6 days a week. There were only two short breaks in the school day. The curriculum centered around reading, writing, reciting and doing grammar all in Latin.
Above is a horn book similar to the one Shakespeare would have used.
In the Folger Library in Washington D.C. in
the United States of America, there is a 1568 law textbook entitled
‘Apxaionomia’ with the name ’Wm. Shakspere’ written inside the book. It is probable that William worked for his father (who was a glover working with tanning leather
and making gloves out of leather) or that he got an apprenticeship or worked as
a tutor from 1580 onwards. But by 1580, William Shakespeare's father had huge financial problems and he and his family were struggling.
Sometime in July or August 1582, eighteen year old William Shakespeare probably started to court or write poetry to Anne Hathaway. On or around August 19, 1582, William Shakespeare slept with Anne Hathaway. On November 27th,
1582, when he was eighteen, “Wm Shaxpere” of Stratford took out a license to
marry “Annum Whateley de Temple Grafton” but then this is struck from the
record. Some believe that Annum Whateley was the first love of William Shakespeare. However the most likely solution is that this initial record was a mistake or a wrongly copied entry. On November 28th, 1582, a new entry was logged and a bond was recorded for the
marriage of “William Shagspere” to “Anne Hathwey of Shottery, Warwickshire (a small town just to the west of Stratford-upon-Avon. Anne Hathaway's father, Richard Hathaway, was a yeoman farmer who died in 1581 and left his daughter Anne the sum of six pounds, thirteen shillings and fourpence in his will to be paid upon her marriage. In this sense Anne Hathaway was a good catch for any man especially the poor eighteen year old verse writing Shakespeare whose father seemed to have an every growing debt. In the absence of Anne's father, it was probably Fulke Sandell's and John Richardson (the witnesses and executors of Richard Hathaway's will) who visited William Shakespeare and his father John Shakespeare to force the issue of William Shakespeare marrying Anne Hathaway. Six months later
the baptism of their first child, Susanna, is recorded on May 26th
1583. You do the Math on that one. On February 2nd 1585, the baptism
of Shakespeare’s twins Hamnet and Judith was recorded.
The period of 1585 until 1592 are referred to as Shakespeare’s ‘lost years’ since little is known about his life and whereabouts during this period. Some believe that William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway lived in John Shakespeare's Henley Street house. However it is more likely that William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway set up house in a cottage or uninhabited building near to the Henley Street house. In any case in 1585, we have the image of a poor young couple with three children living in Stratford upon Avon where the young husband William Shakespeare seems to have very few prospects and five mouths to feed.
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