The Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the RosesBetween the 1450s and the 1480s, the territories of the English crown were divided by the struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York. The Lancastrian line was descended from the third son of Edward III, while the Yorkists were descended, via the Mortimers, from Edward's second and fourth son.In 1460 Henry VI, grandson of Henry IV, was replaced on the throne by the Yorkist Edward IV. In 1485, Edward's brother, the usurper Richard III, was replaced by the Lancastrian, Henry VII. Henry married Edward IV's daughter, and their son, Henry VIII, was representative of both houses.This struggle had a major impact on Wales. Initially at least, the principality was a Lancastrian stronghold, while the March, particularly the Mortimer lordships, was central to the ambitions of the Yorkists.The ultimate victor, Henry Tudor, a descendant of Edward III on his mother's side, was of Welsh and French descent on his father's side. The Tudor dynasty, with perhaps somewhat overblown connections with the ancient princes of Wales, became the focus of the loyalties of the Welsh gentry.The Tudor dynastyThe house of Tudor ruled England, Wales and Ireland from 1485 to 1603. Henry VII showed some favour to the land of his paternal grandfather, and his granddaughter Elizabeth I was not without sympathy for Wales. Indeed it was perhaps the accession of the Tudor dynasty which ensured that the irreconcilability with English power, so evident in Ireland, was not seen in Wales.With the crown in possession of the principality, as well as the Lancastrian and the Yorkist lordships of the March, the king's power was paramount in virtually all parts of Wales. Henry VII maintained the Council in the Marches, established at Ludlow by Edward IV; he abolished villeinage in much of the north, but did little else. He and his son took lethal action against leading figures in Wales, including the Stanleys in the north east, the

house of Dinefwr in the south west and the Duke of Buckingham in the south east.

An Overview of the ReformationBy Bruce RobinsonLast updated 2011-02-17

The Reformation was a culmination of events and circumstances, both here and abroad, which led to a seismic shift in the religious framework of this country. So what exactly happened, and what lasting impact did the Reformation have?

On this page

Roots of the Reformation

The wider picture

The break from Rome

Dissolution of the monasteries

Changing attitudes

A lasting legacy

Find out more

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Roots of the Reformation

It's one of those things everybody's heard of but nobody really quite understands. The culmination of centuries of Catholic corruption, or a bit of a fluke? The consequence of a European power vacuum, or grand theological debate? A reasonable quest for a son and heir, or simply a result of Henry VIII's lustful nature?

Well, it is down to all of those, really. If it were as simple as any one of these options, there would be little mystery. They were all necessary for the English Reformation, but not one by itself was sufficient to bring about the chain of events that would eventually alter England and Englishness forever. So much in history is a bastard child of both long-standing, simmering emotion and the opportunistic seizing of a moment. By its nature unexpected, it is also unpredictable, and shaped as much by environment and chance as by its progenitors. The Reformation was no different.

The story really begins over a hundred years earlier, when the Papacy began to reap the effects of centuries of compromise.

The story really begins over a hundred years earlier, when the Papacy began to reap the effects of centuries of compromise. The Great Schism saw two, even three individuals claiming to be the Pope, and the Council of Constance in the early fifteenth century saw a power struggle between Bishops and Pope. Combined, they hindered Papal government and harmed the reputation of the Church in the eyes of the laity. They led early sixteenth century popes to resist reform and bolster their own position by using their spiritual power, along with war and diplomacy, to become territorial princes in Italy, building their bank accounts on the way.

In England, the same period saw John Wyclif, an Oxford academic, anticipate the arguments of Martin Luther over a century later, and also produce the first English Bible. Piers Plowman, a popular poetic satire, attacked abuses in the entire church, from Pope to priest. But nothing happened. Wyclif's supporters, the Lollards, were driven underground after their failed rebellion of 1414, and remained a persecuted minority for another hundred years. The church carried on unabashed and proud, selling offices and indulgences, a political plaything for princes and a useful source of income for second sons and men on the make. And forget celibacy.

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The wider picture

So European anticlericalism was nothing new; it had been seething for centuries. What was new this time round was a by-product of the infant capitalism: wealth, urbanisation and education. Whilst still a minority, the literate laity were no longer confined to those in on the game, and were better educated than many priests who claimed to be the path to salvation (while taking their money in taxes). It rankled somewhat.

Criticism was stepped up, at home and abroad, by the Humanists. Led by Colet, More and Erasmus, they went back to basics, studying the Scriptures as they would any classical text. Yet they remained Catholics, attacking corruption but keen to reform from within, stressing toleration and man's inherent dignity. It was a depressed German cleric, Martin Luther, who lit the fuse for the first, European, Reformation. Provided no comfort by Catholic ritual and horrified by abuses in Italy, he concluded that salvation was a personal matter between God and man: traditional church ceremonial was irrelevant at best and at its worst - the sale of indulgences, for example - fraudulent. Nailing his 95 Theses to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, he prompted massive theological debate and was condemned as a heretic and an outlaw.

Luther's ideas were white hot and they spread fast. They soon reached England...

It is one of history's great ironies that the man who publicly refuted him was none other than Henry VIII, rewarded with the title of Fidei Defensor - Defender of the Faith - in 1521. But it was too late. Luther's ideas were white hot and they spread fast. They soon reached England and were discussed by academics here, most notably the White Horse Group who were named after a Cambridge pub where scholars would meet, drank and put the world to rights. Some things don't change.

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The break from Rome

So England by the mid 1520s was hearing grumbles of lay dissatisfaction, grumbles that remained. Catholicism addressed many important needs and enjoyed general popular support. Even though the grumblers could point to Europe as a lead, the same situation existed in France, yet that remained Catholic. What France didn't have was a Defender of the Faith; it didn't have a Henry. King since 1509, England's Renaissance Man lacked but one thing in his life - a son. Catherine of Aragon had produced six children but only a daughter, Mary, survived. Henry had become convinced that God was punishing him for marrying the wife of his dead elder brother, Arthur. He had also become infatuated with Anne Boleyn, daughter of a well-connected London merchant whose family he knew well: her sister had been a mistress. No beauty but no fool, Anne insisted that she be Queen or nothing. Henry was keen. He was also married. It was his search for a solution that triggered the break from Rome.

In 1527 he asked Pope Clement VII for a divorce on Scriptural grounds. But unfortunately for both Clement and Henry, Rome was surrounded by the Emperor Charles V of Spain, Catherine's nephew. Unsurprisingly, Charles was unsympathetic to Henry's requests, which meant the Pope had to be as well. Henry had to find another way.

No beauty but no fool, Anne insisted that she be Queen or nothing. Henry was keen. He was also married.

It was Thomas Cranmer, one of the White Horse Group, who in 1530 suggested a legal approach. The Collectanea argued that Kings of England enjoyed Imperial Power similar to that of the first Christian Roman Emperors. This meant that the Pope's jurisdiction was illegal: if Henry wanted a divorce, he could have it, as long as the Archbishop of Canterbury agreed. But William Warham didn't. Henry applied some pressure, charging the clergy with Praemunire, the unlawful exercise of spiritual jurisdiction. In 1532 they had capitulated, and the next year a new Act asserted England's judicial independence. By now, matters were pressing: Anne was pregnant. Henry had to marry for the child to be legitimate. Luckily, Warham had just died. Henry replaced him with Cranmer and the divorce came through within months.

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Dissolution of the monasteries

Ely Cathedral  ©The Act of Supremacy (1534) confirmed the break from Rome, declaring Henry to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England. But the Reformation was far from over. The Protestant Anne Boleyn had the motivation, the power and the intelligence to push reform as far as it would

go. She also had the means: Cranmer and Cromwell. In the Orwellian atmosphere of the Tudor state, Cranmer was the thought, Cromwell the police. Thomas Cromwell combined managerial genius with Machiavellian ruthlessness. The years to 1540 saw his hitsquads travel the country, assessing the church's wealth. Once he knew how much to take, he took.The Dissolution of the Monasteries lasted four years to 1540. Two thirds of all the land was sold to the laity and the money squandered in vanity wars against France. With the destruction of priceless ecclesiastical treasures it was possibly the greatest act of vandalism in English history but also an act of political genius, creating a vested interest in the Reformation: those now owning monastic lands were unlikely to embrace a return to Catholicism.

With the destruction of priceless ecclesiastical treasures it was possibly the greatest act of vandalism in English history...

But for all the work carried out in his name, Henry was never a Protestant. Further doctrinal reform was halted by the Act of Six Articles in 1539 and following Cromwell's sudden fall the next year the court hung between religious conservatives and radical reformers with the Reformation stuck in the mud. But on the quiet, Henry's young son, born to Jane Seymour (wife number three), was being educated by Protestants. Edward was only ten when he became king in 1547 but his two regents accelerated the pace of Protestant reform considerably. The 1539 Act was repealed, priests were permitted to marry - creating another vested interest - and more land was confiscated. Altars and shrines were all removed from churches and the stained glass was smashed.

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Changing attitudes

Becoming Queen in 1553 Mary, Edward's devoutly Catholic sister, was always going to have a tough time undoing twenty years' work. Although Protestantism remained patchy and its followers a minority, this minority was entrenched and substantial, at least in London and the South East. Mary did her best, reinstating Catholic doctrines and rites, and replacing altars and images, but she handicapped herself by martyring almost 300 ordinary men and women, as well as bigger names like Cranmer.

The burnings were unpopular and immensely counter-productive, and she compounded her errors by marrying Philip II of Spain, son of Charles V who had so successfully thwarted Henry in 1527. Burning bodies, Spanish courtiers and Philip's awful English all fuelled further Protestant propaganda and confirmed fears of the Catholic menace that had been threatened since 1534. Fighting France for Philip, Mary's loss of Calais in 1558 - England's last territory in France - helped turn distrust into hatred and xenophobia. Tension mounted, Thomas Wyatt was rebelling in Kent, and religious civil war seemed not too far away.

.. Mary, Edward's devoutly Catholic sister, was always going to have a tough time undoing twenty years' work.

However, chance rolled the dice once more. After two phantom pregnancies Mary died childless in November 1558: the only heir was Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn's daughter. A moderate Protestant, she inherited a nervous kingdom where Catholicism dominated everywhere but the major cities, the South East and East Anglia. She had to inject some stability. The religious settlement of 1559 was intended to be inclusive. It restored Royal Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity but, in a conciliatory gesture, reintroduced clerical vestments and a more Catholic Eucharist. Altars were allowed, and clergy had to get permission to marry.

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A lasting legacy

Norwich Cathedral  ©In reality, however, the settlement was very Protestant: it reissued Cranmer's Prayer Book of 1552 and its 39 Articles were closely modelled on his work in 1553. All but one of Mary's Bishops were removed from office after refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, replaced by men hand-picked by Elizabeth's chief minister, Robert Cecil. Most were far more radical than their Queen, as were the clergy who filled the parishes vacated by resigning Catholic priests. While altars were theoretically allowed, in practice they were removed by church commissions that toured the country to check compliance.The church was further bolstered in 1563 when another Act of Uniformity made refusal to take the oath, or the defence of papal authority, a treasonable offence. But this time the foreign threat was real: a revolt in 1569, the papal invasion of Ireland, Elizabeth's excommunication and the arrival of priests from France all underlined the insecurity of the Anglican Church. The severity of the Treason Laws increased alongside anti-Catholic sentiment, effectively killing it as any real force by driving it underground for the rest of her reign.

After the stop-start policies of Edward and Mary, it had 45 years of Elizabethan rule to bed down.

And it was the length of her reign that secured Anglicanism and established it as Protestant. After the stop-start policies of Edward and Mary, it had 45 years of Elizabethan rule to bed down. Had she succumbed to smallpox in 1562, a religious civil war might easily have followed. But luck struck again, and by her death in 1603 the country was united as had not been possible in the previous century, both by a common religion and a common enemy. Patriotism and Protestantism were two halves of the same coin, a coin baring Henry's title, 'Fidei Defensor'. They still do.

So why is the Reformation important? True, it happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but it established in English minds the image of an island nation, separate and supreme, still resonant today. English policy became increasingly repressive in Ireland, importing Protestant landowners to oppress the locals who resisted conversion. That legacy still lingers, and the abiding sense of anti-Catholicism remained potent enough to be a cause of the Civil War a century later.

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Find out more

Books

The Religion of Protestants: the Church in English Society, 1559-1625 by Patrick Collinson (1982)

The English Reformation (2nd edition) by A.G. Dickens (1989)

The Stripping of the Altars - Traditional Religion in England, c.1400-c.1580 by Eamon Duffy (1992)

Reform and Reformation by Geoffrey Elton (1977)

Tudor England by John Guy (1988)

English Reformations - Religion, Politics and Society under the Tudors by Christopher Haigh (1993)

The Impact of the English Reformation 1500-1640 ed. Peter Marshall (1997)

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About the author

Bruce Robinson is a professional journalist who graduated with a first class degree in History from Cambridge University, specialising in English Social, Political and Economic History from 1300 to 1600.

Elizabeth I: An OverviewBy Alexandra BriscoeLast updated 2011-02-17

Elizabeth I is considered one of the country's most successful and popular monarchs. Clever, enigmatic and flirtatious, she rewrote the rules of being Queen. But what was Elizabeth really like? And was her success down to her own skill and judgement - or an intuitive grasp of public relations?

On this page

A different kind of Queen

Early years

Elizabeth is crowned

The question of marriage

Elizabeth's favourite

The Scottish Queen

Mary and Elizabeth

Plots and conspiracies

Mary is executed

Elizabeth's final years

Find out more

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A different kind of Queen

The reign of Elizabeth I is often thought of as a Golden Age. It was a time of extravagance and luxury in which a flourishing popular culture was expressed through writers such as Shakespeare, and explorers like Drake and Raleigh sought to expand England's territory overseas. This sense of well-being was embodied by Queen Elizabeth who liked to wear sumptuous costumes and jewellery, and be entertained in style at her court. But life in Tudor England did not always reflect such splendour. The sixteenth century was also a time when the poor became poorer, books and opinions were censored, and plots to overthrow the Queen were rife. Elizabeth's ministers had to employ spies and even use torture to gain information about threats to her life.

In 1558 the Protestant preacher John Knox wrote, 'It is more than a monster in nature that a woman should reign and bear empire over man.' So was he right? Were women fit to rule the country? The people had lived through the unpopular reign of Mary I, known as 'Bloody Mary' for her merciless persecution of Protestants. Lady Jane Grey was Queen for only a matter of days before being toppled and eventually executed. And Mary Queen of Scots made a series of ill-judged decisions which led her to the executioner's block in 1587.

Elizabeth could be as ruthless and calculating as any King before her.

Elizabeth was a different kind of Queen: quick-witted, clever and able to use feminine wiles to get her own way. Elizabeth could be as ruthless and calculating as any king before her but at the same time she was vain, sentimental and easily swayed by flattery. She liked to surround herself with attractive people and her portraits were carefully vetted to make sure that no physical flaws were ever revealed.

She relied upon the ministers close to her but would infuriate them with her indecision - 'It maketh me weary of life,' remarked one. Faced with a dilemma - for example whether or not to sign the execution warrant of Mary Queen of Scots - Elizabeth would busy herself with other matters for months on end. Only when the patience of her ministers was running short would she be forced to make up her mind. She had a formidable intellect, and her sharp tongue would quickly settle any argument - in her favour.

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Early years

The Tower of London  ©So what influences had shaped the young Elizabeth? Her mother was the ill-fated Anne Boleyn who had caught the eye of Henry VIII at court. He was soon bewitched by her, arranging to divorce Catherine of Aragon and quickly making Anne his second wife. But her fate was sealed when she failed to provide Henry with what he desperately wanted - a son. Everyone, from court astrologers to Henry himself, was convinced Anne would give birth to a boy. It was a girl, Elizabeth. Henry, beside himself with disappointment, did not attend the christening. When Elizabeth was just two years old her mother was beheaded at the Tower of London.Henry, beside himself with disappointment, did not attend the christening.

Elizabeth was brought up in the care of governesses and tutors at Hatfield House and spent her days studying Greek and Latin with the Cambridge scholar, Roger Ascham. In later years Katherine Parr, Henry's sixth wife, took a keen interest in the young Elizabeth and made sure that she was educated to the highest standards. Elizabeth was taught the art of public speaking, unheard of for women at the time. But the ability to address a large number of people, from ministers in Parliament to troops on the battlefield, stood Elizabeth in good stead for the future. She learnt how to turn the tide of opinion in her favour, and this became one of her most effective weapons.

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Elizabeth is crowned

The main part of Hatfield House, built after the reign of Elizabeth I  ©On 17 November 1558 it is said that Princess Elizabeth was sitting under an oak tree at Hatfield House when a horseman appeared with the news that would change her life forever. Elizabeth, aged twenty-five, was now Queen of England. Mary I had died unpopular with her people and tormented by her own inability to produce an heir. The country now looked to the young Queen for salvation. A new era was dawning, the age of Elizabeth I.The celebrations for the Coronation, two months later, were spectacular. As Elizabeth walked along the carpet laid out for her journey to Westminster Abbey, the crowds rushed forward to cut out pieces as souvenirs. Elizabeth made sure that everyone - down to the lowliest beggar - played a part, pausing to listen to congratulations from ordinary people on the street. She knew that, in political terms, she needed their support but she also felt a deep sense of responsibility for their welfare. For their part, the people were thrilled with their new Queen. Elizabeth was an instant hit.

The country now looked to the young Queen for salvation.

As soon as her Council had been appointed, Elizabeth made religion her priority. She recognised how important it was to establish a clear religious framework and between 1559 and 1563 introduced the acts which made up the Church Settlement. This returned England to the Protestant faith stating that public worship, religious books such as the Bible and prayers were to be conducted in English rather than Latin. The new Book of Common Prayer was introduced, adapted from earlier Books used under the Protestant Edward VI.

But Elizabeth was careful not to erase all traces of Catholic worship and retained, for example, the traditions of candlesticks, crucifixes and clerical robes. By pursuing a policy of moderation she was attempting to maintain the status quo and, although Puritans were particularly upset by the continuance of some Catholic traditions, an uneasy compromise was reached and maintained throughout her reign.

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The question of marriage

The welfare of her people was of paramount importance to Elizabeth and she once remarked, 'I am already bound unto a husband which is the Kingdom of England.' But her reluctance to marry was to become one of her biggest headaches and would cause her ministers, particularly the anxious Lord Burghley, sleepless nights. Marriage was a political necessity and a way of forming a useful alliance with a European power. Children would secure the line of succession. This was Elizabeth's duty and she should get on with it.

Her ministers knew and Elizabeth certainly knew. But there was no announcement, no wedding bells. The years passed until in 1566 Parliament refused to grant Elizabeth any further funds until the matter was settled. This was a big mistake. No one told the Queen what to do and, using the skills of rhetoric she had been taught, Elizabeth addressed members of Parliament. The welfare of the country was her priority, not marriage. She would marry when it was convenient and would thank Parliament to keep out of what was a personal matter. This was clever talk from the Queen. She knew the political implications of remaining unmarried but effectively banned further discussion.

But her reluctance to marry was to become one of her biggest headaches.

That is not to say that Elizabeth didn't enjoy the company of men. On the contrary she thrived on the adoration of her ministers and knew that flirtation was often the easiest way to get things done. In the political arena she encouraged the attentions of Henry, Duke of Anjou, and later his brother Francis, Duke of Alençon, which could form a useful alliance with France against Spain. But neither proposal led to marriage. As the political landscape in Europe changed, the Queen knew that she would need room to manoeuvre. More than that, Elizabeth simply did not wish to be married. 'If I followed the inclination of my nature, it is this,' she said, 'beggar woman and single, far rather than queen and married.'

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Elizabeth's favourite

Kenilworth Castle  ©Despite all these tactics Elizabeth was capable of falling in love, and the one who came closest to winning her heart was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. They had known each other for years, and he was one of the first to be appointed to her Council. But their intimacy alarmed the other ministers. Leicester was an unknown quantity. He had the ear of the Queen and might poison her mind against them. Their anxiety amused Elizabeth, and this gave her an excuse to exert her independence every now and then. But just how close was she to Leicester? The Queen asserted her virginity throughout her life, but was also an attractive woman who thrived on male attention. Whether or not the relationship was ever consummated remains open to speculation.The dashing Earl of Leicester was something of a showman. He wanted to impress the Queen and, in the summer of 1575, threw a party at Kenilworth Castle which no one could forget. It took years to prepare for. He altered the layout of his castle, building luxurious new apartments for the Queen and her huge entourage. The entertainment lasted several days with fine banquets, jousting and spectacular firework displays. He had shown the Queen how much he adored her and, just as he had hoped, eclipsed everyone else. It was Leicester's finest hour.

The dashing Earl of Leicester was something of a showman. He wanted to impress the Queen...

No matter that the entertainment at Kenilworth practically bankrupted him. That was par for the course. Ministers longed for the glory and prestige a visit from the Queen would bestow on them, and would decorate new residences in her honour. Houses were even converted into the shape of an 'E' to flatter her. But years of work and expense often ended in disappointment when she failed to visit.

Elizabeth was clever to encourage this degree of devotion. She was well aware that plots were being hatched against her and that she needed the undivided loyalty of those around her as protection. In 1568 one such problem presented itself to Elizabeth in the shape of Mary Queen of Scots.

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The Scottish Queen

Mary was born at Linlithgow Palace in Scotland in 1542, the daughter of James V of Scotland and the French Mary of Guise. She became Queen of Scotland aged only six days following the death of her father, and spent her early childhood with her mother in Scotland. In 1548 the French King, Henry II, proposed that the young Mary would be an ideal wife for his son, Francis, the marriage forming a perfect alliance between the two countries at a time when England was attempting to exert control over Scotland. Mary went to live at the French court and at the age of fifteen married Francis, heir to the French throne.

Francis II reigned for only a few months with Mary as his Queen and, when he died in 1560, Mary was left without a role. She decided to return as Queen to Scotland, agreeing to recognise the Protestant Church as long as she could privately worship as a Catholic. The Scots regarded this with some suspicion and John Knox stirred up anti-Catholic feeling against her. It was not, however, until she married Lord Darnley in July 1565 that things took a turn for the worse. As time passed it became clear to Mary that her husband was, in fact, an arrogant bully with a drinking problem. Now pregnant with Darnley's child she turned for support to her secretary, David Riccio.

...the Scots had had enough of Mary and, imprisoned at Lochleven Castle, she was forced to abdicate...

From this point on, events spiralled out of control. In March 1566 Darnley and his accomplices burst in on Mary at Holyroodhouse and stabbed Riccio to death. A year later Darnley himself was murdered, his residence in Edinburgh blown apart by an explosion. Mary had grown close to the ruthless Earl of Bothwell and rumour soon spread that Bothwell and Mary had been responsible for the murder, particularly following their hasty marriage a few weeks later. But by now the Scots had had enough of Mary and, imprisoned at Lochleven Castle, she was forced to abdicate the Scottish throne. Her young son was crowned James VI on 29 July 1567.

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Mary and Elizabeth

But Mary was not giving up without a fight. Having already shown herself to be a poor judge of character, Mary now made the huge mistake of misjudging Elizabeth. If only she could meet her, she thought, Elizabeth would rally to her cause. Ignoring the pleas of her advisors Mary managed to escape from Lochleven and, disguised as a man, fled the country. She landed on English soil ready to meet her fellow Queen.

But Elizabeth had other ideas. Mary was the granddaughter of Henry VIII's elder sister, Margaret, and so had a claim to the English throne. She had married Darnley whose lineage could be traced back to Henry VII, creating an even stronger claim. Worse still, Elizabeth had herself been declared illegitimate in a statute which had never been formally repealed, and knew that many Catholics considered Mary to be the rightful Queen of England. Her presence in England could spark a Catholic uprising. Mary was immediately taken to stay at Carlisle Castle by one of Elizabeth's ministers but as days turned into weeks, she became suspicious. Eventually, sent to stay in the unwelcoming Tutbury Castle, the truth dawned on her. She was a prisoner.

Elizabeth remained, however, fascinated by the Scottish Queen.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, was paralysed by indecision. She did not wish to meet the woman she considered her rival, but knew that if she released Mary her own life would be in danger. Elizabeth remained, however, fascinated by the Scottish Queen. Mary was said to be a great beauty who exerted a strange power over men and, whenever any minister returned from a visit to the now belligerent Mary, he was quizzed by the Queen on her looks, her clothes, her attractiveness compared to herself. Similarly Mary would ask after Elizabeth. But the two Queens never met.

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Plots and conspiracies

As predicted, Mary quickly became the focus of plots to overthrow Elizabeth and return England to the Catholic faith. In 1569 the Northern Uprising failed when the Catholic Earls, marching southwards, discovered that Mary had quickly been moved from Tutbury to Coventry and their plans to rescue her were thwarted. The Ridolfi Plot of 1571 went further by enlisting Spanish support to depose Elizabeth and place Mary on the throne. It was clear that, as long as Mary Queen of Scots was alive, Elizabeth's life would be in danger.

...as long as Mary Queen of Scots was alive, Elizabeth's life would be in danger.

Francis Walsingham, one of Elizabeth's most loyal ministers, was acutely aware of this. He set out to nail Mary and, in 1586, his moment came. Walsingham's spies discovered that she was secretly corresponding with a group of Catholic plotters and, having intercepted her letters, they forged a postscript in her hand asking for the identities of those involved. The names and details were duly supplied by the plotters. At last Walsingham had proof of her guilt.

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Mary is executed

Fotheringhay  ©Mary's trial began on 15 October 1586 at Fotheringhay. But she was not allowed a lawyer and, attempting to defend herself, was not even permitted to consult her own papers. Found guilty of treason, Mary was sentenced to death. Problem solved. But Walsingham had reckoned without the Queen's reluctance to sign the execution warrant. To Elizabeth, Mary was a fellow Queen. To execute any Queen was a precedent she did not wish to set, for her own sake. She also feared that Mary's relations in Europe would take revenge on England. As the weeks passed, Elizabeth procrastinated. For someone who disliked making decisions, this was torture.In February 1587 the warrant was finally signed and the execution took place before the Queen could change her mind. But when Elizabeth heard the bells pealing to celebrate the death of Mary Queen of Scots, she was horrified. It had all happened too quickly. The warrant had been taken to Fotheringhay before she was ready. Elizabeth was inconsolable and locked herself in her room. She wept for days.

As the weeks passed, Elizabeth procrastinated.

As she had feared, Catholic Europe reacted swiftly to the news and the Pope urged Philip of Spain to invade England. Mary's execution would be one of the factors contributing to the Spanish Armada the following year. Her death took a heavy toll on Elizabeth, one observer noting, 'I never knew her fetch a sigh, but when the Queen of Scots was beheaded.'

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Elizabeth's final years

The 1590s proved a difficult decade for Elizabeth. The question of how to govern Ireland had created terrible problems for the Queen over the years but 1594 saw the start of the Nine Years War in which hundreds of English troops were killed. Elizabeth sent out the impetuous Earl of Essex who only managed to create further difficulties. Her most trusted ministers, including Burghley and Walsingham, passed away. Leicester, to whom she had remained close, died in 1588 and Elizabeth kept his last letter beside her bed until her own death.

The Queen herself was not as sharp as she once had been. Ministers often dealt with matters without consulting her, and she became paranoid about the threat of assassination. But by now Elizabeth was nearly seventy. Her health deteriorated and, when death came on 24 March 1603, it was: 'mildly like a lamb, easily like a ripe apple from the tree'. The crown passed to the Protestant King James VI of Scotland who became King James I of England.

Elizabeth's greatest achievement lay in the relationship she had forged with her people.

The mourning which followed her death was unprecedented. However, details of the legacy she left the country are open to interpretation. Certainly, her reign had seen England prosper and become a major player in Europe. Protestantism was now firmly established as the country's religion. The people had enjoyed stable government, and Poor Laws had created a new framework of support for the needy. But problems remained. There was widespread corruption amongst ministers involving the abuse of monopolies and tax evasion. Local government was inefficient. Elizabeth had often shied away from making difficult decisions and this had sown the seeds for future conflict, particularly in Ireland.

Elizabeth's greatest achievement lay in the relationship she had forged with her people. She was ahead of her time in her grasp of public relations, and her popularity had remained undimmed. 'This I account the glory of my crown, that I have reigned with your loves,' she said in her Golden Speech of 1601. Elizabeth was rewarded with loyalty and, enhanced by the glow of nostalgia, her own unique place in history.

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Find out more

Books

Elizabeth the Queen by Alison Weir (Pimlico, 1999)

The Virgin Queen by Christopher Hibbert (Viking, 1990)

The Word of a Prince by Maria Perry (The Boydell Press, 1990)

Elizabeth: Apprenticeship by David Starkey (Chatto and Windus, 2000)

Gloriana: The Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I by Roy Strong (Thames and Hudson, 1987)

Mary Queen of Scots by Rosalind K Marshall (HMSO, 1991)

Tudor England by John Guy, (Oxford University Press, 1988)

Elizabethan Essays by Patrick Collinson (Hambledon Press, 1994)

Princes, Pastors and People: The Church and Religion in England, 1529 - 1689 by Susan Doran and Christopher Durston (Routledge, 1991)

Defeat of the Spanish Armada by Garrett Mattingly (Cape, 1983)

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About the author

Alexandra Briscoe has a background in documentary programme-making. She is Assistant Producer on Simon Schama's A History of Britain, specialising in the reign of Elizabeth I for the programme entitled The Body of the Queen.

The Shakespeare Paper Trail: The Early YearsBy Michael WoodLast updated 2011-02-17

He is named in only three documents relating to his formative years - was Shakespeare deliberately covering his tracks? Michael Wood goes on a paper trail, looking for the answer to this question.

On this page

Looking for clues

Revolutionary times

Spies' stories

Surviving change

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Looking for clues

Shakespeare's biography has long been a source of controversy. He's one of the greatest writers in the world, yet what we know of the events of the first 28 years of his life could be written on the back of a postage stamp (he lived to be 52). What is particularly frustrating is that the crucial ten years of 1582-92 - between his marriage and his emergence as a playwright in London - have so far yielded only three authentic documents that name him.

... the biographer can see the writer's early years only through the eyes of those around him.

These are two baptismal records documenting the birth of his three children (a girl and twins - a boy and a girl), and a record of a court case of 1587, in which his family tried to recover property lost when his father's business collapsed. So the biographer can see the writer's early years only through the eyes of those around him.

This scarcity of real knowledge has led to theories that Shakespeare never actually existed, but was really the playwright Christopher Marlowe, the poet and politician Francis Bacon, or the Earl of Oxford - and many of these ideas still have a wide popular currency. It is now mostly thought by serious historians, however, that these theories are baseless: the later years of Shakespeare's life are in fact relatively well documented, for someone of his social class and profession.

Despite this, his early biography has yet to be convincingly anchored in his turbulent times, so a fresh look at the limited range of historical documents relating to the period from his birth until 1592 - the time when a little more starts to be known about him - may offer some interesting clues to his life as a young man.

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Revolutionary times

Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon in 1564, only five years or so into the reign of Elizabeth I. The local church has a record of his baptism on 26 April, so he was a born maybe three or four days earlier. His mother was Mary Arden, daughter of a well-off farmer from Wilmcote, South Warwickshire, and a descendent of the Ardens of Park Hall, an important Catholic family in the area.

... by the turn of the century only a minority of Queen Elizabeth's subjects remained true to the old faith.

William's father, John Shakespeare, was a former farmer from Snitterfield, also in South Warwickshire. He became a glover, and rose to be alderman and then mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon when William was still a boy. John himself is particularly well documented, being named in dozens of documents, and recent finds have included fascinating evidence - reported by Queen Elizabeth's government informers - concerning his illegal money lending and wool dealing activities.

The year 1564 was an extraordinary time to be born, for this was the time of the great cultural revolution in England. In the preceding 12 years, the state religion had changed from the hard line Protestantism of Edward VI to the persecuting Catholicism of Queen Mary - and then back again to a less repressive form of Protestantism under Elizabeth I.

In the aftermath of the defeat of the Spanish Armada (when, in 1588, Catholic Spain made its attempt to reinstate a Catholic monarchy in England), the new Protestant establishment triumphed, and by the turn of the century only a minority of Queen Elizabeth's subjects remained true to the old faith.

So Shakespeare's formative years were spent at a time poised between two worlds - those of Catholicism and Protestantism, of the old and the new, the medieval and the modern. This was the time reflected in some of the richly informative documents relating to his town and region that survive.

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Spies' stories

The Hathaway house in Shottery. It still contains Tudor furniture, including perhaps William and

Anne's marital bed  ©South Warwickshire was a strongly Catholic area, especially in the villages in the Forest of Arden, where both William's parents were born. Government spies were very active in those years, keeping an eye open for signs of treason - especially among Catholics. The spies' reports, astonishingly, show a dozen Catholic priests from Queen Mary's day continuing to work as parish vicars in Arden in 1585 - one of them may well have performed the marriage ceremony between William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway.

Stratford-upon-Avon's Guild Chapel  ©Other reports show that during the time that William's father served as mayor of Stratford, officers delayed as long as possible before removing Catholic murals and vestments from the local chapel; some wall paintings were never destroyed. Perhaps even more significant, of the six schoolmasters employed by the corporation at the grammar school during Shakespeare's youth, four were Catholic sympathisers. Of these, Simon Hunt, who probably taught the future playwright, is known to have later become a Jesuit.In his life in the family, in the town, at school and at church he grew up between two worlds.

This fascinating local picture mirrors the national situation, and is perhaps a key to Shakespeare's outlook on the world. In his life in the family, in the town, at school and at church he grew up between two worlds.

In the privacy of home the old faith may have been foremost. His grandfather, Robert Arden, left a will (of 1556) that demonstrates a strongly Catholic belief. His father, John Shakespeare, appears on a list of Catholic recusants in 1592; and a document discovered quite recently (in 1964), in the Maidstone church court records, shows that even his daughter Susanna was summonsed, as late as 1606, for refusing to take Easter Communion.

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Surviving change

Stained glass in the church at Wroxall. Shakespeare's grandfather Richard was bailiff here and

Shakepeare women were prioresses at the nunnery  ©The Shakespeare family story seems typical of that of many English people in the 16th century. They held on to their affection for old England, while the state swept away a vast and resonant world of custom and belief - from fairies to prayers for the dead. By the end of Elizabeth's reign most of the country had conformed, at least outwardly, to the new faith, but by then Shakespeare was nearly 40.Seen in this light, it seems that Shakespeare may have made concealment not only part of his art, but part perhaps of a deliberate pattern in his life too. It is intriguing, for example, that during his 25 years of lodging in London, with as many as eight addresses indicated in a range of sources, he is never picked up in church attendance lists - even in those places in London where attendance was compulsory, and had to be recorded.

...during his 25 years of lodging in London ...he is never picked up in church attendance lists

The origins of Shakespeare's professional career are also still controversial. For example, we don't know where or with whom he first became an actor and writer. After 1592, however, his life in London becomes clearer. In that year a rave review and a panning by a jealous rival - as an 'upstart crow' - are our first documented references to him as a London playwright, though he had probably been living in the city since1589.

Shakespeare's early fame came through history plays - his first being a trilogy on the Wars of the Roses - and by the end of 1592 he had written their sequel, Richard III. His first definite address is documented in Bishopsgate tax records, and he is thought to have lived here from 1592, maybe earlier. The great medieval house of Crosby Place, in Bishopsgate, where Richard III lived (and which has now been reconstructed in Chelsea), could well have been right outside his window, and is written into Richard III.

His first great rival and inspirer, Christopher Marlowe, was murdered in May 1593, and this must have affected the younger man greatly as he approached the height of his powers. The event also marks a violent end to the period of Shakespeare's early, almost entirely undocumented, years.

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Find out more

Books

Shakespeare's Lives by Samuel Schoenbaum (Oxford Paperbacks, 1993)

Shakespeare: A Life by Park Honan (Oxford Paperbacks, 2000)

Ungentle Shakespeare by K Duncan-Jones (Arden Shakespeare, 2002)

In Search of Shakespeare by Michael Wood (BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003)

New Worlds, Lost Worlds by Susan Brigden (Penguin Books, 2001)

Family Life in Shakespeare's England 1570-1630 by Jeanne Jones (Sutton Publishing, 1996)

Places to visit

Shakespeare's Birthplace: This half-timbered building in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, was bought by Shakespeare's father, John, probably in two stages (in 1556 and 1575). This is the house where Shakespeare and his brothers and sisters were born and brought up. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust completed the re-presentation of the Birthplace in April 2000. Rooms are furnished as accurately as possible to recreate the interiors as they might have been in the 1570s and include a glover's workshop.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage: Anne Hathaway's Cottage is in Shottery, a hamlet within the parish of Stratford but just over a mile from the town centre. It was the childhood home of Shakespeare's wife, Anne, the daughter of a yeoman farmer, Richard Hathaway.

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust: As well as Shakespeare material of international importance, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office holds many thousands of records relating to Stratford-upon-Avon and the surrounding area. Anyone studying local history in Warwickshire and neighbouring parts of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, or tracing a family who lived here, is almost bound to find something of interest.

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About the author

Michael Wood is the writer and presenter of many critically acclaimed television series, including In the Footsteps of...series. Born and educated in Manchester, Michael did postgraduate research on Anglo-Saxon history at Oxford. Since then he has made over 60 documentary films and written several best selling books. His films have centred on history, but have also included travel, politics and cultural history.

The Shakespeare Paper Trail: The Later YearsBy Michael WoodLast updated 2011-02-17

As Shakespeare's fame grew, references to him began to appear in some enlightening documents. They give an intriguing account of high and low living, tax dodges, and the steady acquisition of property.

On this page

Who was he?

London clues

The famed writer

Private and public man

Religion

Final years

Find out more

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Who was he?

The scarcity of real knowledge about William Shakespeare, especially his early years, has led to theories that he didn't exist as an individual at all, but was really another writer working under a pseudonym. Most serious historians however, regard these theories as baseless: the later years of Shakespeare's life are in fact relatively well documented, for someone of his standing.

...his early experience of belonging to a persecuted minority could have played its part in ...a self-effacing stance.

In addition, the playwright's colleagues, in their commemoration volume of his plays after his death (theFirst Folio, published in 1623), confirm that William Shakespeare of Stratford upon Avon was the author of those plays. Evidence that a poet of this name, from Stratford, did exist is also backed up by further documents from around the same time, including Shakespeare's will (now in the National Archive, at Kew), and his funeral monument (in the church at Stratford). A look at the main documents relating to his later life, and some recent finds, may offer further clues.

Shakespeare's formative years had been spent at a time poised between two worlds - the old world of Catholicism and the new world of Protestantism. Then, in the aftermath of Spain's failed attempt, in 1588, to impose Catholicism on the English, the new Protestant establishment had triumphed. Thus, by the turn of the century, Catholicism had become a minority religion.

Stained glass in the church at Wroxall. Shakespeare's grandfather Richard was bailiff here and

Shakepeare women were prioresses at the nunnery  ©It seems likely that in the privacy of the Shakespeare family home the old faith may have been foremost. His grandfather had left a will demonstrating strong Catholic beliefs, and his father appears on a list of Catholic recusants in 1592. Perhaps his early experience of belonging to a persecuted minority could have played its part in what appears to be a self-effacing, even evasive, stance as a writer in his later career in London.It is intriguing, for example, that he was never picked up on church attendance lists, including during his years of lodging within the London estate known as the Liberty of the Clink, in Southwark, belonging the Bishops of Winchester. He is known to have lived here in 1599, and maybe later.

It is perhaps also significant that his one known house purchase in London (for which the mortgage documents survive), was made in 1613, after he had retired to Stratford - and that this house had once been well known to the government as a Catholic safe house.

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London clues

In his private life Shakespeare is always hard to pin down, but interesting light can be cast on his time in London by looking at the neighbourhoods he is known to have frequented. London has a very rich body of source material, much of it accessible in the Guildhall Library, including parish registers, guild companies' accounts and memoranda books.

Early books on London include the indispensable guide book of John Stow from 1598, and the Carriers Cosmographie by John Taylor (on the London inns). Among court records, the Middlesex Court Sessions offer vivid detail on crime in Shakespeare's Shoreditch.

...it is possible to paint a vivid picture of the places where Shakespeare worked...

The National Monument Record has wonderful black-and-white photographs of areas such as Bishopsgate, which were not destroyed until the 19th century, so record the city as it had been in previous centuries. Out of

all these records it is possible to paint a vivid picture of the places where Shakespeare worked, and to begin to map the pattern of his friends and contacts.

Eight addresses are suggested by this range of sources, and include the rough theatre area of Shoreditch, where tradition says Shakespeare got his first job as a theatre runner, prompt boy and horse holder.

Nick Bottom, a character from 'Midsummer Night's Dream' is turned into a donkey  ©His early fame came through history plays, and by 1594-5 he was writing his first masterpieces - Midsummer Night's Dreamand Romeo and Juliet. His first definite address is in Bishopsgate, which he left as a tax debtor in autumn 1596, soon after the death of his son. He is thought to have lived there from 1592, maybe earlier. He may have moved from Shoreditch to the better neighbourhood of Bishopsgate once he had started earning good money.His next address was in Paris Garden, on the south bank of the Thames, near the new Swan theatre. Here it is that his company, who were in dispute with their landlord in Shoreditch, are thought to have played the winter season of 1596.

Southwark was an edgy and violent area with 300 inns and brothels, bear and bull baiting, gambling dens and skittle alleys. The tax men tracked Shakespeare here, in 1596-7, and he is also named in connection with a GBH summons in the area, with Francis Langley, the owner of the Swan.

Local landmarks again appear in the plays of this time - the Castle inn (today's Anchor, in Bank End), and the Windmill, are both named in the Henry IV plays. Also, famously, the Elephant, at the end of Horseshoe Lane, is named in Twelfth Night as the 'best place to Lodge'.

By spring 1599, when the Globe theatre in Southwark was under construction, William was living in a house on the site; around this time he is also recorded as living in the Liberty of the Clink, close to the Bishop of Winchester's palace, whose ruins still survive today near Borough Market.

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The famed writer

By late in Elizabeth's reign, Shakespeare was a famous poet and playwright, and there are a number of references to him and his plays between 1598 and 1602. The contemporary critic Francis Meres refers to him as the best English writer for comedy and tragedy.

His life in Silver Street is lit up by a vivid series of documents, and in the court case he is named 26 times...

In early 1602 Shakespeare was living back north of the river. A court case over a disputed dowry shows he lodged with a family named Mountjoy, in a house on the corner of Silver St, and that he was the go-between in the marriage of Marie, a daughter of the family, to their apprentice Stephen Belott. This took place in November 1604, and the playwright may still have been living there through the writing of King Lear(autumn-winter 1605-6?) and Macbeth, which was written through summer 1606, and performed late that year.

His life in Silver Street is lit up by a vivid series of documents, and in the court case he is named 26 times, signing one deposition in his own hand. When questioned, he told the court of Mountjoy's 'goodwill and affection' towards the apprentice, and how Marie's mother 'did solicit and entreat [me] to move and persuade Belott to effect the marriage': Shakespeare for once speaking in his own voice!

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Private and public man

Illustration showing a reconstruction of New Place, which Shakespeare bought in early 1597. It was

the second biggest house in Stratford  ©It has always been assumed that throughout these years Shakespeare's family were living back in Stratford. (He would have gone home for a lengthy period only at Lent, when the theatres were closed.) The death of his son Hamnet in the summer of 1596 must have been a devastating blow, and may shadow some of the sonnets written the next year. Certainly, some of the things the playwright did in the aftermath are revealing....and a note of William's remark that his great grandfather had fought valiantly for Henry VII.

Ten week after the death of his son, William applied for a coat of arms, at the College of Arms. The College still preserves the documents, and a note of William's remark that his great grandfather had fought valiantly for Henry VII.

Then, early in 1597, Shakespeare bought New Place, the second biggest house in Stratford. The only surviving letter to Shakespeare, from his friend Richard Quiney, dates from this time, and contains a request to borrow money. It seems likely that William, like his father, operated on the side as a moneylender.

There are other fascinating documents naming Shakespeare, at the National Archive at Kew. Among the papers is the royal license granted to William and his company to do shows all over England, under the name of the King's Men. Also at Kew is a document of the Master of Revels, long thought a forgery but now proved

authentic, which lists the entertainments put on at King James's first Christmas court, including plays by 'Shaxberd'.

Yet another document lists the issue of 'scarlet red cloth' to William and colleagues for the 'royal entry' of 1604, when James showed himself to his subjects in an ostentatious procession through London. The cloth was for William's scarlet woollen livery, which he wore on that day as a gentleman usher, and is shown perhaps in the famous Folio engraving of him.

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Religion

The question of Shakespeare's religion is an interesting one. We can tell from his works that his knowledge of the old Catholic rituals never left him. As a young man, he may have moved between both worlds, like many of his generation. But in his case, the persistence of private loyalties may have been more a matter of choice.

...a story surfaced in the Cotswolds that Shakespeare had "dyed a papiste"...

A sensational new analysis reinforces this idea. It concerns Shakespeare's most enigmatic poem, The Phoenix and Turtle, published in 1601. Until now, this work has defied all attempts at explanation, but it has recently been convincingly argued that it was a memorial poem for Anne Line, a Catholic widow executed at Tyburn in 1601 (see Times Literary Supplement, April 2003).

If this account becomes accepted, it will show that in mid-career Shakespeare was not only sympathetic to a figure such as Mrs Line, but well connected with the intellectual circles of Catholicism. Whether or not this was the case, documents from 1603 show that a Catholic writer, working in secret, was moved to reject the secular agenda of Shakespeare's plays - the playwright, then, pursued his own path in matters of conscience.

In the later 17th century, a story surfaced in the Cotswolds that Shakespeare had 'dyed a papiste', in other words, that he took the last rites of the old faith. If he did, it would reflect his sense of conflicting loyalties, typical of many of his generation.

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Final years

The monument to William Shakespeare in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford  ©For the last of Shakespeare's days there are numerous documents bearing on his life in Stratford. The purchase of New Place was followed by several deals on land: evidently the writer was building up his holdings. He may have retired to Stratford after writing The Tempest in 1611: he gives Stratford as his address in a London court case in spring 1612.Other documents show Shakespeare's involvement in a dispute between some rich landowners, the Combes, whom he knew, and a group of the rural poor. William seems successfully to have acted as an honest broker between the two sides - according to the notebook of his cousin, Thomas Green, where conversations with 'my cousin Shakespeare' are reported.

There are still, however, many riddles. In 1613, for example, as has already been mentioned, Shakespeare bought a large London house in the Blackfriars - but only after he had moved back to Stratford.

The burial register of William Shakespeare, 25 April 1616. By then he was a pillar of

the local community  ©The last primary documents concerning Shakespeare are his will and the record of his death in 1616, on the date of his birthday, 23 April. He was a rector of his local church towards the end of his life, and as a benefactor he was allowed prime position in front of the altar for his own tomb, and for those of his family - where they still lie to this day.So there's a brief account, telling what has been found from some of the more interesting Shakespeare documents - from more than a hundred papers that name the poet. How will the new discoveries and reappraisals affect our view of Shakespeare?

Obviously these documents help set the writer in his time in a much more concrete, and human, way. Many questions, including the one concerning his self-effacing stance, may now have answers. His characteristic quality, his empathy - his feeling for the 'stranger's case' - for example, is all the more explicable in someone who came from an increasingly persecuted minority.

The world he represented with such affection - old England with its good and bad kings, old friars and holy women - is the world he had lost. More even than we could have guessed, in his own life he embodies the conflicts of his time, the cultural revolution of the Elizabethan and post-Elizabethan age. It remains true, however, as his friend Ben Jonson said, that Shakespeare 'was not of an age but for all time'.

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Find out more

Books

Shakespeare's Lives by Samuel Schoenbaum (Oxford Paperbacks, 1993)

Shakespeare: A Life by Park Honan (Oxford Paperbacks, 2000)

Ungentle Shakespeare by K Duncan-Jones (Arden Shakespeare, 2002)

In Search of Shakespeare by Michael Wood (BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003)

New Worlds, Lost Worlds by Susan Brigden (Penguin Books, 2001)

Family Life in Shakespeare's England 1570-1630 by Jeanne Jones (Sutton Publishing, 1996)

Places to visit

Shakespeare's Birthplace: This half-timbered building in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, was bought by Shakespeare's father, John, probably in two stages (in 1556 and 1575). This is the house where Shakespeare and his brothers and sisters were born and brought up. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust completed the re-presentation of the Birthplace in April 2000. Rooms are furnished as accurately as possible to recreate the interiors as they might have been in the 1570s and include a glover's workshop.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage: Anne Hathaway's Cottage is in Shottery, a hamlet within the parish of Stratford but just over a mile from the town centre. It was the childhood home of Shakespeare's wife, Anne, the daughter of a yeoman farmer, Richard Hathaway.

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust: As well as Shakespeare material of international importance, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office holds many thousands of records relating to Stratford-upon-Avon and the surrounding area. Anyone studying local history in Warwickshire and neighbouring parts of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, or tracing a family who lived here, is almost bound to find something of interest.

Top

About the author

Michael Wood is the writer and presenter of many critically acclaimed television series, including In the Footsteps of...series. Born and educated in Manchester, Michael did postgraduate research on Anglo-Saxon history at Oxford. Since then he has made over 60 documentary films and written several best selling books. His films have centred on history, but have also included travel, politics and cultural history.