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Shakespeare Timeline

Before Shakespeare’s Birth

Date Event
1248 Earliest known English reference to the Shakespeare name, relating to William Sakspear from the nearby village of Clopton
1520s John Shakespeare born in the village of Snitterfield, near Stratford-upon-Avon
c 1555 Anne Hathaway, William’s future wife, is born
c 1557 John Shakespeare marries Mary Arden, a farmer’s daughter
1558 John and Mary’s first child Joan is born
c 1560 Joan Shakespeare dies in infancy
1562 John and Mary’s second child Margaret is born
1563 Margaret Shakespeare dies in infancy

Shakespeare’s Early Years

Date Event Age
Apr 1564 William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-upon-Avon, the third child born to John and Mary, but their only living child following the infant deaths of Joan and Margaret. (Special note: The precise date of William’s birth is unknown, but is commonly believed to be either 21, 22 or 23 April, with the latter date – St George’s Day – being the most popular date to celebrate). –
26 Apr 1564 Shakespeare baptised in Holy Trinity Church –
11 Jul 1564 Stratford Parish Register records the arrival of the plague in Stratford (“Hic incipit pestis” – Here begins the plague) 3 mths
1566 William’s brother Gilbert is born 2
1569 William’s sister Joan is born (it was not uncommon to give later children the same name as a sibling who died in infancy) 5
1571 Shakespeare begins his education at the King’s Free Grammar School (his place was made eligible due to his father’s position as an alderman of Stratford-upon-Avon) 7
1571 William’s sister Anne is born 7
1574 William’s brother Richard is born 10
c 1575 John Shakespeare begins to suffer financial and personal hardship, losing or remortgaging property. William’s schooling was very likely curtailed. 13
1579 William’s sister Anne dies, aged just 8 15
1580 William’s brother Edmund is born 16

Adult Life In Stratford

Date Event Age
27 Nov 1582 Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway (26 years old) at Temple Grafton 18
26 May 1583 William and Anne’s first child Susanna is born (meaning Anne would have been 3-4 months pregnant at the time of her marriage) 19
1585 William’s twins Hamnet and Judith are born (it is likely that the twins were named after Shakespeare’s friends Hamnet and Judith Sadler, who may also have been godparents) 21
1590 Shakespeare’s writing career begins 26
c 1590-6 Writes ‘King Richard III’ 26
1591-3 Writes ‘King Henry V’ 27
1592 John Shakespeare is listed as a ‘recusant’, having failed to attend church (out of fear of prosecution for debt) 28

Shakespeare In London

Date Event Age
1592 The earliest known record of Shakespeare’s residency in London; in a critical piece included in a posthumous collection of the writings of Robert Greene, Groat’s-worth of Wit, there is an allusion to Shakespeare’s theatrical and literary career 28
c 1592-4 Likely involvement in the authorship of ‘King Edward III’ 28
1593 London’s theatres are closed down for a period of around 2 years, due to plague 29
1594 The Chamberlain’s Men (later the King’s Men) – the first Shakespeare company – is formed to perform at The Theatre in Shoreditch (built 1576) 30
c 1594 Writes ‘The Comedy Of Errors’ 30
c 1594-5 Writes ‘Love’s Labours Lost’ 30
28 Dec 1594 First recorded performance of ‘The Comedy Of Errors’, at Gray’s Inn Hall 30
c 1595 Writes ‘King Richard II’ 31
1595 The Swan Theatre is built in Paris Garden on Bankside 31
1596 Shakespeare is recorded living in Southwark, a disreputable area of brothels, ale houses, bear baiting houses and theatres 32
1596 William’s only son Hamnet dies, aged 11 32
1596 William succeeds in his request for the creation of a Shakespeare family coat of arms. John Shakespeare is once again listed as being a wealthy landowner. 32
1596-7 Writes ‘King Henry IV, Part I’ 32
1597 The Chamberlain’s Men come to the end of their lease at The Theatre in Shoreditch and begin touring 33
1597 Shakespeare purchases New Place on Church Street in Stratford-upon-Avon 33
1597-8 Writes ‘King Henry IV, Part 2’ 33
Dec 1597 First recorded performance of ‘Love’s Labours Lost’, a private performance for Queen Elizabeth 33
1598 Shakespeare’s name begins to appear on the title pages of quartos of his plays 34
1599 Writes ‘King Henry V’ 35
1599 The Globe Theatre is built 35
1599 The Chamberlain’s Men take up residence at the Globe 35
1599 Shakespeare purchases a share in a large London property 35
1599 Likely first performance of ‘King Henry V’, the first play performed at the newly-opened Globe 35
1599 Writes ‘Julius Caesar’ 35
21 Sep 1599 First recorded performance of ‘Julius Caesar’, a private performance recorded by a visitor from Switzerland, Thomas Platter 35
c 1599-1600 Writes ‘As You Like It’ 35
1600 First recorded performance of ‘King Henry IV, Part I’; a private performance attended by the Flemish ambassador 36
c 1600 Writes ‘Hamlet’ 36
07 Feb 1601 First recorded performance of ‘King Richard II’, a revival performed at the Globe and commissioned by supporters of the Earl Of Essex 36
1601 William’s father John Shakespeare dies 37
c 1602-5 Writes ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’ c 38
19 May 1603 Following the accession to the throne of James I, the company’s new patron, the Chamberlain’s Men become known as the King’s Men 39
02 Dec 1603 First recorded performance of ‘As You Like It’, by the King’s Men at Wilton House in Wiltshire, to a private audience including James I 39
c 1604 Writes ‘Measure For Measure’ 40
1604-6 Writes ‘King Lear’ 40
26 Dec 1604 First recorded performance of ‘Measure For Measure’, at Whitehall 40
c 1606 Writes ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ 42
c 1606 Writes ‘Macbeth’ 42
1606 The future playwright and poet laureate William Davenant is born, believed by some to be an illegitimate child of Shakespeare himself (whilst traveling between Stratford and Oxford, Shakespeare was known to stay at the Crown Inn, owned by the Davenants) 42
26 Dec 1606 First recorded performance of ‘King Lear’, a private performance for James I at Whitehall 40
31 Sep 1607 First recorded performance of ‘Hamlet’, aboard the East India Company ship Red Dragon, moored off the coast of Sierra Leone 43
1607 William’s brother Edmund dies, aged 27 43

Back To Stratford

Date Event Age
1608 The year William returned to live in Stratford, according to the 18th century scholar Edmond Malone 44
1608 William’s mother Mary dies 44
c 1608 Writes ‘Coriolanus’ 44
1608 The King’s Men take on the Blackfriars theatre, an indoor theatre that played to more affluent audiences 44
c 1610 Writes ‘Cymbeline’ 46
1610 Writes ‘The Tempest’, his last sole-authored play 46
Apr 1611 First recorded performance of ‘Cymbeline’, at the Globe theatre 47
20 Apr 1611 First recorded performance of ‘Macbeth’, at the Globe theatre 47
1612 William’s brother Gilbert dies aged 46 48
1612 Writes ‘King Henry VIII’ 48
1612 First recorded performance of ‘King Henry IV, Part 2’; performed in celebration of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to the Elector Palatine 48
1613 William’s brother Richard dies, aged 39 49
1613 Shakespeare believed to have retired from writing 49
29 Jun 1613 The Globe Theatre on London’s Southbank burns down after a stage cannon is misfired into the theatre’s thatched roof, during a performance of Henry VIII (then titled All Is True, and the earliest recorded performance of the play) 49
1613 The Globe is quickly rebuilt, at a cost of £1,400 49
18 Jan 1616 Shakespeare draws up the first draft of his will 52
25 Mar 1616 Shakespeare draws up his final will 52
23 Apr 1616 Shakespeare dies at home at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon (popular belief has it that William died of alcoholism following a session of heavy drinking shared with his old friend Ben Johnson (poet and fellow playwright) and the poet Michael Drayton. Other possible causes include syphilis and typhoid. 53
Apr 1616 Shakespeare is buried, his funeral attended by just family and closest friends. Shakespeare was laid to rest beneath the chancel floor and alongside the north wall, as befitted his status as lay rector and receiver of tithes. The inscription on his commemorative stone reads:
“Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.”

After Shakespeare

Date Event
1623 The First Folio of Shakespeare’s work is published by John Heminges (1566-1630) and Henry Condell (1576-1627), sole surviving members of the original Chamberlain’s Men/King’s Men players
1623 Anne Hathaway dies, aged c. 68
1642 The King’s Men are disbanded following Parliament’s order to close all theatres, enacted on the eve of the English Civil War
1646 William’s sister Joan dies, aged 77
1662 William’s eldest daughter Judith dies, aged 77
1709 Nicholas Rowe publishes Works, in which he records a number of stories from Shakespeare’s life, including one regarding William getting caught poaching game from local landowner Sir Thomas Lucy, and needing to leave Stratford to avoid prosecution as a result

Read more fascinating facts about the life of Shakespeare

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