Shakespeare died on April 23 in 1616 at
the age of 52 – a relatively old age to live to in those times.
Although Shakespeare is engrained in
British culture and history and most people have either learnt about, read or
watched his plays, there’s actually not much we know about the acclaimed
playwright.
There’s even a time period dubbed the
“lost years” of Shakespeare’s life – two time periods between leaving school
and marrying his wife Anne Hathaway and the second being the seven year gap
between his children being born and him establishing himself as a London
playwright in 1592.
So what do we know? Take a look at the
most interesting facts about the life of William Shakespeare, below:
Nobody
actually knows when he was born
There’s no records giving an exact date
of birth for Shakespeare, however, what is recorded is his christening on April
26 1564. Given that the traditional date to get christened in those days was a
few days after birth, it’s very possible he might have also been born (as well
as died) on April 23rd in which case he’d be 452 today – Happy birthday
Shakespeare.
He married at a
relatively young age
Shakespeare was 18 when he married Anne
Hathaway, who was eight years his senior. The marriage of an elder woman would
have been controversial at the time, especially considering she was pregnant.
Their first child Susanna was born six months after they married.
One of his children died
After the birth of Susanna, Hathaway
gave birth to twins – Judith and Hamnet – in 1585. Hamnet sadly died aged 11 in
August 1596.
There are
no direct descendants of Shakespeare alive today
Shakespeare’s eldest daughter Susanna had one child
Elizabeth in 1608, Elizabeth later went on to marry twice but had no children
by either husband, according to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Shakespeare’s other daughter Judith
married and had three sons. Sadly, all three of her sons died before they
married anyone and had children of their own.
While there are no direct descendants,
there may be descendants of the Bard’s sister Joan.
The ‘lost years’
No one is sure exactly what Shakespeare did in two
time periods during his life where records seem to disappear (1578-1582 and
1585-1592), however multiple theories have been made. The SBTreports suggestions that
he was a school teacher in his birthplace of Stratford-Upon-Avon, a butcher, a
lawyer’s clerk, a soldier or even that he fled to London after poaching deers –
this claim apparently has no evidence but has instead been fuelled by word of
mouth.
His dad
was an ale taster
Shakespeare was one of eight children to John
Shakespeare and Mary Arden. His father John had many jobs including being a
glover, tanner of leathers and farmer. He also was elected “ale-taster of the
borough”, according to Shakespeare Online, which essentially meant he sampled all the beer.
Most of his family
were illiterate
Despite Shakespeare’s eloquence and
flair for the English language, it is believed most of his family were
illiterate – as were many in those days. His parents are definitely believed to
have been as his father signed his name with a mark. His wife and children also
apparently couldn’t read or write either.
Everyday
phrases
Aside from introducing an estimated 3,000 words into
the English language, there are also everyday phrases the Bard coined that we
still use today, 400 years later. The British Council report if it wasn’t for Shakespeare we wouldn’t be
saying “heart of gold”, “wild goose chase”, “faint-hearted”, “break the ice” or
“love is blind”.
Savvy businessman
While he is known for the 37 plays he wrote during his
lifetime, Shakespeare was also a savvy businessman with a few properties
to his name. These properties include New Place (which can still be visited
today), a cottage and acres of farm land in Stratford-Upon-Avon and a gatehouse
in London. He also had his eye on shares and was a shareholder in the Globe
theatre and Blackfriars theatre, according to the SBT.
We might
have been spelling his name wrong all along
Spellings of the playwright’s name vary in different
records. The one we use today is the most common however his name was also
printed as “Shappere” and “Shaxberd”. According to History.Com,the man himself never actually signed his name using
the spelling we use today.
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