Biography
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden some time in late
April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. There is no record of his birth, but his baptism was recorded by the church, thus his birthday
is assumed to be the 23 of April. His father was a prominent and prosperous alderman in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, and
was later granted a coat of arms by the College of Heralds. All that is known of Shakespeare's youth is that he presumably
attended the Stratford Grammar School, and did not proceed to Oxford or Cambridge. The next record we have of him is his marriage
to Anne Hathaway in 1582. The next year she bore a daughter for him, Susanna, followed by the twins Judith and Hamnet two
years later.
Seven years later Shakespeare was recognized as an actor, poet, and playwright, when a rival playwright,
Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow" in "A Groatsworth of Wit." A few years later he joined up with one of
the most successful acting troupes in London: "The Lord Chamberlain's Men." When, in 1599, the troupe lost the lease of the
theatre where they performed (appropriately called "The Theatre"), they were wealthy enough to build their own theatre across
the Thames, south of London, which they called "The Globe." The new theatre opened in July of 1599, built from the timbers
of "The Theatre", with the motto "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (A whole world of players). When James I came to the throne
(1603) the troupe was designated by the new king as the "King's Men" (or "King's Company"). The Letters Patent of the company
specifically charged Shakespeare and eight others "freely to use and exercise the art and faculty of playing Comedies, Tragedies,
Histories, Interludes, Morals, Pastorals, stage plays ... as well for recreation of our loving subjects as for our solace
and pleasure."
Shakespeare entertained the King and the people for another ten years until June 19, 1613, when a canon
fired from the roof of the theatre for a gala performance of Henry VIII set fire to the thatch roof and burned the theatre
to the ground. The audience ignored the smoke from the roof at first, being to absorbed in the play, until the flames caught
the walls and the fabric of the curtains. Amazingly there were no casualties, and the next spring the company had the theatre
"new builded in a far fairer manner than before." Although Shakespeare invested in the rebuilding, he retired from the stage
to the Great House of New Place in Statford that he had purchased in 1597, and some considerable land holdings ,where he continued
to write until his death in 1616 on the day of his 52nd birthday.
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