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Queen Elizabeth I's Wardrobe : Elizabethan Fashion

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Fashion Wardrobe of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603). Fashion, clothing, and dress at the Tudor royal court.

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Horrible Histories William Shakespeare Song

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You probably quote Shakespeare daily. Maybe he used many of the phrases from the period, and because he was the one putting them on paper, he became their "inventor"? Just a thought without diminishing his excellent work Methinks I am smarter now. Thank you Digg! Alison! Robby Weinbaum 大好きな曲だあ-😄

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ann hathaway shakespeare's wife ann hathaway stratford married aston church robert arden

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Learn everything we know about Shakespeare's wife Anne and their marriage and children.

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Shakespeare's Parents
Shakespeare's father, John, came to Stratford from Snitterfield before 1532 as an apprentice glover and tanner of leathers. John Shakespeare prospered and began to deal in farm products and wool. It is recorded that he bought a house in 1552 (the date that he first appears in the town records), and bought more property in 1556. Because John Shakespeare owned one house on Greenhill Street and two houses on Henley Street, the exact location of William's birth cannot be known for certain.
Sometime between 1556 and 1558 John Shakespeare married Mary Arden, the daughter of the wealthy Robert Arden of Wilmecote and owner of the sixty-acre farm called Asbies. The wedding would have most likely taken place in Mary Arden's parish church at Aston Cantlow, the burial place of Robert Arden, and, although there is no evidence of strong piety on either side of the family, it would have been a Catholic service, since Queen Mary I was the reigning monarch.

We assume neither John nor Mary could write -- John used a pair of glovers' compasses as his signature while Mary used a running horse -- but it did not prevent them from becoming important members of the community. John Shakespeare was elected to a multitude of civic positions, including ale-taster of the borough (Stratford had a long-reaching reputation for its brewing) in 1557, chamberlain of the borough in 1561, alderman in 1565, (a position which came with free education for his children at the Stratford Grammar School), high bailiff, or mayor, in 1568, and chief alderman in 1571. Due to his important civic duties, he rightfully sought the title of gentleman and applied for his coat-of-arms in 1570 (see picture on left). However, for unspecific reasons the application was abruptly withdrawn, and within the next few years, for reasons just as mystifying, John Shakespeare would go from wealthy business owner and dedicated civil servant to debtor and absentee council member.

By 1578 he was behind in his taxes and stopped paying the statutory aldermanic subscription for poor relief. In 1579, he had to mortgage Mary Shakespeare's estate, Asbies, to pay his creditors. In 1580 he was fined 40 pounds for missing a court date and in 1586 the town removed him from the board of aldermen due to lack of attendance. By 1590, John Shakespeare owned only his house on Henley Street and, in 1592 he was fined for not attending church.

However, near the very end of John Shakespeare's life, it seems that his social and economic standing was again beginning to flourish. He once again applied to the College of Heralds for a coat-of-arms in 1596, and, due likely to the success of William in London, this time his wish was granted. On October 20 of that year, by permission of the Garter King of Arms (the Queen's aid in such matters) "the said John Shakespeare, Gentlemen, and...his children, issue and posterity" were lawfully entitled to display the gold coat-of-arms, with a black banner bearing a silver spear (a visual representation of the family name "Shakespeare"). The coat-of-arms could then be displayed on their door and all their personal items. The motto was Non sanz droict or not without right. The reason cited for granting the coat-of-arms was John Shakespeare's grandfather's faithful service to Henry VII, but no specifics were given as to what service he actually performed. The coat-of-arms appears on Shakespeare's tomb in Stratford.

In 1599 John Shakespeare was reinstated on the town council, but died a short time later, in 1601. He was probably near seventy years old and he had been married for forty-four years. Mary Shakespeare died in 1608 and was buried on September 9.

How to cite this article:
Mabillard, Amanda.Shakespeare of Stratford: Shakespeare's Parents. Shakespeare Online. 18 Sept. 2000. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/shakespeareparents.html >.

References
Rowse, A.L. Shakespeare the Man. London: Macmillan, 1973.
Speaight, Robert. Shakespeare: The Man and his Achievement. New York: Stein and Day, 1977.
Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron
King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron
The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron
Going to a Play in Elizabethan London

The Shakespeare Sisterhood - A Gallery
Worst Diseases in Shakespeare's London
Preface to The First Folio

Shakespeare's Pathos - General Introduction
Shakespeare's Portrayal of Childhood
Shakespeare's Portrayal of Old Age
Shakespeare's Attention to Details
Shakespeare's Portrayals of Sleep

Publishing in Elizabethan England
What did Shakespeare drink?
Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama
Publishing in Elizabethan England

Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day
Entertainment in Elizabethan England
London's First Public Playhouse
Shakespeare Hits the Big Time

______________

More Resources

More to Explore
Shakespeare's Ancestry
Shakespeare's Birth
Shakespeare's Siblings
Shakespeare's Education

Shakespeare as Actor
Shakespeare's Lost Years
Shakespeare's Marriage

Shakespeare's Children
Shakespeare's Death
Shakespeare's Burial

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Did You Know? ... The Elizabethans cared as little for spelling as they did for the Spanish and nowhere is their comical disregard for simple consistency more evident than in their treatment of the surname Shakespeare. The misspellings were most egregious before Shakespeare's birth and during his youth, with colorfully bizarre variations found in registers and other legal documents of the time. Read on...

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Was Shakespeare Italian?
How Many Plays Did Shakespeare Write?
What Did Shakespeare Look Like?

Shakespeare's Religion
Shakespeare's Contemporaries: Top Five Greatest
Shakespeare's Audience: The Groundlings
Four Periods of Shakespeare's Life

Shakespeare's Language
Words Shakespeare Invented
Shakespeare's Reputation in Elizabethan England

Shakespeare at the Globe
Shakespeare's Impact on Other Writers
Quotations About William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Boss: The Master of Revels

Daily Life in Shakespeare's London
Life in Stratford (structures and guilds)
Life in Stratford (trades, laws, furniture, hygiene)
Stratford School Days: What Did Shakespeare Read?

Games in Shakespeare's England [A-L]
Games in Shakespeare's England [M-Z]
An Elizabethan Christmas
Clothing in Elizabethan England

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richard arden mary arden john shakespeare stratford school shakespeare

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Shakespeare's father, John, came to Stratford from Snitterfield before 1532 as an apprentice glover and tanner of leathers. John Shakespeare prospered and began to deal in farm products and wool. It is recorded that he bought a house in 1552 (the date that he first appears in the town records), and bought more property in 1556.

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How Did Shakespeare Die?
The cause of Shakespeare's death is a mystery, but an entry in the diary of John Ward, the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford (where Shakespeare is buried), tells us that "Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted." Ward, a self-proclaimed Shakespeare fan, wrote his diary fifty years after Shakespeare died and most historians agree it appears to be a baseless anecdote. It should be noted though that a serious outbreak of typhus, known as the "new fever", in 1616 (the year Shakespeare died), lends credibility to Ward's story.

C. Martin Mitchell, in his insightful biography of Shakespeare's physician and son-in-law, Dr. John Hall, presents the following hypothesis: "I have formed the opinion that it was more likely than not in the nature of a cerebral hemorrhage or apoplexy that quickly deepened and soon became fatal. There are three reasons for this. Firstly, the hurried reconstruction and inter-lineated clauses of the Will not allowing time for it to be copied afresh before signature; Secondly, the earliest and clearest impressions of the Droeshout frontispiece of the First Folio show outstanding shadings, suggesting marked thickening of the left temporal artery– a sign of atheroma and arterio-sclerosis; and thirdly, such a termination is quite common in men who have undergone such continuous mental and physical strain over a prolonged period as our actor-manager-dramatist must have been subjected to throughout his, undoubtedly, strenuous career. Richard Burbage who daily shared the same theatrical life, himself died of such a seizure after twenty-four hours illness [in 1619]" (Mitchell, 79).

Unfortunately, Shakespeare's death at the age of fifty-two will almost surely remain a mystery. We do know, however, that in a world where plague, syphilis, typhus, scurvy, tuberculosis, smallpox, malaria, dysentery and toothaches shortened a Londoner's life expectancy to thirty-five years, Shakespeare fared quite well, leading a relatively long and healthy life.

For more on how England reacted to Shakespeare's death, please see Did Shakespeare's Death Go Unnoticed?

How to cite this article:
Mabillard, Amanda.How Did Shakespeare Die?. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2008. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/deathofshakespeare.html >.

References
Mitchell, C. Martin.The Shakespeare Circle. Birmingham: Cornish Brothers, 1949.
Picard, Liza.Elizabeth's London. London: Phoenix Press, 2003.

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More Resources

Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron
King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron
The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron
Going to a Play in Elizabethan London

The Shakespeare Sisterhood - A Gallery
Worst Diseases in Shakespeare's London
Preface to The First Folio

Shakespeare's Pathos - General Introduction
Shakespeare's Portrayal of Childhood
Shakespeare's Portrayal of Old Age
Shakespeare's Attention to Details
Shakespeare's Portrayals of Sleep

Publishing in Elizabethan England
What did Shakespeare drink?
Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama
Publishing in Elizabethan England

Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day
Entertainment in Elizabethan England
London's First Public Playhouse
Shakespeare Hits the Big Time

More to Explore
Shakespeare's Parents
Shakespeare's Birth
Shakespeare's Siblings

Shakespeare's Education
Shakespeare the Actor
Shakespeare's Lost Years

Shakespeare's Marriage
Shakespeare's Children
Shakespeare's Burial

_____

Did You Know? ... Renaissance records of Shakespeare's plays in performance are exceedingly scarce. However, those few contemporary accounts that have survived provide brief yet invaluable information about a handful of Shakespeare's dramas. They give us a sense of what the play-going experience was like while Shakespeare was alive and involved in his own productions, and, in some cases, they help us determine the composition dates of the plays. Of all the records of performance handed down to us, none is more significant than the exhaustive diary of a doctor named Simon Forman. Read on...

_____

Was Shakespeare Italian?
How Many Plays Did Shakespeare Write?
What Did Shakespeare Look Like?

Shakespeare's Religion
Shakespeare's Contemporaries: Top Five Greatest
Shakespeare's Audience: The Groundlings
Four Periods of Shakespeare's Life

Shakespeare's Language
Words Shakespeare Invented
Shakespeare's Reputation in Elizabethan England

Shakespeare at the Globe
Shakespeare's Impact on Other Writers
Quotations About William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Boss: The Master of Revels

Daily Life in Shakespeare's London
Life in Stratford (structures and guilds)
Life in Stratford (trades, laws, furniture, hygiene)
Stratford School Days: What Did Shakespeare Read?

Games in Shakespeare's England [A-L]
Games in Shakespeare's England [M-Z]
An Elizabethan Christmas
Clothing in Elizabethan England

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The cause of Shakespeare's death is a mystery, but an entry in the diary of John Ward, the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford (where Shakespeare is buried), tells us that "Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted."

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So you think you know a foul word or two? Shakespeare's insults, put downs and cussing were second to none, and with his insults Shakespeare was most certainly a master of his trade! Read our selection of the top 50 Shakespeare insults below, ordered alphabetically by quote, with play and act/scene listed too. From " a most notable coward" to "Villian, I have done thy mother" Shakespeare had an insult for any occassion.

Top 50 Shakespeare Insults:

1. "A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality."

All's Well That Ends Well (Act 3, Scene 6)

2. "Away, you starvelling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, bull's-pizzle, you stock-fish!"

Henry IV Part I (Act 2, Scene 4)

3. "Away, you three-inch fool! "

The Taming of the Shrew (Act 3, Scene 3)

4. "Come, come, you froward and unable worms!"

The Taming Of The Shrew (Act 5, Scene 2)

5. "Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-liver'd boy."

Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 3)

6. "His wit's as thick as a Tewkesbury mustard."

Henry IV Part 2 (Act 2, Scene 4)

7. "I am pigeon-liver'd and lack gall."

Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2)

8. "I am sick when I do look on thee "

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Act 2, Scene 1)

9. "I must tell you friendly in your ear, sell when you can, you are not for all markets."

As You Like It (Act 3 Scene 5)

10. "If thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them."

Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 1)

11. "I'll beat thee, but I would infect my hands."

Timon of Athens (Act 4, Scene 3)

12. "I scorn you, scurvy companion. "

Henry IV Part II (Act 2, Scene 4)

13. "Methink'st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee."

All's Well That Ends Well (Act 2, Scene 3)

14. "More of your conversation would infect my brain."

The Comedy of Erros (Act 2, Scene 1)

15. "My wife's a hobby horse!"

The Winter's Tale (Act 2, Scene 1)

16. "Peace, ye fat guts!"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 2)

17. "Poisonous bunch-backed toad! "

Richard III (Act 1, Scene 3)

18. "The rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended nostril"

The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act 3, Scene 5)

19. "The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes."

The Comedy of Erros (Act 5, Scene 4)

20. "There's no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune."

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 3, Scene 3)

21. "Thine forward voice, now, is to speak well of thine friend; thine backward voice is to utter foul speeches and to detract."

The Tempest (Act 2, Scene 2)

22. "That trunk of humours, that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with pudding in his belly, that reverend vice, that grey Iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in years?"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

23. "Thine face is not worth sunburning."

Henry V (Act 5, Scene 2)

24. "This woman's an easy glove, my lord, she goes off and on at pleasure."

All's Well That Ends Well (Act 5, Scene 3)

25. "Thou art a boil, a plague sore"

King Lear (Act 2, Scene 2)

26. "Was the Duke a flesh-monger, a fool and a coward?"

Measure For Measure (Act 5, Scene 1)

27. "Thou art as fat as butter."

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

28. "Here is the babe, as loathsome as a toad."

Titus Andronicus (Act 4, Scene 3)

29. "Like the toad; ugly and venomous."

As You Like It (Act 2, Scene 1`)

30. "Thou art unfit for any place but hell."

Richard III (Act 1 Scene 2)

31. "Thou cream faced loon"

Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 3)

32. "Thou clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou whoreson obscene greasy tallow-catch!"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4 )

33. "Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat."

Henry V (Act 4, Scene 4)

34. "Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!"

Richard III (Act 1, Scene 3 )

35. "Thou leathern-jerkin, crystal-button, knot-pated, agatering, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish pouch!"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

36. "Thou lump of foul deformity"

Richard III (Act 1, Scene 2)

37. "That poisonous bunch-back'd toad!"

Richard III (Act 1, Scene 3)

38. "Thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows "

Troilus and Cressida (Act 2, Scene 1)

39. "Thou subtle, perjur'd, false, disloyal man!"

The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Act 4, Scene 2)

40. "Thou whoreson zed , thou unnecessary letter!"

King Lear (Act 2, Scene 2 )

41. "Thy sin's not accidental, but a trade."

Shakespeare Insult 45 - Measure For Measure (Act 3, Scene 1)

42. "Thy tongue outvenoms all the worms of Nile."

Cymbeline (Act 3, Scene 4)

43. "Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon"

Timon of Athens (Act 4, Scene 3)

44. "Would thou wouldst burst!"

Timon of Athens (Act 4, Scene 3)

45. "You poor, base, rascally, cheating lack-linen mate! "

Henry IV Part II (Act 2, Scene 4)

46. "You are as a candle, the better burnt out."

Henry IV Part 2 (Act 1, Scene 2)

47. "You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I'll tickle your catastrophe!"

Henry IV Part 2 (Act 2, Scene 1)

48. "You starvelling, you eel-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, you bull's-pizzle, you stock-fish-O for breath to utter what is like thee!-you tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck!"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

49. "Your brain is as dry as the remainder biscuit after voyage."

Shakespeare Insult 45 - As You Like It (Act 2, Scene 7)

50. "Virginity breeds mites, much like a cheese."

All's Well That Ends Well (Act 1, Scene 1)

51. "Villain, I have done thy mother"

Titus Andronicus (Act 4, Scene 2)

Shakespeare Insult Generator:

Got the hang of Shakespeare's insult style and want to try your own? Have a go using the chart below. Simply combine one word from each of the 3 text columns below, and prefix with a "Thou":

Shakespeare Insult Infographic:

This stunning Shakespeare insult chart was put together by Charley Chartwell. It charts 100 of Shakespeare's greatest zingers, sorted by topic, with each insult labelled with the play it comes from. Size is 18×24 inches, and available to buy here >>

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So you think you know a foul word or two? Check out the ultimate guide to Shakespeare's insults. Shakespeare, even with his insults, put downs and cussing, was most certainly a master of his trade! Read our selection of Shakespeare insults below...