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Shakespeare's history was mysterious and alot of it was alleged, due to this his birthdate was allegedly the 23rd of April 1564 but his true birthplace is known at Stratford-upon-Avon. Sratford-upon-Avon was mainly a market town that would sell a variety of things. Shakespeare was aswell baptized here on the 26th of April 1564, this place is known to be Shakespeare's birthplace and is able to visit with a price. "The Shakespeares Story Ticket" is exploring 3 of Shakespeare's family homes with varied prices dependent on age or family. The birthplace of Shakespeare's is accesed from road and by rail, with visiting being around 20 dollars for an adult, the birthplace of Shakespeare is very accesible.

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Caring for Shakespeare's family homes in Stratford-upon-Avon, and celebrating his life & works through collections and educational programs.

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There are many facts of London as Shakespeare lived there for example, the population of London was 200 thousand during the 1600's and was becoming a large city with many different cultures in it as London is today. In the year 1613 Shakespeare owned a house named The Gatehouse, eventually he left The Gatehouse to his daughter but was covered by a pub that is still here to this day. A common sight at the London Bridge were the heads of executed traitors, this was a warning to be careful about speaking of politics. Bearbaiting was a sport in which a tethered bear is taunted, this sport was enjoyed by many including the Queen. Speaking of the Queen, she resided in whats known as the White Hall Palace, the White Hall Palace has over 1500 rooms and is known to be the largest place in Europe.

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Interested in the Shakespeare-London connection? Then read on... Although Shakespeare is known as the Bard of Avon, and came from Stratford, Shakespeare and London are inextricably linked.

In the article, we present 21 facts about Shakespeare's London in the late 16th century and early 17th century that the Bard would have known and experienced. (See 55 Shakespeare facts for broader insights into his life.)

Shakespeare London Facts

Shakespeare London Fact 1

Most ordinary Elizabethan Londoners lived in apartment buildings that were squashed together haphazardly, without planning. London began to develop suburbs during this time. Some courtiers and other wealthy Londoners built themselves country residences around the edges of London in areas that later became part of what we know as London today.

Shakespeare London Fact 2

People emptied their chamber pots and refuse from their windows and rain washed the waste into the river from dung piles, ditches, cesspits and streams.

Shakespeare London Fact 3

Shakespeare left Stratford in 1587 and went to London. The first record of William Shakespeare in London is of him living in Bishopsgate in 1596 (see our post on where Shakespeare lived in London). The address is unknown is thought to be in the vicinity of Leadenhall Street and St Mary Avenue.

Shakespeare London Fact 4

It is not known how long Shakespeare resided in Bishopsgate but he was definitely living in the parish of St Helens, as according to the parish records he was assessed on goods valued at £5 and taxed 5 shillings.

Shakespeare London Fact 5

In 1598 Shakespeare was lodging somewhere in the tiny area known as 'the Liberty of the Clink' which surrounded the notorious prison of that name. The location was within a minute's walk of the building site that was to become the Globe Theatre (a project close to Shakespeare's heart as he was a shareholder in the company).

Shakespeare London Fact 6

In 1604 Shakespeare was living in Silver Street, St Pauls, in an upstairs room in the house of the Mountjoys, a French Huguenot family.

Shakespeare London Fact 7

The population of London had risen to 200,000 by 1600 and the city was evolving as the multicultural city that it is today. There was a Jewish community in Bishopsgate and a few thousand black people - mostly servants, musicians, and dancers. There were also many Huguenot and Flemish refugees.

Shakespeare London Fact 8

In 1613 Shakespeare bought a a house known as The Gatehouse, on the north eastern corner of the large Blackfriars Theatre site. He bought the house from Henry Walker for £140 but never lived there. Shakespeare left The Gatehouse to h is daughter Suzanna. The Cockpit pub was built on the site of Shakespeare's Gatehouse, and is still a working pub.

Shakespeare London Fact 9

London Bridge was the only bridge that connected the northern and southern sides of Elizabethan London, and Shakespeare would likley have walked across London Bridge several times a week. Well-off Elizabethan commuters hired ferrymen to ferry them across and along the Thames.

Shakespeare London Fact 10

As Shakespeare crossed London Bridge the impaled heads of executed traitors would have been a common sight, reminding him to be careful about becoming involved in politics.

Shakespeare London Fact 11

The Thames was crowded with rowing boats, barges, and commercial sailing ships. There were no embankments on the Thames and the river would regularly overflow its banks during the spring and flood much of London. In winters the Thames frequently froze, and people would fix animal bones to their shoes and skate on the ice. Vendors would set up their stalls to take the advantage of the many people who crowded on to the frozen river.

Shakespeare London Fact 12

Shakespeare would almost certainly have visited the Royal Exchange on Threadneedle street - the world's first shopping mall. It was similar to a modern shopping mall, a huge arcaded building with banking facilities and accommodation for more than two hundred shops and thousands of businessmen. One could buy wigs, jewellery, perfume, hats, shoes, breeches, shirts, ruffles, feathers, silks, drugs, wine, spices, paper, ink, candles, toys, and anything else you could think of.

Shakespeare London Fact 13

Something universally loved across Elizabethan London, including by the Queen herself, was bearbaiting - a sport in which a tethered bear is taunted to the cheers of spectators.

Shakespeare London Fact 14

Public executions were Elizabethan Londoners' most popular spectator activity. Londoners had a choice among the different kinds of executions: they could go to Tower Hill where the upper class condemned were beheaded with a broadsword or axe, or head to Tyburn or Smithfield to see some hangings of ordinary traitors and common criminals. There were about a thousand hangings a year.

Shakespeare London Fact 15

Southwark was London's entertainment zone (see our post on entertainment in Shakespeare's London). The theatres, surrounded by inns, taverns, cockpits, gambling houses and brothels were in Southwark. Partly because of the influx of crowds, Southwark was a dangerous place to wander about in after dark, with muggers, drunkards and pickpockets everywhere.

Shakespeare London Fact 16

The Southwark inns and taverns sold cheap ale, which people drank instead of water. Drinkable water was an expensive luxury, bought from water-carriers. For the most part the rich quenched their thirst with imported wine, and the less well-off with weak ale.

Shakespeare London Fact 17

There were about twenty playhouses to choose from in Southwark. If theatre enthusiasts were lucky they would be able to get in to the Globe to see a play by the popular Master Shakespeare, and perhaps even see him in a small part in one of his own plays.

Shakespeare London Fact 18

London was the commercial centre of England and all commerce was controlled by the guilds, which were run by powerful men. The role of the chief spokesman for the guilds evolved into the post of Lord Mayor of London, and the heads of the various guilds into the post of Aldermen of London.

Shakespeare London Fact 19

The Lord Mayor's Parade, following the election of the Lord Mayor of London, took place every year on Michaelmas Day (29th September).

Shakespeare London Fact 20

The whole range of tradesmen in their liveries paraded in The Lord Mayor's Parade - cloth workers, drapers, fish merchants, haberdashers, goldsmiths, ironmongers, grocers, mercers, skinners, salters, vintners, and all the rest. London's sheriffs and constables, dressed up in all their finery, also paraded.

Shakespeare London Fact 21

The Queen lived in London, in White Hall Palace, the largest palace in Europe, with over 1,500 rooms. Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII had introduced a bowling green, indoor tennis court, cock fighting pit and jousting tiltyard.

That's your lot! Any Shakespeare London facts we're missing? Check out our other pages for facts about Shakespeare, facts about Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and our list of 23 things you never knew about Shakespeare.

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Shakespeare London: 21 Fun Facts About Shakespeare's London

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Interested in the Shakespeare-London connection? Then read on... Although Shakespeare is known as the Bard of Avon, and came from Stratford, Shakespeare and London are inextricably linked. In the article, we present 21 facts about Shakespeare's London in the late 16th century and early 17th century that the Bard would have known and experienced.

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The "Lost Years' of William Shakespeare are the years where there are no information about him during these times except the "Second Lost Years". In the years 1578 and 1582 there was no documented facts about Shakespeare's life which is known as the "Lost Years". The years 1582 through 1592 are known as the "Second Lost Years". Only a few facts are known of Shakespeare throughout the second lost years. Shakespeare and his parents land dispute, and the baptism of his children. Aswell as Shakespeare being mentioned in a famous pamphlet named the "Groatsworth of Wif".

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Visit this site dedicated to William Shakespeare including information about William Shakespeare and the Lost Years.Fast and accurate details about William Shakespeare and his Lost Years’.Learn about William Shakespeare Lost Years.

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The Words and Phrases That Belong To Shakespeare

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The Words and Phrases That Belong To Shakespeare

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The words of Shakespeare are still used to this day, many people use Shakespeare's sayings without knowing he invented them. People say shakespeare invented over a thousand words and phrases. Some phrases are "All that glitters is not gold", "We have seen better days", "Too much of a good thing", "Neither rhyme nor reason", and "I have not slept one wink".

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A common sight at the London Bridge were the heads of executed traitors. This was a warning to be careful about speaking of politics. Bearbaiting was a sport in which a tethered bear is taunted, this sport was enjoyed by many including the Queen. Speaking of the Queen, she resided in whats known as the White Hall Palace, the White Hall Palace has over 1500 rooms and is known to be the largest place in Europe.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Interested in the Shakespeare-London connection? Then read on... Although Shakespeare is known as the Bard of Avon, and came from Stratford, Shakespeare and London are inextricably linked.

In the article, we present 21 facts about Shakespeare's London in the late 16th century and early 17th century that the Bard would have known and experienced. (See 55 Shakespeare facts for broader insights into his life.)

Shakespeare London Facts

Shakespeare London Fact 1

Most ordinary Elizabethan Londoners lived in apartment buildings that were squashed together haphazardly, without planning. London began to develop suburbs during this time. Some courtiers and other wealthy Londoners built themselves country residences around the edges of London in areas that later became part of what we know as London today.

Shakespeare London Fact 2

People emptied their chamber pots and refuse from their windows and rain washed the waste into the river from dung piles, ditches, cesspits and streams.

Shakespeare London Fact 3

Shakespeare left Stratford in 1587 and went to London. The first record of William Shakespeare in London is of him living in Bishopsgate in 1596 (see our post on where Shakespeare lived in London). The address is unknown is thought to be in the vicinity of Leadenhall Street and St Mary Avenue.

Shakespeare London Fact 4

It is not known how long Shakespeare resided in Bishopsgate but he was definitely living in the parish of St Helens, as according to the parish records he was assessed on goods valued at £5 and taxed 5 shillings.

Shakespeare London Fact 5

In 1598 Shakespeare was lodging somewhere in the tiny area known as 'the Liberty of the Clink' which surrounded the notorious prison of that name. The location was within a minute's walk of the building site that was to become the Globe Theatre (a project close to Shakespeare's heart as he was a shareholder in the company).

Shakespeare London Fact 6

In 1604 Shakespeare was living in Silver Street, St Pauls, in an upstairs room in the house of the Mountjoys, a French Huguenot family.

Shakespeare London Fact 7

The population of London had risen to 200,000 by 1600 and the city was evolving as the multicultural city that it is today. There was a Jewish community in Bishopsgate and a few thousand black people - mostly servants, musicians, and dancers. There were also many Huguenot and Flemish refugees.

Shakespeare London Fact 8

In 1613 Shakespeare bought a a house known as The Gatehouse, on the north eastern corner of the large Blackfriars Theatre site. He bought the house from Henry Walker for £140 but never lived there. Shakespeare left The Gatehouse to h is daughter Suzanna. The Cockpit pub was built on the site of Shakespeare's Gatehouse, and is still a working pub.

Shakespeare London Fact 9

London Bridge was the only bridge that connected the northern and southern sides of Elizabethan London, and Shakespeare would likley have walked across London Bridge several times a week. Well-off Elizabethan commuters hired ferrymen to ferry them across and along the Thames.

Shakespeare London Fact 10

As Shakespeare crossed London Bridge the impaled heads of executed traitors would have been a common sight, reminding him to be careful about becoming involved in politics.

Shakespeare London Fact 11

The Thames was crowded with rowing boats, barges, and commercial sailing ships. There were no embankments on the Thames and the river would regularly overflow its banks during the spring and flood much of London. In winters the Thames frequently froze, and people would fix animal bones to their shoes and skate on the ice. Vendors would set up their stalls to take the advantage of the many people who crowded on to the frozen river.

Shakespeare London Fact 12

Shakespeare would almost certainly have visited the Royal Exchange on Threadneedle street - the world's first shopping mall. It was similar to a modern shopping mall, a huge arcaded building with banking facilities and accommodation for more than two hundred shops and thousands of businessmen. One could buy wigs, jewellery, perfume, hats, shoes, breeches, shirts, ruffles, feathers, silks, drugs, wine, spices, paper, ink, candles, toys, and anything else you could think of.

Shakespeare London Fact 13

Something universally loved across Elizabethan London, including by the Queen herself, was bearbaiting - a sport in which a tethered bear is taunted to the cheers of spectators.

Shakespeare London Fact 14

Public executions were Elizabethan Londoners' most popular spectator activity. Londoners had a choice among the different kinds of executions: they could go to Tower Hill where the upper class condemned were beheaded with a broadsword or axe, or head to Tyburn or Smithfield to see some hangings of ordinary traitors and common criminals. There were about a thousand hangings a year.

Shakespeare London Fact 15

Southwark was London's entertainment zone (see our post on entertainment in Shakespeare's London). The theatres, surrounded by inns, taverns, cockpits, gambling houses and brothels were in Southwark. Partly because of the influx of crowds, Southwark was a dangerous place to wander about in after dark, with muggers, drunkards and pickpockets everywhere.

Shakespeare London Fact 16

The Southwark inns and taverns sold cheap ale, which people drank instead of water. Drinkable water was an expensive luxury, bought from water-carriers. For the most part the rich quenched their thirst with imported wine, and the less well-off with weak ale.

Shakespeare London Fact 17

There were about twenty playhouses to choose from in Southwark. If theatre enthusiasts were lucky they would be able to get in to the Globe to see a play by the popular Master Shakespeare, and perhaps even see him in a small part in one of his own plays.

Shakespeare London Fact 18

London was the commercial centre of England and all commerce was controlled by the guilds, which were run by powerful men. The role of the chief spokesman for the guilds evolved into the post of Lord Mayor of London, and the heads of the various guilds into the post of Aldermen of London.

Shakespeare London Fact 19

The Lord Mayor's Parade, following the election of the Lord Mayor of London, took place every year on Michaelmas Day (29th September).

Shakespeare London Fact 20

The whole range of tradesmen in their liveries paraded in The Lord Mayor's Parade - cloth workers, drapers, fish merchants, haberdashers, goldsmiths, ironmongers, grocers, mercers, skinners, salters, vintners, and all the rest. London's sheriffs and constables, dressed up in all their finery, also paraded.

Shakespeare London Fact 21

The Queen lived in London, in White Hall Palace, the largest palace in Europe, with over 1,500 rooms. Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII had introduced a bowling green, indoor tennis court, cock fighting pit and jousting tiltyard.

That's your lot! Any Shakespeare London facts we're missing? Check out our other pages for facts about Shakespeare, facts about Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and our list of 23 things you never knew about Shakespeare.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Shakespeare London: 21 Fun Facts About Shakespeare's London

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Interested in the Shakespeare-London connection? Then read on... Although Shakespeare is known as the Bard of Avon, and came from Stratford, Shakespeare and London are inextricably linked. In the article, we present 21 facts about Shakespeare's London in the late 16th century and early 17th century that the Bard would have known and experienced.

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Words that shakespeare created are baseless, belongings, dawn, dwindle, hostile, and lonely to name a few. These words are used daily by many people. William Shakespeare has created a mini language that people still use to this day. This shows the insperation Shakespeare has on people even when they dont know it.

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A lot of Shakespeares past is discreet. The reason of William Shakespeares death is unknown. Shakespeare allegedly passed on the 23rd of April 1616 but is most likely a myth. Shakespeare was interred at Holy Trinity in Stratford on April 25th. Although William Shakespeare is no longer here the inspiration from him and his writing is generation changing.

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Shakespeare's Last Will and Testament

For all his fame and celebration, William Shakespeare remains a mysterious figure with regards to personal history. There are just two primary sources for information on the Bard: his works, and various legal and church documents that have survived from Elizabethan times. Naturally, there are many gaps in this body of information, which tells us little about Shakespeare the man.

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, allegedly on April 23, 1564. Church records from Holy Trinity Church indicate that he was baptized there on April 26, 1564. Young William was born of John Shakespeare, a glover and leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a landed local heiress. William, according to the church register, was the third of eight children in the Shakespeare household—three of whom died in childhood. John Shakespeare had a remarkable run of success as a merchant, alderman, and high bailiff of Stratford, during William's early childhood. His fortunes declined, however, in the late 1570s.

There is great conjecture about Shakespeare's childhood years, especially regarding his education. Scholars surmise that Shakespeare attended the grammar school in Stratford. While there are no records extant to prove this claim, Shakespeare's knowledge of Latin and Classical Greek would tend to support this theory. In addition, Shakespeare's first biographer, Nicholas Rowe, wrote that John Shakespeare had placed William "for some time in a free school." John Shakespeare, as a Stratford official, would have been granted a waiver of tuition for his son. As the records do not exist, we do not know how long William may have attended the school, but the literary quality of his works suggests a solid educational foundation. What is certain is that William Shakespeare never proceeded to university schooling, which has contributed to the debate about the authorship of his works.

The next documented event in Shakespeare's life is his marriage to Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582. William was 18 at the time, and Anne was 26-and pregnant. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. The couple later had twins, Hamnet and Judith, born February 2, 1585 and christened at Holy Trinity. Hamnet died in childhood at the age of 11, on August 11, 1596.

For the seven years following the birth of his twins, William Shakespeare disappears from all records, finally turning up again in London some time in 1592. This period, known as the " Lost Years," has sparked as much controversy about Shakespeare's life as any period. Rowe notes that young Shakespeare was quite fond of poaching, and may have had to flee Stratford after an incident with Sir Thomas Lucy, whose deer and rabbits he allegedly poached. There is also rumor of Shakespeare working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire for a time, though this is circumstantial at best.

It is estimated that Shakespeare arrived in London around 1588 and began to establish himself as an actor and playwright. Evidently Shakespeare garnered some envy early on, as related by the critical attack of Robert Greene, a London playwright, in 1592: "...an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country."

Greene's bombast notwithstanding, Shakespeare must have shown considerable promise. By 1594, he was not only acting and writing for the Lord Chamberlain's Men (called the King's Men after the ascension of James I in 1603), but was a managing partner in the operation as well. With Will Kempe, a master comedian, and Richard Burbage, a leading tragic actor of the day, the Lord Chamberlain's Men became a favorite London troupe, patronized by royalty and made popular by the theatre-going public.

Shakespeare's accomplishments are apparent when studied against other playwrights of this age. His company was the most successful in London in his day. He had plays published and sold in octavo editions, or "penny-copies" to the more literate of his audiences. Never before had a playwright enjoyed sufficient acclaim to see his works published and sold as popular literature in the midst of his career. In addition, Shakespeare's ownership share in both the theatrical company and the Globe itself made him as much an entrepeneur as artist. While Shakespeare might not be accounted wealthy by London standards, his success allowed him to purchase New House and retire in comfort to Stratford in 1611.

William Shakespeare wrote his will in 1611, bequeathing his properties to his daughter Susanna (married in 1607 to Dr. John Hall). To his surviving daughter Judith, he left £300, and to his wife Anne left "my second best bed." William Shakespeare allegedly died on his birthday, April 23, 1616. This is probably more of a romantic myth than reality, but Shakespeare was interred at Holy Trinity in Stratford on April 25. In 1623, two working companions of Shakespeare from the Lord Chamberlain's Men, John Heminges and Henry Condell, printed the First Folio edition of his collected plays, of which half were previously unpublished.

William Shakespeare's legacy is a body of work that will never again be equaled in Western civilization. His words have endured for 400 years, and still reach across the centuries as powerfully as ever. Even in death, he leaves a final piece of verse as his epitaph:
Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

Mrs. Shakespeare: Anne Hathaway

What we don't know about Anne Shakespeare could fill a book. Or several, judging from the published speculation focused on her life and marriage.

Shakespeare's "Lost Years"

William Shakespeare may be the most famous writer in Western literature, but his whereabouts from 1585 to 1592 are a mystery. The ensuing speculation has spawned many interesting theories without producing much hard evidence.

Introducing Mr. William Shakespeare

Leigh T. Denault presents a great succinct biography sketch of Shakespeare.

Searching for Shakespeare

Searching for Shakespeare is an online mseum exhibition curated by the Centre of Archaeology at Staffordshire University in collaboration with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Shakespeare Biography

From Absolute Shakespeare; describes all that is known about Shakespeare's life from available documentation including court and church records, marriage certificates and criticisms by Shakespeare's rivals.

Shakespeare's Biography (Shakespeare Online)

An in-depth and accurate biography of William Shakespeare.

Shakespeare Documented

This is the largest and most authoritative collection of primary-source materials documenting the life of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), bringing together all known manuscript and print references to Shakespeare, his works, and additional references to his family, in his lifetime and shortly thereafter.

Shakespeare's Life (Folger Shakespeare Library)

From the website of the world-renowned Folger Shakespeare Library, the largest collection of Shakespeare materials and other Renaissance works.

Shakespeare's Life and Times

Who was William Shakespeare? What was life like in Stratford-upon-Avon and London when he was alive? Get the answers to these and other questions about Shakespeare's life from the venerable Royal Shakespeare Company.

The Shakespeare Paper Trail: The Early Years

The BBC presents Michael Wood's search through the limited historical record of Shakespeare's early life in Stratford.

William Shakespeare—Biography

The William Shakespeare page at Biography.com.

William Shakespeare—Biography and Works

An brief biography of William Shakespeare from The Literature Network.

William Shakespeare—English Author

Encyclopædia Britannica's biography page of William Shakespeare

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For all his fame and celebration, William Shakespeare remains a mysterious figure with regards to personal history. There are just two primary sources for information on the Bard: his works, and various legal and church documents that have survived from Elizabethan times.

# data[].attributes.body
The years 1582 through 1592 are known as the "Second Lost Years". Only a few facts are known of Shakespeare throughout the second lost years. Shakespeare and his parents land dispute, and the baptism of his children. Aswell as Shakespeare being mentioned in a famous pamphlet named the "Groatsworth of Wif".

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Visit this site dedicated to William Shakespeare including information about William Shakespeare and the Lost Years.Fast and accurate details about William Shakespeare and his Lost Years’.Learn about William Shakespeare Lost Years.