William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's date of birth has not been handed down. According to the church register of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, he was baptized on 26 April 1564. The baptismal entry reads Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakespeare ("William, son of John Shakespeare"). Since the 18th century, April 23 has often been mentioned as his birthday, but this information is not certain and probably only goes back to the fact that Shakespeare died on the same day in 1616 (April 23). Sometimes April 23, as Shakespeare's alleged birthday, is also supported by the claim that in Elizabethan England, children were baptized three days after their birth; but in fact there was no such three-day custom. William Shakespeare's parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, who came from a wealthy family. His father was a free landowner and brought it to the Oberaldermann in his town. Later, however, his fortune fell into disrepair and he lost his reputation because of his debts.

William Shakespeare probably attended the Latin School (Grammar School) in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he received instruction in Latin, Greek, history, morals and poetry. The lessons of a grammar school imparted knowledge of rhetoric and poetics and also instructed the pupils in the production of small dramas based on ancient models. There is no evidence that Shakespeare attended university like other contemporary English playwrights.

At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway (1556–1623), the daughter of a large landowner, eight years his senior, probably on 30 November or 1 December 1582. The date of the marriage is not known, but the marriage license report was ordered on 27 November 1582. This date of the summons is attested by an entry in the register of the diocese of Worcester on the granting of a licence for the marriage of "Willelmum Shaxpere et Annam Whateley". The bride's maiden name apparently mistakenly stands for "Hath(a)way". On 28 November 1582, a guarantee of £40 from two friends is documented at the consistory of the above-mentioned diocese in order to obtain a dispensation from the then prescribed three summons for the marriage of "Willm Shagspere" and "Anne Hathwey of Stratford". This elaborate dispensation procedure was necessary so that the marriage could take place before the beginning of the Christmas season, since from the first Advent onwards summons and weddings were no longer permitted under canon law. About six months after the marriage, their daughter Susanna was born (baptismal entry 26 May 1583). Less than two years later, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, were born. The baptismal entry in the Stratford parish book of 2 February 1585 read: Hamnet and Judith, son and daughter to William Shakespeare. Nothing is known about the relationship between the spouses and their children. There are no documents in this regard, but this is not unusual, since personal relationships in the bourgeoisie were usually not recorded in writing, neither in private letters nor in diaries, which usually did not contain any records of personal matters. Shakespeare's son Hamnet died in 1596 at the age of eleven (burial 11 August 1596; cause of death unknown), whereas Susanna lived until 1649 and Judith until 1662. A letter from 1598 has survived in which a certain Richard Quiney asked Shakespeare for a loan of 30 pounds. 18 years later, on February 10, 1616, William married Shakespeare's daughter Judith his son Thomas Quiney. Shakespeare's daughter Susanna married the physician John Hall on 5 June 1607.

Little is known about the approximately eight years from 1584/85 to 1592, which are referred to as "lost years" in Shakespeare research. Due to a lack of sufficient sources, all the more legends have emerged, some of which can be traced back to anecdotes handed down by contemporaries. Essentially, rumours circulating about Shakespeare's life were first recorded in the Shakespeare edition by Nicholas Rowe, who provided his edition with a life account of Shakespeare, in which he recorded the traditional myths and legends in compiled form, but without critically examining or assessing the respective truthfulness. From a factual point of view, however, such a historical gap in the documentary records is by no means surprising for a young man who was neither involved in lawsuits nor involved in real estate transactions. In the centuries that followed, up to the present day, the sparse stock of historically verified facts about Shakespeare's biography led to completely different images of his personality and life, some of which changed drastically from epoch to epoch. Despite the lack of reliable evidence, the image of the author was adapted to the changing needs and demands of the various epochs in terms of reception history in order to construct the appropriate artistic personality for the specific view of his works. The first written document proving that Shakespeare was in London was by the poet Robert Greene, who defamed him as an upstart in a pamphlet in 1592. Greene blasphemed that Shakespeare presumes to write poetry like the respected poets of his time: there is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers hart wrapt in a Players hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you: and beeing an absolute Johannes fac totum,  is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in a countrey. (For there is a crow who has risen up, finely dressed up with our feathers, who, with his tiger's heart, hidden in an actor's robe, thinks he can pour out blank verses like the best of you; and as an absolute jack-of-all-trades, he feels himself to be the greatest theatrical shaker in the land.) The term Shake-scene is a play on words called Shakespeare.

In the posthumous publication of the pamphlet, the editor included an apology, from which it can be concluded that Shakespeare was already popular at the time and had influential patrons. He was already a member of the Lord Strange's Men troupe, a large part of which formed the Lord Chamberlain's Men in 1594 and was one of London's leading drama troupes. Shortly after his accession to the throne, James I made it his own as King's Men. The theatre industry that developed in the Elizabethan period was still unstable and subject to rapid and risky changes, but was just as profitable under favourable conditions. However, this did not apply to the professional poet or playwright per se, who, as numerous examples from this period prove, could not make a living from his work as an author from the flat-rate fees normally granted to him by the acting troupes to whom he sold his drama texts, since all other rights of use were transferred to these theatre groups with the handover of the manuscript. The former respected existence and way of life of the professional poet and author under the patronage of an aristocratic patron, whose literary activity was rewarded by rich donations or honorary salaries, had largely been lost in Shakespeare's time.

Shakespeare wrote two short verse epics, Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594), which he published himself, unlike all his other works, and with a signed dedication to Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton. Since epic works were classified as high literature at the time, while plays were classified as utility literature, Shakespeare probably referred to Venus and Adonis as the "first heir of my invention" for this reason. In this way, he not only gained a high reputation in the circles of literary connoisseurs and lovers, but was also praised and mentioned more often by his contemporaries as the author of these epics than later for his most frequently discussed and praised tragedy Hamlet. This allowed him to appropriately launch his literary career as a commercially successful playwright. As early as the beginning of 1595, Shakespeare was one of the most recognized members of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which shortly afterwards became the leading acting troupe and was placed under his patronage after James I's accession to the throne in 1603, according to a surviving payment receipt from the Master of the Revels or the Royal Treasury for a special performance at court dated 15 March 1595. Shakespeare's name, along with that of Richard Burbage and the well-known actor William Kempe, appears on a receipt for the receipt of ₤20 for two court performances of the Lord Chamberlain's Men on behalf of the acting troupe, documenting not only his full establishment within this acting company, but also his official authority to represent the troupe to the outside world.

Shakespeare not only wrote a wealth of plays for his theatre troupe as their traditional house dramatist, but was also initially a 10% financial share of their profits as a co-sharer. He also acted as an actor in smaller roles. The diary entries of the theatre entrepreneur Philip Henslowe, for example, document the financial merits of Shakespeare's plays; unlike many other contemporary playwrights, Shakespeare now achieved consistent success not only in professional or artistic terms, but increasingly in business and social terms. His acting troupe was very popular both at court and with the theatre audiences of the large public theatres and earned accordingly. From 1596 onwards, it can be proven in detail that Shakespeare continuously invested money or in real estate. When Shakespeare's troupe moved the venue to the newly built Globe Theatre in 1599, James Burbage, whose family had owned the old Globe Theatre, gave him an initial one-tenth shareholding. Some time later, this share rose to one seventh in 1608, when Blackfriars was built as the second theatre, mainly for performances in the winter season. His greatest poetic rival was initially Christopher Marlowe, later Ben Jonson. It was common to rewrite older plays and perform them anew: Shakespeare's Hamlet, for example, could be the adaptation of an older "original Hamlet". In some cases, legends and fairy tales were also made into dramas several times, as in the case of King Lear. Plays were also written from printed sources, such as Plutarch's biographies of great men, collections of Italian novellas or chronicles of English history. An equally common method was to write sequels to successful plays. For example, the character of Falstaff in Henry IV was so popular with the audience that Shakespeare had her appear again in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

In addition to his dramatic works, Shakespeare also wrote lyrical and epic poems (presumably when London's theatres had to close temporarily due to the plague epidemics). The latter established his reputation as an author among his contemporaries. Probably in 1593 he wrote the two verse narratives already mentioned above, Venus and Adonis and Lucrece. The subsequent publication of 154 sonnets in 1609 is surrounded by numerous mysteries. In a short publisher's introduction, which is usually read as a "dedication", there is talk of the only begetter and Mr. W. H.; the identity of this person has not yet been clarified. Perhaps this sonnet publication is a pirated print.

As co-owner of London's Globe Theatre, which his troupe had built to replace the theatre after its lease expired, Shakespeare was increasingly successful as a poet and businessman. The Lord Chamberlain's Men, named after their patron and sponsor, often performed at the court of Queen Elizabeth. Under Elizabeth's successor James I, they named themselves King's Men after their royal patron.

As a partner in the Globe, Shakespeare acquired a considerable fortune and influence. Although William Shakespeare's name is not explicitly mentioned in the document conferring the coat of arms by the College of Arms, the Royal Coat of Arms, dated 20 October 1596, which was expressly confirmed again in 1599, it can be assumed that he promoted and financed this use of a family coat of arms. The transfer of the right to use the coat of arms to Shakespeare's father, which included all children and grandchildren, was now associated with the status of gentleman for Shakespeare and with it an immense social advancement. For example, he also used this newly acquired coat of arms in his role as a theatre man and henceforth used the addition gentleman as a class designation in all documents.

In addition to his economic transactions in the theatre business, Shakespeare was also active as a businessman and investor in numerous businesses outside the theatre business. He invested most of his money in the purchase of real estate in his native town of Stratford. So on May 4, 1597, he bought New Place, the second largest house in the city, as his mansion and on May 1, 1602, he acquired a 43-hectare (107 acres) of arable land, along with forest and rights of use for common land. On 28 September 1602 he bought another house with land opposite his manor and on 24 July 1605 acquired the right to collect part of the tithe income from various peasant leases at a price of ₤ 440, which brought him annual net income of ₤ 40. Shakespeare not only invested his acquired fortune, but also managed his new acquisitions and made further profits with them. He leased and leased land or arable land, sold his building rubble to the community or collected outstanding debts through lawsuits, and also speculated with the hoarding of grain in addition to his participation in various community activities of the group of large landowners. In London, Shakespeare also bought a house with a shop in the immediate vicinity of the Blackfriars Theatre.The acquisition of the Blackfriars Theatre in 1596 by the theatre entrepreneur James Burbage, in which, as already explained, Shakespeare had also been involved since then, was profitable for Shakespeare. Unlike the Globe, it was a covered theatre in which the troupe played during the winter months from then on. The audience there was more exclusive than at the large open-air stages because of the considerably higher ticket prices. While Shakespeare was on the one hand quite goal-oriented in his efforts to increase his fortune and his social advancement, on the other hand he did little or nothing to promote his literary prominence. Although he probably wrote his numerous works with a great deal of energy, he otherwise in no way made use of the limited but nevertheless existing possibilities for self-portrayal as an author and poet: with the exception of the above-mentioned short epics, he did not have any of his individual works printed himself, nor did he commission a complete edition of his plays himself. Nor did he try to make his authorship known as an author, and he also refrained from a literary self-portrait in prefaces or introductions to the works of other poets, as his contemporary Ben Jonson did, for example. As much as he was interested in his social advancement, he seemed to have been less interested in his artistic fame and the conscious, planned promotion of his poetic and literary career.

Nevertheless, by 1598 at the latest, he had achieved such a degree of fame and popularity that Shakespeare's name preferably appeared in large form on the title pages of the first printed editions, sometimes even in works that had not been written by him. His name was also listed in various contemporary best lists, especially that of Francis Meeres.

At the age of 46, Shakespeare returned to Stratford as a wealthy man and spent the last years of his life there as the second richest citizen, but unlike his father, he was not actively involved in local government. He did not completely break off his ties with his former colleagues, and he participated as a co-author in some theater productions. For the following years, several visits to London are documented, most of which had family and friendly occasions.

Shakespeare died at the age of 52 in Stratford in 1616, ten days after his great Spanish contemporary Miguel de Cervantes, and was buried on 25 April 1616 in the choir of Holy Trinity Church. He was entitled to this place of honour as a "gentleman". The stone slab that marks his grave bears an inscription with a knitting verse and a curse pronounced in it, which is intended to prevent all efforts to open the grave afterwards. According to a local tradition, it is said to have been written by Shakespeare himself before his death. Probably shortly after Shakespeare's death, a memorial bust with a Latin inscription was erected in the side wall of the church by a person who is still unknown today.

Shakespeare's former theatre colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell published his works under the title Mr William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies in a large-format book called the First Folio. The volume is preceded by an appreciation by Ben Jonson. The cause of death is not known. However, some 50 years after Shakespeare's death, John Ward, vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford, noted in his diary: "Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting, and apparently drank too much; for Shakespeare died of a fever that he had contracted in the process." This news is now considered an anecdote without factual content, but its true core could lie in the fact that in the year of Shakespeare's death a typhus epidemic was rampant, to which the poet may have fallen victim.

Shortly before his death, probably in January 1616, Shakespeare drew up his will and had it drawn up by the notary Thomas Collins. This notarized will is dated 25 March 1616 and comprises three closely written sheets, which were signed by Shakespeare himself on each page. It was not until the 18th century that Shakespeare's will was rediscovered. The surviving copy with numerous revisions, changes and additions to the version during the period between January and March of the year 1616 represents the most extensive private document that has survived from Shakespeare himself. The shaky signature of Shakespeare on the first two pages is seen by various Shakespeare scholars as an indication of Shakespeare's already very ailing state of health, which could also have been the reason why a final fair copy of the entire testamentary disposition was apparently dispensed with. Most of Shakespeare's estate went to his eldest daughter Susanna, who, together with her husband, received the entire house and land, including the lease shares acquired by Shakespeare. In the first place in the will, however, her younger sister Judith is named as the first of the heirs. Shakespeare bequeathed ₤ 100 from the estate to her and another ₤ 50 in the event of an assignment of the claim to the house in Chapel Lane opposite Shakespeare's New Place. If she or one of her children was still alive three years after the will was drawn up, a further ₤150 was earmarked for her, of which she was only allowed to dispose of the interest during the duration of her marriage. Access to Judith's entire share of Judith's inheritance by her husband was expressly prevented by Shakespeare in his testamentary disposition by deleting the word "son-in-law".

To his sister Joan, Shakespeare left an amount of ₤20 in addition to his clothing and a lifelong right of residence in his father's estate on Henley Street for a small nominal rent. In addition, Shakespeare's will awarded monetary gifts to his Stratford friends, as well as a comparatively generous endowment of ₤10 for the poor in the community. The three former acting colleagues Richard Burbage as well as John Heminges and Henry Condell, the later editors of the First Folio of 1623, were also considered by Shakespeare. In previous biographical research on Shakespeare, the focus of interest has focused in particular on a single sentence in the legacy, which has raised numerous questions and has given rise to very different, sometimes purely speculative interpretations and interpretations up to the present day: "Item, I give unto my wife my second best bed wih the furniture",  whereby furniture could be understood in the parlance of the time both as bedding and as equipment. The name of Shakespeare's wife Anne does not appear anywhere else in the entire will, with the exception of this passage. Some of the later Shakespeare biographers interpret this largely lack of provision for his wife Anne in Shakespeare's last will as a blatant expression of his indifference or even contempt for her. In contrast, another part of the biographers refers to the wife's right to a pension, which was customary in England at the time, and who, as a widow, was in any case entitled to a third of her deceased husband's entire property and a lifelong right of residence in the house he left behind, even without a special disposition. Therefore, an explicit mention of his wife in the testamentary disposition was superfluous. The legacy of the "second-best bed" is also sometimes interpreted as a special proof of affection or love, since the "best bed", according to the reasoning, was reserved for the guests and this "second-best bed" was the shared marriage bed, which Shakespeare may have explicitly granted to his wife at her special request.

In contrast, however, it is sometimes pointed out, especially in recent research, that this customary law with regard to widows' claims in Elizabethan-Jacobean England was by no means uniform, but tied to local customs and therefore differed from place to place. Above all, the renowned Shakespeare scholar E. A. J. Honigmann, in his comparison with wills of similarly wealthy families from this period, comes to the conclusion in his study from 1991 that the expressly mentioned, rather sparse bequest for his wife in Shakespeare's last will does not correspond in this form to the usual testamentary drafts. In a retrospective overall view of the will, the renowned German Shakespeare scholar Ulrich Suerbaum first and foremost, clear indications that Shakespeare was primarily concerned with a closed transfer of his entire possessions; he had tried to take the other inheritance claims into account in such a way that the main inheritance could be transferred as far as possible without a major reduction. He had therefore left all other persons with friends or family ties with him only an object of remembrance, each of which was to be understood more symbolically.