DOCSLIB.ORG

Stratford-Upon-Avon Marks 400 Years Since Shakespeare Died

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Stratford-Upon-Avon Marks 400 Years Since Shakespeare Died SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2016 Photos shows two pairs of children’s shoes on display inside the “Birth Room” at Shakespeare’s Birthplace exterior, a restored 16th century home in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s Birthplace. England, where it’s believed William Shakespeare was born in 1564.—AP photos Stratford-upon-Avon marks 400 years since Shakespeare died ll the world’s a stage,” wrote “New Place,” where he’s believed to have William Shakespeare, who died written many of his famous plays. “A400 years ago this week. But he This year is an important one for Stratford- played out much of his life in one small upon-Avon and its 26,000 residents. The town English market town: Stratford-upon-Avon. is marking 400 years since Shakespeare’s “It’s the home of one of the greatest writers death on April 23 with new exhibitions, the- who’s ever lived, whose works are translated ater performances and a colorful parade into all the world languages ... and it’s there- through its busy streets. “The buzz around fore a magnet to come to understand a little this has been incredible, even greater than bit about what made William Shakespeare, we had for the 450th anniversary of his birth what formed him, to find out about the histo- which was literally only two years ago,” said ry of his time, and to celebrate his on-going Helen Peters, chief executive of Shakespeare’s legacy,” said Dr Paul Edmondson, head of England. research at Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Shakespeare was born here in 1564 in a Human experiences half-timbered house in Henley Street. The Much attention will be focused on home has been restored to look as it would Stratford-upon-Avon’s Holy Trinity Church, a have when Shakespeare was 10. His father parish church on the banks of the River Avon. John, who was appointed mayor of the town Church records show he was baptized there in 1568, had a glove-making workshop that’s on April 26, 1564 and buried there on April been recreated downstairs, while the room 25, 1616, two days after his death. Rev Patrick where Shakespeare was believed to have Taylor, the vicar, says visitors initially behold been born is upstairs. “Childbirth is always dif- “a beautiful medieval parish church ... But ficult, but even worse 400 years ago and baby once they’ve made their way up here into the Shakespeare was lucky to survive, because chancel, then they can see Shakespeare’s A bust of William Shakespeare which sits above the famous British playwright’s grave at there was plague in the town the year he was grave on the floor just in front of the high Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. born and the parish register is rammed full altar, then his bust up on the wall there which with burials for that year,” said Edmondson. put in by his relatives, shortly after his burial.” Some 2 million tourists visit the town annual- Above Shakespeare’s grave, a warning is ly but it’s not just Shakespeare’s Birthplace inscribed on his gravestone: “Good friend, for that they come to see. Jesus’ sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these Fame and fortune stones, And cursed be he that moves my Around 5.5 kilometers (3 miles) away in the bones.” village of Wilmcote, tourists travel back in Shakespeare is buried flanked by his wife, time to experience the sights, sounds and Anne Hathaway, who died in 1623, and smells of a 16th century Tudor farm. It was Thomas Nash, the first husband of his grand- here that Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden, daughter Elizabeth. “There’s a lot of interest in grew up. It’s thought Shakespeare would this place, the final resting place of have spent some of his childhood helping Shakespeare,” Taylor said. “People seem to with tasks around the farm. Literary experts have a connection with this playwright who believe Wilmcote makes an appearance as wrote about human emotions and human “Wincot” in Shakespeare’s comedy “The experiences that people over the world relate Taming of the Shrew”. to.” Mark Kimmons, visiting with his family “He was always in some way a country lad from Anchorage, Alaska, says he grew up at heart. He loved this town, he perhaps hat- being taught Shakespeare’s plays and son- ed this town a little bit, obviously forging his nets. “I was thinking that he was famous in his career in London with the professional the- day,” Kimmons said, “but not nearly as aters,” said Edmondson. During the late 1580s famous as he is now, so many years after his Photo shows William Shakespeare’s grave at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, and early 1590s, Shakespeare left Stratford to death.”—AP England. seek fame and fortune in London. In 1597, he gained enough success to purchase a new family home in Stratford-upon-Avon called.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Rainsford Family with Sidelights on Shakespeare Southampton, Hall and Hart
    THE RAINSFORD FAMILY WITH SIDELIGHTS ON SHAKESPEARE SOUTHAMPTON, HALL AND HART. THE RAINSFORD FAMILY WITH SIDELIGHTS ON SHAKESPEARE, SOUTHi\l\1PTON, HALL AND HART Embracing 1000 years of the RAINSFORD family and their successive partakings in the main lines of national life BY EMILY A. BUCKLAND. " In winter's tedious nights, sit by the fire With good old folks, and ]et them tell thee tales.'· -King Richard 11 i11lorcrsttr: Pa1Li,1Ps & PROBERT? LTD., THE CAXTON PRESS. I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO FAITH AND JACK AND MY NLECES AND NEPHEWS. n FOREWORD. 3T was suggested to me by my cousin, Alfred Ransford of Hunstanton, that being a native of Stratford-on-Avon, baptized there in the historic Church of Holy Trinity (Register Certificate No. 70;\ Page 89), and the grand-daughter of a Rainsford of the Clifford Chambers line, I should compile into a little book some of his genealogical notes relating to the family, which he has collected over a period of thirty years, in­ spired and assisted by a kinsman, the late Frederick Vine Rainsford, who began turning over Wills and docu-· ments at the age of eighteen, and devoted a great part of sixty years to research work. This volume is a brief outline of a typical English family, living in the beautiful homes of our Empire, yet facing the vicissitudes oflife, with its struggles and successes; amidst the hardships and dra\vbacks of a much less advanced civilization ; who, like numerous others, in response to the call of King and Country, have been leaders of men, in the Church and Services, in the legal and
    [Show full text]
  • History and Antiquities of Stratford-Upon-Avon
    IL LINO I S UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Brittle Books Project, 2009. UNIVERSrryOF ILLINOIS-URBANA ' 3 0112 079790793 C) c)J U0 CI 0F 622-5 CV157 111STORY & ANTIQUITIES STR4TF RkDi U]PO~A I1 ONA"r III c iI1Pir . i r M t a r HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF 5TJRATFORDJPONAVON: fO MPRISI N C A DESCRIPTION OF THlE COLLEGIATE CHURCH,7 THE LIFE OF SJL4KSPEAJRJ, AN Copies of several Documents relating to him anti his Pamniy never before printed; WITH A 13IOGt4PII1C4L SKETCH OF OTHER -V MJNENT CILIRACT2PS , Natives of, or who have resided in STRITFORD, To which, is added, a particular Account of THE- JUBILEE, Celebrated at Stratford, in Honour of our immortal Bard, BYT R. B. WIIELER. 0 gratum Musis, 0 nornen. amabile Plwcbo, Qtam sociarn adsciscant, Minicius atque Meles. Ac tibi, cara hospes, si mens divinior, et te Ignea SiKSPEARI muss ciere queat; Siste gradum; crebroquc oculos circum undique liectas, Pierii lae inontes, hec tOb Pindus erit. &ttatfouYon5ivbon: PRTNTED AND~ SOLD BY J. WARD; SOLD ALSO BYVLONGISAN AND CO.PATERNOSTERa ROW, LONDON'S WILKS AND CO. BIRIMINGHAM, AN!) BY MOST OTHER BOOKSELLERS IN TOWN AND COUNTIRY W2,2. Z3 cws;-7 PREFACE., FIE want of a work in some degree sifilar to the. res sent undertaking eatcouraged the publication of the follow4 ilig sheets, the'offspring oft afew leisure hours; and it is hoped that the world will, on an impartial perusal, make aflowanees for the imperfections, by reflecting as well upon the inexperieace of the Jiuvenile author, as that they were originally collected for"his own private information.
    [Show full text]
  • Introducing John Hall, Master of Physicke
    1 Introducing John Hall, Master of Physicke The earliest reference to John Hall is his admission to Queens’ College, Cambridge, aged 14, in 1589. The last is his will dated 25 November 1635. His Little Book of Cures, Described in Case Histories and Empirically Proven, Tried and Tested in Certain Places and on Noted People forms the most substantial account of his life and work among his patients in the locale made famous by Hall’s father-in-law, William Shakespeare. Most of the records relating to Hall concern his life in Stratford-upon-Avon, starting with his marriage to Susanna, the Shakespeares’ eldest child, in June 1607. Hall was born in Carlton, Bedfordshire, the son of William Hall. John Taplin has written importantly and extensively on Hall’s family background in Shakespeare’s Country Families (Taplin 2018: 85–112). Taplin’s book is not widely known but is available for consultation in the Shakespeare Centre Library. Hall received his BA in 1593/4 and his MA in 1597. A doctorate in medicine was required for licensing by the College of Physicians of London or to teach at a university, but not otherwise. An academic doctorate was no more necessary as a medical qualification then than it is now. Although Hall never obtained, or claimed to have, the degree of Doctor of Medicine, his MA made him better qualified than most physicians in England at this time. Hall never used the title of Dr, nor was he addressed so by his contemporaries, though he has frequently and confusingly been granted it post mortem.
    [Show full text]
  • Establishing Anne
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-41669-6 — Imagining Shakespeare's Wife Katherine West Scheil Excerpt More Information Part I Establishing Anne M © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-41669-6 — Imagining Shakespeare's Wife Katherine West Scheil Excerpt More Information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-41669-6 — Imagining Shakespeare's Wife Katherine West Scheil Excerpt More Information 1 ORIGINS nne hathaway could solve many mysteries about shakespeare. A She could tell us how he got his start as a playwright, how he negotiated work and family, how he grieved for the death of his only son, how he died, and whether or not he was a closet Catholic. She could reveal where he wrote his plays, if he was a family man dutifully traveling back to Stratford, or if he heartlessly abandoned his wife and children to seek fame and fortune. She could also tell us why her name is on their marriage bond, while the name “Anne Whateley” is on the marriage license. She could divulge what the term “second best bed” in Shakespeare’s will really meant – whether she was devastated to learn that this was her only bequest, as she is in Vern Thiessen’s play Shakespeare’s Will (2005), or if it was a term of endearment, a private shared sign of intimacy preserved forever. Likewise, Anne Hathaway could disclose what the woman was like who was married for 34 years to the man who became the world’s most famous poet – was she witty, quiet, affectionate, angry, supportive, vengeful, inspirational, or forgettable? The questions that remain about Shakespeare’s famous and elusive wife highlight the biographical problems that have accumulated about Shakespeare over the last several centuries.
    [Show full text]
  • Otn Anb 3BOOR5
    THE ASSOCIATION JOURNAL 482 THE CANADIAN MEDICAL AsSOCIATION JOURNAL [Nov. 1940 otn anb 3BOOR5 SHAKESPEARE'S SON-IN-LAW: scraps of evidence concerning the way in which William Shakespeare kept in touch with London DOCTOR JOHN HALL* after his retirement to his native Stratford, where his final years were spent, according to BY E. P. SCARLETT Rowe, "as all men of good sense will wish theirs Calgary may be, in ease, retirement, and the conversation of his friends." "Well your Majesty, is not this world a catholic As Carlyle remarked, it kind of place? The Puritan gospel and Shakespeare's is one of the strange plays; such a pair of facts I have rarely seen saved ironies of history that from practically one gen- out of one chimerical generation." eration should have emerged the Puritan gospel (Carlyle: Historioal Sketches) and Shakespeare's plays. The parallel singular circumstance is to be found in the family associ- I. ation between the Puritan Doctor Hall and the On the morning of November 17, 1614, in a actor-dramatist Shakespeare. Hall is one of the narrow London street hard by St. Paul's, three lesser ghosts of history, and he has escaped men might have been seen engaged in close con- oblivion only because of his connection with versation. All three are fellow-townsmen of Shakespeare. It is an interesting pastime, there- Stratford-on-Avon, for the moment on business fore, to reconstruct the life of this Warwickshire in London. The most animated of the group is physician, not only because of the light which Thomas Greene, the town clerk of Stratford, who such a history throws upon the medicine of the is discussing the proposed enclosure of certain time but because in the person of Hall we have lands of Welcombe adjacent to Stratford.
    [Show full text]
  • My Uncle Shakespeare - 2
    My Uncle Shakespeare By Gad Guterman Performance Rights It is an infringement of the federal copyright law to copy this script in any way or to perform this play without royalty payment. All rights are controlled by Eldridge Publishing Co. Inc. Contact the publisher for additional scripts and further licensing information. The author’s name must appear on all programs and advertising with the notice: “Produced by special arrangement with Eldridge Publishing Co.” PUBLISHED BY ELDRIDGE PUBLISHING COMPANY www.histage.com © 2003 by Gad Guterman Download your complete script from Eldridge Publishing http://www.histage.com/playdetails.asp?PID=1670 My Uncle Shakespeare - 2 - Dedication This play is dedicated to Margot Celnik, my grandmother. STORY OF THE PLAY When William Shakespeare leads Margaret Douglas to Memory, a place where only those remembered can live, she is confused as to her whereabouts. Shakespeare eagerly tells her two stories to help her answer her questions. The first story is that of Thomas Hart, Shakespeare’s young nephew who unsuccessfully attempts to master his uncle’s craft. The second story is that of Sarah Douglas, Margaret’s hopeless granddaughter who seems incapable of completing any task or keeping any friends. As Shakespeare weaves the two tales, Margaret begins to understand that she has died and that she is in fact Thomas' distant relative. Now Shakespeare needs her help to reach Sarah, who will find the lost manuscript of Thomas’ play and restore the boy’s place in Memory. Premiere Performance This play was written for and first performed by the students at the Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, NJ on May 10, 2002.
    [Show full text]
  • Shakespeare in Stratford and London: Ten Eyewitnesses Who Saw Nothing by Ramon L
    Shakespeare in Stratford and London: Ten Eyewitnesses Who Saw Nothing by Ramon L. Jiménez It is well-known that the first references in print that seemed to connect William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon to the playwright William Shakespeare appeared in the first collection of his plays—the First Folio, seven years after his death. On the other hand, we can identify at least ten people who personally knew the William Shakespeare of this Warwickshire town, or met his daughter, Susanna. At least six of them, and possibly all of them, were aware of plays and poems published under the name of one of the country’s leading playwrights, William Shakespeare. All ten left us published books, poems, letters, notebooks, or diaries, some of which referred directly to events or people in Stratford. Yet none of these nine men and one woman—it is fair to call them eyewitnesses—left any hint that they connected the playwright with the person of the same name in Stratford-upon-Avon. William Camden William Camden was the most eminent historian and antiquary of the Elizabethan age, and was deeply involved in the literary and intellectual world of his time. He knew Philip Sidney, was a valued friend of Michael Drayton, and is said to have been a teacher of Ben Jonson. His most famous work was Britannia, a history of England first published in Latin in 1586. It was translated, and frequently reprinted, and he revised it several times before his death in 1623. Another of Camden’s books was Remaines Concerning Britain, a series of essays on English history, English names and the English language that he published in 1605.
    [Show full text]
  • Dr. John Hall & Richard Hall Families
    THE RAINSFORD FAMILY WITH SIDELIGHTS ON SHAKESPEARE, SOUTHAMPTON, HALL and HART Embracing 1000 years of the RAINSFORD family and their successive partakings in the main lines of national life BY EMILY A. BUCKLAND. “ In winter’s tedious nights, sit by the fire With good old folks, and let them tell thee tales.’ —King Richard II (illorrester: Phillips & Probert, Ltd., The Caxton Press. CHAPTER IX. Dr. John Hall. “ Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs ; Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth. Let’s choose executors, and talk of Wills ; And yet not so,—for what can we bequeath, Save our deposed bodies to the ground ? , < .AA. .A/, AA. .JA Tv '7V* *75* '7V' Tv* And nothing can we call our own but death And that small model of the barren earth Which serves as paste and cover to our bones.” {King Richard II). C. C. Stopes’ “ Shakespeare’s Contemporaries,” writes :— Dr. Hall married Shakespeare’s daughter, Sus¬ annah, on June. 5th, 1607, he being thirty-two, and she twenty-five ; their only daughter, Elizabeth, was baptized at Stratford-on-Avon, February 21st, 1608. He must have remained on friendly terms with his father-in-law, because he and his wife were left residuary legatees, and the executors of Shakes¬ peare’s Will ; and they proved the Will in London, in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Registry, June, 1616. The Doctor shortly afterwards removed to New Place, and in 1617, and also in 1623, he was elected Burgess (or bailiff) of Stratford-on-Avon, but was excused from that office on account of his pro¬ fessional engagements.
    [Show full text]
  • Stratford & Warwick Castle
    Stratford & Warwick Castle Stratford-upon-Avon boasts several beautiful and historic properties connected with the most famous playwright in the world, William Shakespeare. Stratford is the birthplace of Shakespeare and an attractive market town. Spreading back from the River Avon, the town centre is flat and compact, making it easy to take in all its attractions. The Royal Shakespeare Company offers superb theatre, and there are many fine restaurants as well as a wealth of shops. Warwick Castle is without doubt the finest medieval castle in the country and features dungeons, towers, exhibitions and a host of other attractions. Step into the house where Lying alongside the River William Shakespeare was Avon, Warwick Castle is said born in 1564 and re-enter to be the ‘greatest medieval the Tudor world. Newly castle in Britain’, and is refurbished, the house now certainly its largest. Take a offers visitors a fascinating walk along the ramparts and insight into life as it was climb the towers, or head when Shakespeare was a inside for special waxwork child. See the Shakespeare exhibitions. The Great Hall Exhibition which provides houses many suits of armour, an introduction to his life while the grounds are hugely and background and the enjoyable, with woodland traditional English garden. and lawns inhabited by peacocks. A footbridge Shakespeare’s Birthplace Warwick Castle crosses the Avon to River Island, the site of medieval jousting tournaments. The Royal Shakespeare Anne Hathaway was William Company is one of the Shakespeare’s wife, and world’s foremost classical this world-famous thatched theatre companies. Its cottage continued to be two theatres offer the owned by her descendants visitor the chance to enjoy until the late 19th century.
    [Show full text]
  • The GPR Investigation of the Shakespeare Family Graves
    1 The GPR investigation of the Shakespeare family graves Erica Carrick Utsi and Kevin Colls Abstract As part of a multi‐disciplinary programme of archaeological investigation, GPR was used to investigate the Shakespeare family graves below the chancel of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford, Warwickshire, England. Although William Shakespeare's place as perhaps one of the most famous individuals who has ever lived has been cemented in the annals of history, much of his life and death is still shrouded in mystery. As a result, a large number of myths and legends have grown up around his burial place. These included the suggestion of an unusually deep burial or the presence of a large family crypt beneath the chancel floor. A series of multi‐frequency surveys was carried out to establish the depth and structure of the graves and as much burial information as possible. Close survey (using a strategy developed and successfully applied in Westminster Abbey and other churches) was used in order to optimise the quality of patterning in the data. Within Holy Trinity, this strategy was validated by the detection of a known vault. The use of multiple frequencies was critical in this investigation in order both to detect the graves and also to establish information about the graves. Too low a frequency may result in non‐detection because of the relatively low target resolution whereas too high a frequency risks insufficient depth penetration. From this process a number of myths can now be discounted, including the presence of a large Shakespeare family vault or crypt. Instead, the GPR survey suggests that a simple, shallow, earth‐cut burial lies beneath William's tombstone.
    [Show full text]
  • Download This PDF File
    ^JOURNAL OF THE RUTGERS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES VOLUME LIII DECEMBER 1991 NUMBER 2 FANCIES AND GOOD NIGHTS: A Shakespearean Journey BY S. ISENBERG Dr. Isenberg is Editor and Publisher of Stages: The National Theatre Magazine "Do not go gentle into that good night," Dylan Thomas advises, but when, on April 23, 1616, William Shakespeare, a writer of popular stage entertain- ments, died in his home town of Stratford-Upon-Avon, he went so gently there was scarce a ripple. Unlike the premature reports of the death of Mark Twain, the reports of Shakespeare's death were not highly exaggerated; they were non-existent. There was not much reason why his passing should have been marked. He had been retired from the stage for several years and his plays, though still being performed, were no longer new and were, or at least seemed, less pertinent to the times than those of the more "modern" younger men Beaumont and Fletcher. Little attention, in any event, was paid to authors of stage works which were considered transient endeavors. Ben Jonson, the first playwright to have his "works" published in folio, was the subject of derisory comment because of this even from his fellow playwrights. The man most likely to have the facts of Shakespeare's death was his physician, Dr. John Hall. Hall was also Shakespeare's son-in-law, being married to Susannah, the oldest of Shakespeare's two daughters. A son Hamnet, had died young. Hall, however, like the citizens in Richard III, is mum. He mentions nothing about this interesting patient in his book, Observations on Select English Bodies, nor anywhere else.
    [Show full text]
  • S H a K E S P E a Re in Stratford and London: Ten Eyewitnesses Who
    The Shakespeare Oxford Society’s 50th Anniversary Anthology Newsletter Fall 2002/2005 S h a k e s p e a re i n Stratford and Another of Camden’s books was R e - London: Ten Eyewitnesses maines Concerning Britain, a series of essays on English history, English names and the Who Saw Nothing English language that he published in 1605. Camden wrote poetry himself, and in the sec- by Ramon Jiménez tion on poetry, he referred to poets as “God’s own creatures.” He listed eleven English poets and playwrights who he thought would be T is well-known that the first references in admired by future generations––in other print that seemed to connect Wi l l i a m words, the best writers of his time (287, 294). IShakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon to the Among the eleven were six playwrights, in- playwright William Shakespeare appeared in cluding Jonson, Chapman, Drayton, Daniel, the first collection of his plays—the First Fo- Marston, and William Shakespeare. lio, seven years after his death. On the other Two years later, in 1607, Camden pub- hand, we can identify at least ten people who lished the sixth edition of his Britannia, which personally knew the William Shakespeare of by then had doubled in size because of his this Warwickshire town, or met his daughter, extensive revisions and additions. He arranged Susanna. At least six of them, and possibly all the book by shire or county, with his descrip- of them, were aware of plays and poems pub- tion of each beginning in the pre-Roman peri- lished under the name of one of the country’s od and extending to contemporary people and leading playwrights, William Shakespeare.
    [Show full text]