On this day in Tudor history, 11th July 1564, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the first death from plague was recorded in the parish records of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.
John Bretchgirdle, vicar of Holy Trinity, where William Shakespeare had been baptised that very year, on 26th April, recorded the death of Oliver Gunn, an apprentice weaver…
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Last week a great discovery was made. Shakespeare’s bust, which stands in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, appears to be a good likeness of the playwright, poet and actor. Research finds that the bust was made by tomb-maker Nicholas Johnson.
Thank you so much to Cassidy Cash for being our August expert speaker and for allowing us to grill her in the Tudor Society chatroom last week.
Here is a transcript of the live chat…
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A big Tudor Society welcome to Cassidy Cash of “That Shakespeare Girl” blog and “That Shakespeare Life” podcasts. Cassidy is sharing her knowledge of the Bard, William Shakespeare, with us in her talk “The Life of Shakespeare”.
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The Tudor Society love all things Tudor. Recently we’ve had an article in our monthly magazine from Nic Fulcher, a costume historian at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and we’ve also had our roving reporter visit the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon. We’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust – here’s some information.
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In this week’s Friday video, our roving reporter, Philippa Lacey Brewell, visits Stratford upon Avon, starting at Shakespeare’s birthplace, through town to Shakespeare’s schoolroom, where she shows us inside, and ending up at Holy Trinity Church where William Shakespeare was buried.
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Today’s Claire Chats video was inspired by my recent visit to Stratford-upon-Avon with the Discover the Tudors tour. We visited Shakespeare’s birthplace, New Place, Hall’s Croft, Guild Hall and Shakespeare’s Schoolroom, and Holy Trinity Church, and although I grew up in the area and studied Shakespeare and his works at school and university I learned so much about the man from our guide and speakers. I wanted to share some of that with you today.
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I can’t believe that today was our last full day on the tour and that I will soon be saying goodbye to these lovely lords and ladies. We have gelled so much and I know that we have made friendships that will last a lifetime. It’s wonderful that Tudor history can bring us together like this.
After another delicious breakfast, this time at the Doubletree by Hilton near the Tower of London, we headed out for the day. Although it was raining – well, we did have to give our group the true British experience! – we decided to stop off at the Tower Hill scaffold site to explain its relevance, as many people miss this entirely. So many important Tudor personalities lost their lives there, so it was good to visit and remember them. We then made our way down to the River Thames, at Tower Wharf, right where Anne Boleyn disembarked on 2nd May 1536 when she was taken to the Tower to be imprisoned, to catch the Clipper, the river bus service that would take us to Bankside, where Shakespeare’s Globe is located. It was wonderful seeing lots of London sights from the river and in just a few short minutes we were at Bankside.
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Around 23 April 1564, a great mind was born in a small English market town. Such an immortal mind was baptised on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. With inauspicious beginnings as the third of six children born, first to survive infancy, to a leather merchant and landed heiress, William Shakespeare would go on to lead the life of an intellectual lion, whose roar can still be heard throughout the world today.
Shakespeare’s first poems, “The Rape of Lucrece” and “Venus and Adonis” were dedicated to his patron, Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, in the early 1590s. Beginning around 1594, Shakespeare joined a theatrical company known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, with the name changing to the King’s Men upon the accession of James I in 1603. Shakespeare is credited with writing more than 154 sonnets and 37 plays.
[Read More...]As part of the celebrations for Shakespeare 400, the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death on 23rd April 2016, Shakespeare Lives, FutureLearn and the British Council are running a six-week online course – Exploring English: Shakespeare.
[Read More...]As this week has been the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s marriage I thought I’d test your knowledge of the Bard. Have fun with this quiz and good luck!
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