John Shakespeare
John Shakespeare | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1531 Snitterfield, Warwickshire, England |
Died | 7 September 1601 Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England | (aged 69–70)
Spouse | Mary Arden |
Children | 8, including William, Gilbert, Joan and Edmund |
Parent |
|
Family | Shakespeare family |
John Shakespeare (c. 1531 – 7 September 1601) was an English businessman and politician who was the father of William Shakespeare. Active in Stratford-upon-Avon, he was a glover and whittawer (leather worker) by trade. Shakespeare was elected to several municipal offices, serving as an alderman and culminating in a term as bailiff, the chief magistrate of the town council, and mayor of Stratford in 1568, before he fell on hard times for reasons unknown.[1] His fortunes later revived and he was granted a coat of arms five years before his death, probably at the instigation and expense of his son, the actor and playwright.[2][3]
He married Mary Arden, with whom he had eight children, five of whom survived into adulthood.[4]
Career and municipal responsibilities
He was the son of Richard Shakespeare of the Warwickshire village of Snitterfield, a farmer.[5]
John Shakespeare moved to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1551, where he became a successful businessman involved in several related occupations. At this time, Stratford had a population of 1500 people and only 200 houses.[3] From 1556 to 1592, several official records identify him as a glovemaker, which was probably his primary trade, as tradition remembers him as following that trade even into his old age,[6] but the records of his real estate purchases and legal expenses indicate an income much higher than that of a small-town tradesman.[7] The administration of his father's estate in 1561 names him as a farmer. He inherited and leased agricultural lands and is on record as selling timber and barley.[8] Court records also document him as a "brogger", an unlicensed—and therefore illegal—wool dealer.[9] In addition, he bought and leased out houses. He was twice taken to court for violating the usury laws that prohibited charging interest higher than the legal limit of 10 per cent.[10]
By 1552 he was residing in a house on
In 1556, Shakespeare was elected borough
In 1568, Shakespeare was appointed
In 1569, Shakespeare had applied for a coat of arms; the application—subsequently withdrawn—included a vague claim of an ancestor having been honoured by King Henry VII, a draft of which application (with parenthetical additions representing amendments to be made in a successive draft) read: "John Shakespeare ... whose parentes and late antecessors [grandfather] were for there [his] valeant and faithefull service advaunced and rewarded by the most prudent prince king Henry the Seventh of famous memorie, sythence whiche tyme they have continewed ... in good reputation and credit ...".[13][14] After a long period of dormancy, arms were granted by William Dethick of the College of Arms on 20 October 1596. Most historians believe that his son, William, re-opened the application following his literary and financial success in London. This application additionally made reference to John Shakespeare having married "the daughter and heir of Arden, a gentleman of worship".[15][14]
Marriage into the local gentry
He married Mary Arden,[16] one of the Ardens of Warwickshire, a local gentry family and reportedly a niece of John Shakespeare's father Richard Shakespeare. It is not known when they married, but a date around 1557 is assumed as there is a baptismal record for a "Joan Shakespeare, daughter to John Shakespeare" dated 15 September 1558.
The Shakespeares had eight children:
- Joan (baptised 15 September 1558, died in infancy),
- Margaret (bap. 2 December 1562 – buried 30 April 1563),
- William (bap. 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616),
- Gilbert (bap. 13 October 1566 – bur. 2 February 1612),
- Joan (bap. 15 April 1569 – bur. 4 November 1646),
- Anne (bap. 28 September 1571 – bur. 4 April 1579),
- Richard (bap. 11 March 1574 – bur. 4 February 1613) and
- Edmund (bap. 3 May 1580 – bur. London, 31 December 1607).[17]
Risk taking and financial problems
Shakespeare fell on hard times in the late 1570s that would last until the early 1590s. He failed to attend council meetings, attending just once (on 5 September 1582) between January 1577 and 6 September 1586 when he lost his position as an
In 1576, Shakespeare withdrew from public life in Stratford. He had been excused levies that he was supposed to pay by supportive townsmen and business associates and they kept his name on the rolls for a decade, perhaps hoping that in that time he would be able to return to public life and recover his financial situation, but he never did so.[19] He is mentioned in the local records in 1597 when he sold some property to George Badger, a draper.
John Shakespeare was buried on 8 September 1601 at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.[20]
Personality and religious beliefs
The only record that survives of Shakespeare's personality is a note written by Thomas Plume fifty years after his death. Plume records a conversation with Sir John Mennes (1599–1671), who stated that he had once met him in his shop and described him as a "merry cheeked old man" who said of his son that "Will was a good honest fellow, but he durst have cracked a jest with him at any time."[21] As Katherine Duncan-Jones points out, this is impossible, since Mennes was two years old when John Shakespeare died. She thinks Plume may have been recording an anecdote related by Mennes taken from his father.[22]
Shakespeare and his immediate family were conforming members of the established
However, some scholars believe there is evidence that several members of Shakespeare's family were secretly
Footnotes
- ^ Campbell & Quinn 1966, pp. 751–3; Schoenbaum 1987, pp. 39, 42.
- ^ Schoenbaum 1987, p. 227.
- ^ a b "The Parents of William Shakespeare". www.william-shakespeare.info. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^ Campbell & Quinn 1966, pp. 752.
- ^ Campbell & Quinn 1966, p. 751.
- ^ Schoenbaum 1987, pp. 30–1.
- ^ Wood 2003, p. 39.
- ^ Schoenbaum 1987, pp. 30–2.
- ^ Schoenbaum 1987, pp. 31–2; Wood 2003, pp. 38–9, 65.
- ^ Schoenbaum 1987, pp. 18, 32; Wood 2003, p. 39.
- ISBN 978-0199566105.
- ^ Schoenbaum 1987, p. 36.
- ^ The Works of William Shakespeare, the text formed from a new collation of the early Editions, vol. I – The Life of Shakespeare; An Essay on the Formation of the Text; The Tempest, James O. Halliwell, C. and J. Adlard, London, 1853, p. 69
- ^ a b Shakespeare, Anthony Burgess, 1970, reprinted by Vintage Lives, 1996
- ISBN 978-0-00-720830-2
- ISBN 978-0-275-99510-2
- ^ Chambers 1930, II:1–2.
- ^ a b Bearman 2005.
- ^ Bill Bryson : Shakespeare: The World as Stage 2007
- ^ Chambers 1930, p. 4
- ^ Kate Pogue, Shakespeare's Family, Greenwood, 2008, p. 24.
- ^ Katherine Duncan-Jones, Ungentle Shakespeare: Scenes from His Life, Cengage Learning EMEA, 2001, p. 8
- ^ "The Wall Paintings". Stratford Town Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "Internet Archaeol. 32. Giles et al. 2.3 The Holy Cross Guild Chapel". intarch.ac.uk. Internet Archeology. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ISBN 1-85619-726-3.
- ^ Holden, Anthony. William Shakespeare: The Man Behind the Genius Archived 15 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine Little, Brown (2000).
- ^ Bearman, R., "John Shakespeare's Spiritual Testament, a reappraisal", Shakespeare Survey 56 [2003] pp. 184–204.
- ^ Schoenbaum 1987, p. 51
- ISSN 0037-3222.
References
- Baldwin, T. W. (1944). Shakespere's Small Latine & Lesse Greeke. OCLC 654144828. Archived from the originalon 13 October 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- Bearman, Robert (2005). "John Shakespeare: A Papist or Just Penniless?". S2CID 162352992.
- Campbell, Oscar James; Quinn, Edward G.., eds. (1966). Reader's Encyclopedia of Shakespeare. New York: LCCN 66-11946.
- ISBN 978-0-19-811774-2.
- ISBN 978-0-19-282527-8.
- Potter, Lois (2012). The Life of William Shakespeare: A Critical Biography. ISBN 978-0-631-20784-9.
- ISBN 978-0-19-505161-2.
- Steggle, Matthew (27 March 2024). "John Shakespeare's "Spiritual Testament" Is Not John Shakespeare's". Shakespeare Quarterly. 75 (1): 44–71. ISSN 0037-3222.
- ISBN 0-465-09264-0.