William Shakespeare

Timeline

Timeline of important dates and events in William Shakespeare's life, from his birth to the publication of the First Folio (first printed collection of all plays) in 1623.

1564		23 April: William Shakespeare's traditional birthdate. He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon. 26 April: William is christened in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
1582		28 November: William marries Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior.
1583		26 May: William's first child, Susanna, is baptised.
1585		2 February: William's twins, Judith and Hamnet, are baptised.
1585-1592		At some point in these years William left his family in Stratford-Upon-Avon and began working in London as an actor, playwright, and poet.
1592		The book Greenes Groats-Worth of witte, attributed to Robert Greene, a playwright, is published. This contains the first printed allusion to Shakespeare, although it is not a flattering one. He accuses William of being an "upstart crow" who thinks himself the only "shake-scene in a country".
1593		January : London theatres close due to an outbreak of plague. They re-open the following year. 18 April: Shakespeare's narrative poem Venus and Adonis, dedicated to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, is his first work to be entered into the Stationers' Register. By June Venus and Adonis is in print, becoming Shakespeare's first published work.
1594		9 May: Shakespeare's narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece, again dedicated to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, is entered into the Stationers Register. It is published later in the year.
1596		11 August: William and his wife, Anne, bury their only son, Hamnet, who died aged 11, in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
1597		May: William buys New Place, one of the largest houses in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
1598		The book Wits Treasury by Francis Meres is published. This makes several important references to Shakespeare, praising him as a great playwright, mentioning several plays, including Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Love's Labours Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard II and Titus Andronicus. He also praises the sonnets, which he tells us are in private circulation (not published until 1609). William acted in Ben Jonson's play Every Man in his Humour
1599		The Globe Theate is built. Thomas Platter, a Swiss tourist, records in his diary that he saw a production of Julius Caesar at The Globe on 21 September. John Weever publishes his book Epigrammes which includes a poem dedicated to Shakespeare Ad Guglielmum Shakespeare. This poem, in the form of a sonnet, praises Shakespeare's work, especially his narrative poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece
1601		7 September: William's father, John Shakespeare, dies. He is buried the following day in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
1603		24 March: Queen Elizabeth I dies. Not long after, Shakespeare's acting company The Chamberlain's Men change their name to The King's Men in honour of the new king, James I, who takes them under royal patronage within days of arriving in London.
1608		London theatres close again due to a plague outbreak and do not open until the following year. Shakespeare's acting company The King's Men takes possession of Blackfriars Theatre, London's first indoor theatre, and starts performing plays regularly there during winter months from 1609. September: William's mother, Mary Arden, dies. She is buried on 9 September in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
1609		20 May: Shakespeare's sonnets are entered into the Stationers' Register. They are published for the first time later in the year.
1610-1613		At some point during these years William retires from the London theatre scene and returns to Stratford-Upon-Avon.
1613		29 June: The Globe Theatre burns to the ground during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII. The fire was started by a cannon shot. Sparks from the cannon fire landed on the theatre's thatched roof and set the place ablaze.
1614		By June The Globe Theatre has been rebuilt and re-opens.
1616		25 March: William signs his Last Will and Testament, famously leaving his "second best bed" to his wife, Anne Hathaway. 23 April: William's traditional death day. 25 April: William is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
1623		August: Anne Hathaway, William's wife, dies in Stratford-Upon-Avon. She is buried beside her husband in Holy Trinity Church. Shakespeare's First Folio is published.

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