William and Susanna

by L E Pembroke

  John was the only physician in the district and from the time of his coming to Warwickshire, was almost run off his feet. A tall, thin and stern-looking young man, he travelled by horse to visit his patients and was rarely at his home in Stratford. He had little time for rest, worked day and night six days a week - but never, if he could help it, on Sunday. For John was still a devout Puritan and now an elder of the church. He strictly observed the Sabbath and rarely did he see patients on a Sunday.

  Soon after his arrival in 1603, he was told that the widow Walker was desperately in need of treatment. She lived on the outskirts of the village of Shottery. Susanna met John Hall, four years after their previous meeting in Paris, at the cottage of the widow. It was an inauspicious meeting.

  He bent down low to cross the low threshold to enter the dark, stale-smelling, small room. The first thing he observed was a young woman bent low over the patient. She seemed to be applying ointment to the face of the ill woman. The second thing he saw was that the patient’s face was covered in a severe, pustular rash. He strode across the room to the bed and pushed the young woman away. ‘What on earth do you think you are doing?’

  Indignant, she replied. ‘I would have thought it was obvious.’

  ‘It is obvious that you have no idea of the dangers of small pox. This lady has contracted a highly infectious and dangerous disease and you will do the same if you insist on being in such close proximity to her. The foulness from the pustules in her throat are seeping into the air around her and you are absorbing them. Did it not occur to you to wear a mask?’

  ‘I am not trained in these matters, I wish only to comfort those in need.’

  ‘Spare me from those who, bent on doing good, do nothing of the sort and increase my workload one hundred fold. Please leave the room while I attend to my patient.’

  He gave her a distinct shove towards the door. She called back to the elderly lady. ‘I will wait outside until the doctor is finished and then I will return and prepare some broth for you.’

  When he had finished his consultation, John left the cottage and stood next to Susanna in the bleak and pale wintry sunshine. He looked for a long moment into her face. ‘I believe we have met previously, perhaps four years ago, you are Miss Shakespeare, are you not?’

  ‘Yes, Susanna Shakespeare and you are?’

  ‘John Hall, we met in Paris when I was doing my medical studies.’

  She had completely forgotten the man having been so besotted with thoughts of her religious vocation. Now it was coming back and the first thing she recalled was that he was a Puritan. She burst out. ‘Of course, I remember, you are a Puritan gentleman.’

  He thought it was rather a crass thing for her to say, but ignored the imputation.

  ‘Yes, and I am now a physician.’

  She blushed. She recalled her father chastising her by saying something about Jesus Christ not judging people because of their religious beliefs. She tried to make amends.

  ‘I am grateful you have come to serve the people of Stratford. I do not recall a physician in our town in my lifetime.’

  He could tell she was embarrassed, thought it best to change the subject. ‘How is your father? Well I hope? I took an instant liking to him on the few occasions we met in Paris and I confess, I was amazed to find my thoughts compatible with a prodigious actor and writer for the London stage. I look forward to resuming our acquaintanceship.’

  ‘My father lives most of the time in London. Nevertheless, I am certain he will wish to meet you again when he returns to Stratford. Now I should return to the widow Walker, she will be looking forward to her warm broth.’

  ‘Of course, please, Miss Shakespeare, take note of my warning. If you continue in this work of comforting the sick, will you please protect yourself from infection by wearing mask and gloves. We don’t know the cause of all the epidemics that occur in our land, but we do know that when doctors protect themselves with masks, generous head cover and long outer garments, they can attend to plague victims with minimal risk to themselves.’

  ‘Thank you, I will bear your advice in mind, Dr. Hall?’

  ‘Please, we are not strangers, call me John.’

  ‘Very well, and when we meet again, you must call me Susanna.’

  Susanna had very little knowledge of medical matters, but on that day she decided she would be a more efficient visitor to the sick if she put her mind to learning as much as possible. At that time she wasn’t certain how and where she would acquire the necessary information.

  Women with knowledge of herbal cures cared for the majority of ailing people in the towns and villages. It was only the wealthy who visited an apothecary. Her mother and Judith were knowledgeable about herbs, so to begin with she would seek information from them.

  People who needed surgery sought help from barber surgeons who chopped off a leg, arm or hand without hesitation and without anaesthetic and dipped the stump in boiling pitch. Physicians did not do surgery.

  Susanna, having sought advice from her mother, became familiar with the most common and effective herbal cures. Anne, on her part, thought it strange that her well-educated daughter, the girl who read and wrote in English and Latin, should only now be learning the skills of a housewife. It just proved to Anne that education for women was a complete waste of time.

  Armed with jars of camomile for headaches, aloe vera for skin eruptions and fenugreek for bronchitis and also carrying vinegar to pour over an infected wound, Susanna set off most mornings on her self-appointed task of becoming Stratford’s district nurse.

  It wasn’t long after her first meeting with John Hall that they met again in the humble home of a poor patient. For John, despite being a physician legally able to charge quite heavily for his services, spared as much time as possible for the wretched poor.

  ‘I am bringing some herbal medicines to the poor, I hope you don’t mind.’

  ‘Why should I mind, I am a believer in many herbal cures. My father, a physician, now dead, wrote a fascinating and popular book on the subject of herbal medicine and I would gladly lend it to you if you are interested in furthering your knowledge. Herbal treatment is a very important part of medical practice. Although nothing is as effective for accurate diagnosis as keen observation of the bodily humours and examination of the excreta. If we attend to all of these aspects of medicine and of course, if it is the will of God, we will improve the health of our people. There is even some talk of legalising exhumation of the bodies of criminals to enable medical students to better understand the function of our internal organs.’

  ‘Thank you John, I would be most interested to learn more about the art of healing and would be grateful to read your father’s book. My own father will be returning to Stratford next week for a short time. I know he will be most anxious to meet you again. Would you do us the honour of joining us at New Place next week for our evening meal?’

  A few days before William’s projected visit home, Queen Elizabeth I died. It was believed she suffered with blood poisoning. The Queen had a penchant for deadly white facial makeup largely comprised of lead. This, many said, “did for her.” The big surprise to recusant families and others was that she named James VI of Scotland as her successor. He was not a Catholic, but was married to Anne of Denmark who was Catholic. His mother, Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, was Mary Queen of Scots who also had been Catholic and who, ironically enough, was imprisoned in several castles in England for eighteen years and later beheaded on Queen Elizabeth’s orders.

  James VI of Scotland became James I of England and many thought that because both his mother, wife and daughter were Catholic he would make life a little easier for recusants and not punish them for their non-acceptance of the Protestant religion.

  *

  The night John Hall visited New Place was a merry one. William clearly remembered the fine impression the medical student had made on him years before.

  John asked, ‘Have you written a eulogy for the Queen? I understand your compan
y of players was privileged to perform regularly at the palace and you are one of our foremost poets.’

  ‘To be honest, I never gave it a thought. The Queen, for many years, ordered her men to pursue many members of my family and several friends. This they did relentlessly. The death of the Queen does not concern me. I look forward to the rule of King James I.’

  ‘I also have little to thank the Queen for. Certainly, she did not tolerate recusant Catholics, but also she did not tolerate people of my religion, we are also being fined for non-attendance at the official churches in England. To be hoped King James reverses these laws of unfair discrimination and leaves us alone to worship our God in our own way without interference from the State.’

  ‘I have always believed that the manner of one’s worship is immaterial as long as one is a fervent believer in Jesus Christ, our Saviour. But enough of that, I see, John, you have brought with you a book for Susanna to study and I am grateful for it. Susanna has a clever mind and I hope, in caring for some of your patients, she finds fulfilment. I know she has been searching for some virtuous occupation for several years.’

  ‘Susanna has already expressed an interest in herbal medicine and I am very much looking forward to her assisting me. This is a very large practice and on some days I find I must travel up to forty miles to attend a patient. I will greatly appreciate her help. To be completely honest with you I enjoy your daughter’s company very much.’

  ‘Excellent, I am most pleased to hear it. And, one day in the not too distant future, I would like you to visit me in London. We are not such bad fellows, those of us who perform for the people. In fact, I have recently completed a play which I believe to be the best I have ever written. It is the story of a melancholy Prince who is told that his father’s death was no accident, indeed he was murdered at the instigation of his own brother. It is a story of retribution and the eventual triumph of good over evil. And there is a Queen in the story who is in some ways not unlike our late-lamented Queen Elizabeth. I think you might enjoy it.’

  ‘I am amazed sir, all these years I have held such strong views about, if I may say “dissolute actors,” yet from the first time we met I began to reverse my long-held views. I will be most grateful for the opportunity to watch a performance of your play.’

  *

  The following day Susanna began her serious study of Herbal Medicine. She learnt how watercress enriched the blood; that an infusion of Red Clover Blossom, nettle and dried raspberry leaf was effective for infertility and that Valerian root induced tranquil sleep. She was soon aware that Wolf Bane for rubbing on inflamed joints was highly poisonous if taken by mouth. Vervain, known as the herb of grace because of its multitude of uses for physical problems, also could be effective for anxiety states and depression. She read of the diuretic properties of cranberry juice, the effectiveness of dandelion and birch leaves for bladder infection and that garlic was used in the Roman Armies to kill most forms of infection. Over the succeeding months, John willingly answered her eager questions about signs and symptoms of illness. Susanna had become his committed assistant.

  There was just one matter which kept her at a distance from him. She admired him but could never envisage a close relationship. She was a Recusant, he a Puritan, no matter what her father said they were poles apart, she would never even consider marrying someone who was so strongly opposed to the rites and ceremonies of the church that meant so much to her.

  ACT 3 - 4

  Robert Devereaux, the Earl of Essex, and several friends had visited William at The Globe back in 1601. They asked him to arrange a performance of Richard II. William was not inclined to do so, he felt he had almost outgrown historical plays. Nevertheless, they offered him a generous payment, so he acceded to their request. He also began to make enquiries of some of his peers as to Essex’s motivation.

  He soon discovered that Essex hoped to unseat the Queen with the assistance of several young nobles. At the same time a group of Catholic nobles, wrote to James VI of Scotland, son of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley, with the aim of finding what his attitude would be to Catholics if he assumed the English throne. James agreed that, in that event, he would be more tolerant towards Catholics than had Queen Elizabeth.

  But Robert Devereaux’s agenda was not limited to concern about Catholics. Two years before he had been sent to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant. His task was to crush Irish rebels. He did not do so, in fact sympathised with them. The Queen was furious with him; she ordered him gaoled for a year as well as imposing heavy fines on him. He was ruined financially and politically. He was after revenge and began planning what became known as the Essex Rebellion.

  His first step was to arrange for the highly popular Lord Chamberlain’s Men to perform Richard II, a play which would demonstrate to London audiences how simple it can be to depose a cruel and unsatisfactory monarch. In Richard II’s case, he was both deposed and executed.

  After making enquiries of his friends, it became readily apparent to William that Essex was after the Queen’s blood. He sensed insurrection in the air and he didn’t really mind. He had known and known of too many fine men who had been put to death at the Queen’s orders. There had been a queen on the English throne throughout his life and he didn’t much care for that. William Shakespeare privately believed that kings made for better and more balanced leaders. He liked his women feminine, educated and intelligent (just like his Ismene) and not ruthless, like the present queen. Nevertheless, he had no wish to be party to Essex’s plans and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men did not perform Richard II.

  The Essex Rebellion was destined to fail and did so. The plotters were comprised of too many young hotheads lacking in discretion. It was almost inevitable the Queen’s men would get to hear of the conspiracy. They did and took action. The leading conspirators were caught, tried and beheaded.

  Four years later, those who had escaped, regrouped, co-opted several new members including two from William’s family and set about blowing up Parliament.

  *

  Members of recusant families were aware and grateful that King James did begin his reign by reducing fines payable by recusants. However, they found he soon lost sympathy for Catholics because during 1603 and 1604, not long after he came to the throne, two groups of the Catholic nobility conceived of plans for insurrections. Their plots were uncovered and they were gaoled and fined heavily.

  Unfortunately for the Catholic families of England, after a temporary respite, a further and more extreme plot was hatched by a group of survivors from the failed Essex Plot of 1601 against Queen Elizabeth. According to this latest bunch of extremists, King James was not truly committed to allowing Catholics to legally practice their religion in their own homes. The King also ordered all Jesuits and other Catholic priests to leave the country. A Bill was introduced in Parliament to outlaw all Catholics. That was the last straw for those considering an overthrow of the King.

  The plotters were incensed. Twelve of them, led by Robert Catesby of noble lineage, came up with a plan to kill the King and most of his nobles at the ceremonial opening of Parliament in 1604. They hoped to place on the throne his daughter, as his successor. She, at that time, was only nine years old, and being brought up, in the midlands, as a Catholic. His two sons in London, were Protestants.

  Almost from the beginning things started to go wrong during the planning phase for their plot. Explosives were stored in Catesby’s house in Lambeth. The plan was to row them across the Thames at night and deposit them in some handy place near to Westminster Palace.

  As so often happened at that time, the fleas of rats, which were always nesting in the thatch roofs of houses, brought about yet another epidemic of Bubonic Plague. Every time the plague broke out in London, thousands died. And, so it was in 1604. Consequently, on several occasions the ceremonial opening of Parliament was postponed and the king remained at one of his country estates. In London it became necessary for the plotters, in order to avoid suspicion, to store the explosives i
n several different hiding places.

  In the middle of 1605, the plotters had a stroke of luck. A tenant was moving out of a cellar (as well as the many splendid chambers above, Westminster Palace had a maze of cellars and store rooms in which poor families lived). The plotters quickly rented this undercroft which was directly underneath the Lords’ Chamber. However, when they moved the gunpowder to these new premises, they discovered that long storage had caused it to decay. It would have to be replaced.

  At the eleventh hour, some plotters began to consider the moral side of their actions. A number of them became agitated when they rather belatedly came to terms with the fact that staunch Catholics from The House of Lords would die from their actions. Catesby, their leader, who was a great believer in the ends justifying the means, said that they would be dying for a good cause. Furthermore, he said, the plotters couldn’t risk failure by warning all the Catholic nobility to stay away from the Parliamentary opening ceremony.

  Catesby, nevertheless thought it might be a wise idea to discuss the matter in Confession with a priest (it is forbidden for a priest to reveal what is said in Confession, so Catesby didn’t worry about the risk of exposure and thought he might receive some helpful advice and the sanction of the church). Catesby hoped to be advised to go ahead with the plan which he and his conspirators believed to be a lesser evil than persecution of Catholics.

  Wives of plotters began worrying about possible outcomes and everyone was becoming edgy. Some plotters began to pull out. New people had to be asked to join for the sake of the continuation of Catholicism in England.

  John Grant, a member of the gentry, devout, fine-looking, an expert swordsman and a plotter, lived in a grand home near the village of Shottery, just two or three miles out of Stratford. He pondered the question of who amongst his acquaintances could be trusted to join this band of idealistic young bloods. He thought about the Shakespeare family. A well-known recusant family, not high-born but trustworthy and a family which, on numerous occasions, had seen their own kinsmen sentenced to death for treason. Surely there would be at least one of them who would be willing to join the band of men who intended righting the wrongs that were being done to them. Gilbert came to mind. He was a good man, a few years older than most of the conspirators, less foolhardy than many, definitely reliable. In many ways he was a simple man, one who would not ask awkward questions and the sort of man who could be trusted to keep a secret. John Grant was particularly worried about this latter point. Over the months the conspirators met many times in taverns and public places. He thought that was unwise and greatly feared they were being too careless and heedless of the risk of being observed. Some of his fellow plotters behaved like schoolboys and like schoolboys, in his opinion, were over-confident of the success of their venture.