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In Search of Shakespeare

Page 43

by Michael Wood


  brothers and sisters 31, 72, 331–2, 363, 364–5

  children 94, 95, 105

  and collaboration 318–20, 330, 346–7, 368–70

  and the Coventry mysteries 61–3

  death 375–8

  death of son Hamnet 179–81

  early career 137–9

  early education 49–52

  education at Stratford grammar school 52–8

  family and ancestors 16–26

  Folio Edition 225–6, 299, 317

  Folio portrait 137, 282

  and the Grafton portrait 136–7

  and history 13–14, 18–20, 143–4

  investments in land 265, 324, 326

  as a King’s Man 282, 286–8

  language and linguistic roots 17–18, 45–6, 302–3

  and Latin 53, 55, 68, 241

  leaves school 68, 73–4

  Tost years’ 86–7, 105–19

  marriage 88–94

  and medieval Christian traditions 13–14, 39, 66–7

  and the poaching myth 106–8

  and the Queen’s Men 112–18

  and religion 12, 20–1, 25, 27, 28–9, 36–8, 84, 174, 264, 293–5, 315, 324–5, 340–1, 376–7, 380

  and Roman plays 60–1

  seal ring 373

  and sixteenth-century language 379–80

  and small-town Warwickshire 45–6, 305

  will 365, 370–1, 372, 373–5

  writing in progress 289–91

  Shakespeare, William, Elizabeth (granddaughter of WS) 137

  Shottery, Hathaway house at 88, 374–5

  Sidney, Philip 147, 194

  Arcadia 184, 280

  Defence of Poesie 145, 157–8, 369

  Sierra Leone 14, 329–30

  Simon de Montfort 26

  Sir Thomas More 289–91, 292

  Skeres, Nicholas 163

  Skinner family at Rowington 78, 98, 101–2

  Sly, William 166, 244, 341

  Smart, Richard 92

  Smith, Alderman William 32, 36, 109

  Smith, Henry 174, 294

  Soer, Dorothy 184, 185

  Somerville, John 95, 97–8, 100, 301

  Somerville plot 95–104, 106, 232

  sonnets 136, 172, 173, 188–93, 195–200, 201, 281–2, 295, 331, 370, 371–2

  the beautiful boy 188–9, 190–3, 195–200, 201, 335, 336

  the Dark Lady 188–9, 190, 201–20, 273, 335, 336

  and Elizabeth’s death 277–8

  and James I 283–6

  marriage poem 92–4, 111, 336–7

  publication of 189–90, 335–7

  Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, Earl of 154–5, 156–7, 165, 191, 255, 256, 279, 283, 288

  Southwell, Robert 79, 108, 158–61, 165, 170, 171–4, 175, 206, 294, 305, 327

  ‘The Burning Babe’ 160, 173–4

  Spanish Armada (1588) 117, 119, 120, 143

  Speed, John 341

  Spencer, Gabriel 239

  Spenser, Edmund 144–5, 151, 154, 161, 252

  Stow, John 125, 131, 221, 267

  Strachy, William 360

  Strange, Lady Alice 144

  Strange, Lord 117, 137, 138, 139

  Strange’s Men 112, 134, 138, 139, 166, 244

  Stratford-upon-Avon 23–5

  and Catholicism 38–9

  enforcement of anti-Catholic laws 70–1, 75–6, 148, 150, 316–17

  economic depression (1590s) 235–6, 264–5

  grammar school 23, 50, 52–8

  guild chapel 9–10, 12–13, 14, 381

  guildhall 58–9

  Henley Street house 22, 29, 34–5, 40, 41, 43, 81, 95, 110, 179, 233, 236

  Holy Trinity Church 33, 34

  house building 33

  New Place 231–3, 236, 265, 370, 374, 378

  and the Northern Rebellion (1569) 47–8

  plague in 35–6

  and the Protestant Reformation 11

  trade with London 15–16, 24, 44

  villages around 18, 21, 42

  Style, Humphrey, vicar of Sp email 37

  Sussex’s Men 139

  Swan Theatre 124, 184, 186, 187

  Symons, Richard 35

  The Taming of the Shrew 138, 148

  Tarlton, Richard 56, 115, 116, 134, 138, 142

  Taylor, William 299

  The Tempest 53, 66, 220, 230, 293, 331, 346, 347, 355–62, 367

  Temple Grafton church 90–1, 92

  Temple, Peter 43–4

  the Northern Rebellion (1569) 46–7

  Thorpe, Thomas 191, 192

  Throgmorton family 20, 31, 97

  Throgmorton, Francis 97, 98, 100

  Throgmorton, Robert 96

  Thurkill, Lord 26

  Timon of Athens 35, 145, 317–18, 323, 369

  Titus Andronicus 50, 61, 138, 140–1, 144, 173, 275

  Tolstoy, Count Leo 371

  Topcliffe, Richard 158, 159, 171, 175–8, 201

  Tresham family 20, 310

  The Trial of Chivalry 352

  Troilus and Cressida 250, 260–1, 263, 264

  Trussell, John 173

  Twelfth Night 60, 105, 121, 185, 251–2, 259, 330

  Two Gentlemen of Verona 115, 141–2, 308

  The Two Noble Kinsmen 347, 369–70

  Tyrone, Earl of 253

  Underhill family 20, 98, 232

  Venus and Adonis 153–4, 155–7, 160, 161, 165, 191, 234, 279

  Virgil 66, 260, 360

  Aeneid 357–8

  Vizor, George 43

  Walker, William 335, 374

  Walsingham, Sir Francis 97, 98, 100, 114, 127, 147, 163

  Walton, Nicholas 76

  War of the Poets 248–52, 259–61, 261–2

  Wars of the Roses 26, 97, 143

  Warwickshire

  dialect 19–10, 44–5, 104

  Diggers’ revolt 326–8

  farming families 16

  and the Gunpowder Plot 310

  life of small-town 45–6, 305

  poverty in 110

  story-telling 50–2

  Watson, Thomas 93, 94, 206

  Wayte, William 184

  Webbe, Robert 73

  Webbe, Thomas 72

  Weever, John 189, 273

  Wheeler, Elizabeth 39

  Wheeler, John 109

  Wheeler, Margaret 372

  Whitgift, John, Archbishop of Canterbury 162

  Whittington, Thomas 237

  Whythorne, Thomas 208–9, 211, 218

  Wilkes, Thomas 96, 98, 100, 102, 103

  Wilkins, George 319, 320, 333–4

  Wilkinson, Robert 327

  Williams, Sara 109, 300, 302

  Willis, Robert 59

  Wilmcote, Arden family house in 27–8, 36, 233

  Wilson, Thomas, Art of Rhetorique 55

  Winifrid of Holywell, St 31, 81, 310

  Winter family 20, 310

  The Winter’s Tale 43–4, 45, 177, 331, 334, 340, 346, 348–52, 354, 367, 372

  Worcester, Earl of 258

  Wotton, Henry 355, 368

  Wroth, Mary 193, 194

  Wroxall 18, 22

  Yorke, Sir John and Dame Julian 339

  A Yorkshire Tragedy 319

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Any work on Shakespeare is a collaborative venture and in writing this book, and making the films, my debts are unusually great.

  In Stratford At the Birthplace Trust: Roger and Marion Pringle, Josephine Walker, Anne Donnelly, Susan Brock, Mairi McDonald, Lorraine Finch; Jon Colton and the staff at Henley Street; Richard Morris and everyone at Wilmcote; Charles, Gail and all at Shottery; Ann Kenyon and the Halls Croft staff; Mary and all at Nash’s house. Thanks too to Bob Bearman for chewing over many knotty problems; and Stanley Wells who was prepared to be a sounding board and, with the typical generosity he shows towards all students and seekers, read my final draft: needless to say any errors of fact interpretation remain mine. Thanks to Liz Flower, our wonderful fixer. Others in Stratford-upon-Avon inclu
de Richard Edgington and all the town council; Martin Gorick, vicar at Holy Trinty; Tim and Iwona Moore-Bridger, and all the staff, boys and parents at King Edward VI Grammar School; Keith Wilmot, the Latin master; and special thanks to Perry Mills for his wonderful support at all times, especially in putting on sections of Ralph Roister Doister and Poetaster.

  The players Our first and greatest debt is to the Royal Shakespeare Company, starting with Adrian Noble who first supported the project and put us in touch with Greg Doran, who made it all possible. Greg’s enthusiasm, knowledge, humour and skill was an inspiration to us all, and it is fitting that our shows went out in the year he received an Olivier award for achievement in the theatre. The excerpts were performed by Tony Sher, Harriet Walter, Jane Lapotaire, Julian Glover, Mal Storry, Estelle Kohler, Alex Gilbreath, Ray Fearon, Des Barrit, Gerald Kyd, Jo Stone Fewings, Nancy Carroll, Steve Noonan, Rob Whitelock, Adrian Schiller and Simon Trinder – and if one could bottle what they have one would make a fortune. On the road with us were Linda Hood, Vic Cree, Pip Horobin, Stuart McCann and Brenda Leedham; thanks too to Roger Mortlock and Lynda Farren at the RSC and all the staff at the Swan Theatre. Thanks also to Mark Rylance, Claire Van Kampen, Sherri Plant and Rowan Walter-Brown and the Globe Company as well as Anthony Arlidge from the Middle Temple for a truly memorable performance of Twelfth Night. Also ‘The Comedy Store Players’ who helped us imagine Shakespeare’s comedy: Jim Sweeney, Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Lee Simpson, Neil Mullarkey, Richard Vranch and Andy Smart.

  The scholars Stanley Wells, Andy Gurr, Peter Blayney, Frank Brownlow, Richard Wilson, David Cressy and Imtiaz Habib gave freely of their expertise; so too did Alexandra Walsham and Marion Wynne-Davies; Alison Shell and Siobhan Keenan who generously helped me with their unpublished research. To Alan Nelson I owe Cordelia Taylor and the anatomisings (here). Nat Alcock, Peter Davidson, Judith Mossman, Tim Wilks and David Crankshaw kindly answered my questions. My thanks too to Pam Willis at the Priory of St John; David Trendell for the Byrd Mass; Philip Burden; the Liverpool Archaeology Unit; Robin Whittaker and the Worcester Record Office; the Bishop of Worcester; Dereck Maudlin, the Warwick town clerk; John Schofield at the Museum of London; Peter Milward, Tom McCoog and the English Society of Jesuits; the John Rylands Library; Dr Christine Hodgetts and the Record Offices in Warwick, Nottingham, Birmingham, Norfolk, Hampshire and Stoke; Jan Graffius at Stonyhurst College; Helen Clish and Lancaster University Library; Guy Hutsebaut and the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp; the London Guildhall Library; David Beasley and the Goldsmiths; Ian Murray, Alan Eastburn and the Company of Barber Surgeons; Robin Myers and the Stationers’ Company. At the National Monument Record: Anna Eavis, Anne Woodward, Ian Savage and Tony Rumsey. I am especially indebted to Jan Piggott at Dulwich College and Ian Dejardin and the staff of Dulwich Picture Gallery; Sir Paul Getty and Bryan Maggs at the Wormsley Library and Georgiana Ziegler at the Folger. Among many archives my greatest debt is to David Thomas at the PRO for his tremendous help; thanks also to Hugh Alexander and the rest of the staff for allowing us behind the scenes; and at the British Library thanks to Hugh Cobb, and the staff of the Departments of Western Manuscripts and Printed Books.

  Descendants, eye witnesses and practitioners I would like to thank William Hunt and the staff of the College of Arms; Sir Bernard and Lady de Hoghton; Christopher Allen and Gill Godfrey at Ede and Ravenscroft; Mark Booth, David Meredith and the National Trust staff at Rufford and Sutton House; Alan Longstaff and his helpers who were so generous at Baddesley Clinton; Sir Edmund Fairfax Lucy at Charlecote; Lord Montague of Beaulieu; the Herbert family at Wilton House; the Derby family at Knowsley; the Earl of Rutland; Hedley Duncan at the House of Lords; David Schwarz and all at St Winifrid’s Well; Mark Beabey; Nick Pank; Bill Turner; Alan Fiddes; Leslie Winfield; Nicole Ryder; Billy McKeen; Peter Shakeshaft; Peter McCurdy; Anne Payton; Marc Meltonville and the experimental archaeologists at Hampton Court; Billy Purefoy and Paula Chateauneuf for the wonderful Cardenio music; Crispins of Shoreditch; Rev Brian Lee at St Botolph’s, Aldgate; Wendy Harrington and all at the New Inn in Gloucester; the staff at Leicester Guildhall; the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace.

  The film makers At Maya Vision Rebecca Dobbs was the producer who cheerfully held it all together, Sally Thomas was the wonderful line producer and Barbara Bouman did a huge amount of rare picture and textual research; John Cranmer as usual was the computer wizard and Kevin Rowan the accountant. The director was David Wallace who with Peter Harvey and Neil Lacock swapped the Andes and the Hindu Kush for the M40. Thanks too to Dave Scott, Jeff Baines and Peter Eason as well as Lucy Wallace, Rosa Rogers, Nicol Smith and all the FT2 trainees who worked on the films. Our fantastic editor Gerry Branigan whose contribution as always goes far beyond the editing of pictures and Sally Hilton who stepped in to help at very short notice; Howard Davidson who did the music and the graphic artists Dave McKean and Chris Krupa. Thanks also to Lavinia Trevor and Kevin Sim. At BBC Books my thanks as ever to Chris Weller, Sally Potter, and Shirley Patton; Martin Redfern and Linda Blakemore who did a great job on the book; Pene Parker; Esther Jagger who performed the heroic task of reducing and editing my huge original text. Thanks too to all those in BBC Television who have been involved in the films: Laurence Rees who first supported us and whose advice is always valued by we programme makers, Jane Root for commissioning the series, Krishan Arora our Executive Producer and Adam Kemp in BBC Independent Commissioning. In the States Leo Eaton, Executive Producer for PBS, was our rock as always; thanks too to Jacoba Atlas and all at PBS, including John Wilson, Jack Dougherty, Sandy Heberer and Jim Guerra for their support, not forgetting Kathy Quattrone for setting the ball rolling.

  Friends and family I would like to thank the many friends, going back over forty years to my school and college days, with whom I acted in Shakespeare’s plays. Also Richard Cottrell and Jonathan Miller, and Jonathan James-Moore and members of the Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare Company. But above all my thanks go to the two inspiring teachers who first taught us Shakespeare in Manchester in the 1960s, did plays and took us by bus to Stratford in the days before the motorway to see the great productions of that time – among them Hugh Griffith and Paul Rogers doing ‘Banish plump Jack’. Few gifts are more precious and it is with the deepest gratitude that the names of Bert Parnaby and Brian Phythian are inscribed at the front of this book

  My greatest debt as always is to my family: to my daughters Mina and Jyoti and my wife Rebecca, who with her insight and support has contributed more than she will ever know to this book and who bore with great patience my relationship with the man from Stratford. This book is really as much hers as mine; and my debt to her goes beyond what can be put into words.

  PICTURE CREDITS

  Picture section 1

  1 National Portrait Gallery.

  2 Mayavision International Ltd/David Wallace; Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

  3 By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library; Oxford Picture Library/Chris Andrews; Special Collections, Case Library, Colgate University Library; 4 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

  5 By kind permission of the Trustees of Stonyhurst College; Mary Evans Picture Library; Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

  7 Mayavision International Ltd/David Wallace; Reproduced by permission of English Heritage/NMR.

  8 The John Rylands University Library of Manchester; Pepys Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge; The Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge.

  Picture section 2

  1 Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge/Bridgeman Art Library; By kind permission of the Trustees of Stonyhurst College; Dennis Field, under the direction of William Hunt, Windsor Herald.

  2 Antiquarian Images; Hulton Archive.

  3 By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library; National Portrait Gallery, London; National Portrait Gallery, London; By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

  4 By permission of the British Library.

  6 By permission
of the Folger Shakespeare Library; Barber Institute/University of Birmingham; Dulwich Picture Gallery, London/Bridgeman Art Library.

  7 Reproduced by permission of English Heritage/NMR.

  8 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust; The National Archives; Shakespeare Birthplace Trust/David Wallace.

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Epub ISBN 9781473530256

  Version 1.0

  2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3

  BBC Digital, an imprint of Ebury Publishing,

  20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,

  London SW1V 2SA

  BBC Digital is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com

  Copyright © Michael Wood 2003, 2005

  Michael Wood has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  First published by BBC Books, BBC Worldwide Ltd, in hardback 2003

  This paperback edition first published in 2005

  Commissioning editors: Shirley Patton and Sally Potter

  Project editor: Martin Redfern. Copy editor: Esther Jagger

  Designer: Linda Blakemore. Picture researcher: Sarah Hopper

  Cartographer: Olive Pearson. Production controller: Christopher Tinker

  www.eburypublishing.co.uk

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 9780563521419

 

 

 


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