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.
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Epub ISBN 9781473530256
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BBC Digital, an imprint of Ebury Publishing,
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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
