Date WS (Stratford) EdV (Oxford)

Chronology of Edward de Vere adapted largely from Mark Anderson, SHAKESPEARE BY ANOTHER NAME;
some additions, and any mistakes, are mine. Chronology of William Shakespeare adapted from
Samuel Schoenbaum, http://home.hiwaay.net/~paul/shakspere/evidence1.html, and Michael Wood's In Search of Shakespeare
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, EdV's uncle and
Thomas and Henry Howard's father, executed for
treason

Edward de Vere born. His father is fond of the hunt

and has a troupe of players

1554-1562 EdV tutored by Sir Thomas Smith

1558-1559 EdV enrolled at Queen's College Cambridge

(through March 1559)

August 1561 Queen Elizabeth visits Castle Hedingham

July 1562 EdV contracted to marry into the Hastings family,
but the marriage falls through

August 1562 John de Vere, EdV's father, dies. EdV becomes the
first ward of Sir William Cecil and moves to
London. EdV's mother rapidly remarries to a man of
a far lower status than her first husband

1562 The "Cecil's Fast" bill, made fun of in Hamlet

1563 Translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses by Arthur
Golding, Oxford's mother's half-brother

1563 EdV tutored by Anglo-Saxon scholar Laurence

Nowell, who is then studying and translating the
unique Beowulf manuscript (the Nowell Codex)

April 1564 WS born at Stratford; baptized 26 April

Sept 1564 EdV receives bachelor's degree from Cambridge

Sept 1566 EdV receives MA from Oxford

Feb 1567 EdV enrolls at Gray's Inn, London, reading for the
law

July 1567 EdV kills undercook at Cecil House, "se

defendendo"

Dec 1567, Dec EdV is Master of the Revels at Gray's Inn CHECK
1568 THIS

Early 1570 EdV has a long illness in an inn in Windsor

Feb 1570 Pope Pius V proclaims Elizabeth and her reign

illegitimate and declares a holy war on her
April 1570 EdV joins Earl of Sussex in military campaign on the
Scottish border to suppress rebellion of Northern
Earls

April 1571 EdV sits in his first Parliament in the House of Lords

early 1571 (??) With Queen Elizabeth's support, Sir William Cecil
attempts to marry his daughter Anne to EdV, who
does not want the marriage

Feb 1571 Sir William Cecil becomes Baron Burghley,

preventing an accusation of disparagement against a
projected marriage between his daughter Anne and
EdV
Sept 1571 EdV's cousin and mentor, Thomas Howard, duke of
Norfolk, imprisoned for attempting to marry Mary
Queen of Scots, Elizabeth's Catholic rival for the
throne

EdV wins first jousting tournament, becomes one of

Elizabeth's favorites

late fall 1571 According to later reports, in this period EdV

attempts to rescue Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk,
and send him to Spain

Dec 1571 EdV is married to daughter of William Cecil, Baron

Burghley

Jan 1572 EdV publishes Latin preface to Latin edition of

Cardanus Comfort
June 1572 Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, beheaded for
treason

ca 1573 EdV rumored to be Queen Elizabeth's lover

May 1573 EdV's men assault Cecil's servants at Gad's Hill on

road to Rochester

June 1574 EdV runs away to Holland; Thomas Bedingfield

brings him back

Feb 1575 EdV begins Continental grand tour; attends

coronation of King of France
May 1575-Mar EdV goes through France and Italy, lives in Venice.
1576 During this period he apparently secretly becomes a
Catholic

Summer 1575 EdV hurts his knee on a Venetian galley, taking a

voyage that would include the newly annexed
seacoast of Bohemia (which belonged to that country
from 1575-1609). Ragusa (modern-day Dubrovnik)
was the usual watering-place for Venetian galleys
July 1575 Elizabeth de Vere born in England. The birth date is
mysterious because children were usually baptized
shortly after birth; Elizabeth de Vere is baptized in
September.

Sept 1575 Elizabeth de Vere baptized

Apr 1576 EdV, preparing to return home, hears news in Paris,

possibly from Rowland Yorke, that Anne Cecil has
been unfaithful to him

ca 20 Apr 1576 On the way back to England, EdV attacked by

pirates in the English Channel; his luggage is stolen
ca 23 Apr 1576 Believing that Anne has been unfaithful to him, EdV
refuses to live with his wife. This situation will
continue for six years

Jan 1577 Masque, A Historie of Error, performed at Court, the

first of several plays and masques with names similar
to later Shakespeare plays

Death of Don John of Austria

4/27/1904 Play, Portia and Demorantes, performed at Court;
supposed to show "the greediness of worldly
choosers and the bloody minds of usurers"

spring 1579 Lyly's Euphues, or the Anatomy of Wit, published;

Lyly is working as EdV's secretary

Sept 1579 EdV quarrels with Sir Philip Sidney ("tennis court
quarrel")

sometime in 1579 Anthony Munday becomes EdV's secretary

1580 (Feb??) EdV buys Fisher's Folly, which is across the street
from Bedlam Hospital
1580 Lyly's Euphues and his England published, dedicated
to EdV

1579 EdV begins love affair with Anne Vavasour, cousin

of Charles Arundel

June 1580 First of the clandestine Jesuit priests arrive in

England

The Paine of Pleasure published

late 1580 WS perhaps at Hoghton, where Edmund Campion was

writing his pamphlet Decem Rationes (Ten Reasons to
be a Catholic)

until late 1580 EdV is involved in a Catholic conspiracy with

Norfolk's brother Henry Howard, Anne Vavasour's
cousin Charles Arundel, and Francis Southwell
Dec 1580 The Catholics apparently begin to talk treason; EdV
betrays the conspiracy

Dec 1580-Jan 1581 Arundel Libels (by Charles Arundel) accuse EdV of
murder, atheism, pederasty, homosexuality, habitual
drunkenness, bestiality, necromancy, and treachery
(SBAN 167)

EdV fights Philip Howard, Norfolk's son and Henry

Howard's nephew, in the "Knight of the Tree of the
Sun" tournament. The speeches before address the
issue of loyalty to Elizabeth; Oxford writes and
delivers his own speech
Mar 1581 Anne Vavasour gives birth to EdV's illegitimate son;
Elizabeth puts both her and EdV in the Tower

Thomas Watson's Hekatompathia, a book of sonnets,

dedicated to EdV; an anonymous contributor gives a
remarkable critical introduction to each sonnet.
SBAN and other scholarship believe EdV to be the
author of these introductions

Mar 1582 EdV and Vavasour's uncle, Thomas Knyvet, duel;

EdV is seriously wounded and lamed; EdV's and
Knyvet's households engage in repeated quarrels
early- to mid-1582 EdV goes back to living with Anne Cecil; there is a
rumor that she played the "bed trick" on him and got
herself pregnant to make it happen

Marriage license issued to WS and "Anna Whately"

Marries Anne Hathaway; he is 18, she is 26

Performance of A History of Ariodante and

Genevora by the Merchant Taylors' Boys

Spring 1583 EdV leases Blackfriars Theatre in London; is

readmitted to court; travels to Oxford with court

May 1583 EdV's legitimate son by Anne Cecil is born and dies
 Susanna, Shakespeare's first daughter, baptized

1584 Anthony Munday sketches out the plot of the history

plays in A Watch-Woorde to England

Apr 1584 Bridget de Vere born, daughter of EdV and Anne

Cecil

May 1584 First moment at which WS of Stratford could have

made his principal residence elsewhere

July 1584 Assassination of William the Black Prince of

Orange, Dutch Protestant leader

Cecil reports that EdV and his daughter are destitute

Dec 1584 History of Agamemnon and Ulysses performed at
Court by the Earl of Oxford's Men

Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare, twin children,

baptized

Aug 1585 EdV goes to Lowlands to join English army

Oct 1585 EdV recalled to England

June 1586 Elizabeth gives EdV a yearly grant of a thousand

pounds, which will be continued until his death

Oct 1586 EdV participates in the trial of Mary Queen of Scots

Feb 1587 Mary Queen of Scots executed

May 1587 Susan de Vere, EdV's youngest daughter, born

1588-1589 Traditionally the period at which WS of Stratford came
to London

June 1588 EdV participates in battle against Spanish Armada

June 1588 Anne Cecil dies at her father's house

Dec 1588 EdV sells Fisher's Folly

1589
1589 George Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie lists EdV
as court author whose works would be widely lauded
if his "doings could be found out and made public
with the rest"

1590 Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, comes to

court; Cecil promotes marriage between
Southampton and his granddaughter Elizabeth de
Vere, EdV's daughter

1591
Dec 1591 EdV makes over Castle Hedingham in trust for his
three daughters, apparently as part of a general
attempt on Cecil's part to gain the remnants of the
Oxford fortune for his granddaughters

late 1591-early EdV marries Elizabeth Trentham of Rochester

1592

Aug 1592 Speaking of a debauch with Robert Greene, Nashe

refers to a "Will Monox" (EdV?). SBAN 256
Sep 1592 In Greene's Groatsworth of Wit, the author (Henry
Chettle?) notices Shakespeare, "an upstart crow
beautified with our feathers...the only Shake-scene in
the country," and parodies Henry VI, part III

1592 A "Willielmus Shackspere," in London, loans John

Clayton £7. Not clear that this is WS of Stratford;
Shakespeare is not an uncommon name
Jan 1593 Nashe's pamphlet Strange News dedicated to EdV as
"gentle Mr William" and refers to a "Will Monox"
(EdV?) who participated in a debauch with Robert
Greene (SBAN 258-260)

Feb 1593 EdV's son and heir, Henry de Vere, born

May 1593 Death of Christopher Marlowe

Summer 1593 Publication of Venus and Adonis, first appearance of the author named William Shakespeare
1594 Publication of The Rape of Lucrece (attributed to William Shakespeare) and of Titus Andronicus and the three Henry VI history plays (appeared
anonymously).

1594
late 1594? Becomes part-owner of L Chamberlain's Men? (see 15 Engagement broken between Elizabeth de Vere and
Mar 1595) earl of Southampton

Jan 1595 Elizabeth de Vere marries William Stanley, earl of

Derby
 An entry in the accounts of the Treasurer of the
Chamber reads: "To William Kempe, William
Shakespeare and Richard Burbage, servaunts to the
Lord Chamberleyne, upon the Councille's warrant
dated at Whitehall XVth Marcij 1594[/5], for two
severall comedies or enterludes shewed by them before
her majestie in Christmas tyme laste part viz St.
Stephen's daye and Innocents daye..."

1596 Moves to the parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate.

Burial of WS's only son Hamnet, who dies at 11 of the

plague
 First of two rough drafts of a Coat of Arms grant to
Shakspere (College of Arms, MS. Vincent. 157, art.
23; art. 24)

Michaelmas 1596 William Wayte "swore before the Judge of Queen's

Bench that he stood in danger of death, or bodily hurt,"
from "William Shakspere" and three others. Dated
"18th of St. Martin" 1596

1596 or 1597 EdV, his wife, and his son purchase and move to
King's Place, Hackney

Purchases New Place, Stratford

Named in the King's Remembrancer Subsidy Roll as a
tax defaulter in Bishopgate ward who failed to pay an
assessed 5s

Buys stone in Stratford: Wyllyn Wyatt Chamberlin "Pd

to Mr. Shakespere for one load of stone xd"

Abraham Sturley of Stratford writes his brother-in-law

that "our countriman mr Shaksper is willing to disburse
some monei upon some od yardeland or other Shottrei
or neare about us..."
 Named as having illegally held 10 quarters (80
bushels) of malt or corn during a shortage in Stratford

Aug 1598 Death of William Cecil, Baron Burghley

1598 EdV and Shakespeare listed as playwrights in

Francis Mere's Palladis Tamia

In the King's Remembrancer Subsidy Roll, listed as a

tax defaulter who failed to pay an assessed 13s.4d
 Richard Quiney of Stratford writes an undelivered
letter asking Shakspere for a £30 loan. It is written "To
my Loveinge good ffrend & contreymann mr wm
Shackespre" who "shall ffrende me muche in helpeing
me out of all the debettes I owe in London I thancke
god & muche quiet my mynde which wolde nott be
indebeted" (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records
Office, MS. ER 27/4). This letter is the only one ever
found addressed to William Shakespeare of Stratford.

Oct or Nov 1598 Adrian Quiney writes to Richard Quiney: "yff yow
bargen with Wm Sha or recover money therefor,
brynge youre money homme"
 Abraham Sturley writes Richard Quiney that "our
countriman mr Wm Shak. would procure us monei
which I will like of as I shall heare when wheare &
howe: and I prai let not go that occasion if it mai sort
to ani indifferent condicions"

1598
1598/99 Listed among those in Bishopgate ward who have
moved out of the district

1599 John Shakspere seeks to add his wife's family arms to

the recently acquired Shakspere arms

1599
 A tripartite lease for the Globe Theater consists of an
agreement between Sir Nicholas Brend (grounds
owner), the Burbage brothers, and five members of the
Lord Chamberlain's company, which included
Shakspere. It was described by John Heminges and
Henry Condell in their testimony during the 1619
Court of Requests action Witter v. Heminges and
Condell.

1599 In the Inventory of Sir Thomas Brend, Shakspere and

others (unnamed) are said to be occupying the Globe
Theater
 Shakspere is among those listed in the Lord Treasurer's
Remembrancer Residuum London accounts as
delinquents owing back-taxes (E. 372/444). "The
marginal note Surrey, and the reference to 'Residuum
Sussex', added later, signify that Shakespeare had
migrated across the river to the Surrey Bankside"

1600 EdV seeks governorship of Isle of Jersey

1600 "Willelmus Shackspere" brings suit against John
Clayton for a £7 debt. Not all scholars agree that
"Willelmus" was Shakspere the actor, since the debt
had been acknowledged in Cheapside in 1592

Aug 1600
 Listed in the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer
Residuum Sussex accounts (E. 372/445) and a "tax bill
of 13s.4d. is still outstanding. The notation Episcopo
Wintonensi in the left-hand margin indicates that the
Court of Exchequer had referred the dramatist's arrears
to the Bishop of Winchester, whose liberty of the Clink
in Surrey lay outside the sheriff's jurisdiction. The
natural inference is that Shakespeare now lived in the
Clink, although it is a curious fact that his name has
not been traced in any of the annual lists of residents of
the Clink parish (St. Saviour's) compiled by the
officers who made the rounds to collect tokens
purchased by churchgoers for Easter Communion,
which was compulsory"

1601
Feb 1601 Earl of Essex and Earl of Southampton lead revolt
against Elizabeth and Robert Cecil and lose;
Southampton condemned for treason and sent to
Tower; Essex beheaded

Will of Thomas Whittington. "Item I geve and bequeth

unto the poore people of Stratford 40s that is in the
hand of Anne Shaxspere, wyf unto Mr. Wyllyam
Shaxspere, and is due debt unto me..."

1602 EdV's troupe of actors, merged with Earl of

Worcester's Men, performing at the Boar's Head
Tavern
1602 Peter Brooke (York Herald) accuses Sir William
Dethick (Garter King-of-Arms) and his associate
Camden (Clarenceux King-of-Arms) of "elevating
base persons, and assigning devices already in use."
Brooke's 23 case complaint includes a drawing in
which Shakespeare is listed by the "appellation
player ... no doubt pejoratively intended"
(Schoenbaum)
 John Manningham writes in his diary "Vpon a tyme
when Burbidge played Rich. 3. there was a citizen
greue soe farr in liking with him, that before shee went
from the play shee appointed him to come that night
vnto hir by the name of Ri: the 3. Shakespeare
overhearing their conclusion went before, was
intertained, and at his game ere Burbidge came. Then
message being brought that Rich. the 3.d was at the
dore, Shakespeare caused returne to be made that
William the Conquerour was before Rich. the 3.
Shakespeare's name William. (Mr. Curle.)"

For £320, buys 107 acres of land and 20 acres of

pasture in Old Stratford from William and John Combe

Jul 1602
 Acquires a quarter-acre of land with "Chapel Lane
Cottage" and a garden

Michaelmas 1602 New Place is reconveyed to Shakspere, who pays a fee

equal to one fourth of the property's yearly value

1603

1603 Listed as "principal Tragoedian" (i.e. actor) in first

production of Ben Jonson's Sejanus his Fall

Mar 1603 Death of Elizabeth; accession of King James

17/18 May 1603 Two identically worded warrants are written for letters
patent authorizing "William Shakespeare...and the rest
of theire Assosiates freely to use and exercise the Arte
and faculty of playinge Comedies Tragedies histories
Enterludes moralls pastoralls Stageplaies and suche
others like as theie have alreadie studied or hereafter
shall use or studie aswell for the recreation of our
lovinge Subjectes as for our Solace and pleasure when
wee shall thincke good to see them duringe our
pleasure..." Robert Cecil is behind these warrants

Err:520
Mar 1603 Southampton released from Tower

July 1603 Coronation of King James; WS is among players given Coronation of King James; EdV performs
money for cloth to make costumes (see 3/15/1604) ceremonial role

July 1603 King James renews EdV's annuity

1604 Lodges with the Mountjoys just north of St. Paul's Susan de Vere becomes a of honor to Queen Anne.
Queen Anne, an enthusiastic amateur actor, performs
plays in private; Susan de Vere appears in more
plays than anyone but Anne

1604 Sues the Stratford apothecary Philip Rogers for

35s.10d plus 10s damages, seeking to recover the
unpaid balance on a sale of twenty bushels of malt and
a small loan
 In the Master of the Wardrobe record, Shakspere is
listed among "Players" who were given scarlet cloth to
be worn for the King's Royal Procession through
London

Death of Edward de Vere.

Survey of Rowington manor reports that "William

Shakespere Lykewise holdeth there one cottage and
one garden by estimation a quarter of one acre and
payeth rent yearly ijs vjd"

late 1604
Will of Augustine Phillips. "Item I geve and bequeathe
to my ffellowe william Shakespeare a Thirty shillings
peece in gould"

Purchases from Ralph Hubaud (Shakespeare

Birthplace Trust Records Office, MS. ER 27/2; Misc.
Doc. II, 3) "a half-interest in a lease of 'Tythes of
Corne grayne blade & heye' in three nearby hamlets ...
along with the small tithes of the whole of Stratford
parish, with certain exceptions honouring former
rights"
Dec 1605 Susan de Vere marries Philip Herbert, earl of
Montgomery, during the Christmas season at Court

1606 After his death, an inventory of Hubaud's land and

goods includes the notation that "There was Owinge by
Mr. Shakspre xxli"

Susanna Shakespeare fined as Catholic recusant for not

appearing at Easter service
17 Aug 1606 to 7 Brings suit against John Addenbrooke for £6, plus 24s.
Jun 1609 damages. Shakespeare won and an order was issued
for Addenbrooke's arrest. Addenbrooke failed to
appear in court and an attempt was made to force
Addenbrooke's surety, the blacksmith Thomas
Horneby, to pay the full amount

1607 Daughter Susanna marries Dr. John Hall.

Shakespeare's granddaughter, Elizabeth, is born in
1608
1608-09 Elizabeth Trentham de Vere is planning to sell
King's Place

Apr 1609 Elizabeth Trentham de Vere given permission to sell

King's Place; she sells it to Sir Fulke Greville, whose
Mustapha is pirated in 1609 by Okes and Butter, the
same printers who pirated King Lear in 1608
1609

1610 Court of Common Pleas fine serves to confirm

Shakspere's title to 107 acres of land and 20 acres of
pasture in Old Stratford, purchased in 1602 from
William Combe
1611 In a Stratford Court of Chancery Bill of Complaint
(Richard Lane et al. versus Doninus Carewe et al.,
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office, Misc.
Doc. II, 11), the "complainants, of whom Shakespeare
was one, asked that the other tenants pay their portion
of the mean rent of £26.13s.4d. reserved for John
Barker, who held the original lease on the tithes" (@
Schoenbaum 193). William Combe answered the
complaint, agreed to pay more than twice what he had
been, and asked that the other tenants pay their share
 Shakspere's name appears on a list of those supporting
"the Charge of prosecutynge [a] Bill in parliament for
the better Repayre of the highe waies and amendinge
divers defectes in the Statues alredy made"
(Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office, Misc.
Doc. I, 4). The Bill would have made the national
government responsible for repairs previously funded
by local residents.

May 1612 Death of Robert Cecil

1612
11 May to 19 Jun Called into court and asked to resolve a dispute
1612 regarding the amount offered by him as dowery when
he helped negotiate a marriage in 1604 (Public Record
Office, Court of Requests, Belott v. Mountjoy; etc.).
"Only Shakespeare himself could resolve the
question ... but what the portion was, or when it was to
be paid, Shakespeare could not say.... The witness
likewise professed ignorance of 'what implementes and
necessaries of houshold stuff' Mountjoy gave with
Mary" (Schoenbaum)

1613 Buys Blackfriars Gatehouse, a center of Catholicism

John Combe of Stratford bequeaths £5 to "mr William

Shackspere"
Buys Henry Walker's Blackfriars Gate-house with
William Johnson, John Jackson, and John Hemming
for £140. The deal involves "elaborate arrangements,
calling for trustees and a mortgage [whose] practical
effect would be to deprive Shakespeare's widow of her
dower right to a third share for life in this part of the
estate; for in a joint tenancy, Chancery would not
recognize Anne's privilege unless her husband had
survived the other trustees." See Michael Wood for
thie importance of the Blackfriars Gatehouse to
Catholicism
For work on the Earl of Rutland's impresa, payments
were made "To Mr. Shakspeare in gold, about my
Lordes impreso, xlivs.; To Richard Burbage for
painting and making it, xlivs." An impresa was a
symbolic design on a shield. This probably refers not
to WS of Stratford, but to John Shakespeare, bit-
maker, who made similar items.

Appears in a list of "Auncient ffreeholders in the

ffieldes of Oldstratford and Welcombe."
 Makes a covenant with Mainwaring's attorney William
Replingham (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records
Office, MS. ER 27/3), which "undertook to
compensate William Shackespeare or his heirs or
assigns 'for all such losse detriment & hinderance' with
respect to the annual value of his tithes, 'by reason of
anie Inclosure or decaye of Tyllage there ment and
intended by the said William Replingham'"

Nov 1614 to Sep Thomas Greene makes several notes regarding his
1615 "Cosen Shakspeare", in relation to the land enclosure
issue in Stratford
1615 William Herbert earl of Pembroke, Susan de Vere
Herbert's brother-in-law, wins appointment as Lord
Chamberlain to King James

On a Court of Chancery bill of complaint, listed

among those who sought to obtain Blackfriars property
documents

May 1615 Thomasina Ostler's court plea has a list of shareholders

for the Globe Theater and Blackfriars property which
includes Shakspere's name

1616 Daughter Susanna marries Dr. John Hall

Drafts will
Daughter Judith marries Thomas Quiney; she is 31 and
he is 27

Judith and Thomas Quiney excommunicated for

having married without a proper license

Modifies will to leave Judith money in her own right

(i.e. not controlled by Quiney), and signs it

Thomas Quiney prosecuted for "carnal copulation"

with Margaret Wheeler; she and her child by Quiney
had died that month

Dies (actually May 3 in the Gregorian calendar)

 Burial of "Will Shakspeare gent" is recorded in the
Stratford parish register . At some point thereafter, an
epitaph is carved on the stone above the grave and a
monument is erected on the wall of the church.

Nov 1616 Birth of Shakespeare Quiney, Thomas and Judith

Quiney's first child

1618 Publisher William Jaggard dedicates book Archaio-

Ploutos to Susan de Vere Herbert and her husband,
asking them to pick the "fairest fruitages" and
"bestow [them] how and where you list"
1619

1622

Nov 1623 Bookseller Edward Blount and father/son publishing

team of William and Isaac Jaggard publish First
Folio, dedicated to the earls of Pembroke and
Montgomery, brother-in-law and husband of Susan
de Vere Herbert
 Shakespeare the writer

NAME;

arch of Shakespeare
Surrey plays a major role in Sir Thomas
More; Shakespeare's Sonnets use the
sonnet form invented by Surrey

Sports, hunting, and plays/acting all

appear frequently as metaphors in
Shakespeare's work

Smith expert in medicine, politics, law,

all subjects familiar to Shakespeare
Members of the Hastings family appear
in early plays Henry VI part 3 and
Richard III

Cecil is widely supposed to be the

original of Polonius. Mother's
remarriage: Gertrude in Hamlet

Hamlet "You are a fishmonger"

Widespread influence on Shakespeare's
poetry; mentioned in Titus Andronicus,
where a boy brings the book onstage and
says "My mother gave it me."
Shakespeare knows both the original
Latin and Golding's translation

Anglo-Saxon poetry has general

influence on Shakespeare's poetry; some
critics note specific parallels with Hamlet
General influence of the law in
Shakespeare's plays. The Supposes,
possible source for Comedy of Errors, is
performed at Gray's Inn shortly before
EdV enters

Death of Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet?;

joke on se defendendo in Hamlet

Merry Wives of Windsor

Shakespeare is supposed by some
biographers and critics to have had
experience as a soldier

Bertram will be "disparaged" by marriage

to Helena in All's Well that Ends Well
Hamlet reads this book
Henry IV part 1, act 1, sc 2
Shakespeare's sympathy toward
Catholicism and use of Catholic beliefs.
Many Shakespeare plays set in France
and Italy; they show precise knowledge
of local geographic detail and customs
(SBAN 79-113).

Ragusa, described in precise geographical

detail, is the "imaginary" city of Twelfth
Night (SBAN 86-87)
Situation of irrationally jealous husband
in Othello;Rowland Yorke may be the
inspiration for Iago in Othello

Crossing the English Channel, Hamlet is

attacked by pirates, who steal his luggage
Suspicious husbands put away their
innocent wives in A Winter's Tale,
Cymbeline, Much Ado about Nothing

Early version of Comedy of Errors?

Referred to as dead in AWTEW (see July

1584). In general, this would be taken as
indicating a first possible date of
composition.
Early version of The Merchant of
Venice?

Shakespeare uses, then parodies,

Euphuism

Sir Thomas More

Frequent references to madness in

Shakespeare's plays. In this period, only
nobles and their companions could visit
Bedlam
Shakespeare's sympathy toward
Catholicism and use of Catholic beliefs

Shakespeare's sympathy toward

Catholicism and use of Catholic beliefs
Introductions to Hekatompathia show
influence of German rhetorician
Susenbrotus, who also influenced
Shakespeare; SBAN 183

Romeo and Juliet; Sonnets refer to

Shakespeare's lameness
Bed trick, errant idiot of a husband,
ennobled wife, and general situation in
AWTEW

Early version of Much Ado about

Nothing?
Referred to as alive in AWTEW (see
10/1/1578). In general, this would be
taken as indicating a last possible date of
composition.
Troilus and Cressida? Mark Anderson
argues that this play is EdV's plea to be
sent back to the Lowlands to fight
Sense of this being an apocalyptic war
echoes in the Henry IV-V plays?

Ben Jonson, in his introduction to the

1614 edition of Bartholomew Fair, says
Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy and Titus
Andronicus have been in vogue "these
five and twenty, or thirty years". Kyd's
Spanish Tragedy was written sometime
between 1582-1592, probably in the mid
to late 1580s; the implication seems to be
that Titus was written at about the same
time
Hamlet quoted in Thomas Nashe's
introduction to Robert Greene's
Menaphon

First Sonnets promote a marriage that is

likely to be this one. "Fair Youth of the
Sonnets" often traditionally identified as
Southampton

Edmund Spenser publishes The Tears of

the Muses, complaining that "our pleasant
Willy, ah! is dead of late"--that is, not
writing
Parallels with King Lear?

Henry VI part I is produced (first printed

1594)
Henry VI part II and part III first
performed; first printed 1594
 Called "dead shepherd" in As You Like It

r named William Shakespeare

dronicus and the three Henry VI history plays (appeared

An entry in Francis Bacon's notebook

quotes Romeo & Juliet. (Francis Bacon's
mother was Sir William Cecil's wife's
sister.)

Philip Henslowe calls Titus Andronicus a

"new" play; but according to the first
published edition it was performed by a
company that folded in early 1593; see
also 1589

Henslowe records a performance of a

play called Hamlet
If The Comedy of Errors is the same as
"A Night of Errors," first known
performance

Supposed to be the occasion of the

composition of A Midsummer Night's
Dream
Richard II, Richard III, and Romeo and
Juliet first published
Publication of Henry IV, part I, first play
with William Shakespeare listed as
author; Francis Meres lists Shakespeare
plays including R II, R III, TA, 2G of V,
LLL, R&J, MND, M/V,H IV pt I,and
Love's Labours Won. M/V recorded at
Stationers' Register on 22 July 1598.
Henry V refers to Earl of Essex's Irish
expedition of 1599
First publications of A Midsummer
Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice,
Henry IV part II, Much Ado about
Nothing, and Henry V
As You Like It in Stationers' Register
Appearance of "The Phoenix and the
Turtle" in Love's Martyr
Publication of The Merry Wives of
Windsor
First recorded performance of Twelfth
Night; almost 1/3 of the audience consists
of EdV's family and friends (Leslie
Hotson, First Night of Twelfth Night)
Stationers' Register describes Hamlet as
"lately acted"
Publication of "bad quarto" of Hamlet
L Chamberlain's Men,Shakespeare's
company, becomes King's Men, a change
brought about by Robert Cecil
First recorded performance of Troilus and
Cressida
First recorded performance of Othello

"Good Quarto" of Hamlet, last new

Shakespeare work to appear in print until
1609
For the first and only time, many of
Shakespeare's plays are performed during
the Christmas season at Court
First recorded performance of King Lear
Four new Shakespeare texts appear: True
Chronicle History of King Lear and his
Three Daughters (SR Nov 1607, pub
1608; a significantly different version
appears in the FF in 1623), Pericles (SR
May 1608), Troilus and Cressida, and
The Sonnets. Antony and Cleopatra is
also entered in the Stationers' Register in
May 1608, but not published; a play with
the name Antony and Cleopatra formed
part of Fulke Greville's library. (See
CHASING SHAKESPEARES)
Publication of The Sonnets, in which the
author is referred to as "ever-living".
"Ever-living" is almost universally used
to refer to a person who is dead.
First recorded performance of The
Tempest

Publication of Henry Peacham's Minerva

Britannia
Publisher William Jaggard publishes
reprints of 10 Shakespeare plays, the
"False Folio"

Othello published, first new work since

1609; production of First Folio begins

First Folio published