Shakespeare - a brief biography
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), also called ’The Bard of Avon’, is one of the most famous English poets and playwrights, but there is a lot of speculation about his biography. Many facts and dates about Shakespeare’s life are imprecise.
John Shakespeare and Mary Arden were Shakespeare’s parents. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, located right in the middle of England. The actual date of his birth is unknown, but April 23rd has been Shakespeare’s accepted birthday. He was baptized on April 26th, 1564, in the parish church Holy Trinity of Stratford-upon-Avon.
Shakespeare might have begun his education at the age of six (or seven) at the Stratford grammar school (which is still standing there, only a short distance from his house on Henley Street). As in all Elizabethan grammar schools, Latin was the primary language of learning. The study of Latin authors, like Seneca, Cicero, Ovid, Virgil and Horace, would have been part of the poet’s life.
It is said that Shakespeare had not finished his studies, because he was removed from school at around the age of thirteen, due to some familiar financial and social difficulties. It is totally unknown what Shakespeare did after he left school and before the 1580s.
In 1582, Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway got married in the village of Temple Grafton. According to some documents, three children were baptized as Shakespeare and Anne’s children: Susanna (1583-1649), who married the noted physician, John Hall, and the twins Judith (1585-1662) - who married Richard Quiney, and Hamnet (1585-1596), his only son, who died at the age of eleven of an unknown cause.
The period between 1585 and 1592 is called “the lost years”, because very little is known about Shakespeare’s life. Some time after the twins were born, Shakespeare moved to London, where he became a respected playwright, with influential friends and connections.
According to the Shakespeare monument, he died on April 23rd, in 1616, and lies buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. His wife, Anne Hathaway, died in 1623 and is buried beside him.