Shakespeare’s Parents

Mother: Mary Arden Born 1537 in Wilmcote, Warwickshire. One of eight daughters. The Ardens: A prosperous family. – Mary will inherit the family farm (right).

Father: John Shakespeare Born 1531 in Snitterfield, Warwickshire (his father is one of Robert Arden’s tenant farmers). He marries Mary in They move to the market town of Stratford, where John prospers as a maker of gloves.

1550s-1570s: Good Times - John and Mary have eight children; two die in infancy, but the third, William, born in 1564, thrives. John joins the Stratford Guild (local governing body) as ale taster (1556), constable (1558), alderman (1565), High Bailiff (1568), and Chief Alderman (1569). In 1569, John applies for a coat of arms. (It comes through in 1596.) John makes serious money in the black market wool trade.

1570s-1590: Hard Times 1570: John is prosecuted and fined for usury, and loses money when some bad debts default. 1571: John is fined for illegal trading in wool. 1570s: Mary sells her inheritance to pay off their debts. 1576: John withdraws from public life, missing council meetings to avoid being arrested for debt. 1586: He loses his position as alderman for non-attendance.

And turbulent times 1563: As Chamberlain, John is required to paint over the pictures in the Guild Chapel, as per Elizabeth’s requirement of the removal of all signs of idolatry and superstition, from places of worship, so that there remain no memory of the same in walls, glasses, windows, or elsewhere within their churches and houses. I, John Shakspear, have made this present writing of protestation, confession, and charter, in presence of the blessed Virgin Mary, my angel guardian, and all the celestial court, as witnesses hereunto: the which my meaning is, that it be of full value now presently and forever, with the force and virtue of testament, codicil, and donation in cause of death; confirming it anew, being in perfect health of soul and body, and signed with mine own hand; carrying also the same about me; and for the better declaration hereof, my will and intention is that it be finally buried with me after my death. Pater noster, Ave Maria, credo.

The old Guild Chapel

The whitewashed Guild Chapel

And dangerous times 1583: Edward Arden, a relative of Mary’s, is executed for treason – along with his son-in-law and a household priest.

1590s: Tragedy and Recovery 1590s: William, the eldest, does very well in the London theater, and makes money. 1596: Hamnet, their 11-year- old grandson, dies. 1596: William revives the request for a coat of arms, which is granted. 1597: William buys the second-largest house in Stratford, New Place.

1601: John Shakespeare dies, a Catholic. 1608: Mary Shakespeare dies, almost certainly a Catholic.