Shakespeare authorship: Shakespeare the man. What we know of his life (quite a lot, actually!)

It's often said that we know almost nothing about Shakespeare. That's a myth, propping up the so-called "authorship question". The documentary record is rich, ranging from his baptism in the ...Stratford parish register (Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakspere) to the Henley Street property papers, his 1582 marriage in the Worcester diocese records, his children's baptisms, his property purchases in Stratford and London, his will and Francis Meres naming him in print, in 1598, as the leading English writer for both comedy and tragedy. These are just some of the items in the verifiable paper trail. This video walks through what these documents actually show, and where you can see them for yourself.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Baptism, Henley Street, and the King's New School
2:10 The marriage records at Worcester
2:24 Children, London, New Place, the Globe
3:14 Francis Meres and Palladis Tamia (1598)
3:50 "Mellifluous and honey-tongued Shakespeare"
4:20 Research it yourself: the Folger and the Birthplace Trust

A study guide accompaniment to this video, with a full table of the documentary record, can be found here:
https://educationalhub.org/shakespeare-the-man-study-guide/

This video is part of the playlist Shakespeare Authorship: Shakespeare the Man:
[PLAYLIST URL]

Who did Shakespeare actually know? The evidence of his Stratford friends:
[STRATFORD FRIENDS STANDALONE URL]

Explore the documents: the Folger Shakespeare Library's Shakespeare Documented online exhibition, and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

(A small correction: at 3:31 I say 'signature' — strictly, Palladis Tamia is numbered by the leaf, and the passage is on the recto of leaf 280.)

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4 Comments

@hbros6811

November 23, 2021 1:10 pm

Cool video, I’m from Vietnam so even though I have heard about shakespears, I know nothing about him, so I really don’t know how to react to this video lol
But looking at you passionate with things you like, I’m kinda happy not gonna lie, beside you do a really good job with the editing and the subtitles. It has Vietnamese as well.
So your works are really amazing and I just want to say that
Peace.

@anosensei

November 23, 2021 1:42 pm

Oh! Thank you! Yes, I love making these videos. I started when I retired, about three and a half years ago. Making them makes me happy, and if it brightens up someone else’s day – well, that’s what I hoped for! Thanks again!

And if you want Vietnamese subtitles on any of my other videos, just let me know and I’ll add them…

@hbros6811

November 23, 2021 1:49 pm

@anosensei Well if the video is not too hard to understand for a non native speaker like me, you don’t really need to add one
But like this video, the music is a little bit loud for me, so it’s kinda hard to understand what you are saying, the subtitles definitely comes in handy
And thank you for making my days as well, even though you have gone pretty much your whole life, I still see some youth in you, kinda like it because I’m still a kid haha
But I will definitely check out your Youtube channel more when I have a bad day
Again, thanks for your efforts

@anosensei

November 23, 2021 9:23 pm

@hbros6811 Thanks for the feedback! I’m learning as I go along, but getting the sound balance right is one of the hardest things for me. And, yes, I’m just a big kid at heart!

Have a good day!

Shakespeare the Man: What We Know of His Life