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Curated category

16th-century English dramatists and playwrights

  • William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and baptised on the 26th of April 1564. His father John worked as an alderman and a…
  • Ben JonsonBenjamin Jonson was born in June 1572, possibly on the 11th day of that month. His father died a single month before his birth after losing property and…
  • Christopher MarloweChristopher Marlowe was baptised at St George's Church in Canterbury on the 26th of February 1564. He was the second child born to John Marlowe, a local…
  • Robert Greene (dramatist)A baptism record from the 11th of July 1558 at St George's church in Norwich offers the only concrete anchor for a man whose life remains slippery.
  • Thomas KydThomas Kyd entered the world through a church record on the 6th of November 1558. The entry at St Mary Woolnoth in London listed him as the son of Francis…
  • Henry WottonHenry Wotton was born on the 30th of March 1568 at Bocton Hall in Kent. His father Thomas Wotton died in 1587 leaving Henry only a hundred marks a year.
  • Thomas NasheThomas Nashe entered the world on the 30th of November 1567 in Lowestoft, a coastal town in Suffolk. His father William served as curate there before the…