Curated playlist
William Shakespeare
- William Shakespeare's collaborationsEdward III sat in print for 60 years before anyone linked it to Shakespeare. It appeared anonymously in 1596.
- Shakespeare's willShakespeare left his wife Anne only his second-best bed. The line was squeezed into his will in a shaky hand.
- William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare called himself in "perfect health" in his will, then died within a month.
- Sexuality of William ShakespeareIn 1640, a publisher changed most of the male pronouns in Shakespeare's sonnets to female.
- Greene's Groats-Worth of WitMost scholars read Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit as the earliest surviving criticism of Shakespeare.
- Lord Chamberlain's MenIn 1598, Shakespeare's acting company took apart its own theater and rebuilt it as the Globe.
- Bellott v MountjoyA dowry lawsuit holds the only London address yet found in documents for Shakespeare.
- Shakespeare coat of armsA misplaced comma in a draft made the Shakespeare motto read 'No, without right'. It was crossed out and corrected.
- Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorshipSigmund Freud found persuasive the idea that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, wrote Shakespeare's plays.
- Spelling of Shakespeare's nameShakespeare never signed his name the way we spell it. Six signatures survive, and none reads "Shakespeare".
- Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-AvonShakespeare was buried in the chancel because he leased church tithes. That made him a lay rector of Holy Trinity.
- Globe TheatreThe Globe Theatre burned down in 1613 when a stage cannon misfired during Henry VIII.
- King's Men (playing company)The King's Men lost the Globe to fire in 1613 but kept their scripts and costumes.
- Religious views of William ShakespeareWas Shakespeare a secret Catholic in a Protestant kingdom? Scholars have argued about it for more than 150 years.
- King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-AvonKing Edward VI School was re-founded just nine days before the young king died.