Shakespeare

            William Shakespeare was born sometime late in April in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England to parents John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. There is no record of his birth, but his baptism was recorded by the church so it is assumed to be April 23. William was the third child of eight. John Shakespeare was a prominent and prosperous alderman. He was later granted a coat of arms by the College of Heralds. The Shakespeare's were comfortable, but not aristocrats by any means. .
             Shakespeare began his education at the age of seven and assumed to have enrolled in the Stratford grammar school. The students there studied Latin rhetoric, logic, and literature. He is said to have loved playing sports and arguing with the referees. Around the age of fifteen, 1579, the family's value began to decline and it was time for young Shakespeare to make a living.
             The next record of William Shakespeare is his marriage. In November of 1582, when William was only 18, he received a license to marry Anne Hathaway, who, at the time, was 26. The next year their first child, Susanna, was born, followed by twins- a boy, Hamneth, and a girl, Judith, two years later. From the years 1585 to 1592, there is nothing known about his departure from Stratford to London, or about the beginning of his theatrical career. .
             In1592 Shakespeare was recognized as an actor, poet, and playwright when a rival playwright, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow". A few years later William joined one of the most successful acting troupes in London: "The Lord Chamberlain's Men" in which he held shareholder's duties along with acting. By 1594 he had written at least six plays including "The Comedy of Errors" and "Venus and Adonis". .
             As his fame and success grew Shakespeare was able to buy the second-largest house in Stratford, called New Place, a cottage and garden nearby, and 107 acres of soccer field. Shakespeare's acting troupe lost their lease in 1599 and built their own theatre across the Thames, called "The Globe".