1527 John Dee born
1531 Probable year of birth of William Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare
1533 Queen Elizabeth I the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, was born
1540 Probable year of birth of William Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden
1550 Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford born
1550 Philip Henslow born
1552 Edmund Spenser born
1552 Sir Walter Raleigh born
1556 Robert Arden dies (Shakespeare’s maternal grandfather.)
1556 Mary Arden was named as one of the Executers of her father’s will
1557 Marriage of Shakespeare’s father, John, at the age of 26 to Mary Arden, aged 17 years
1557 John Shake-speare was elected as ale-taster of the Borough of Stratford
1558 November 17, Accession of Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth succeeded her Catholic sister Mary I and
re-established the Protestant Anglican Church. (Reigned 1558 – 1603)
1558 Joan, the first child of John and Mary, sister to William, was born but only survived two months
when she died of the Bubonic plague (Black Death)
1561 John Shake-speare was elected as Chamberlain of the Borough of Stratford
1561 Richard Shakespeare dies (William Shakespeare’s paternal grandfather)
1561 William Stanley, the 6th Earl of Derby born
1561 Sir Francis Bacon born
1561 Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke born
1562 Margaret, sister to William, was born – she died one year later
1564 February 6 Birth of Christopher Marlowe
1564 April 23 William Shakespeare was born
1564 April 26,William Shakespeare’s baptism
1565 John Shake-speare became Alderman
1566 Gilbert Shakespeare was born
1566 October 13, Gilbert, brother of William Shakespeare was baptised at Holy Trinity
1566 Edward Alleyne born
1567 Birth of Richard Burbage (Actor)
1568 John Shake-speare became Bailiff of Stratford (equivalent to Mayor)
1569 Another daughter, also called Joan was born (sister to William Shakespeare)
1570 John Shakespeare became Chief Alderman
1570 John Shakespeare was accused in the Exchequer Court of Usury for lending money at the rate of
20% and 25% Interest
1570 The excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I by the Catholic Church
1570 The application of John Shakespear to bear a Coat-of-Arms and for the title of Gentleman failed
1571 Anne Shakespeare was born
1571 September 28, Anne, sister of Shakespeare was baptised
1572 Birth of John Donne (Poet, Minister and Courtier)
1572 Leicester’s men play Stratford
1572 Birth of Ben Johnson (Actor)
1572 August 24, St Bartholomew’s Day massacre where French Protestants were massacred by French
Catholics in Paris which was witnessed by Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis
Walsingham. Similar atrocities elsewhere in France result in thousands of deaths, and caused panic
in England with fears of a Catholic invasion.
1574 Richard was born, brother to William Shakespeare,
1574 Warwick’s men play Stratford
1574 March 11, Richard, brother of William Shakespeare was baptised
1576 James Burbage (father of the actor, Richard Burbage) obtains lease and permission to build The
Theatre in Shoreditch, London
1576 Roger Manners, Fifth Earl of Rutland born
1577 The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland were published by Holinshed
1577 Another open air amphitheatre called The Curtain opens in Finsbury Fields, Shoreditch, London
1578 John Shakespeare became behind with his taxes
1578 to 1582 The first of Shakespeare’s ‘ Lost Years ‘ This period covers the time between Shakespeare
leaving school and his marriage to Anne Hathaway.
1578 Lord Strange’s men play Stratford
1578 Essex’s men play Stratford
1579 John Shake-speare was forced to mortgage Mary’s estate, Asbies
1579 Anne died, sister to William Shakespeare
1580 William Shakespeare is fined £40 for missing a court date
1580 Edmund Shakespeare was born
1580 May 3, Edmund, brother of William Shakespeare was baptised
1580 Berkeley’s men play Stratford
1581 Worcester’s men play Stratford
1582 November 27, A marriage licence was issued by the Episcopal register at Worcester to Wm
Shaxpere and Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton, Warwickshire.
1582 November 28, A Marriage Bond on the episcopal register records issue to William Shagspeare and
Anne Hathwey of Shottery, Stratford
1582 Berkeley’s men play Stratford
1583 May 26, The baptism of Susanna Shakespear. Susanna was the Shakespeares’ first child, born six
months after the wedding of her parents.
1583 The Queen’s Company is formed in London
1584 Christopher Marlowe received his a bachelor’s degree
1584 Jun 4, Virginia colony of Roanoke Island established by Sir Walter Raleigh
1585 William’s twins, Hamnet Shakespeare and Judith Shakespeare, were born
1585 February 2, The baptism of Hamnet Shakespeare and Judith Shakespeare
1586 The Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, cousin of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth 1, tried for treason
1586 John Shake-speare was removed from the Board of Aldermen
1587 August 18, Virginia Dare born in Roanoke colony , the first English child born in North America
1587 The Catholic Mary Queen of Scots was publically executed by means of beheading
1587 Christopher Marlowe attained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cambridge
1587 Christopher Marlowe writes Tanburlaine
1587 Earl of Leicester’s troupe in Europe
1587 Open air amphitheatre The Rose, Bankside, Surrey is opened
1588 Spanish Armada of 132 ships sails for England and is defeated.
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1588 Christopher Marlowe writes Dr. Faustus
1589 William Shakespeare was named, with his parents, in a legal action against a neighbour called John
Lambert. The case was over a dispute about some land in Wilmcote
1590 Christopher Marlowe writes The Jew of Malta
1590 to 1592 Shakespeare writes parts 1, 2, and 3 of Henry VI.
1592 March 3, Henry VI Part 1 is produced by Strange’s Men at the Rose Theatre
1592 September 3, Death of Robert Greene author of Groatsworth of Wit in which he complains about
William Shakespeare as an “upstart crow”
1592 December, Robert Greene’s editor Henry Chettle made a public apology to Marlowe and
Shakespeare for the Groatsworth of Wit
1592 December 25, William Shakespeare’s father is fined for missing church
