William Shakespeare and His Time:Summary

William Shakespeare: Summary Chart

1564	Shakespeare born in Stratford-on-Avon (probably on the 23rd of April-baptized on the 26th)		Christopher Marlowe born John Hawkins second voyage to New World Galileo Galilei born John Calvin dies The Peace of Troyes
1565-1581	1567(?) Richard Burbage- the greatest tragedian of the age, who would eventually portray Hamlet, Lear, Othello and all Shakespeare's great parts- born 1576 James Burbage (father of Richard) obtains a 21 year lease and permission to build The Theatre in Shoreditch 1577 The Curtain, a rival theatre near The Theatre, opens in Finbury		1565 Golding's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses (1-4) 1566 Gascoigne's The Supposes 1567 Thomas Nashe born 1571 Tirso de Molina born 1572 Thomas Dekker born 1572 John Donne & Ben Jonson born 1577 Holinshed publishes The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, Shakespeare's primary source for the history plays 1579 John Fletcher born 1580 Thomas Middleton born 1580 Montaigne's Essais published
1582	Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway		Hakluyt's Dievers Voyages Touching the Discovery of America
1583	Birth of daughter Susanna The Queen's Company is formed in London
1585	Birth of twins, Judith and Hamnet		1586 Mary Queen of Scots tried for treason
1587(?)-1592	Departure from Stratford Establishment in London as an actor/playwright	The Comedy of Errors Titus Andronicus The Taming of the Shrew Henry VI, 1,2,3 Richard III	1587 Mary Queen of Scots executed 1587 Marlowe's Tamburlaine 1588 Defeat of the Armada 1588 Greene's Pandosto 1588 Marlowe's Dr. Faustus 1590 Spenser's Faerie Queen (1-3) 1590 Marlowe's The Jew of Malta 1591 Sidney'sAstrophil and Stella 1592 Robert Greene dies 1592 Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy
1593	Preferment sought through aristocratic connections - dedicates Venus and Lucrece to Henry Wriothsley, Earl of Southampton - possibly the youth of the Sonnets	1593 Venus and Adonis Begins writing the Sonnets, probably completed by c.1597 or earlier Two Gentlemen of Verona Love's Labour's Lost	1593-94 Theatres closed by plague 1593 Marlowe dies
1594	Founding member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men	1594 The Rape of Lucrece
1594-1596	The Lyrical masterpieces Prosperity and recognition as the leading London playwright. 1596 John Shakespeare reapplies successfully for a coat of arms 1596 Hamnet Shakespeare dies at age 11	Midsummer Night's Dream Romeo and Juliet Richard II Merchant of Venice	1594 Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay 1594 Marlowe's Edward II 1595 Thomas Kyd dies 1595 Sidney's An Apologia for Poetrie 1595 Sir Walter Raleigh explores the Orinoco 1596 Spenser's Faerie Queen (4-6) 1596 George Peele dies.
1597-1599	Artistic Maturity Purchases New Place, Stratford with other significant investments 1599 The Globe Theatre built on Bankside from the timbers of The Theatre. Shakespeare is a shareholder and receives about 10% of the profits	Henry IV,1,2 The Merry Wives of Windsor As You Like It Much Ado About Nothing Henry V Julius Caesar	1597 Bacon's Essays, Civil and Moral 1598 Phillip II of Spain dies 1598 Francis Meres Palladis Tamia 1598 John Florio's A World of Words (English-Italian dictionary) 1598 Ben Jonson 's Every Man in his Humour 1599 Essex sent to Ireland and fails, is arrested on return 1599 Edmund Spenser dies
1600-1608	The Period of the Great Tragedies & Problem Plays 1600 The Fortune Theatre opens 1601 Shakespeare's father dies 1603 The Lord Chamberlain's Men become The King's Men who perform at court more than any other company 1607 Susanna Shakespeare marries Dr. John Hall 1608 The King's Men begin playing at the Blackfriars 1608 Shakespeare's mother dies	Twelfth Night Hamlet Troilus & Cressida Alls Well That Ends Well Measure for Measure Othello King Lear Macbeth Antony and Clepatra Coriolanus Timon of Athens	1600 Kemp's Nine Daies Wonder 1600 Dekker's Shoemaker's Holiday 1601 Essex rebels against Elizabeth, fails and is executed 1601 Thomas Nashe dies 1603 Elizabeth dies, James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England 1603 Sir Walter Raleigh arrested, tried and imprisoned 1603 The plague once again ravages London 1604 Marston's The Malcontent 1605 The Gunpowder Plot - Guy Fawkes and accomplices arrested 1605 Bacon's The Advancement of Learning 1606 Ben Jonson's Volpone 1607 Tourneur (?) The Revenger's Tragedy 1607 The founding of Jamestown
1609-1611	Period of the Romances 1609 Publication of the Sonnets	Pericles Prince of Tyre Cymbeline The Winter's Tale The Tempest	1609 Beaumont & Fletcher The Knight of the Burning Pestle 1610 Prince Henry created Prince of Wales Ben Jonson The Alchemist
1612-1616	Shakespeare probably retires from London life to Stratford Works on collaborations with John Fletcher 1616 Judith Shakespeare marries Thomas Quiney March 1616: Shakespeare, apparently ill, revises his will April 23, 1616 Shakespeare dies and is burried at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.	Henry VIII The Two Noble Kinsmen Cardenio	1612 Henry Prince of Wales dies 1612 Webster's The White Devil 1613 Francis Bacon becomes attorney general 1614 Jonson's Bartholomew Fayre 1614 Webster's Duchess of Malfi 1614 Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World 1616 Francis Beaumont dies 1616 Ben Jonson's Workes published in folio 1623 Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio

The dates given for the plays are only approximate: the actual composition date is rarely known for certain. The list of Shakespeare's works given in column three is in a very rough approximate order of composition: there are significant disagreements among scholars about the actual order of composition and in most cases no firm dates. Works listed in column four are usually by date of publication. The Spanish Tragedy, for instance, was probably composed around 1586, but not published until 1592.
For further reference see: William Shakespeare The Complete Works, S. Wills and G.Taylor ed, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1988

L.A., student, 1998