The Earl of Oxford, from the 1914 publication English Travellers of the Renaissance by Clare Howard.

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (12 April 1550 – 24 June 1604) was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, poet, sportsman, patron of numerous writers, and sponsor of at least two acting companies, Oxford's Men and Oxford's Boys.^[1] He was born at Castle Hedingham to the 16th Earl of Oxford and the former Margery Golding. Oxford is most famous today as the strongest candidate proposed (next to William Shakespeare himself) for the authorship of Shakespeare's plays,^[2] a claim that most historians and literary scholars reject but which is supported by a number of researchers and theatre practitioners. For further information on this topic, see Oxfordian theory. Download high resolution version (553x660, 101 KB)Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford From English Travellers of the Renaissance, by Clare Howard - Project Gutenberg eText 13403 Available at http://www. ... Download high resolution version (553x660, 101 KB)Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford From English Travellers of the Renaissance, by Clare Howard - Project Gutenberg eText 13403 Available at http://www. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... Events February 7 - Julius III becomes Pope. ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... Events January 14 – Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 – Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. ... Elizabethan redirects here. ... A courtier is a person who attends upon, and thus receives a privileged position from, a powerful person, usually a head of state. ... Template:Unsourced A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... A sport consists of a normal physical activity or skill carried out under a publicly agreed set of rules, and with a recreational purpose: for competition, for self-enjoyment, to attain excellence, for the development of skill, or some combination of these. ... Castle Hedingham is a small village in Essex, located west of Halstead. ... John de Vere, the 16th Earl of Oxford, was father of Edward de Vere. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This image, known as the Ashbourne Portrait, was once believed to depict William Shakespeare. ...

Early life

After his father was deaded unexpectedly on 3 August 1562, the twelve-year-old Lord Bulbeck (as he had been styled from birth) became the 17th Earl of Oxford and Lord Great Chamberlain of England. At some point during the next fourteen months his moer remarried a Gentleman Pensioner and former horse-master for the Dudley family named Charles Tyrell.^[3] Control of the young Lord Oxford's ancestral lands was granted to the Earl of Leicester by Queen Elizabeth I. While still a minor, Oxford was made a royal ward and was placed in the household of Sir William Cecil (later Lord Burghley), the Lord High Treasurer, a member of Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council, and her closest and most trusted advisor. In view of Oxford's theatrical activities, it is interesting to note that Lord Burghley is regarded by most Elizabethean scholars as the prototype for the character of Polonius in Hamlet. Under Burghley's stewardship, Oxford was trained in French, Latin, writing and drawing, cosmography, music and dance, horsemanship, combat, falconry, and hunting. August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. ... Year 1562 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Earl of Oxford - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable. ... Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester painted by Steven van der Meulen. ... Elizabeth I redirects here. ... William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 1520 – 4 August 1598), was an English politician, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign (17 November 1558–24 March 1603), and Lord High Treasurer from 1572. ... The Lord High Treasurer bears a white staff as his symbol of office. ... Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. ... Hamlet and Horatio in the cemetery by Eugène Delacroix For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

His known tutors included the classical scholar and diplomat Sir Thomas Smith, and Laurence Nowell, one of the founding fathers of Anglo-Saxon studies. Nowell was hired to tutor Oxford in 1563, the same year that Nowell signed his name on the only known copy of the Beowulf manuscript (also known as the "Nowell Codex"). There has been speculation, not without reason, that Oxford was taught Latin by his maternal uncle, Arthur Golding, and may have even assisted him in the first English translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses.^[4] Sir Thomas Smith (December 23, 1513–August 12, 1577), was an English scholar and diplomat. ... Laurence Nowell (died 1576), dean of Lichfield, antiquary; an early scholar of Old English. ... The famous parade helmet found at Sutton Hoo, probably belonging to King Raedwald of East Anglia circa 625. ... The first page of Beowulf Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem composed in the later Early Middle Ages (in the 8th, 9th or 10th century). ... he joost hoestie, wat loop je ons nou uit te schelden, je stinkt zelf, want je bent een nep japanner ... Arthur Golding (c. ... Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidius Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC – Tomis, now Constanţa AD 17), a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... // Cover of George Sandyss 1632 edition of Ovids Metamorphosis Englished The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world in terms according to Greek and Roman points of view. ...

In 1564, while both were living at Burghley House, Golding wrote of his young nephew in the dedicatory epistle to Th’ Abridgement of the Histories of Trogus Pompeius, collected and written in the Latin tongue by the famous historiographer Justin: Burghley House in 2004 Burghley House is a grand 16th-century country house near the town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. ... Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus, 1st century BC Roman historian, of the Celtic tribe of the Vocontii in Gallia Narbonensis, flourished during the age of Augustus, nearly contemporary with Livy. ...

"It is not unknown to others, and I have had experience thereof myself, how earnest a desire Your Honor hath naturally graffed in you to read, peruse, and communicate with others, as well as the histories of ancient times and things done long ago, as also the present estate of things in our days, and that not without a certain pregnancy of wit and ripeness of understanding." (STC 24290)

Court years

Oxford entered the Royal Court in the late 1560s, upon which one contemporary wrote that he would have surpassed all other courtiers in the Queen's favour, were it not for his "fickle head". Oxford nevertheless gained great favour and went on to become a tilting champion in several Elizabethan tournaments. He obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Cambridge in 1564, a master's degree from the University of Oxford in 1566, and legal training at Gray's Inn circa 1567. Stratfordian Alan Nelson, an Oxford biographer, claims that de Vere’s university degrees were “unearned” (43) and that “no academic accomplishment or desert is to be imputed to any recipient” (45) who was so-honored at the foregoing commencements, although most Oxford biographers disagree with that assessment and point to what John Brooke had to say of Oxford in his dedicatory epistle of The Staff of Christian Faith, published in 1577: William Shakespeare is born. ... Jousting scene, by Jörg Breu the Elder (1510s, pen and black ink over black chalk) Jousting is a competition between two knights on horse-back, wherein each knight tries to knock the other off his mount. ... The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. ... Events March 27 — Naples bans kissing in public under the penalty of death June 22 — Fort Caroline, the first French attempt at colonizing the New World September 10 — The Battle of Kawanakajima Ottoman Turks invade Malta Modern pencil becomes common in England Conquistadors crossed the Pacific Spanish founded a colony... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... Events January 7 - Pius V becomes Pope Selim II succeeds Suleiman I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Religious rioting in the Netherlands signifies the beginning of the Eighty Years War in the Netherlands. ... Entrance to Grays Inn Grays Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in around the Royal Courts of Justice in London, England to which barristers belong and where they are called to the bar. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ... Events March 17 - formation of the Cathay Company to send Martin Frobisher back to the New World for more gold May 28 - Publication of the Bergen Book, better known as the Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, one of the Lutheran confessional writings. ...

"For if in the opinion of all men, there can be found no one more fitte, for patronage and defence of learning, then the skilfull: for that he is both wyse and able to iudge and discerne truly thereof. I vnderstanding righte well that your honor hathe continually, euen from your tender yeares, bestowed your time and trauayle towards the attayning of the same, as also the vniuersitie of Cambridge hath acknowledged in graunting and giuing vnto you such commendation and prayse thereof, as verily by righte was due vnto your excellent vertue and rare learning. Wherin verily Cambridge the mother of learning, and learned men, hath openly confessed: and in this hir confessing made knowen vnto al men, that your honor being learned and able to iudge as a safe harbor and defence of learning, and therefore one most fitte to whose honorable patronage I might safely commit this my poore and simple labours." (STC 12476)

On 23 July 1567, the seventeen-year-old Oxford killed an unarmed under-cook by the name of Thomas Brincknell while practicing fencing with Edward Baynam, a merchant tailor, in the backyard of Cecil's house in the Strand. In the ensuing trial it was alleged the victim had run upon the point of Oxford's sword and was thereby condemned as a suicide. (Interestingly, the English chronicler and Shakespeare source Raphael Holinshed was one of the jurors at this trial.) July 23 is the 204th day (205th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 161 days remaining. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ... Raphael Holinshed (died c. ...

In an arranged wedding on 19 December 1571, Oxford married Lord Burghley's fifteen-year-old daughter, Anne Cecil — a surprising choice since Oxford was of the oldest nobility in the kingdom whereas Anne was not originally of noble birth, her father having only been raised to the peerage that year by Queen Elizabeth to enable the marriage of social inequals. At the age of twenty-one, Oxford regained control of some of his ancestral lands. His marriage produced five children, including three daughters who survived infancy. He toured France, Germany and Italy in 1575, and was thought to be of Roman Catholic sympathies, as were many of the old nobility. December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 11 - Austrian nobility is granted Freedom of religion. ... Year 1575 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

On his return across the English Channel, Oxford's ship was hijacked by pirates, who stripped him naked, apparently with the intention of murdering him, until they were made aware of his noble status, upon which he was allowed to go free, albeit without most of his possessions. Further controversy ensued after he found that his wife had given birth to a daughter during his journey, and separated from her on grounds of adultery, complaining that she had become "the fable of the world". Francis Osborne (1593–1659) included a bed-trick anecdote about Oxford in his Historical Memoires on the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James (1658). According to Osborne (who had been a servant to the Herberts), the Earl of Montgomery was struck in the face by a Scottish courtier named Ramsey at a horse race at Croydon. Montgomery, who did not strike back, "was left nothing to testifie his Manhood but a Beard and Children, by that Daughter of the last great Earl of Oxford, whose Lady was brought to his Bed under the notion of his Mistress, and from such a vertuous deceit she [that is, Montgomery's wife] is said to proceed." Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: (IPA: ), the sleeve; Dutch: Het Kanaal) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse. ... Francis DArcy Godolphin Osborne, 12th Duke of Leeds (16 September 1884 – 20 March 1964), known before 1963 as Sir DArcy Osborne, was a British diplomat. ... The Right Honourable Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, 1st Earl of Montgomery KG (October 16, 1584–January 23, 1649) was the son of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. ...

In 1580, Oxford accused several of his Catholic friends of treason, and denounced them to the Queen, asking mercy for his own Catholicism, which he repudiated. These same friends in turn denounced Oxford, accusing him of a laundry list of crimes, including plotting to murder a host of courtiers, such as Sir Philip Sidney and the Earl of Leicester. The charges were not taken seriously, although Oxford never completely recovered the Queen's favour and his reputation was thereafter tarnished. Events March 1 - Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. ... Traitor redirects here. ... Philip Sidney. ... Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester painted by Steven van der Meulen. ...

He fathered an illegitimate child by Anne Vavasour, Sir Edward Vere, in 1581, and was briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London. The illicit congress with Vavasour led to a prolonged quarrel with Sir Thomas Knyvett, her uncle, resulting in three deaths and several other injuries. Oxford himself was seriously wounded in one of the duels, possibly leading to the "lameness" mentioned later in several of his letters. The imbroglio was put to an end when the Queen threatened to jail all those involved. By Christmas of 1581, Oxford had reconciled with Anne Cecil and once again cohabited with her. Events January 16 - English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism April 4 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. July 26 - The Northern Netherlands proclaim their independence from Spain in the Oath of Abjuration. ... Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically simply as The Tower), is a historic monument in central London, England on the north bank of the River Thames. ... A young English nobleman who was a close associate of King Henry VIII shortly after that monarch came to the throne. ... Events January 16 - English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism April 4 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. July 26 - The Northern Netherlands proclaim their independence from Spain in the Oath of Abjuration. ...

Later years

In 1585, Lord Oxford was given a military command in the Netherlands, and served during the Battle of the Spanish Armada in 1588. His first wife Anne Cecil died in 1588 at the age of 32. In 1591, Oxford married Elizabeth Trentham, one of the Queen's Maids of Honour. This marriage produced his heir, Henry, Lord Vere, later 18th Earl of Oxford. The Earl's three daughters all married into the peerage: Elizabeth married the Earl of Derby; Bridget married the Earl of Berkshire; Susan married the Earl of Montgomery, one of the “INCOMPARABLE PAIRE OF BRETHREN” to whom William Shakespeare's First Folio would be dedicated. 1585 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. ... Combatants England Dutch Republic Spain Portugal Commanders Charles Howard Francis Drake Duke of Medina Sidonia Strength 34 warships 163 armed merchant vessels 22 galleons 108 armed merchant vessels Casualties 50–100 dead[1] ~400 wounded 600 dead, 800 wounded,[2] 397 captured, 4 merchant ships sunk or captured The Spanish... 1588 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... Year 1591 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Peerage (disambiguation). ... William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby (1561 - 29 September 1642) was an English nobleman. ... The Right Honourable Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, 1st Earl of Montgomery KG (October 16, 1584–January 23, 1649) was the son of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ...

Mismanagement of Oxford's finances reduced him to penury, and in 1586 he was granted an annual pension of £1,000 by the Queen, which continued to be paid by her successor, King James I. It has been suggested that the annuity may also have been granted for his services in maintaining a group of writers and a company of actors (from 1580), and that the obscurity of his later life is to be explained by his immersion in literary and dramatic pursuits. He was indeed a notable patron of writers including Edmund Spenser, as well as Arthur Golding, Robert Greene, Thomas Churchyard, Thomas Watson and John Lyly (author of the novel Euphues), and Anthony Munday, both whom he employed as secretaries for many years.^[5] Interestingly, orthodox scholars have named both Lyly and Munday as Shakespearean sources. ... 1586 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ... James Stuart (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Arthur Golding (c. ... Robert Greene, BA, MA, (1558 – September 3, 1592) was an English playwright, poet, pamphleteer, and prose writer. ... Thomas Churchyard (c. ... Thomas Watson or Tom Watson can refer to: Thomas Watson (bishop), the Bishop of Lincoln from 1557-1560. ... John Lyly (Lilly or Lylie) (c. ... Anthony Munday (or Monday) (1560?–August 10, 1633), was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. ...

In 1603, Oxford was granted his decades-long suit for the Stewardship of Waltham Forest and Havering-atte-Bower, but enjoyed the privilege for less than a year. He died in 1604 of unknown causes at King's Hold, Hackney Wick, Middlesex, England, and was apparently buried at Hackney, although his cousin, Percival Golding (son of Arthur Golding), reported a few years later that he was buried at Westminster Abbey. Year 1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... The London Borough of Waltham Forest is a London borough of outer north London. ... Havering-atte-Bower is a place in the London Borough of Havering. ... Events January 14 – Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 – Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. ... Hackney Wick is an area in the London Borough of Hackney in East London. ... The Middlesex Guildhall at Westminster Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England and was the second smallest (after Rutland). ... The Hackney Empire is one of the oldest surviving music halls in Britain. ... Arthur Golding (c. ... The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often mistaken for one), in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ...

Writing

Oxford was described as both a poet and a playwright in his own lifetime, but little of his poetry,^[6] and none of his plays has survived, at least under his own name, bearing in mind the testament of the anonymously published Arte of English Poesie (1589), in which the author, possibly George Puttenham, observed: Events Rebellion of the Catholic League against King Henry III of France, in revenge for his murder of Duke Henry of Guise. ...

"So as I know very many notable gentlemen in the Court that have written commendably and suppressed it agayne, or els sufred it to be publisht without their own names to it, as it were a discredit for a gentleman, to seeme learned, and to show himselfe amorous of any good Art."

Further along in the book, the author continued:

"And in her Majesties time that now is are sprong up an other crew of Courtly makers Noble men and Gentlemen of her Majesties owne servauntes, who have written excellently well as it would appeare if their doings could be found out and made publicke with the rest, of which number is first that noble Gentleman Edward Earle of Oxford” (STC 20519).

Oxford's status as a dramatist is also based on the testimony of Francis Meres, in whose Palladis Tamia (1598) Oxford is listed among "the best for comedy" (STC 17834). Francis Meres (1565 - January 29, 1647), was an English churchman and author. ...

Only a small corpus of Oxford’s poems and songs are extant under his own name, the dates of which (and, in some cases, the authorship) are uncertain; most of these are signed "Earle of Oxenforde" or "E.O.".^[7] During his lifetime, Oxford was lauded by other English poets, though mostly in regard to his patronage (for example, see one of the epistolary sonnets to Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene). Oxford’s existing letters are focused mainly on business affairs concerning such matters as the Cornish tin monopoly and his ongoing desire for several royal monopolies and stewardships.^[8] Oxford maintained both adult and children's theatre companies, and a letter from the Privy Council in March 1602 shows his active involvment on behalf of a "third" acting company who liked to play at "the Bores head":^[9] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Una and the Lion by Briton Rivière The Faerie Queene is a poem by Edmund Spenser, first published in 1590 (the first half) with the more or less complete version being published in 1596. ...

"beinge joyned by agrement togeather in on Companie (to whom, upon noteice of her Maiesties pleasure at the suit of the Earl of Oxford, tolleracion hath ben thought meete to be graunted, notwithstandinge the restraint of our said former Orders), doe no tye them selfs to one certaine place and howse, but do chainge their place at there owne disposition, which is as disorderly and offensive as the former offence of many howses, and as the other Companies that are allowed . . . be appointed there certine howses and one and no more to each Company. Soe we do straighly require that this third Companie be likewise to one place and because we are informed the house called the Bores head is the place they have especially used and doe best like of, we doe pray and require yow that the said howse . . . may be assigned to them, and that they be very straightlie Charged to use and exercise there plays in no other but that howse, as they looke to have that tolleracion continued and avoid farther displeasure."

Two of Oxford’s “literary” letters were published in 1571 (1572 (New style)) and 1573. The first of these was written in Latin as a dedicatory epistle to Bartholomew Clerke's Latin translation of Baldassare Castiglione’s Il Cortegiano (The Courtier), while the second, written in English with accompanying verses, was an epistle to Thomas Bedingfield's English translation of Cardanus' Comfort (from the Latin of De consolatione libri tres by the Italian mathematician and physician Girolamo Cardano). The latter book, published at Oxford’s command, has sometimes been cited by scholars as “Hamlet’s book” (possibly the same book where Hamlet found “words, words, words”) due to several close verbal parallels between it and Shakespeare’s play, particularly a passage on the unsavoriness of old men’s company, to which Hamlet seems to refer in his satirical banter with Polonius (re: plum-tree gum, plentiful lack of wit, most weak hams, etc), as well a passage with remarkable similarities to Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy. Old Style or O.S. is a designation indicating that a date conforms to the Julian calendar, formerly in use in many countries, rather than the Gregorian calendar, currently in use in most countries. ... i love orange pekoe tea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... Gerolamo Cardano or Jerome Cardan (September 24, 1501 - September 21, 1576) was a celebrated Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer, and gambler. ...

Shakespearean authorship question

Main article: Oxfordian theory

In 1920, J. Thomas Looney advanced the hypothesis that Oxford was the actual author of Shakespeare's plays due to: Oxford's advanced education; knowledge of aristocratic life, the military and the law; background in the theatre; the praise accorded Oxford's works; and numerous similarities between Oxford's life and the plays. According to his hypothesis, Oxford had no choice but to publish under a pseudonym, since it would have been considered disgraceful for an aristocrat to be writing for the public theatre, a claim considered by some Renaissance scholars, including Steven W. May, to be incongruous with Elizabethan print histories, but which has been defended by both orthodox scholars and anti-Stratfordians, including Diana Price, who states, "Many members on the top rungs of the Tudor aristocracy had outstanding reputations as poets. But none of them published their creative work. The earl of Surrey's attributed poems were published in miscellanies after his death. ...Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Edward Dyer, and Sir Fulke Greville, all of whom also earned reputations as writers. None of them published their work, either. Like those of their social betters, the relatively few poems that appeared in print turned up in miscellanies".^[10] This image, known as the Ashbourne Portrait, was once believed to depict William Shakespeare. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... John Thomas Looney (1870 - 1944), pronounced Loney is listed in Wards Directory for 1899-1900 as a teacher living at 119 Rodsley Avenue, Gateshead, County Durham. ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ...

Notable Oxfordians include Sigmund Freud, diplomat and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Paul Nitze, Supreme Court Justices Harry Blackmun and John Paul Stevens, columnist Joseph Sobran, former British judge Christmas Humphreys, biographer and historian David McCullough, as well as actors Orson Welles, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Derek Jacobi, Michael York, Jeremy Irons, and Mark Rylance (former Artistic Director of the Globe Theatre).^[11] Sigmund Freud (born Sigismund Schlomo Freud) May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939; (IPA: ) was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who co-founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ... Paul Nitze Paul Henry Nitze (January 16, 1907 – October 19, 2004) was a high-ranking United States government official who helped shape Cold War defense policy over the course of numerous presidential administrations. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the... Justice Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. ... John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is an American jurist, and the senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Justice Christmas Humphreys Q.C. (1901 - April 1983) lawyer, High Court judge, and founder of the Buddhist Society, London. ... David McCullough (mÉ™-kÅ­lÉ™) (born July 7, 1933) is an American historian and bestselling author. ... This article contains a trivia section. ... Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH (14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000), known as Sir John Gielgud, was an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Academy Award-winning English theatre and film actor, and is generally regarded as one of the great British actors in history. ... Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE (IPA: ) (born 22 October 1938) is an English actor and director, knighted in 1994 for his services to the theatre. ... For the American hockey player, see Mike York. ... Jeremy Irons (born September 19, 1948) is an Oscar, Tony and double-Emmy award winning English film, television and stage actor. ... Mark Rylance (born January 18, 1960) is an internationally well-known actor and theatre director. ... This article is about the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare (commonly known as Shakespeares Globe Theatre) and includes information about both the original and its modern reconstruction. ...

Looney's hypothesis constitutes the core of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespearean authorship, and the debate over it remains contentious. Evidentiary gaps within and problems with the Oxfordian hypothesis have prevented many academics from considering its viability. For example, Stratfordians argue that Oxford's 1604 death prevents him from witnessing certain events (for instance the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and the wreck of the Sea Venture in Bermuda in 1609) thought to be alluded to in Shakespearean dramas such as Macbeth and The Tempest, respectively. Contemporary poetic tributes to Shakespeare from writers such as Ben Jonson and Leonard Digges (who refer to Shakespeare as "Sweet swan of Avon!" and mention his "Stratford Moniment" in the First Folio), and William Basse (who explicitly mentions Shakespeare dying in 1616),^[12] seem to provide some of the clearest evidence for the Stratford Shakespeare's status as a reputed poet. Oxfordians respond that modern research shows that not one of Shakespeare's plays has a proven source published after 1604. Furthermore, Oxfordian biographers William Farina^[13] and Mark Anderson^[14] have provided research demonstrating that the regular publication of Shakespeare's plays stopped in 1604 and have cited several examples that imply that Shakespeare (the playwright) was deceased prior to 1609, when SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS were published with the reference "by our ever-living poet".^[15] This image, known as the Ashbourne Portrait, was once believed to depict William Shakespeare. ... The frontispiece of the First Folio (1623), the first collected edition of Shakespeares plays From 1593 to 1637, a number of plays and poems were published under the name William Shakespeare or, in many cases, hyphenated as Shake-Speare. The company that performed most of these plays, the Lord... Events January 14 – Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 – Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. ... The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 involved a desperate but failed attempt by a group of provincial English Catholic extremists to kill King James I of England, his family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy in one fell swoop by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening. ... 1605 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... The coat of arms of Bermuda features a representation of the wreck of the Sea Venture The Sea Venture was a 17th-century English sailing ship, the wrecking of which in Bermuda is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Shakespeares The Tempest. ... // Events April 4 – King of Spain signs an edit of expulsion of all moriscos from Spain April 9 – Spain recognizes Dutch independence May 23 - Official ratification of the Second Charter of Virginia. ... Macbeth and Banquo meeting the witches on the heath by Théodore Chassériau. ... Prospero and Ariel from a painting by William Hamilton The Tempest is a play written by William Shakespeare. ... For other persons of the same name, see Ben Johnson (disambiguation). ... Leonard Digges (1520 - 1559), father of Thomas Digges was a well-known mathematician and surveyor, credited to the invention of the theodolite and a great populariser of science through his publications in English. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ... William Basse (c. ... Year 1616 (MDCXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Other candidates who have been put forward as the actual author of the Shakespeare works include Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and the Earl of Derby, all of whom are predominantly rejected by the academic establishment. Further insights and debating points from the Stratfordian perspective may be viewed at The Shakespeare Authorship website^[16] and from the Oxfordian perspective at The Shakespeare Fellowship website.^[17] Sir Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English astrologer, philosopher, statesman, spy, freemason and essayist. ... Christopher (Kit) Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593?) was an English dramatist, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. ... William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby (1561 - 29 September 1642) was an English nobleman. ...

Sample poems

Notes and references

Clement Mansfield Ingleby (1823 - 1886) was a Shakespearian scholar. ... Frederick James Furnivall (February 4, 1825 - July 2, 1910), English philologist and editor, co-creator of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and founder of literary societies. ... John de Vere, the 16th Earl of Oxford, was father of Edward de Vere. ... The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable. ... The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. ... John de Vere, the 16th Earl of Oxford, was father of Edward de Vere. ... Earl of Oxford - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Bibliography

Ward, B.M. The Seventeenth Earl of Oxford, 1550-1604: From Contemporary Documents. London: John Murray, 1928