September 8 - John Shakespeare, father of William Shakespeare

On this day in Tudor history, 8th September 1601, John Shakespeare, father of playwright William Shakespeare, was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.

 

John was a glover and whittawer, and also an important man in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, serving as high bailiff, chief alderman and deputy bailiff, and being given the right to educate his children at the local grammar school for free. However, he also ran into trouble at times.

 

Find out more about the life of William Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:

https://youtu.be/7T5hcKhecYI

 

Also on this day in Tudor history, 8th September 1560, the body of Amy Robsart, wife of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was found at the bottom of some stairs in her rented home, Cumnor Place in Oxfordshire. What had happened to Amy? Was her death a result of "misfortune", as decided by the coroner, or was it suicide or murder? Did Robert Dudley kill his wife? Did William Cecil kill Amy? Find out a bit more in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/Dmsqlfm09ZM