Letter fragment suggests Shakespeare did not abandon his wife in Stratford
New research examining a fragment of a 17th century letter addressed to 'good Mrs Shakspaire' suggests that
William Shakespeare's
marriage to Anne Hathaway was happier than previously thought.
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1852, when he was 18 and she was about 26 and pregnant. The couple had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith.
For more than 200 years, it has been assumed that the English playwright left his wife in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon to pursue his career in London.
The belief even inspired writer Maggie O'Farrell, who chronicled the unhappy relationship in her 2020 novel "Hamnet", about the death of Shakespeare's only son Hamnet at 11 years old.
The forgotten letter, preserved by accident in the binding of a book in Hereford, England, appears to show that the couple lived together in London at some point between 1600 and 1610. It is the first written evidence supporting this claim.
It alleges that Shakespeare was withholding money from a fatherless apprentice named John Butts. The author of the letter then asks Mrs Shakespeare herself for money.
Related
Shakespeare with northern accents creates social media furore after audience 'complaint'
Why Shakespeare is totally overrated
Director Jennifer Tang on theatre in 2025, gender-swapping and her 'slightly bonkers' Cymbeline
'First discovered in 1978, the letter's been known for a while, but no-one could identify the names or places involved or see any reason to think that the Mr Shakespeare in the letter was necessarily William rather than anyone else of the same name in the general period', said Professor Matthew Steggle of the University of Bristol, who published the research in Shakespeare, the journal of the British Shakespeare association.
The scholar tracked down people and addresses mentioned in the letter to find out if the playwright and his wife could possibly have been in London at that time.
'In short - it's two steps', Professor Steggle explained. 'You identify the boy involved, and given that it's him and that fixes the date, then Shakespeare is much the best recorded candidate to be the London-based 'Mr Shakspaire.'
The letter gives Shakespeare a previously unknown address in Trinity Lane, in central London.
It also casts new light on Anne Hathaway's life. 'It seems to show her being involved with her husband's money affairs and social networks. So, it's a game-changer in terms of thinking about the Shakespeares' marriage', Professor Steggle said.
The back of the fragment also contains a reply from Mrs Shakespeare, which would be the first ever recorded words from Anne Hathaway.
The fragment of the letter is held at Hereford Cathedral Library.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
15 hours ago
- Euronews
UK raises £3.8 million to keep rare Barbara Hepworth sculpture
The UK has raised £3.8 million (approx. €4.4 million) to save a rare sculpture by British artist Barbara Hepworth for the nation,The Hepworth Wakefield art museum said on Tuesday. Hepworth's 1943 'Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red' will enter the UK's national collection and go on permanent public display at The Hepworth Wakefield, in her West Yorkshire hometown. Born in 1903, Barbara Hepworth was one of the leading and pioneering figures of British Modernism throughout the first half of the 20th century. Her 'Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red' 'marks a breakthrough in Hepworth's career,' The Hepworth Wakefield said in a statement. She created the piece at the height of World War II after she settled with her family in St. Ives, Cornwall. She remained there until her death in 1975. 'It is one of only a handful of wooden carvings made by Hepworth during the 1940s, and one of the first major wood carvings she made using strings.' She went on to produce a series of notable stringed and colourful sculptures. English art collector Helen Sutherland first bought the piece directly from the artist in 1944. It remained privately owned and mostly shielded from public view ever since. The artwork was most recently sold to a private collector at a Christie's auction in March 2024 in London. But in November, the UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport placed a temporary export bar on the sculpture, citing its 'outstanding connection with our history and national life, its outstanding aesthetic importance and its outstanding significance' to the study of Hepworth's work. 'Dame Barbara Hepworth was a phenomenal artistic genius,' Arts Minister Chris Bryant said in a statement at the time. 'I hope a UK buyer can be found for this sculpture so the British public can continue to learn and engage with one our most important artists for generations to come.' A post shared by Art Fund (@artfund) The Hepworth Wakefield and UK charity Art Fund launched a campaign in June to raise the £3.8 million necessary to buy the piece. The campaign reached its target on Tuesday, ahead of its 27 August deadline. The appeal resulted in 2,800 donations from individual members of the public, as well as several major grants, including £1.89 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and £750,000 from Art Fund. 'We think [Hepworth] would have been delighted that so many people have come together to enable her work to be part of a public art collection which can be experienced and enjoyed by so many', said The Hepworth Wakefield interim director and CEO Olivia Colling. The gallery will celebrate the sculpture's acquisition with a dedicated exhibition, with details to be announced.
LeMonde
a day ago
- LeMonde
What is Kick, the platform on which French streamer Jean Pormanove died while going live?
Raphaël Grave, known online as Jean Pormanove or JP, died on Monday, August 18, in Contes, North of Nice, while taking part in a livestream on Kick. For several years, he had suffered harassment, violence and humiliation live on the platform. While the prosecutor's office in Nice has launched an investigation to determine the cause of death, the tragedy has highlighted this little-known platform and its particularly lenient moderation policies. What is Kick? Kick is a live video streaming platform, with a look and operation very similar to Twitch, Amazon's popular site for video game enthusiasts. Launched in 2022, it is an Australian company, though little is known about its investors beyond its two co-founders, Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven. As on Twitch, viewers can pay a few euros to "subscribe" to channels and unlock special perks. In August, Kick reported a monthly audience of 817,000 people − less than a third of Twitch's numbers for the same period (2.1 million) − according to the website StreamCharts. How is this streaming platform different from others? Kick stands out from other streaming services mainly due to its highly attractive payment system for content creators. The platform keeps only 5% of the money paid by users to subscribe to channels, compared to the 30% to 50% cut taken by Twitch, for example. The second "advantage" of the platform is its much more permissive moderation policy. Kick allows certain gambling activities that are banned on Twitch, as well as sexually suggestive scenes or content involving humiliation or violence – such as those involving Pormanove – to be broadcast without automatic sanctions. Does that mean anything goes on Kick? Not everything is allowed, but the site has actively capitalized on its "edgier" reputation to attract influencers banned from other platforms or who specialize in provocation. Notably, it welcomed the American streaming star Amouranth, who was temporarily suspended from Twitch for videos deemed too sexualized, as well as pro-Trump influencer Adin Ross. Ross − who is known for sexist, homophobic and racist provocations − joined Kick after being banned from Twitch in 2023 (he has since been reinstated). While Kick is primarily English-speaking, there are also several French-speaking influencers who have been banned from other streaming services, such as YouTuber Marvel Fitness, who was convicted of psychological harassment in 2021. With such a lineup of content creators, Kick has regularly sparked controversy. In September 2023, for example, an escort was filmed and detained against her will in the apartment of American streamer Ice Poseidon (real name Paul Denino), while Craven, one of the platform's executives, jokingly commented on the situation on the livestream. One year later, two more American influencers, Jack Doherty and Sam Pepper, were banned from Kick. Doherty was removed for crashing his car live on air, while Pepper was banned for tricking a homeless woman in a staged event (he now appears to be allowed back on the platform). Ross, meanwhile, has hosted figures such as white supremacist Nick Fuentes and men's rights influencer Andrew Tate on his streams, while his content is also regularly promoted by Kick itself. What are Kick's links to online casinos? Kick is directly connected to a major online gambling and betting platform, Stake, founded by the same individuals; the site frequently displays advertisements for Stake. Stake is illegal in France, and access to the site is blocked in France and several other European countries. In the United Kingdom, where the platform had obtained a license to operate legally, the company announced in February it was leaving the country following a scandal: Stake had launched an advertising campaign using the image of a porn star to promote its online betting service, which triggered an investigation by the local regulator. The company is also the subject of several lawsuits in the United States, where it claims its operations are legal but where several states argue that it is violating gambling laws.
Euronews
2 days ago
- Euronews
How France and the UK are preparing for the Bayeux Tapestry's big move
ADVERTISEMENT For almost a thousand years, the Bayeux Tapestry has told the story of how a French duke defeated an English king in battle – and changed the course of European history. Now, as France prepares to lend the 70-metre-long masterpiece to the UK, planning is underway behind the scenes to make the historic loan a reality. The embroidered tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066, is due to go on display at the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027. The loan itself has already been announced – but the complex work of moving and preserving one of Europe's most fragile treasures is only just getting started. When French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the loan during his 2025 state visit to the UK – the first by an EU leader since Brexit – the symbolism wasn't lost on either side of the Channel. After years of chilled relations, the move was seen as a gesture of renewed cultural warmth. But it's not just about politics. Historians widely believe the tapestry was actually stitched in England, using wool thread on linen. That makes its temporary return something of a 'homecoming', says Bayeux Museum curator Antoine Verney. 'For the British, the date – the only date – that all of them know is 1066,' Verney told AP. It's that sense of shared ownership – and shared story – that's giving fresh momentum to this complex loan, which will see pieces from the British Museum that represent all four nations of the UK, including the Lewis chess pieces, travel to museums in Normandy. Moving any 900-year-old textile is risky. Moving one made of nine joined pieces of linen, depicting 626 characters, 41 ships and 202 horses? Even more so. 'There is always a risk. The goal is for those risks to be as carefully calculated as possible,' said Verney. The tapestry has survived invasions, revolutions and world wars. Napoleon displayed it in Paris in 1804, and the Allies rolled it out again in 1944 after liberating France. But even with that pedigree, its age is showing. 'The textile fibres are 900 years old. So they have naturally degraded simply due to age,' Verney said. 'But at the same time, this is a work that has already travelled extensively and been handled a great deal.' Details of how it will be moved remain under discussion. The transfer is being worked out between the British and French governments, with conservation teams weighing every option – from humidity control and vibration monitoring to custom-built containers. Verney is confident the British Museum won't take any unnecessary risks. 'How can one imagine, in my view, that the British Museum would risk damaging, through the exhibition, this work that is a major element of a shared heritage?' he said. 'I don't believe that the British could take risks that would endanger this major element of art history and of world heritage.' While the tapestry is away, the Bayeux Museum will be undergoing its own transformation. The site is closing to visitors from 1 September this year for a major renovation costing tens of millions of euros. When it reopens in 2027, the star attraction will return to a state-of-the-art home, where it will be displayed on a custom-built, inclined 70-metre-long table. Verney says the redesign will completely change how people view the work – not just as a medieval marvel, but as a piece of storytelling and design that still resonates. At the British Museum, curators are already preparing for what's expected to be one of the biggest exhibitions in its history. The tapestry will be shown in the museum's Sainsbury Exhibition Gallery, with conservation staff on alert throughout the show. The tapestry was likely commissioned by Bishop Odo, William the Conqueror's half-brother, to mark the building of a new cathedral in Bayeux in 1077. For centuries, it lay mostly out of sight, stored in a chest. Today, it's not just a rare survivor, but a powerful artefact of national identity for both France and Britain. The images, stitched in dramatic sequence, have often been described as a kind of medieval comic strip. But they carry weight: themes of power, invasion, resistance and fate still resonate, even in a modern museum.
