Latest news with #Steggle
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Shakespeare didn't abandon his wife in Stratford, letter suggests
William Shakespeare's marriage to Anne Hathaway may have been happier than previously thought, according to new research. It has been long believed that the playwright left his wife behind when he moved to London, but new findings from the University of Bristol suggest that the couple were living together in London for some period of time between 1600 and 1610. Shakespeare married Hathaway in 1582 and the couple shared three children. Experts have long thought that Shakespeare then moved to London from his home in Stratford-upon-Avon, leaving his family behind. Now, a long forgotten letter may turn that theory on its head, according to Matthew Steggle, a professor of English at Bristol University. The fragments of the letter, addressed to 'good Mrs Shakspaire,' (the name's spelling at the time) were found sewn into the binding of a 1,000-page theological book in the city of Hereford, about 50 miles from Stratford-upon-Avon. Although the letter's writer hasn't been identified, they refer to a fatherless apprentice called John Butts. Steggle found just one person by Butts' name who fit the criteria and lived in London at that time. 'The reason you think it's the Shakespeares is about the date and place of the letter – which you can establish largely by locating the boy at the center of it,' Steggle told CNN Thursday. The letter writer accuses the husband of 'Mrs Shakspaire' of withholding money from Butts and asks her for the funds. In what may be a reply from Hathaway herself, the recipient stands by her husband and refuses to settle the claim. The letter also refers to a 'Shakspaire' couple who lived in a place called Trinity Lane. Out of the four couples living in London with the surname, Steggle believes only the playwright and his wife could have afforded to live in the relatively prosperous area. Steggle said the discovery opens the path to more revelations about the playwright's life. 'We know so little about exactly where Shakespeare lives in London, so it's another sort of data point for that,' he said. 'It's another kind of anchor on where he might have been living, how he might have been, and how he might have been living in his London career.' As for challenging views about Shakespeare's relationship with his wife, Steggle credits a shift in attitudes towards women and greater academic work in this area. 'There's this narrative, like the film 'Shakespeare in Love,' where he's got this wife who's this kind of distant encumbrance in Stratford, and (Shakespeare is) having all these romantic love affairs in London separately,' he said, referring to the Oscar-winning 1998 movie. The letter is a 'game-changer' that suggests Hathaway was not absent from her husband's London life, but present and engaged in his financial and social networks, argues Steggle. 'The reason it's gone unnoticed for so long is that it's not in London… where there's been a lot of quite intensive searching for Shakespeare,' Steggle said of the letter's discovery. Looking outside the city – and in the binding of books printed by the Bard's old friend – could point the way 'towards the possibility of more discoveries.'
CNN
24-04-2025
- General
- CNN
Shakespeare didn't abandon his wife in Stratford, letter suggests
William Shakespeare's marriage to Anne Hathaway may have been happier than previously thought, according to new research. It has been long believed that the playwright left his wife behind when he moved to London, but new findings from the University of Bristol suggest that the couple were living together in London for some period of time between 1600 and 1610. Shakespeare married Hathaway in 1582 and the couple shared three children. Experts have long thought that Shakespeare then moved to London from his home in Stratford-upon-Avon, leaving his family behind. Now, a long forgotten letter may turn that theory on its head, according to Matthew Steggle, a professor of English at Bristol University. The fragments of the letter, addressed to 'good Mrs Shakspaire,' (the name's spelling at the time) were found sewn into the binding of a 1,000-page theological book in the city of Hereford, about 50 miles from Stratford-upon-Avon. Although the letter's writer hasn't been identified, they refer to a fatherless apprentice called John Butts. Steggle found just one person by Butts' name who fit the criteria and lived in London at that time. 'The reason you think it's the Shakespeares is about the date and place of the letter – which you can establish largely by locating the boy at the center of it,' Steggle told CNN Thursday. The letter writer accuses the husband of 'Mrs Shakspaire' of withholding money from Butts and asks her for the funds. In what may be a reply from Hathaway herself, the recipient stands by her husband and refuses to settle the claim. The letter also refers to a 'Shakspaire' couple who lived in a place called Trinity Lane. Out of the four couples living in London with the surname, Steggle believes only the playwright and his wife could have afforded to live in the relatively prosperous area. Steggle said the discovery opens the path to more revelations about the playwright's life. 'We know so little about exactly where Shakespeare lives in London, so it's another sort of data point for that,' he said. 'It's another kind of anchor on where he might have been living, how he might have been, and how he might have been living in his London career.' As for challenging views about Shakespeare's relationship with his wife, Steggle credits a shift in attitudes towards women and greater academic work in this area. 'There's this narrative, like the film 'Shakespeare in Love,' where he's got this wife who's this kind of distant encumbrance in Stratford, and (Shakespeare is) having all these romantic love affairs in London separately,' he said, referring to the Oscar-winning 1998 movie. The letter is a 'game-changer' that suggests Hathaway was not absent from her husband's London life, but present and engaged in his financial and social networks, argues Steggle. 'The reason it's gone unnoticed for so long is that it's not in London… where there's been a lot of quite intensive searching for Shakespeare,' Steggle said of the letter's discovery. Looking outside the city – and in the binding of books printed by the Bard's old friend – could point the way 'towards the possibility of more discoveries.'
CNN
24-04-2025
- General
- CNN
Shakespeare didn't abandon his wife in Stratford, letter suggests
William Shakespeare's marriage to Anne Hathaway may have been happier than previously thought, according to new research. It has been long believed that the playwright left his wife behind when he moved to London, but new findings from the University of Bristol suggest that the couple were living together in London for some period of time between 1600 and 1610. Shakespeare married Hathaway in 1582 and the couple shared three children. Experts have long thought that Shakespeare then moved to London from his home in Stratford-upon-Avon, leaving his family behind. Now, a long forgotten letter may turn that theory on its head, according to Matthew Steggle, a professor of English at Bristol University. The fragments of the letter, addressed to 'good Mrs Shakspaire,' (the name's spelling at the time) were found sewn into the binding of a 1,000-page theological book in the city of Hereford, about 50 miles from Stratford-upon-Avon. Although the letter's writer hasn't been identified, they refer to a fatherless apprentice called John Butts. Steggle found just one person by Butts' name who fit the criteria and lived in London at that time. 'The reason you think it's the Shakespeares is about the date and place of the letter – which you can establish largely by locating the boy at the center of it,' Steggle told CNN Thursday. The letter writer accuses the husband of 'Mrs Shakspaire' of withholding money from Butts and asks her for the funds. In what may be a reply from Hathaway herself, the recipient stands by her husband and refuses to settle the claim. The letter also refers to a 'Shakspaire' couple who lived in a place called Trinity Lane. Out of the four couples living in London with the surname, Steggle believes only the playwright and his wife could have afforded to live in the relatively prosperous area. Steggle said the discovery opens the path to more revelations about the playwright's life. 'We know so little about exactly where Shakespeare lives in London, so it's another sort of data point for that,' he said. 'It's another kind of anchor on where he might have been living, how he might have been, and how he might have been living in his London career.' As for challenging views about Shakespeare's relationship with his wife, Steggle credits a shift in attitudes towards women and greater academic work in this area. 'There's this narrative, like the film 'Shakespeare in Love,' where he's got this wife who's this kind of distant encumbrance in Stratford, and (Shakespeare is) having all these romantic love affairs in London separately,' he said, referring to the Oscar-winning 1998 movie. The letter is a 'game-changer' that suggests Hathaway was not absent from her husband's London life, but present and engaged in his financial and social networks, argues Steggle. 'The reason it's gone unnoticed for so long is that it's not in London… where there's been a lot of quite intensive searching for Shakespeare,' Steggle said of the letter's discovery. Looking outside the city – and in the binding of books printed by the Bard's old friend – could point the way 'towards the possibility of more discoveries.'
ITV News
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- ITV News
Shakespeare may not have abandoned wife, previously ‘ignored' letter reveals
William Shakespeare may not have abandoned his wife, a previously 'ignored' 17th century letter has revealed, undermining a centuries-old consensus among scholars. For more than 200 years, it has been assumed that the playwright had an unhappy relationship with his wife, Anne Hathaway - and that he left her in Stratford-upon-Avon to pursue a writing career in London. But new research by an academic at the University of Bristol has revealed that the true dynamics of the bard's relationship may have been different. Matthew Steggle, a professor of early modern English, analysed a fragment of a 17th century letter addressed to 'good Mrs Shakespeare', which appears to show the couple living together in London between 1600 and 1610. The letter, which had been preserved by chance in a book binding in Hereford Cathedral library, is the first piece of evidence that has been found pointing to Anne living in London with her husband. Professor Steggle said: 'When I first came across it I was a bit puzzled, wondering why it (the letter) wasn't better known and why there wasn't much more of a debate about it.' He added: 'It's just sort of been ignored by most Shakespeare scholars.' The letter documents a financial dispute between Shakespeare and an orphan boy called John Butts, with the letter's author requesting that Mrs Shakespeare pay the boy a sum of money which her husband allegedly owes. In response, Mrs Shakespeare appears to stand by her husband and to tell the author to find the money elsewhere. 'The Romantic poets, people who were interested in Shakespeare in the early 19th century, came up with this narrative that really appealed to them of a Shakespeare trapped into marrying this kind of country yokel,' Professor Steggle continued. 'Then he goes away and makes his fortune in London and forgets her and has lots of interesting adventures in London before coming back and retiring to Stratford. 'All he gives her in his will is the 'second best bed'!' But according to Prof Steggle, the new research suggests that 'maybe Anne Hathaway is a more interesting figure than has been thought'. While the letter was discovered in 1978, it remained stitched into the book binding until more recently, concealing one side of its text. Professor Steggle's research saw him pore through old records, looking for an apprentice matching the boy's description, before he eventually found one likely match. Over centuries of combing the archives, historians have found records of only four married couples with the 'Shakespeare' surname in London in the correct date range. With the information on the apprentice, Professor Steggle narrowed those four down to one couple who could have resided in Trinity Lane, a relatively wealthy part of London at the time to the south of St Paul's Cathedral. Discussing the attention his research has attracted, Professor Steggle said: 'It's nice, because people are all doing this really cool work in English studies and you do all this research and by and large … I wouldn't say nobody cares, but it normally doesn't come to media attention.'
STV News
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- STV News
Shakespeare may not have abandoned wife, previously ‘ignored' letter reveals
William Shakespeare may not have abandoned his wife, a previously 'ignored' 17th century letter has revealed, undermining a centuries-old consensus among scholars. For more than 200 years, it has been assumed that the playwright had an unhappy relationship with his wife, Anne Hathaway, and that he left her in Stratford-upon-Avon to pursue a writing career in London. But new research by an academic at the University of Bristol has revealed that the true dynamics of the bard's relationship may have been different. Matthew Steggle, a professor of early modern English, analysed a fragment of a 17th century letter addressed to 'good Mrs Shakespeare', which appears to show the couple living together in London between 1600 and 1610. The letter, which had been preserved by chance in a book binding in Hereford Cathedral library, is the first piece of evidence that has been found pointing to Anne living in London with her husband. Professor Steggle told the PA news agency: 'When I first came across it I was a bit puzzled, wondering why it (the letter) wasn't better known and why there wasn't much more of a debate about it.' He added: 'It's just sort of been ignored by most Shakespeare scholars.' The letter documents a financial dispute between Shakespeare and an orphan boy called John Butts, with the letter's author requesting that Mrs Shakespeare pay the boy a sum of money which her husband allegedly owes. In response, Mrs Shakespeare appears to stand by her husband and to tell the author to find the money elsewhere. 'The Romantic poets, people who were interested in Shakespeare in the early 19th century, came up with this narrative that really appealed to them of a Shakespeare trapped into marrying this kind of country yokel,' Professor Steggle continued. 'Then he goes away and makes his fortune in London and forgets her and has lots of interesting adventures in London before coming back and retiring to Stratford.' 'All he gives her in his will is the 'second best bed'!' But according to Prof Steggle, the new research suggests that 'maybe Anne Hathaway is a more interesting figure than has been thought'. While the letter was discovered in 1978, it remained stitched into the book binding until more recently, concealing one side of its text. Professor Steggle's research saw him pore through old records, looking for an apprentice matching the boy's description, before he eventually found one likely match. Over centuries of combing the archives, historians have found records of only four married couples with the 'Shakespeare' surname in London in the correct date range. With the information on the apprentice, Professor Steggle narrowed those four down to one couple who could have resided in Trinity Lane, a relatively wealthy part of London at the time to the south of St Paul's Cathedral. Discussing the attention his research has attracted, Professor Steggle said: 'It's nice, because people are all doing this really cool work in English studies and you do all this research and by and large … I wouldn't say nobody cares, but it normally doesn't come to media attention.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
