Life of William Shakespeare Life of William Shakespeare William Shakespeare was an actor, playwright, poet, and theatre entrepreneur in London during the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras. He was baptised on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England, in the Holy Trinity Church. At age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway with whom he had three children. He died in his home town of Stratford on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52. Though more is known about Shakespeare's life than those of most other Elizabethan and Jacobean writers, few personal biographical facts survive, which is unsurprising in the light of
Anne Hathaway (wife of Shakespeare) small house. The bequest was thus not as minor as it might seem in modern times. In Elizabethan custom the best bed in the house was reserved for guests. If so, then the bed that Shakespeare bequeathed to Anne could have been their marital bed, and thus not intended to insult her. However, the will as initially drafted did not mention Anne at all. It was only through a series of additions, made on March 25, 1616, slightly less than a month before Shakespeare died, that the bequest to his wife of his "second best bed with the furniture" was