Edward Golding de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford - Was Edward de Vere the author of the works attributed to Wm Shakspere of Stratford on Avon

New evidence that conclusively connects Shakespeare "the player" to the man from Stratford.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/30/theater/shakespeare-coat-of-arms....

"The new documents, Mr. Shapiro added, also come with a nice bonus: they clearly refute skeptics who continue to argue — to the deep exasperation of most scholars — that William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon was not actually the author of the works attributed to him."

William Shakespeare, Bard of Avon

Very interesting!!! Thanks for sharing.

Nice, Justin, thanks for sharing.

"to the deep exasperation of most scholars" -- oh, yes. Yes indeed.

Thanks, Justin!

:-)

Very interesting indeed, thank you.

I dont know about de Vere but my experience has shown a lot of people claiming Francis Bacon (illegitimate child of Queen Victoria) as being the author of Shakespeare's woks. Anyone else heard about this?

Steve

Oh, now Bacon is a time traveler? Queen Victoria 1819-1901.

As to Queen Elizabeth I, she wasn't called the "Virgin Queen" for nothing. While she may have been a "technical virgin" (that is, having done everything short of actual coitus), there has never been any credible evidence of her having any children by anybody.

Thanks Justin.

But the new documents do not by themselves "clearly refute" theories that "Shakepeare the player" was not Shakespeare the author, although they do add significantly to what seems to me to be an obvious identification.

Gentry, those entitled to a coat of arms, were then (as now) at the margins disputable. Shakespeare's father was rich enough (and had enough of a supposed ancestry) to claim arms. Shakespeare the player got richer, and did so successfully. He seems to have been the only "player" to have actually done so successfully, and since actors were not generally seen as high class, it is unlikely that his qualities as an actor made the difference; as a writer he could of course have qualified as a gentleman. Ben Jonson's reference to his coat of arms suggests the usual jealousies between two playwrights.

But that's as far as it goes. To my eyes it is entirely convincing, as if I needed to be convinced. But to those who think that Francis Bacon (1909-1992) the well-known illegitimate (?) child of Edward VII and someone or other, and possibly the rightful King of England, was the real author of plays published three centuries before his birth, it will of course be another example of academic conspiracy.

Mark

Mark, I understand what you're saying. Parsing the evidence very finely it is still possible for someone to reject all the other circumstantial evidence and argue that William Shakespeare the player (actor) is not the same person as the playwright published under the name William Shakespeare.

It does, however, significantly tighten the evidence gap. Previously, it was possible for conspiracists to argue there was no documentary evidence linking the man of Stratford to the theater. Now there is. Further, it comes in a mocking context that is consistent with the other known examples from the College of Arms of the time -- calling someone a player instead of a playwright.

That's about as conclusive as the evidence ever gets for this time period.

Edward de vere is william shakespeare's 8th cousin 2 removed...and Shakespeare and Francis Bacon are 8th cousin 4 times removed...so either one is possible!!

Edward de Vere is william Shakespeare's 8th cousin 2x removed. So is Francis Bacon who is Shakespeare's 8th cousin 4 x removed! Therefore, it is possible that they had contact thru their family and either one or both could have written his works.

Assuming they knew about the relationship - which, unless they were genealogy-obsessed (or hobbits), is not all that likely.

Lol...i like the hobbit approach!!!

Edward de Vere’s nickname resembles "Shakespeare".
At court, Edward De Vere was nicknamed "Spear-shaker" due to of his ability both at tournaments and because his coat of arms featured a lion brandishing a spear. Perhaps coincidentally, Edward De Vere lived in the same area as Shakespeare, his Bilton Hall home being the Avon River and the Forest of Arden on another.

http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/authorship/authorship_de_vere...

Very interesting subject both of the gentlemen are my ancestors.

Well, yes, very interesting: but the article comes down at the end very strongly against Edward. It's all very well saying that the dates of the later plays are disputable but some of them are not ("The Tempest").

What people tend to forget in these interminable nonsenses about who wrote Shakespeare's plays is how uniform education was for people going to grammar schools, and how much time for the upper classes was spent in learning how to fight tournaments, dance gracefully, hold your knives and forks, etc. Will Shakespeare was certainly able to go to Stratford Grammar School, since his father was reeve (equivalent of mayor) of Stratford, even if we don't have the records that he (or anyone else) did so. We do know that the Headmaster was paid more than the Headmaster of Eton College (although this had not yet achieved the educational/social pre-eminence that it was later to do). So it wasn't a ridiculous education.

Mark