Guest Author - Karyn Johnson

April 23rd marks some important events in English history: the birth and death of Shakespeare, and St. George's Day, the feast day of the patron saint of England.

St. George's Day

St. George's Day is little celebrated, even though it is England's national day. His emblem is a red cross on a white background, which is the flag of England and which you may recognize as part of the British flag.

St. George is well known as a dragon slayer and a defender of maidens' virtue, but there is no evidence to support either depiction. What is believed to be true is that he was a Roman officer who confessed his Christian faith and was then tortured and beheaded for his beliefs. He died early in the 4th century.

It is not known how he became patron saint of England, but he has been since at least the 8th century.

For more information about him, visit http://www.stgeorgesdayevents.org.uk.

Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is the most famous writer to come out of England, if not the world. He was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon. At least, that is his generally accepted date of birth, but the details and dates of his birth can only be guessed. His baptismal record was dated April 26th of that year.

Little is known of the time of his life prior to his arrival in London and his rise to fame as an actor and a playwright. He was believed to have attended the free grammar school in Stratford, which would've given him the background in Latin and classical Greek that he used in his plays. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582 at the age of eighteen. She was twenty-six and already pregnant with their first child. Susanna was born in 1583 and twins Hamnet and Judith were born in 1585. Hamnet died at age 11, during the time Shakespeare was in London.

But the scant history we have of his childhood and adolescence is more than compensated by his work in London. He was believed to have arrived there in 1588. As the Shakespeare literary canon shows, he was very busy from that point on in his life, acting, writing, and serving as a managing partner with the Lord Chamberlain's Men.

Shakespeare retired to Stratford in 1611. He died on April 23rd in 1616 (again, this is a generally accepted date), and was buried at Holy Trinity Church on April 25th in Stratford. His epitaph reads:

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

Shakespeare Resources
Of course, there are endless resources on Shakespeare's life and works. Here are a few of my favorites:

Online
Shakespeare Resource Center
Shakespeare Online

Books
The Norton Shakespeare
Will in the World
Tales from Shakespeare: Children's Classics

Film
Shakespeare in Love
Zefferelli's Romeo & Juliet
Zefferelli's Hamlet