• To The Reader
• 1. Shakspere or Shakespeare?
• 2. Shakespeare a Pseudonym?
• 3. Treasure Texts
• 4. Edward de Vere
• 5. Works
• 6. Ben Jonson’s Forgery
• 7. Research for Shake-speare
• 9. Relationship
• 10. Chronology

Notes & Queries

09 September 2011

My Hero Will Shaksper
by Martin Peake

Archaeologists in southern Israel say they've uncovered a young donkey that was carefully laid to rest on its side more than 3,500 years ago, complete with a copper bridle bit in its mouth and saddle bags on its back. Its accessories — and the lack of butchery marks on its bones — lead researchers to believe the venerated pack animal was sacrificed and buried as part of a Bronze Age ritual.

Napoleon said that history is a set of lies that the majority of people are in agreement with. When in the course of time certain facts are unearthed or mysteries explained we're often pleased to get closer to the truth, but not always: For instance, Charles Darwin's “The Origin of Species” wasn't greeted with open arms by everybody, neither were the Dead Sea scrolls nor the gospels according to Timothy, Mary or Judas. Sometimes the truth about our childhood heroes is a little hard to digest.
It would now appear that for the last 100 years scholars have been uncovering facts that make it look as if Shakespeare was an impostor. This is more than any red blooded Englishman is prepared to take. 
Let it not be said that an admirer of William Shakespeare is afraid of the truth. For a start I admire him as Will Shaksper (There's no offence meant by this spelling of his name and I'm sure that none would be taken - that's how he wrote it.) As an actor and theatre owner he brought high quality English entertainment to the masses against daunting odds. When he and his friends were forced to leave the theatre in Blackfriars they took it to pieces plank by plank, carried it across London and rebuilt it as the “Globe” theatre. Apart from performances in London, Shaksper’s troupe toured the provinces. Going on tour is hard enough nowadays with lorries for the scenery and props. Take away the lorries, trains and the hotels and you're looking at hard grind. In recognition of his achievements he was invited to take part in the coronation parade of King James.
Apart from the theatre, Shaksper made a good living as a money lender. Towards the end of his life Will Shaksper settled in his native Stratford-on-Avon speaking as a lay preacher in the church and (as we believe) often acting as a benefactor to his neighbours. He bought “New Place” in Stratford-upon-Avon for £ 60, a residence that would cost a little more on today's market. All in all - Well done that man! He is a hero of the nation and anyone who wants to set a finger on his statue will have to reckon with the wrath of a proud nation. 
This is where the story takes on a new character: Will Shaksper never claimed to have written the Shakespearian works. After the death of Will Shaksper Ben Jonson declared him to be the author William SHAKE-SPEARE. 
Now the question is: who is doing a dirty trick on whom? By way of comparison: I'm proud of my grandfather, he was highly decorated for fighting bravely in World War I, he built up a flourishing business and he devoted a lot of time to community service. If, after his death, someone had claimed that he had done the paintings that we attribute to Claude Monet or that he wrote the body of work that we attribute to Mervyn Peake then I would say “Hey, back off, will you. I won't have you making a fraud of my grandfather.”
 
In order to re-evaluate Shaksper we have to ask ourselves four questions:

(1) Did he make false claims to have written the Shakespearian works?
(2) Why didn't Edward de Vere write under his own name?
(3) Why didn’t Edward de Vere's surviving relatives reveal that he had written under the pseudonym SHAKE-SPEARE? 
(4) Who declared Will Shaksper to be the author William SHAKE-SPEARE?

(1) The answer is :”No”.

(2) Edward de Vere was the Lord Great Chamberlain of England and as such the first aristocrat of the nation. It was unthinkable in the Elizabethan social and political climate for such a person to write plays for the entertainment of the masses. It would have been as if our current monarch would open a chip shop, or have a yard sale at Buckingham palace.

(3) The sonnets were originally intended to be a strictly private matter. They were published under the name SHAKE-SPEARE. in 1609. These sonnets could have been used to question the biological parenthood and thereby the legitimacy of Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford, causing the family considerable embarrassment and difficulties.

(4) In the employ of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, Ben Jonson brought out a second edition of his play Every Man in His Humour in which Will Shaksper had acted (B. J., Workes, 1616). Although it was hitherto unheard of and, as time has proven, an unnecessary practice, he entered a list of the names of the actors who performed the play on its opening night. In this list he changed the actor's name from Shaksper to SHAKESPEARE.