Changing Fortunes

Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide - Nick Groom, Piero 2013

Changing Fortunes

The Essex rebellion failed. Shakespeare’s actors were taken in for questioning but escaped prosecution.

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MY FRIEND, THE EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON - WHO SUPPORTED THE SUCCESSION OF JAMES VI OF SCOTLAND TO THE ENGLISH THRONE - WAS IMPRISONED IN THE TOWER. ESSEX WAS EXECUTED.

Of course, on the eventual ascension of James VI, Shakespeare’s company received a minor acknowledgement: they became the King’s Men, and were effectively recognized as the leading company of the time.

With that, Shakespeare’s rate of production now halved from two plays to one play a year. He lodged in St Helen’s in London, possibly sharing a tenement with a musician, Thomas Morley, and was surrounded by emigre families from France and the Lowlands.

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PERHAPS HERE HE MET MARTIN DROESHOUT, THE FLEMISH ARTIST WHO PROVIDED THE PORTRAIT ENGRAVING FOR THE “FIRST FOLIO” EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE’S WORKS. IN 1604, MY LANDLADY ENGAGED ME AS A MATCHMAKER TO ENCOURAGE HER DAUGHTER’S SUITOR TO PROPOSE MARRIAGE.

Later, when relations between the two families soured, Shakespeare was obliged to make a legal deposition describing the events (1612). In 1608, Shakespeare became a shareholder in the Blackfriars Theatre, a roofed performance space, and as late as 1615, he was defending his rights on this property.