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.

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.

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.