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It’s time for a Shakespeare 
!!
April 23 (this past Friday) was Shakespeare’s 457th birthday.
Or was it?
#Shakespeare
!!April 23 (this past Friday) was Shakespeare’s 457th birthday.
Or was it?
#Shakespeare
First, I know you all celebrated in your own way. I made a cake, wore my Shakespeare scarf and would have worn one of my (several) themed t shirts if the weather had cooperated. Shakespeare’s birthday is big doings around my house.
Next, why don’t I think it was his birthday? If you look up his bio on Wikipedia or anywhere else, it lists 4/23 as his birth date. Turns out, though, 4/23 is the date we have all AGREED is his birthday.
We don’t actually have much proof and the little we do have is contradictory. As with so much of Shakespeare’s life we are short on facts and long on.... guessing.
April 23rd is, nearly indisputably, the day Shakespeare DIED in 1616, 52 years later, and the idea that he was born and died on the same day seems like kismet and has proven difficult to resist.
April 23rd is also St George’s Day, and St George is the patron saint of England, their national day. The idea that England’s greater playwright was born on England’s national day has proven similarly irresistible. #StGeorgesDay #Shakespeare
I mean, you can see the appeal. The symmetry is gorgeous. It’s just..... possibly not real.
The thing about Shakespeare is that... lots of things about his life are a mystery. The only cold hard fact we have concerning his birth is that he was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford upon Avon on April 26. That’s it. That’s all we’ve got. #Stratford
Tangent: his birthplace is also assumed. It’s a good assumption, don’t get me wrong, and it’s probably true. People were born at home then, there weren’t really hospitals. And it’s reasonable to assume he was born at his parents home. But no hard evidence exists.
Back to the date though. In those days, lots of babies died at or closely after birth. Infant mortality was a huge and constant problem. (So was maternal mortality, but that’s a story for another time)
Because of this, and the concern for their immortal souls, babies were baptized as soon as was prudent. Usually the first holy day or saints day after birth. Like... really fast.
April 23rd was a Tuesday in 1564, making Sunday a long 5 days away. Had he actually been born in the 23rd, the nearest saints day was the 25th, St Marks Day.
Apparently though, St Marks day was considered unlucky in 16th century England, and so many ppl think/hope/speculate that John and Mary Shakespeare waited an extra day to baptize their new arrival.
Some scholars have even speculated that Shakespeare was born earlier than the 23rd, but that seems even more unlikely.
Personally, knowing the religiosity of the age, I think he was born closer to the 25th. Plague was a constant threat, and babies died young. The Shakespeares had already lost 2 babies. They wouldn’t have wanted to take a chance with their first son.
One more thing though makes this whole debate about birthdays seem pretty academic and even downright silly: the calendar.
Shakespeare was born while England was still using the Julian calendar. We use the Gregorian today, so our 4/23 is not the same as Shakespeare’s. His 4/23 would be, to us, early May!
