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England flourished during her reign so it is called the Golden Age of Elizabeth. She reigned from 1558-1603.
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Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564.
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William Shakespeare is baptized on April 26, 1564 at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.
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Shakespeare enters King's New School, an excellent grammar school in Stratford attended by the sons of civil servants like his father.
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The Bishop of Worcester issues a marriage license to "William Shakespeare" and "Ann Hathaway," formalizing the marriage of 18-year-old William Shakespeare and 26-year-old Anne Hathaway.
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Six months after their marriage, the Shakespeare's first child, Susanna, is born and baptized.
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Anne Hathaway gives birth to twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith. The babies are named after Shakespeare's close friends, Hamnet and Judith Sadler.
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Around this time, Shakespeare writes Henry VI, Part One—his very first play. Like all of Shakespeare's plays, the precise year of its authorship is now unclear. Also around the same time, Shakespeare leaves Stratford to begin work as a playwright and actor in London.
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Shakespeare publishes "Venus and Adonis," his first long published poem. It is dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton.
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Shakespeare publishes "The Rape of Lucrece," also dedicated to the Earl of Southampton. Shakespeare purchases shares in the Chamberlain's Men.
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William and Anne bury their only son, Hamnet, who dies at the age of 11 of unknown causes.
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The Chamberlain's Men build the Globe, a wooden theater in London. Many of Shakespeare's most famous plays are performed for the first time here.
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Shakespeare's father dies and his patron Earl Southampton is sentenced to death for his role in the Essex rebellion. It is believed that his father's death motivates Shakespeare to write Hamlet around this time. Shakespeare's plays over the next few years take a dark, brooding tone.
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Queen Elizabeth died on 24 March, 1603.
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King James ruled both England and Scotland at the same time as a powerful monarch. He ruled as almost as absolute as Queen Elizabeth.
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Publisher Thomas Thorpe prints a collection of 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets.
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Shakespeare composes his final plays— Henry VIII, Two Noble Kinsmen (possibly written in 1614), and the now-lost Cardenio—in collaboration with John Fletcher, replacement playwright for the King's Men. The Globe catches fire during a performance of Henry VIII and burns to the ground.
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An ailing Shakespeare calls his lawyer to revise his will, making some odd changes that include leaving his "second-best bed" to his wife and £10 to the poor.
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Suffering from an unknown illness, William Shakespeare dies on his 52nd birthday.
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James left a period of turmoil for his son.
