One of the greatest secrets of Shakespeare was discovered

In 1757, a document signed by J. Shakespeare was discovered in the Shakespeare family home, which for many years was not attributed to William, but was believed to belong to his father, John. Research shows that this document was most likely written by William’s sister, Joan.

In the historiography of William Shakespeare’s legacy, there has been a turn that seems more dramatic than many of the poet and playwright’s own plays. In 1757, someone found a religious document in the ceiling beams of Shakespeare’s house. For many years, historians attributed this document, which was signed by J. Shakespeare, to John Shakespeare, William’s father.

However, a study published in the Shakespeare Quarterly by researchers at the University of Bristol claims that John was not actually the author of the document in question. According to researchers, the real author was William’s younger and relatively unknown sister, Joan Shakespeare Hart; A woman whose name is mentioned in only 7 surviving documents from her lifetime. Matthew Stegall, the author of this study, stated:

“In this document, which refers extensively to a 17th-century Italian religious treatise called The Last Will and Testament of the Soul, the author pledges to die a good death as a Catholic. If the author was indeed John Shakespeare, who remained a devout Protestant until his death in 1601, this would represent a radical change in his beliefs and suggest a secret life at a time when secret allegiance to the Catholic Church in Elizabethan England could be dangerous. For this reason, many experts raised the possibility of this document being fake.

However, in this research, using internet archives, Stegall identified early versions of The Last Will and Testament of the Soul in Italian and 6 other languages ​​and concluded that the document in question could only have been written after the death of Shakespeare. As a result, the only other option with the name J. Shakespeare was Joan.

Joan, who was 5 years younger than William, survived her brother’s death by 30 years and lived in the same family home for many years. William Shakespeare himself was a mysterious character.

Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616 and the early years of his life are shrouded in mystery. Shakespeare was not known for being boisterous; Rather, he maintained an aura of mystery around him and enjoyed the relative anonymity that life in Stratford afforded. After his marriage to Ann Hatoy and the birth of their children, there is a 7-year gap in his historical records known as the missing years.

Speculations abound about William Shakespeare’s lost years; Some suggest that he went into hiding on charges of poaching, while more substantiated theories suggest that he made a living in London as an actor and playwright. Despite this period of obscurity, his fame flourished through his poems and plays.

Shakespeare invested in his career as a prominent member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, one of London’s most famous theater groups, and his financial success allowed him to buy New Place, one of Stratford’s grandest houses.

Meanwhile, Joan resided in the Shakespeare family home. The ceiling beams of that house became a treasury for religious writings inspired by his Italian texts.