Shakespeare Baptized: The Bard's Life Begins in Stratford
A muddy river, a crowded church, and a father who needed to pay his parish dues before the local constable knocked. That was the cost of William Shakespeare's entry into the world: not a grand celebration, but a hurried baptism on April 26th, 1564, in a tiny Warwickshire chapel. He'd spend the next few years learning to read and write in a town that would eventually echo with his words long after he was gone. Now, when you hear "Romeo and Juliet," remember it started with a father paying a fee to save his son's soul from a priest who didn't know what magic lay ahead.
April 26, 1564
462 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on April 26
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