The 17th Earl of Oxford was born on April 12, 1550. For some, he is the main contender of the true author of the plays and poetry commonly ascribed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon. He was a poet and patron of the arts, a favorite for a time at Elizabeth I's Court--and a secret Catholic after a trip to the Continent. According to the Luminarium website: De Vere was, in his earlier years, a favourite at court, where he seems to have mostly lived when young. At 25, he undertook a tour of France, Germany and Italy in 1575 and was abroad for some sixteen months. The Earl flirted with Catholicism but in late 1580 he denounced a group of Catholic friends to the Queen, accusing them of treasonous activities and asking her mercy for his own, now repudiated, Catholicism. He was retained under house arrest for a short time and, following the birth to Anne Vavasour of an illegitimate child fathered by him in 1581 (Sir Edward Vere), was briefly in the Tower of London.
The three friends he denounced were Lord Henry Howard, the 1st Earl of Northampton, Charles Arundel, and Francis Southwell. I see a parallel between Oxford's career as a Catholic/Anglican and John Donne's--once Oxford got into some trouble or foresaw some trouble because of his extramarital activities, he had to shed his Catholicism rather dramatically. John Donne wrote anti-Jesuit pamphlets; Oxford denounced Catholic friends.
For someone like Lord Henry Howard, son of the Earl of Surrey executed by Henry VIII in 1547 and brother of Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk executed by Elizabeth I in 1572 , such an accusation of treason was extremely dangerous. All three men managed to convince Elizabeth that they were not guilty of Oxford's charges, but Henry Howard continued to attract suspicion throughout her reign.
de Vere has been mentioned, along with a host of others, as the "real" author of the plays and poems. Trouble is, there is no evidence for and abundant evidence against. See James Shapiro's book "Contested Will" for a full treatment. No respected scholar takes this position. The fellow who wrote the plays is the one who lived in Stratford, according to the overwhelming weight of evidence and the overwhelming consensus of scholars.
ReplyDeleteSandy O'Seay: I wasn't advocating, I was mentioning. I am a Stratfordian, not an Oxfordian.
ReplyDeleteStephanie, Good! We are on the same page! I appreciate your web site and enjoy your work.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Never thought the evidence for an author other than William Shakespeare for Shakespeare's works was very convincing. Some people are simply brilliant. However, there is much evidence that Shakespeare himself continued practice the Catholic faith. Perhaps that is why he put a curse on anyone who attempted to move his bones to Canterbury.
ReplyDeleteYou may be sure that I will post more about Shakespeare on April 23.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who thinks that a man who had little or no education, whose children were illiterate, who never left any writing other than six unreadable signatures with his name spelled differently in each one, who never traveled outside of London, who spent much time and effort engaging in petty lawsuits, who could not read books in French, Italian, or Spanish yet used untranslated materials as his sources, who never left any books in his will, who left no letters, no correspondence, who did not elicit a single eulogy at his death could be the greatest writer in the English language should do some real investigation, not take the word of the Stratfordian academics.
ReplyDeleteThe evidence for Edward de Vere is real and compelling. All it takes to discover it is an open mind and a passion for the truth.
Thanks, Mr. Schumann for your comment--however; I am not going to post any more comments on the authorship debate (some literary site may field those). The purpose of my post on Edward de Vere was to recount his "flirtation" with Catholicism and his denouncing certain Catholic friends to get himself out of trouble by casting suspicion on them.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a post on the authorship debate, merely a correction. Edward de Vere was born in 1550, not 1577. By 1577, he had already been educated, traveled to Italy, and was married.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that you would change the erroneous birthday you gave to Edward de Vere from 1577 to 1550 in your article.
ReplyDeleteHoward--I thought your comment was the correction! Remember, "since I am not a full-time writer/blogger but have a full-time job outside the home" I've been busy with other matters. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteEveryone interested in the issue of the "real" William Shakespeare should read Clare Asquith's book "Shadowplay". She makes a solid case that Shakespeare did write his own work and that he was a practicing Catholic in the underground church. She uses evidence to back up her case- not rumors or innuendo. There are "coded" messages that run throughout his work and they are consistent. Once you learn the code of the underground Elizabethan Catholic Church, his work becomes, shockingly, even more fantastic and profound.
ReplyDelete