Outskirts Press, INC.

Recent research places William Shakespeare in the homes of several wealthy, Catholic families in Lancashire in his late teen years. Why and how he arrived in this remote area is a puzzle that cries for a solution. This book reveals a tangled web of family and friends, Jesuits, and Catholic plotters tying Shakespeare to people and settings in Lancashire that often reappear in Shakespeare’s London theater environs. Many of these threads involved marriages between Catholics in Lancashire and Cheshire with Arderne relatives of Shakespeare’s mother. Little research has been done on the lineage of Ardernes (Arden) of these northern shires. Ardernes lived near and intermarried with the powerful Stanley family, the Earls of Derby, who were intermarried with the Hoghton and Hesketh families that may have patronized young Shakespeare. The 1581 will of Alexander Hoghton bequeathed an actor in his private acting troupe, William Shakshafte, to his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Hesketh. Since 1935, research has focused on the possibility that this actor was 17-year-old William Shakespeare. The Shakespeares likely recognized the Arden connection with the Stanley family via a history of Arderne/Stanley marriages dating from the 14th century. This history could explain Shakespeare’s presence in Lancashire. Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden, was probably related to the powerful Arden family of Park Hall (near present-day Birmingham) who were distant relatives of the Ardernes of the north. Because John and William Shakespeare chose the impaling of the Cheshire Arderne arms over the Park Hall Arden arms, they were aware of their northern relatives. In 1584, when Shakespeare was 20, a ‘Mr Ardren,’ was appointed steward for the 4th Earl of Derby’s embassage to France, an indication that the Ardernes were well known by the Stanley family.