Shakespeare is said to have been arrested for what crime?

Answer 1

There is an old legend that says Shakespeare was accused of poaching - hunting on somebody else's property. According to the story he had to abandon his family because of it and ran away to London to get started in the theatre business.

There is no documentation of this story and most historians view it as a romantic tale designed to explain why Shakespeare went looking for work in London as opposed to Stratford.

We have no documentary evidence that Shakespeare was ever convicted of any crime. In this respect he differs from his father, who was convicted of maintaining an illegal midden, and his daughter Susanna, who was convicted of failing to go to church on Sunday. If we have records of these crimes, we would surely have records of Shakespeare being convicted of poaching. The idea that he was accused of poaching but never convicted is also implausible, since his wife and children stayed in Stratford and continually received money from him for their support, which would have made him easy to trace.

Answer 2

Shakespeare was never arrested for anything. There's an old legend about him going to London from Stratford to escape arrest for poaching deer on the property of a guy called Lucy, but even in that legend they didn't catch him, and the legend is almost certainly a fabrication.

The legend is definitely fabrication as the deer park in question didn't exist at the time. However, Shakespeare was arrested in 1596 - though in London rather than Stratford - "William Wayte "swore before the Judge of Queen's Bench that he stood in danger of death, or bodily hurt," from "William Shakspere" and three others."

He was bound over to keep the peace.

Answer 3

The notion of a "criminal record" is a modern one; the sixteenth century did not have the facilities to keep records of every malefactor in the country, although they did record when crimes were committed, and if the person responsible was caught, what the punishment was.

There is a very old and somewhat romanticised story that Shakespeare had to leave Stratford because he had been poaching deer in the park of a nobleman, and the nobleman, getting wind of this, was after Will. He therefore scarpered. Since this event allegedly took place during a period where we have no evidence at all about Shakespeare's life, we cannot say whether it is a romantic fantasy or whether it has a basis in truth. There is no record of a conviction, but of course there wouldn't be, because Shakespeare didn't stick around long enough according to the story.

So basically, even if they had criminal records, Shakespeare wouldn't have one.

There are, of course, records of Shakespeare's father being fined for setting up a sewage pit too close to his neighbour, and of his daughter Susannah being fined for failing to attend church. These are pretty petty offences, not crimes, and Shakespeare wasn't even convicted of one of them.

Answer 4

Macbeth commits a numerous amount of murders, even if some are not performed by him he still hired assassins to kill on his behalf.

Answer 5

Illegal sale and purchase of wool, and usury (lending money for interest).

Answer 6

The usual: pickpocketing, robbery, theft, fraud, murder, treason, assault, rape.

Answer 7

Shakespeare was accused of poaching.