What was the political atmosphere during Shakespeare's time?

Answer 1

It was tense. In 1588, when Shakespeare was 24, the English narrowly escaped being invaded by the Spanish Armada and a Spanish army from the Netherlands. In the 1590s, when he was writing some of his most joyful plays, there was concern that the death of the childless Queen Elizabeth would lead to civil war between various contenders for the throne. Indeed the hotheaded Earl of Essex attempted to seize the throne and the Chamberlain's Men were implicated (but thankfully exonerated). However, the transition to the reign of King James occured without incident.

Religion and politics were as intertwined in the seventeenth century as they had been in the sixteenth. Throughout Shakespeare's life, the law required that everyone must belong to the Church of England and worship at its churches. The extreme Protestants and the Catholics were persecuted. During Shakespeare's lifetime the Catholics were thought to be the greater threat, as the war with Spain was partially motivated by the desire to place a Catholic Queen on the throne, and in 1605 Guy Fawkes and other Catholic conspirators planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament to achieve their ends. (Shakespeare's play Macbeth reflects this current event). The voyage of the Mayflower and the founding of the Plymouth colony only four years after Shakespeare died reflect the growing movement of extreme Protestantism which would in time prove even more dangerous than the Catholics.