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William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, a successful glover and alderman originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden.

John was born in 1531 and was skilled in both leatherworking and the curing and processing of fine leather to make ladies gloves and purses for the nobility. Mary Arden was born in 1540 as a member of the Catholic family of the Ardens of Park Hall whose family forebears had been given land by William the Conqueror. The Ardens were one of Warwickshire's most well-known families, tracing their ancestry back to the Doomsday Book. The marriage between Mary Arden and John Shakespeare in 1557 must certainly raised a few eyebrows! John was of yeoman stock and Mary was a member of the aristocratic Arden family. The major thing they had in common was that both the Shakespeares and the Ardens were Catholics. This was extremely important as England, at the time, was fiercely Protestant and Catholics were viewed with real suspicion. John was a very ambitious man and this is demonstrated not only by his choice of wife, but also by his incredible rise in the community.

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12y ago

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