3. The ONLY William Shakespeare Gentleman

A unique claim on the Title on the Title Pages

3. The Gentleman’s coat of arms”This manuscript contains a depiction of Shakespeare’s arms explicitly attributed to William rather than his father John, and labelled ‘Shakespeare the player by Garter’—Garter being the heraldic title of William Dethick, who granted the arms to John Shakespeare on William’s behalf. The document provides, in a single image, the background which scores of Doubter books and publications claim to be non-existent: a gentleman-player, named, arms-bearing, and identified as the same man who wrote the plays.”

The application for armigerous status for the Shakespeare family went through numerous stages, all well documented with much detailed description of their status which contradicts the Doubter tales of absence of evidence. The fact demonstrated clearly in these annals is that there was only one Shakespeare family in England entitled to bear arms and describe themselves as ‘Gentlemen’ and the marks in the records by William Dethick connect the Stratford family, without any possibility of contradiction, to the man who worked at The Globe as part of the LCM and KM—Master William Shakespeare.

This is one of two versions of Dethick’s reply to Brooke’s “scroll of arms,” which are also the only two examples of Shakespeare’s arms in color from his lifetime. Dethick had a hand in both versions: this version, with a small revision in his hand, is neater than the Bodleian version, which is entirely in Dethick’s own handwriting. They differ in subtle but substantial ways (in addition to the expected spelling differences). For example, in the Bodleian version Dethick notes that Brooke’s complaint “hath so injuriously defamed” the people who hold the coats of arms, a detail omitted from the College of Arms copy. Because Shakespeare’s father died on September 7, 1601, William Shakespeare, who inherited the arms, would have been the target of defamation.

More at The College of ARMS https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/

Shakespeare’s Arms at The Folger https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/college-arms

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