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April 25th, 2007, 02:36 PM
Shakespeare was probably born on 23rd April (appropriately St George's Day, now England's national day) and also died on 23rd April. Today is the 391 anniversary of his burial.
SHAKESPEARE'S GRAVE CONCERNS LED TO WITTY WARNING ON HEADSTONE
25 April 2007
Shakespeare, 23rd (??) April 1564 - 23rd April 1616 wrote around 38 plays and 164 sonnets
William Shakespeare lived in morbid fear of his body being dug up, moved and even plundered, according to research by an Exeter University academic.The bard was buried 391 years ago today and English lecturer Philip Schwyzer believes an inscription on his tomb betrays his phobia of exhumation.
Shakespeare's grave, in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford has remained untouched, argues Dr Schwyzer, because he made sure a witty curse to ward off gravediggers was carved on his headstone.
The inscription reads: "Good friend for Jesus sake forebeare, To digg the dust encloased heare, Bleste be ye man yt spares thes stones, And curst be he yt moves my bones."
Shakespeare's gravestone with is famous inscription. He may have written it himself. He died in 1616, probably on his 52nd birthday.
Dr Schwyzer, 37, said: "Shakespeare's epitaph marks his final, uncompromising statement on a theme that preoccupied him throughout his career as a writer for the stage.
"Real anxiety about the mistreatment or exhumation of corpses is found in at least 16 of the 37 plays, including a majority of the histories and tragedies, and this anxiety is often more pronounced than the fear of death itself."
The playwright's anxiety over the moving of bones appears in Romeo and Juliet when Juliet imagines waking in the crypt and tearing bodies, in Hamlet when a grave- digger throws up bones and skulls and in Richard III when the body of Henry VI is redirected when carried to the grave.
Dr Schwyzer says Shakespeare's inscription also suggests he foresaw his lasting fame.
The bodies of some of the bard's writing contemporaries were dug up and moved to Westminster Abby. John Milton was moved twice and his teeth were stolen.
"The strength of feeling (in the inscription) is most extraordinary - gravediggers are threatened with a curse and even archaeological exploration discouraged," added Dr Schwyzer.
"Curses inscribed on tombs are extremely rare in this period, and the tiny handful I have come across are always directed at potential vandals, not gravediggers.
"The stern inscription on the slab has been at least partially responsible for the fact that there have been no successful projects to open up the grave."
Dr Schwyzer's findings are contained in a new book, Archaeologies of English Renaissance Literature, published by Oxford University Press.
The book explores a fascination with images of exhumation that runs through many literary texts.
Dr Schwyzer arrived at his conclusions after researching hundreds of early modern church inscriptions around the south of England.
http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk
Shakespeare was probably born on 23rd April (appropriately St George's Day, now England's national day) and also died on 23rd April. Today is the 391 anniversary of his burial.
SHAKESPEARE'S GRAVE CONCERNS LED TO WITTY WARNING ON HEADSTONE
25 April 2007
Shakespeare, 23rd (??) April 1564 - 23rd April 1616 wrote around 38 plays and 164 sonnets
William Shakespeare lived in morbid fear of his body being dug up, moved and even plundered, according to research by an Exeter University academic.The bard was buried 391 years ago today and English lecturer Philip Schwyzer believes an inscription on his tomb betrays his phobia of exhumation.
Shakespeare's grave, in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford has remained untouched, argues Dr Schwyzer, because he made sure a witty curse to ward off gravediggers was carved on his headstone.
The inscription reads: "Good friend for Jesus sake forebeare, To digg the dust encloased heare, Bleste be ye man yt spares thes stones, And curst be he yt moves my bones."
Shakespeare's gravestone with is famous inscription. He may have written it himself. He died in 1616, probably on his 52nd birthday.
Dr Schwyzer, 37, said: "Shakespeare's epitaph marks his final, uncompromising statement on a theme that preoccupied him throughout his career as a writer for the stage.
"Real anxiety about the mistreatment or exhumation of corpses is found in at least 16 of the 37 plays, including a majority of the histories and tragedies, and this anxiety is often more pronounced than the fear of death itself."
The playwright's anxiety over the moving of bones appears in Romeo and Juliet when Juliet imagines waking in the crypt and tearing bodies, in Hamlet when a grave- digger throws up bones and skulls and in Richard III when the body of Henry VI is redirected when carried to the grave.
Dr Schwyzer says Shakespeare's inscription also suggests he foresaw his lasting fame.
The bodies of some of the bard's writing contemporaries were dug up and moved to Westminster Abby. John Milton was moved twice and his teeth were stolen.
"The strength of feeling (in the inscription) is most extraordinary - gravediggers are threatened with a curse and even archaeological exploration discouraged," added Dr Schwyzer.
"Curses inscribed on tombs are extremely rare in this period, and the tiny handful I have come across are always directed at potential vandals, not gravediggers.
"The stern inscription on the slab has been at least partially responsible for the fact that there have been no successful projects to open up the grave."
Dr Schwyzer's findings are contained in a new book, Archaeologies of English Renaissance Literature, published by Oxford University Press.
The book explores a fascination with images of exhumation that runs through many literary texts.
Dr Schwyzer arrived at his conclusions after researching hundreds of early modern church inscriptions around the south of England.
http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk
