In the sections that follow, you will be introduced to the period in which Shakespeare lived (1576-1623). The timeline below collects information about Commercial Playhouses and the Industry of Print.  You will notice this timeline does not feature widely recognized dates or events like battles, coronations, and uprisings.  This is by design; after all, you can find such a timeline easily on the internet and in almost any textbook.  Instead, this timeline focuses on the intersection of playhouse and print house through the lens of surviving documents and artifacts from the period.  Our hope is that this timeline can be useful in at least three different ways:

1. To present a slice of the variety of documentary evidence available from the early modern period.

2. To highlight the remarkable breadth of DH resources accessible to the current day researcher.

A note about timelines:

Timelines often make history appear neatly organized; by arranging information chronologically and then categorically (notice how we’ve divided up the timeline entries into sections), we inadvertently suggest that the historical record is tidy and linear. Yet, a closer look demonstrates that this is hardly the case.

Problems in Chronological Placement

You will notice that we have publication dates here for several plays, but we do not include the date on which they were written or first performed. Should Richard III be listed as 1592 (the year in which scholars think it may have been written, give or take a few months) or as 1597 (the year in which it was first printed)?

Problems in Categorization

We have arranged the timeline by category to highlight patterns of events (both within and across categories) and to help readers quickly access information with a clean and tidy layout. History, however, is rarely so tidy. Plays commented, surreptitiously and overtly, on political and religious controversies of the time and political and religious figures shot right back with speeches, pamphlets, and edicts. Even the division of print from performance is arbitrary, with theatrical performance often shaping what was printed and revivals bringing printed works back to the stage. For example, you might look at the entry for Shakespeare’s handwriting (1603/04). One might think that these handwritten revisions of Sir Thomas More ought to belong under print history, yet, this is taken from a promptbook, making it a part of theatre history. Furthermore, the play was never printed during Shakespeare’s time, so it is not technically a part of print history.

Problems in Selection

The production of a timeline requires a network of minute decisions on the parts of the authors. We had to decide not only which events and dates to include, but also how to represent those events and dates. A timeline can help explain Shakespeare’s historical context by reminding the reader of relevant dates, but the choice of which dates to include is what tells the story. In other words, a timeline should not be a haphazard assemblage of dates but rather a conscious collection of information.  Through all this, we want to present enough entries to be substantive but not so many that even those with an avid interest in the period will become bored and click the browser window closed.

So What?

These problems in chronological placement, categorization, and selection, as well as a myriad of others that plague the authors of timelines, can actually serve as opportunities for researchers and students.  The trick is, as always, trying to find the right questions to ask.  While we hope this timeline will itself be informative, our true intent is to inspire further inquiry.  To that end, offer the following assignment.

Pick an element on which to focus.  This can be a moment in time (for example, a particular year), a type of source (for example, the ballad from the UCSB English Broadside Ballad Archive), or a particular subject (for example, the performance and publication history of a certain play).  Using our timeline and its connected resources (such as the Folger’s Shakespeare Documented website) as a jumping off point, delve into what you can find on the subject.  Your institution’s library may have databases that can help you (from the extensive Early English Books Online to other resources), but many of the resources that we link to throughout this textbook are free and open to the public.  The first and most critical component of academic inquiry is curiosity; following this rabbit trail for even a few hours will likely take you in directions you never could have anticipated.  

<Something about Timeline programs they can use + links to tutorials on how to use them>