Shakespeare, Catholics, and the Vatican
William Shakespeare was a Catholic man, but he could have stopped being so, since Queen Elizabeth I sometimes attacked Catholics who would not follow the state policy of England to beak off the relationship with the Vatican.
Nonetheless, Shakespeare remained Catholic and died as such, which is recognized as such even today.
Shakespeare ‘was a Catholic’, says Vatican
Posted by The Catholic Universe on Thursday, 24 November 2011
The Vatican newspaper has said there is "little doubt" that William Shakespeare was a Catholic who was forced to hide his faith in Protestant England while leaving hints about his faith throughout his vast body of work.
Taking a cue from renewed speculation about Shakespeare's true identity sparked by the film Anonymous, the opinion piece in L'Osservatore Romano stated: "There may be questions regarding his identity, but not his religious faith."
The article said that the view was at least partly shared by the leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, who said in a debate at a literary festival last May that Shakespeare "probably had a Catholic background and had Catholic friends".
It also pointed out that shortly after the Bard of Avon's recorded death in 1616, Anglican Archdeacon Richard Davies wrote: "He died a papist," a pejorative term Protestants used to refer to Catholics.
The editorial said that while there was legitimate debate about who was truly behind the Shakespeare name, "there is little doubt about another question regarding the life of Shakespeare; his convinced adherence to the Catholic faith".
Shakespeare's work, it said, "is full of open references to the Catholic religion." These references are especially evident in the play "Hamlet," it said.
The editorial also said the argument that Shakespeare lived a life "fleeing and denouncing the bloody persecution that Elizabethan England inflicted on its subjects that were following the beliefs of their fathers" was worthy of further serious study.
http://www.thecatholicuniverse.com/shakespeare-was-a-catholic-says-vatican/?print=1
But why did Shakespeare adhere to the religion while being Catholic never gave him any advantage?
King Henry VIII of England, who took upon himself the role of grand royal inquisitor, took the lives of some 72,000 Catholics, many who were cruelly tortured.*
Queen Elizabeth, proved herself the former’s daughter by putting to death more people in one year than the Inquisition had done in 331 years!*
Yes, there is more than enough blame to go around. Maybe it is time for respect and dialogue and if need be, the charitable anathema, instead of mockery and half-truths?
*CORRECTION? The figures here come from O’Brien’s booklet (see first post) of the 1950’s. But I received the following information by email:
Henry’s victims were John Fisher and Thomas More, the Carthusian abbots and monks, and a few more Catholics, plus all those (several hundred) executed after the Pilgrimage of Grace. Plus, he had a number of Protestants executed for denying the Six Articles of 1540 approx. But he certainly didn’t kill 72,000.
In England and Wales, we have about 500 martyrs and confessors in total over the period 1534 – 1679. I believe the last Catholic died in prison about 1720.
Elizabeth’s victims may have been about 300, plus those executed after the rising of the Northern Earls of 1569-70. But this is over the whole of her reign, 1558-1603.
If the death toll of the Inquisition is in the range 2000-5000.
Fr Francis Marsden MA PhD STLSt Joseph’s ParishAnderton nr Chorley Lancs.
It has been some time since I looked at this question. The old Catholic Encyclopedia merely said that numerous Catholics were killed. As I recall, this post was part of a response in 1996 or 1997 to a fundamentalist webpage against Catholicism. O’Brien’s booklet was used from Paulist Press because the material was handy and public domain. I would not know what sources he used for the higher death figures.
Here is what others have added:
A person claimed that one of Thomas More’s own letters makes mention of the death of 4,000 Catholics in the minor port town of Chelsea. However, another critic corrected that in 1528 the population of Chelsea was reported to be 190 adults and children, including 16 households which grew no corn, and Sir Thomas More reported that 100 were fed daily in his household, 49 though not all those would have been living in the parish. In 1548 there were 75 communicants (16 years and over).
The Catholic Truth Society reckoned that 318 men and woman were put to death for the Faith in England between the reigns of Henry VII and Charles II. After being hanged up, they were cut down, ripped up, and their bowels were burned in their faces.”
The entire population of England and Wales at that time was only around 4 million.
As the Vatican wanted to secure their influences in England and help remaining Catholics as much as possible, it is natural if they had tried to use William Shakespeare. Some secret agents from the Vatican probably found the talent and the profession of Shakespeare useful for their mission. They must have asked Shakespeare to deliver some words and plots that could encourage faith in Catholicism in his plays to Catholics and other audience in London.The best estimate from Wikipedia is that approximately 70,000 people were executed during the reign of Henry VIII. That is for all offenses,...
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/instructions/debates/the-inquisition-the-church/protestants-have-killed-many-more-catholics/
In addition, there was a possibility that some hidden Catholics with higher status and educational background in England helped Shakespeare acquire some academic knowledge and information about foreign countries.
But Shakespeare was not suspected by Queen Elizabeth I. He was also trusted by James I enough to have his theatrical company recognized by the King. But when it was found that Shakespeare was Catholic and had a tie with some dangerous Catholics, the royal court in London would decide to kill Shakespeare with poison secretly to save face of the King.
Accordingly every record about Shakespeare kept in the royal court and by noblemen must have been disposed of secretly. That is why we can know only little about William Shakespeare (1564-1616) today.
Devil incarnate (Titus Andronicus / Henry V)
Give the devil his due (I Henry IV)
Tell truth and shame the devil (1 Henry IV)
(From Words and Phrases Coined by Shakespeare;
http://www.pathguy.com/shakeswo.htm)
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Act 8:26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
Act 8:27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
Act 8:28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
Act 8:29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.