"Candace queen of the Ethiopians" - Shakespeare, Catholics, and the Vatican

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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. 

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/

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.

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.

"rebuked the winds and the sea" - Shakespeare's Use of the Word God

Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Bay

Shakespeare's Use of the Word God 

Somebody wrote that there are 92 quotes on God by Shakespeare.

Some of interesting expressions are:

God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.(William Shakespeare)

Well, God give them wisdom that have it; and those that are fools, let them use their talents.(William Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night")

O, God forgive my sins and pardon thee!(William Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night")

I say no more than truth, so help me God!(William Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night")

Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.(William Shakespeare) 

http://www.inspirationalstories.com/quotes/t/william-shakespeare-on-god/

 Shakespeare had a strong foundation in his religious learning.  He knew that God has authority.  But Shakespeare also though that God is not fast in helping people.  Accordingly, God is mysterious to him.  So, Shakespeare wanted to deliver a joke about Heaven, since God would not come fast, being angry, if He was offended.

Shakespeare was a professional in entertainment business.  He must have minded what words about God would rejoice the audience.  And Shakespeare handled the word God as if he had been a Protestant without guidance from the Vatican.  Yet, he was an actor, too.

Catholic Shakespeare must have prayed to God for his success in London full of Protestants, including dangerous ones with worldly power.


And what line do you want to have Shakespeare write about God?

"O God, my God, Psalms rejoices you, I know, for I feel like I have written!"  (EEE-Reporter in lieu of William)


Refer to //eereporter.blogspot.jp/2014/08/thy-heart-is-not-right-in-sight-of-god.html
and
http://eereporter.blogspot.jp/2014/08/blog-post.html.




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Mat 8:26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

"I see men as trees, walking" - Shakespeare's Best Bed

Tokyo Bay to the Pacific Ocean

Shakespeare's Best Bed

There are too little letters or any other writings by Shakespeare except plays and poets.

It is said that other authors and dramatists who lived in the same era as Shakespeare also did not leave many documents and records about themselves except their works.  So, it might not be strange or mysterious that today we have only a few pubic records on William Shakespeare and few personal letters written by him.

However, it is apparent that Shakespeare had strong connections with some noblemen and business people in England at the time.  He must have wrote some personal and business letters to them.  Shakespeare's theatrical company was also authorized by the British royal court.  Then, officials must have mentioned Shakespeare in writing some reports or records.  But, there are no such examples.

I think that papers with the name of Shakespeare on were destroyed on purpose.  The British court must have tried to deny relationship with Shakespeare.  Noblemen and business men who received letters from Shakespeare destroyed such letters, following an instruction to do so by officials.

Probably, it is because Shakespeare was found to have some secret linkage to Catholics who were regraded as a kind of terrorists.  But to save the face of King James I who officially authorized  Shakespeare's theatrical company, Shakespeare must have been killed secretly, for example, with poison.

I think that those agents who killed Shakespeare also intervened in writing of Shakespeare's will.  They added a sentence that the second best bed would be bequeathed to his wife, since there was evidence of poisoning Shakespeare left in the best bed where Shakespeare had been when he died.

The famous sentence that humiliated Shakespeare's wife was written not by her husband Shakespeare but by some agents sent from London to kill him with poison.  They needed to try to conceal any evidence of their crime.  So, the best bed of Shakespeare was secretly disposed of eventually.

Who got shakespeare's best bed? 

gormenghast10014  

Shakespeare's Will leaves his second best bed to his wife. He makes no mention of his best bed. The remainder of the goods and chattels that were not bequethed were left to his daughter, Susanna and her husband, so they probably got the best bed:
"Item I gyve unto my wief my second best bed with the furniture; Item I gyve and bequeath to my saied daughter Judith my broad silver gilt bole.  

All the rest of my goodes Chattels, Leases, plate, jewles and Household stuffe whatsoever after my dettes and Legasies paied and my funerall expences discharged, I gyve devise and bequeath to my Sonne in Lawe John Hall gent and my daughter Susanna his wief whom I ordaine and make executors of this my Last will and testament"  

http://www.bardweb.net/will.html
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=A0SO8wuPCPpTW_wAX.ZXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzaTZhMTZnBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1NNRTY0MV8x?qid=20080211134845AAmKQ5Y

So, we can understand why the epitaph carved into the stone slab covering Shakespeare's grave includes a curse:

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

The very evidence of poison, namely the dead body of Shakespeare, was concealed forever.  The agents probably senｔ by King James I did a good job in a sense. 

Otherwise, why did just a dramatist, Shakespeare, have to write such a curse while he was so successful and even got authorized by King James I?


For more discussions, refer to another posting:
Little Attention to Shakespeare's Deathhttp://eereporter.blogspot.jp/2014/08/thy-heart-is-not-right-in-sight-of-god.html






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Mar 8:24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
Mar 8:25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

"as they sailed he fell asleep"

Tokyo Bay and Mt. Fuji









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Luk 8:22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.
Luk 8:23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.
Luk 8:24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.

"Whither I go, ye cannot come"

Around Tokyo








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Joh 8:21 Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
Joh 8:22 Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.
Joh 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

"thy heart is not right in the sight of God" - Little Attention to Shakespeare's Death

Around Tokyo

Little Attention to Shakespeare's Death

One of the reasons why I think that William Shakespeare was assassinated with poison is the condition of the death of Shakespeare.

Nobody came to his burial service from London.  No noblemen and none from the royal court of King James I, though "after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the company was awarded a royal patent by the new king,James I, and changed its name to the King's Men." (Wikipeda)

So, there are some arguments about his relatively lonely burial.

Shakespeare was a famous and respected dramatist at the time of his death. Why was so little attention paid to his passing?

Shakespeare was indeed a man of fame and wealth for many years before his death, thanks in great part to the privileges granted him by King James I. Yet, surprisingly there are no records of any significant tributes to Shakespeare by his fellow actors and writers at the time of his death. The great eulogies praising the Sweet Swan of Avon appeared much later, in the First Folio of 1623. The situation was quite different for Shakespeare's friend and legendary actor, Richard Burbage. When Burbage died in 1619 the nation mourned and eulogies poured forth from distraught writers whose characters would surely die with him.

The shock and sadness over Burbage's passing may be the key to our understanding of why so little was written on Shakespeare's death just three years earlier - a brilliant theory put so eloquently by C. C. Stopes in Burbage and Shakespeare's Stage:
Shakespeare was out of it all now - away in the quiet Stratford Church he lay. And Richard Burbage, having a son at the end of the year, in memory of him called the child by the name of '"William." It has often been noted by enemies that the world did not seem very much distressed about the death of Shakespeare. No one seems to have grasped the true reason. Shakespeare had retired from the stage, as an actor, some time before he died. His personal appearances in London were rare.

And when the end came, and the creation of plays from that source ceased, we have every reason to believe that there was an increase in the number of the performances of his plays. For in the characters Shakespeare wrote for him Richard Burbage attained his greatest glory. Men did not realize that Shakespeare was dead while Burbage lived. His power of impersonation was so great that he became his characters....We have only to turn to the poems referring to Richard Burbage to realize that it was in the death of Burbage that to the world our Shakespeare died (115).
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/faq/shakespeareremembered.html

This is an indirect proof that Shakespeare was killed by some agents from the royal court in London.  The royal authority in London tried to make the death of Shakespeare unnoticed as much as possible without encouraging influential people in London to visit the funeral, since some King's agents assassinated Shakespeare with poison, though it took some time or specifically more than a month to put an end to the life of Shakespeare.

It must have been related to the conflict between Catholics and Protestants.  As some Catholic group tried to blow up the central part of London, which however failed, the British court took very stern measures against Catholics.

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. 

The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of England's Parliament on 5 November 1605, as the prelude to a popular revolt in the Midlands during which James's nine-year-old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic head of state.
...

The plot was revealed to the authorities in an anonymous letter sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, on 26 October 1605. During a search of the House of Lords at about midnight on 4 November 1605, Fawkes was discovered guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder—enough to reduce the House of Lords to rubble—and arrested. Most of the conspirators fled from London as they learned of the plot's discovery, trying to enlist support along the way. Several made a stand against the pursuing Sheriff of Worcester and his men at Holbeche House; in the ensuing battle Catesby was one of those shot and killed. At their trial on 27 January 1606, eight of the survivors, including Fawkes, were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot   

Though Shakespeare seems to have had no associations with those revolutionary Catholics, subsequent investigations must have concluded that William Shakespeare could be a threat, since he wrote plays that could appeal to Catholics secretly.

So, the British authority decided to take on Shakespeare.  But he was so popular as an actor and a dramatist.  Shakespeare's theater company was even authorized by King James I to enjoy the highest reputation in the public and among noble people.  So, the assassination had to be carried out secretly in Stratford-upon-Avon. but not in London.

That is why no word from King James I on the death of Shakespeare, the most popular leader of the King's Men.

Conversely the fact that King James I neglected the death of Shakespeare indicated that Shakespeare was assassinated by the King, most probably.





************************** RECAP *************************

Shakespeare Messages to Catholics

If you admit that Shakespeare was assassinated with poison after forced retirement because the English royal authority found that the great dramatist had been sending messages to Catholics through writing plays, every mystery of William Shakespeare would be solved. 

Especially one of mysteries that almost no documents Shakespeare wrote in his daily lives, business, and society circles have been left can be explained by this theory.  After Shakespeare was assassinated, agents of the authority must have collected such documents and letters to burn them. 

As Shakespeare was so popular in the public and highly praised by parties concerned in the trade, the royal anti-Catholic authority must have wanted to take on Shakespeare secretly.  (Shakespeare even covertly joined translation for the King James Version of the Bible.)  So, they used poison and buried the dead body in two days in haste; they even concocted the well-known epitaph on the grave of Shakespeare.     

Indeed, how could William Shakespeare, a talented Catholic dramatist, wish to leave such cursed words on his grave?

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

It looks like the agent who killed Shakespeare tried to hide evidence of his crime in the coffin of Shakespeare laid in the grave for ever. 


Now, the following is a copy of my past writings on this issue:

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King James and Shakespeare in 1605 and 1611

It has a significant meaning that the Authorized Version of the Bible,  sponsored by James VI and I (1566-1625), was produced while Shakespeare was active in his creative work.

So, there might have been some linkage between William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and the King James Version of the Bible.

Shakespeare: General Q & A 

Is it true that Shakespeare worked on the King James Bible? 

Some believe that Psalm 46 may have been translated by Shakespeare. The King James version of the Bible was printed in 1611, when Shakespeare was 46 years old. It is a faint possibility, but no one knows for sure. James C. Humes notes that "The 46th word from the top of the 46th Psalm is "Shake" ("The earth doth shake."), and the 46th word from the bottom is "spear" ("God cutteth forth a spear")" (164).
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/faq/psalmshakespeare.html

Specifically, the 46th Psalms are as follows:

Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psa 46:2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Psa 46:3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
Psa 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
Psa 46:5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
Psa 46:6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
Psa 46:7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Psa 46:8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
Psa 46:9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Psa 46:11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

But what was the relationship between King James and William Shakespeare?

Shakespeare's Relationship with King James I

William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in order to win the approval of King James of England and used the king's favor to generate wealth and prosperity for himself. William Shakespeare was known for challenging himself to write plays using different techniques and approaches. In the infancy of the 1600s, between 1603 and 1606, Shakespeare wrote one of his most famous and most adapted tragedies with Macbeth.By 1608, he was expanding his play company to a second theatre. (Frye 15) Commonly referred to as "The Scottish Play," Macbeth tells the story of a thane who through the machinations of a trio of witches ascends to the throne in Scotland via a series of murders and deceptions. The play was used to propel Shakespeare from a playwright from Stratford to the king's personal performer, rendering Shakespeare wealthy and allowing him to expand from the Globe to other theatres and spread the knowledge of his plays across England. (Frye 14) At the time the play was written, King James VI of Scotland had recently succeeded Queen Elizabeth I as reigning monarch of England and Ireland, becoming James I of England. Many of the themes and ideas that are presented in Macbeth seem to suggest that Shakespeare took several creative liberties with the history of England at the time and tailored the play specifically to flatter King James. At a time when performing a play that even hinted at corruption in the crown would have resulted in not only the death of the theatre company but of the playwright himself, it is understandable that Shakespeare would write a play for a court performance complimentary to the ruler of Great Britain. (Project Muse) This action won the acclaim of the king, and gave Shakespeare and his troupe (formerly Lord Chamberlain's Men) resourcespreviously unimaginable. (Greenblatt 335) In 1603, Shakespeare's troupe changed their name to The King's Company. They received much more money, thus earning them more costumes and props on top of the gifts they were receiving from the King. Performances before James were four times as frequent as they had been before Elizabeth. (Frye 15)
http://voices.yahoo.com/shakespeares-relationship-king-james-i-3916692.html?cat=37

As the translation of the Bible started in 1604 following King's order , Shakespeare could have a chance to be asked by King James to translate some passages of Psalms.

King James might really have an idea to have Shakespeare take part in the great project of producing the King James' Version of the Bible, since the king loved literature and talent of writers and poets so much.

Under James, the "Golden Age" of Elizabethan literature and drama continued, with writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Sir Francis Bacon contributing to a flourishing literary culture.[3] James himself was a talented scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie (1597), True Law of Free Monarchies (1598), and Basilikon Doron (1599). He sponsored the translation of the Bible that was named after him: the Authorised King James Version.[4] Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed "the wisest fool in Christendom", an epithet associated with his character ever since.[5] Since the latter half of the twentieth century, however, historians have revised James's reputation and have treated him as a serious and thoughtful monarch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_VI_and_I#Literary_patronage

In addition, other paragraphs in Psalms that contain "shake" or "spear" are as follows:

Psalms 22:7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 

Psalms 35:3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. 

Psalms 69:23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. 

Psalms 72:16 There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 

Note that  with a focus on Psalms 22:7 including "shake"and 35:3 including "spear" the sum of the title numbers of each of the paragraphs is 11 (11 = 2 + 2 + 7 and also 11 = 3 + 5 + 3),  and the "shake" appears as the 16th word in  Psalms 22:7, while the word "spear" is the fifth word in Psalms 35:3.

As the King James version of the Bible was first printed in 1611, this 11 can be regraded as a sign to direct readers' attentions to these two verses.

(In 1605, it must have been planned that the new Bible was to be published in 1611, which Shakespeare must have known.)

As the translation work started in 1604 and continued till 1611, Shakespeare must have been engaged in the translation of these Psalms in 1605.  Or actually he must have written these paragraphs in 1605.

We could infer that Shakespeare was doing translation of the Psalms for the King James Version in 1605 though this new English Bible was first printed in 1611.  And then Shakespeare died in 1616. 

Psalms 22:7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake (16th) the head, saying,

Psalms 35:3 Draw out also the spear (5th), and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

That is, Shakespeare in 1605!

These two verses tell that Shakespeare translated the Psalms in 1605 for the King James Version of the Bible that was most probably expected at the time to be delivered in 1611.

Finally, the contents of Psalms 22:7 and 35:3 really seem to fit the possible mind set of Shakespeare who must have had a sense of danger that he might have been persecuted as a Catholic in the worst case.

Incidentally, Shakespeare was probably exactly 46 years old when the Authorised King James Version was published in 1611.




APPENDIX 1: Psalms 16

Psalm 16 has only 11 paragraphs, namely from 16:1 to 16:11.  It really tells that the translator, probably Shakespeare, indicated the numbers of Psalms were important with some implications.

The fact that Psalms 16:11 is the last paragraph of Psalms 16 means that the King James Bible was first released in 1611 or expected to be released first in 1611 when the Psalms 16 was being translated.

Psa 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

This verse implies that the new Bible is completed in 1611 to its "fullness" with the "hand" of Shakespeare taking part of the great and holy project.

Psalms 16:5, representing the year 1605 when Shakespeare actually translated Psalms, is also meaningful in this context.

Psa 16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

This really tells that Psalms is "portion" of Shakespeare's "inheritance, cup, and lot."

The contents of the two paragraphs really fit the idea that Shakespeare translated Psalms for the King James Version.



APPENDIX 2: Shakespeare's State around 1605  

If we admit that Shakespeare was engaged in the translation work of Psalms for the King James Bible in 1605, what was situations around him at the time?

In 1597, he bought the second-largest house in Stratford, New Place, and in 1605, he invested in a share of the parish tithes in Stratford. 

The absence of his name from the 1605 cast list for Jonson's Volpone is taken by some scholars as a sign that his acting career was nearing its end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare#Plays

Maybe Shakespeare was busy in his holy work in the translation work while becoming  a little more religious.

His works completed around 1605 are as follows:

1604-1606: Timon of Athens

1605: King Lear

1606: Macbeth



APPENDIX 3: Translators for the King James Version Bible

If 50 people are engaged in a big translation project while some others are invited for various contribution, it would be difficult to manage their work and practices completely.

The following accounts of the King James translators are taken from, The Translators Revived by Alexander McClure published in 1858.  

It is commonly reported that there were 54 translators selected to the translation, but only 47 actually participated in the work. Mr. McClure's book chronicles 51 translators. As you read the translator's rules, you will see that other principal and learned men of the kingdom were also invited to make their comments on the work at hand. 

The King James Bible translators were a collection of some of the world's best scholars. They approached this translation with the mindset that they were translating the very Word of God, not just some book. The King James Bible has been called "the monument of English prose" as well as "the only great work of art ever created by a committee."  

BIOGRAPHIES OF THE
KING JAMES VERSION TRANSLATORS 

I.    The First Westminister Company--translated the historical books, beginning with Genesis and ending with the Second Book of Kings.
Dr. Lancelot Andrews
Dr. John Overall
Dr. Hadrian Saravia
Dr. Richard Clarke, Dr. John Laifield, Dr. Robert Tighe, Francis Burleigh, Geoffry King, Richard Thompson
Dr. William Bedwell 

II.    The Cambridge Company--translated Chronicles to the end of the Song of Songs.

Edward Lively, Dr. John Richardson, Dr. Lawrence Chaderton
Francis Dillingham, Dr. Roger Andrews, Thomas Harrison, Dr. Robert Spaulding, Dr. Andrew Bing 

III.    The Oxford Company--translated beginning of Isaiah to the end of the Old Testament.
Dr. John Harding, Dr. John Reynolds
Dr. Thomas Holland, Dr. Richard Kilby
Dr. Miles Smith, Dr. Richard Brett, Daniel Fairclough 

IV.    The Second Oxford Company--translated the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Revelation of St. John the Divine.
Dr. Thomas Ravis, Dr. George Abbot
Dr. Richard Eedes, Dr. Giles Tomson, Sir Henry Savile
Dr. John Peryn, Dr. Ralph Ravens, Dr. John Harmar 

V.    The Fifth Company of Translators at Westminster--translated all of the Epistles of the New Testament
Dr. William Barlow, Dr. John Spencer, Dr. Roger Fenton, Dr. Ralph Hutchinson, William Dakins, Michael Rabbet, [Thomas(?)] Sanderson

VI.    The Sixth Company of Translators at Cambridge translated the apocryphal books.
Dr. John Duport, Dr. William Brainthwaite, Dr. Jeremiah Radcliffe
Dr. Samuel Ward
Dr. Andrew Downes, John Bois
Dr. John Ward, Dr. John Aglionby, Dr. Leonard Hutten
Dr. Thomas Bilson, Dr. Richard Bancroft
http://jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/The%20King%20James%20Bible/Translators/translators.htm

Probably, King James must have asked William Shakespeare to contribute to translation of Psalms, since Shakespeare had great reputation at the time as a poet.  And, at the time, Shakespeare might regard himself as the 46th translator.  Indeed, "54 translators selected to the translation, but only 47 actually participated."  It meant that there was some confusion in an early stage of forming the translation committee.  Perhaps it was after 1605 that the committee came to have a fixed number of translators, that is 47.  Till then, it does not look so unnatural that Shakespeare regarded himself as the 46th translator.  It must be the reason why Shakespeare put his name in Psalms 46 in the magical way.

In the case, as Shakespeare would become 46 years old when the new Bible was published in 1611, he must have some special meaning in the number 46. 

Shakespeare Assassinated

Put simply, in my theory, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was assassinated because he was found to be a dangerous Catholic though hidden.

It should be noted that the cause of death of Shakespeare has not been definitely identified.

How Did Shakespeare Die? 

The cause of Shakespeare's death is a mystery, but an entry in the diary of John Ward, the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford (where Shakespeare is buried), tells us that "Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted." Ward, a self-proclaimed Shakespeare fan, wrote his diary fifty years after Shakespeare died and most historians agree it appears to be a baseless anecdote. It should be noted though that a serious outbreak of typhus, known as the "new fever", in 1616 (the year Shakespeare died), lends credibility to Ward's story.

C. Martin Mitchell, in his insightful biography of Shakespeare's physician and son-in-law, Dr. John Hall, presents the following hypothesis: "I have formed the opinion that it was more likely than not in the nature of a cerebral hemorrhage or apoplexy that quickly deepened and soon became fatal.

Unfortunately, Shakespeare's death at the age of fifty-two will almost surely remain a mystery.
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/deathofshakespeare.html 

There are some studies on what Shakespeare believed in to conclude that he was a Catholic.

SHAKESPEARE THE PAPIST 

Author: Peter Milward 

Shakespeare, who wrote at the beginning of the long period in which the Catholic faith as violently suppressed in the British Isles, has long enjoyed an iconic status. Some readers have interpreted him as an early agnostic, expressing modern angst about whether anything exists besides "this mortal coil" that seems to be merely "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." In recent years, however, thanks largely to the work of Peter Milward, close study of Shakespeare's plays has raised the question: Was Shakespeare in fact a believing Catholic? To this question, which radically changes the way that Shakespeare's plays should be read, Milward here offers, in his definitive study of the topic, a resounding "Yes."
http://www.mycatholicstore.com/shpa.html

Shakespeare retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49 after writing The Tempest.

Retirement from all work was uncommon at that time. Shakespeare continued to visit London during the years 1611–1614. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare#Later_years_and_death

One thing sure is that Shakespeare did not think he would soon die after retirement.  But he was assassinated, probably, with poison.  It could be even sensed from the words engraved on his tomb.

Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church two days after his death.[79] The epitaph carved into the stone slab covering his grave includes a curse against moving his bones, which was carefully avoided during restoration of the church in 2008:

Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Bleste be man that spares thes stones,
And cvrst be he  moves my bones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare#Later_years_and_death

There must be some evidence of assassination on his dead body.  So, somebody must have made up this fake curse to conceal the crime.  It should be also noted that there is no evidence that this epitaph was written by Shakespeare himself.

As I mentioned before, Shakespeare was trusted by King James.  Shakespeare, most probably, joined the translation of the Bible and helped create the King James Version, though secretly.  To confirm it, we had better check where the two words, "shake" and "spear," appear in the King James Version of the Bible, especially with a focus on Psalms. 

Psalms 22:7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake (16th) the head, saying, 

Psalms 35:3 Draw out also the spear (5th), and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. 

That is, Shakespeare in 1605!    

http://eereporter.blogspot.jp/2014/06/joh-630-they-said-therefore-unto-him.html

In 1605 Shakespeare was trusted by King James, but in 1613 he was a kind of forced to retire.  And in 1616, he was killed with poison.

Indeed it was still in an era of assassinations, machinations, and betrayals concerning status of religion and politics in England and Europe that Shakespeare lived.  In each of his works, Shakespeare must have put his life on the line, literally.




APPENDIX I.

In this era of the latter phase of the religious reformation, even a Pope recommended an assassination of the queen of England. 

Pope Gregory XIII on Queen Elizabeth I

This position became more extreme as powerful monarchs left the Roman church.  Assassinations were ordered and carried out (Henry of Navarre comes to mind, as well as the Gunpowder plot in England), and this was a consistent product of the Roman doctrine.  It is important to note that this was not some accidental phenomena carried out by confused followers, but rather it was the Roman position on civil authority.  Here is a quote from the Cardinal of Como, speaking on behalf of Gregory XIII’s papacy, written to the papal ambassador in Spain and meant to inspire Spanish hostilities against England: 

Since that guilty woman (Elizabeth) … is the cause of so much injury to the Catholic faith… There is no doubt that whosoever sends her out of the world with the pious intention of doing God service, not only does not sin but gains merit, especially having regard to the sentence pronounced against her by Pius V of holy memory.  And so, if those English gentlemen decide actually to undertake so glorious a work, your lordship can assure them that they do not commit any sin.

This is a breathtaking quote, but quite understandable within the Roman system.  This also shows you something of how the Reformation actually occurred and definitely explains why King James thought that the militant Presbyterians were Romanizers.
This Gregory was the same pope who celebrated the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre by ordering a Te Deum to be sung in its commemoration.

http://wedgewords.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/pope-gregory-xiii-on-queen-elizabeth-i/

Accordingly, it is no wonder that somebody in the British royal court at the time came to suspect that Shakespeare was Catholic and find a needs to remove him.

Most probably William Shakespeare wrote his plays as messages to show sympathy to Catholics in England under pressure from the non-Catholic regime and  encourage them to keep faith in the Roman church.  His intention and hidden motives were well concealed for a long time in his career as a professional dramatist. 

But when King James assumed the throne, eventually some politicians, noblemen, or officials in the British royal court must have discovered those hidden messages or codes in Shakespeare's plays.  Hence, Shakespeare was forced to retire and finally killed with poison. 



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Act 8:20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Act 8:21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

"The foxes have holes"

A Rainbow Ball around Tokyo









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Mat 8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

"Then came to him his mother and his brethren" - A Miracle of Reverberation

A Miracle of the Evening Sun on a River around Tokyo

A Miracle of Reverberation

This evening I spotted two bright circles, one large and another small, on the surface of a river running through a city.

It must be reflection of the sun light, but I wondered how the rays came and fell on the surface of the river.  While I was watching them, they gradually came to lose their intensity to vanish finally.

Then I remembered the episode that Moses met God through fire in a bush.

And then a wonderful thing occurred. One day as Moses was watching the sheep, his attention was attracted to a bush which seemed to be on fire. He went closer to the bush, and noticed that while flames were leaping up from it, the bush itself was not being destroyed by the fire. Moses saw at once that this was no ordinary fire. Then he heard a voice speaking to him, telling him to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. You see God was there with him, only he didn't know it then.
But soon he realized who was speaking to him. It was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. This was no stranger, then, who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. Moses' mother, as we have learned, had told him about this wonderful God who had made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was the God of the Hebrews, and therefore Moses' God, who was speaking to him.
God said to Moses that the time had come for the Israelites, Moses' people, who were also God's people, to be delivered from their slavery in Egypt. He also told Moses that he was the one to lead the people out of Egypt. Forty years before this Moses was very brave when he killed that Egyptian. But now it was different. He now told God that he didn't think he would be able to do such a great work.
Of course, Moses could not do it by himself. That is just what God wanted him to learn; so God told Moses that he would give him all the help he needed. He told him that he would arrange for his brother Aaron to go with him when he appeared before Pharaoh, and that Aaron, who was a good talker, would speak for Moses.

http://www.heraldmag.org/promises/moses.htm

But, for what did God sent such a message of reverberation to me today?

For example, major incidents of today in history are as follow:

43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul. 

1934 – The creation of the position Führer is approved by the German electorate with 89.9% of the popular vote. 

1991 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union, August Coup: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine. 

2003 – A suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, Israel, planned by Hamas, kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children, in the Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing. 

2009 – A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others. 

2010 – Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_19

Maybe incidents in Ukraine, Gaza, Northern Iraq, and Ferguson, Missouri, might be related to this miracle as many people are dying and suffering today in those areas.




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Luk 8:19 Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.
Luk 8:20 And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.
Luk 8:21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

"when Jesus saw great multitudes" - From the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar

Tokyo

From the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar

Before Christ Jesus was born, something must be well prepared, the calendar.

So, Gaius Julius Caesar tried to review the calender Romans had bee using till his leadership in the Roman Republic.

The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC (708 AUC), was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect in 45 BC (709 AUC). It was the predominant calendar in most of Europe, and in European settlements in the Americas and elsewhere, until it was refined and superseded by the Gregorian calendar. The difference in the average length of the year between Julian (365.25 days) and Gregorian (365.2425 days) is 0.002%.

The ordinary year in the previous Roman calendar consisted of 12 months, for a total of 355 days. In addition, a 27-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. This intercalary month was formed by inserting 22 days after the first 23 or 24 days of February; the last five days of February, which counted down toward the start of March, became the last five days of Intercalaris. The net effect was to add 22 or 23 days to the year, forming an intercalary year of 377 or 378 days.[4]
...
If too many intercalations were omitted, as happened after the Second Punic War and during the Civil Wars, the calendar would drift out of alignment with the tropical year. Moreover, because intercalations were often determined quite late, the average Roman citizen often did not know the date, particularly if he were some distance from the city. For these reasons, the last years of the pre-Julian calendar were later known as "years of confusion". The problems became particularly acute during the years of Julius Caesar's pontificate before the reform, 63–46 BC, when there were only five intercalary months (instead of eight), none of which were during the five Roman years before 46 BC.

Caesar's reform was intended to solve this problem permanently, by creating a calendar that remained aligned to the sun without any human intervention. This proved useful very soon after the new calendar came into effect. Varro used it in 37 BC to fix calendar dates for the start of the four seasons, which would have been impossible only 8 years earlier.[6] A century later, when Pliny dated the winter solstice to 25 December because the sun entered the 8th degree of Capricorn on that date,[7] this stability had become an ordinary fact of life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar#Motivation 

Then when the new era for Christians and mankind began around 1500, some people started to modify the calender, resulting in creation of the Gregorian calendar.

The Gregorian reform modified the Julian calendar's scheme of leap years as follows:

Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100, but these centurial years are leap years if they are exactly divisible by 400. For example, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the year 2000 is.[6]

In addition to the change in the mean length of the calendar year from 365.25 days (365 days 6 hours) to 365.2425 days (365 days 5 hours 49 minutes 12 seconds), a reduction of 10 minutes 48 seconds per year, the Gregorian calendar reform also dealt with the accumulated difference between these lengths. Between AD 325 (when the First Council of Nicaea was held, and the vernal equinox occurred approximately 21 March), and the time of Pope Gregory's bull in 1582, the vernal equinox had moved backward in the calendar, so that in 1582 it occurred about 11 March, 10 days earlier than 21 March. The Gregorian calendar therefore began by skipping 10 calendar days, to restore 21 March as the date of the vernal equinox.
...

The calendar was a reform in 1582 to the Julian calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by papal bull Inter gravissimas dated 24 February 1582.[4] The motivation for the adjustment was to bring the date for the celebration of Easter to the time of the year in which the First Council of Nicaea had agreed upon in 325.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar#Gregorian_reform

However, without an influence of Copernicus, the Gregory calendar might not be successful

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 – 1543) was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at its center.[a] The publication of this model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) just before his death in 1543 is considered a major event in the history of science, triggering the Copernican Revolution and making an important contribution to the Scientific Revolution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus#Heliocentrism

So, about 50 years before the birth of Christ Jesus, Julius Caesar had actually prepared a better calendar system for the glorious coming of the Son of God.

And about 50 years after Columbus discovered the New World and open the new era for Christians and Judaists as well as mankind, Copernicus' work was published, leading to formulation of the better calender, the Gregorian calendar.

It looks like having matched a certain divine plan.

Conversely, we had better admit that the Christian/Judaist history had two great epochs: one from AD 1 to around 1500 and another from around 1500 to around 2000 or today.




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Mat 8:18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.