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Article: Shakespeare and the Catholic network.
- Article from:
- Contemporary Review
- Article date:
- April 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Contemporary Review Company Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IF anything can change our understanding of Shakespeare's life, it is likely to be a massive research project that has gained momentum of recent years. The usual shorthand for this project is 'Shakespeare's Lancashire Connection', stemming from E.A.J. Honigmann's brilliant Shakespeare: The 'Lost Years' (Manchester University Press, 1985). I prefer to think of it as 'the Catholic network'. It all centres on one big fact (which is itself ambivalent) and a myriad smaller facts which, like tiny fish, seem to point the same way as the large pilot fish.
Baptism, marriage licence, and the christening of his children aside, we know nothing of Shakespeare's life until ...