What did William Shakespeare die of?
Shakespeare’s death remains a mystery to many because the cause of his death was not recorded. We do know that he died in his house on Chapel Street in Stratford upon Avon on April 23, 1616 oh his 52 birthday. He had spent the last 6 years of his life in his house, New Place, with his wife, Anne Hathaway who died 7 years later.
He had become ill suddenly, as recorded by the vicar of Stratford 45 years later, where he says that the onset of Shakespeare’s fatal illness from a night of drinking heavily with Ben Johnson and Richard Drayton, where after he ‘died of a fever there contracted.’
People speculate that Shakespeare had gotten typhoid or had caught a virus that lead to pneumonia. He might even have been ill for awhile before he died because he revised his will on March 25, 1616, 4 weeks before he died. However, this can be ruled out because there were rumors that his daughter Judith’s husband, Thomas Quiney, had impregnated another woman. Shakespeare could have been revising his will to guarantee her some money and support.
Shakespeare is buried under the floor of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford upon Avon (pictured to the left) where he was baptized 52 years earlier. He was buried under the floor of the chancel which was a mark of great respect.
To die at 52 may seem young, but compared to the standards of living in London in the 16th and 17th centuries, Shakespeare had lived a long life. People usually died at age 35 (or earlier), and 40% of the population did not make it past being a teenager. Even his colleague, Christopher Marlowe was knifed at a bar. Shakespeare was lucky to have died peacefully in his bed at home.
The cause of Shakespeare’s death is unknown – he died April 23rd 1616 at the age of 52 (William Shakespeare’s birth date has been estimated as 26th April 1564) The exact date of death is not known but it seems fitting that he died on April 23rd April, the same date given for his birth April 23rd is St. George’s Day – the patron Saint of England Just four weeks prior to his death, on 25th March 1616, William made his Last Will and Testament Is this a coincidence or did Shakespeare know that he was about to die? A contemporary of Shakespeare was said to have reported the following: “Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted.
