\paperw5085 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 William Shakespeare was born in 1564, six years after Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne, heralding a period known
as the English Renaissance. His birthplace was the Warwickshire town of Stratford-upon-Avon. He was the oldest of seven children, and his family was moderately well-to-do, as the house they lived in goes to show. In fact his father John was a glove me
rchant, whereas his mother, Mary Arden, came from independent farming stock.\par
