Story Highlights
- historical event: The wedding took place in the apparent haste and in unusual circumstances. Shakespeare was only 18 years old, and the bride, already pregnant for a while, was 26.
On this day a document was written about the wedding of famous William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. The whole story was not at all idyllic and holds many mysteries. Firstly, Shakespeare was only 18 years old and the bride was 26. Secondly, she was already approximately three months pregnant. At that time, such a thing was not taken lightly. Namely, it was expected from the man responsible for the pregnancy to marry the girl, it was a matter of honor. The wedding of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway was carried out in apparent haste (a permission to shorten the regular procedure was obtained). Some historians even conclude from this that the bride’s family may have forced the reluctant young Shakespeare to marry Anne, but there is no evidence of that.
The first daughter was born to the newly married couple just six months after the wedding. They named her Susanna, and later had two more children – Hamnet and Judith. Some theorists have over time associated the name Hamnet with Shakespeare’s famous drama Hamlet, but these links are unverified. In any case, the boy died at the age of only 11 years.
Two daughters of William Shakespeare lived longer – Susanna 66 and Judith 77 years. Today there are no more living descendants of Shakespeare. The last member of the family was his granddaughter Elizabeth, Susanna’s daughter, who died back in 1670.
