Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

After reading David Kaula’s essay, “Hamlet and the Image of Both Churches” I also read his book, Shakespeare and the Archpriest Controversy (Mouton 1975). The archpriest controversy was a conflict between Rome and the Jesuits, on the one hand, and the remaining local Catholic “secular” priests on the other, which involved a pamphlet war between the Jesuits and the seculars regarding who should lead the Catholics still worshiping in secret. The pamphlet war was encouraged by Robert Cecil and others to divide and conquer the Catholic opposition, so as to avoid popular support for a Catholic successor to Elizabeth. It's an interesting book and makes some good points. Some writers in various ages have given the impression of English history that England broke from a corrupt Roman Catholic religious authority, and that a popular majority throughout the country suddenly embraced their liberation and a more righteous and true faith in the English Church. But Cecil’s efforts to divi...

(Or general harassment of people fined by the crown?) ~ Prof. Glyn Parry of U. Roehampton searched the National Archives for more evidence of John Shakespeare's legal troubles. His discoveries expand our potential for understanding how the family life and legal/political troubles of his father may have shaped the thinking of William Shakespeare: "The documents Parry found include multiple writs against John Shakespeare, and record his debts to the Crown, including one for £132 – around £20,000 today. They reveal how his property remained at risk of seizure by the Crown, hampering his credit as an entrepreneur, and that this continued until 1583. "They also connect Shakespeare’s family with what Parry calls “a national scandal: the use of informers to enforce economic and social legislation”. Professional informers were part of a corrupt system which ultimately enriched the Queen and her courtiers…. "Parry believes that the situation would have influenced the...