That Shakespeare Life

William Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare, spent a great deal of time in trouble with the government over his illegal sale of wool. Several court documents show that John Shakespeare was investing in wool then selling it on to others. He didn’t have a license to sell the wool, which is why he was so regularly in trouble. What the records of his dealings demonstrate is that the wool was valuable enough a commodity in England that John Shakespeare that he felt it was worth both the risk and the fines he had to pay, in order to deal in wool. Wool was one of England, and later the UK’s, major exports, and Stratford Upon Avon, Shakespeare’s hometown. was home to sheep farmers who produced the wool that could be sold internationally. In fact, some finished wool products like Monmouth caps, for example, were so well known for their quality, that they are even referenced by name in Shakespeare’s play, Henry V, when Fluellen talks about wearing leeks in your Monmouth cap. Here today to tell us more about the wool