Shakespeare's London

The London to which Shakespeare was headed was the largest city in Europe with a population of well over 100,000 people and yet by today's standards it was tiny covering an area of little more than one square mile.

Having entered London by one of the gates, young William would no doubt have drawn his breath at the site that greeted his eyes. The River Thames flowed through the heart of the city. Ships that had travelled the world moored on its waters, Sailors would offload exotic cargoes from the new worlds. Dominating the North bank of the Thames was St Paul’s Cathedral, rising majestically over a scene of narrow streets, lined with timber framed houses and shops.

One bridge spanned the great river on which grand houses had been erected. The heads of executed criminals, leered down on upon those who entered the city over the bridge, a gruesome reminder of the fate that awaited the law-breaker. Further down the river the tower of London dwarfed the houses around it. There behind the grim grey walls, those who had offended against the queen or the state languished their heart rending cries often audible in the streets outside as they awaited their fate, a public execution or a silent murder carried out under cover of darkness as the city slept.

For the first time in living memory England felt settled. Yes the queen, Elizabeth 1^st, refused to marry, a fact that gave problems as far as an heir to the throne went, but the queen's reign was a glorious one. She had ascended the throne in 1558 and her long reign marked a new found English confidence and an unprecedented series of cultural achievements. Sir Francis Drake had circumnavigated the Globe in his flagship the Golden Hinde. Sir Walter Raleigh had established his first Virginian Colony. But it was also a reign that was rich in learning and which saw a flowering of literature as poets struggled to capture the moods of the age and in more than one instance strove to sing the praises of their Virgin Queen.