Not Peer Reviewed
- Edition: Twelfth Night
Chronology
- Introduction
- Texts of this edition
- Facsimiles
(Some dates are approximate, especially those of the plays.)
| 1509-47 | Reign of Henry VIII. |
| 1534 | Act of Supremacy, declaring Henry VIII head of the Church of England. |
| 1547-53 | Reign of Edward VI. |
| 1553-58 | Reign of Mary I; England returns to Catholicism. |
| 1558-1603 | Reign of Elizabeth I. |
| 1563 A | doption of the Thirty-Nine Articles, establishing Anglicanism as a middle path between Roman Catholicism and more fundamentalist Protestantism. |
| 1564 | William Shakespeare baptized April 26; birthdate unknown, but traditionally celebrated on St George's Day, April 23. |
| 1569 | Suppression of Northern Rebellion of Catholic earls. |
| 1576 | James Burbage builds The Theatre. |
| 1581 | Barnabe Riche, Riche his Farewell to Militarie Profession |
| 1582 | Shakespeare始s marriage to Anne Hathaway, late November. |
| 1583 | Birth of Susanna, May 26. |
| 1583-84 | Plots against Elizabeth on behalf of Mary Queen of Scots. |
| 1584 | John Lyly, Galatea. |
| 1585 | Births of Shakespeare始s twins, Hamnet and Judith, February 2. |
| Earl of Leicester sent to aid the Dutch against the Spanish. | |
| 1587 | Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, February 8. |
| 1588 | At some point Shakespeare probably moves to London; family remains in Stratford. |
| War with Spain; the Spanish Armada destroyed in July. | |
| 1588-94 | Shakespeare writes his early comedies and histories, and his early tragedy Titus Andronicus. |
| 1590 | Philip Sidney, Arcadia; Spenser, Faerie Queene, Books 1-3. |
| 1592 | Shakespeare attacked in print by Robert Greene in Greene始s Groatsworth of Wit. |
| 1593 | Venus and Adonis. |
| 1593-1603 | The Sonnets. Mostly composed late 1580s-early 1600s; published 1609 |
| 1594 | Shakespeare joins the Lord Chamberlain始s Men; The Rape of Lucrece. |
| 1594 | Comedy of Errors performed at Grays Inn, December 28. |
| 1595 | William Warner始s translation of Plutarch始s Menaechmi published. |
| 1594-5 | A Midsummer Night始s Dream, Richard II, Romeo and Juliet. |
| 1596-8 | The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. |
| 1597 | Earl of Essex sent to Ireland to put down a rebellion led by the Earl of Tyrone. |
| George Chapman, An Humorous Day始s Mirth. | |
| 1598 | Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humour. |
| 1598-9 | Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor. |
| 1599 S | hakespeare始s company moves to the Globe; As You Like It, Henry V, Julius Caesar. Robert Armin replaces Will Kempe as the company clown. |
| 1600-02 | Twelfth Night, Troilus and Cressida, Hamlet, All始s Well That Ends Well. |
| 1601 | Shakespeare始s father dies |
| Essex始s abortive rebellion and subsequent execution | |
| 1602 First recorded performance of Twelfth Night, Middle Temple Hall, February 2. | |
| 1603 | Death of Elizabeth I; coronation of James I, March 24. |
| Shakespeare始s company renamed the King始s Men. | |
| 1603-4 | Measure for Measure, Othello. |
| 1604 | James始s confrontation of the Puritans at the Hampton Court Conference. |
| Peace with Spain. | |
| 1605 | The Gunpowder Plot foiled, November 5. |
| 1605-6 | King Lear. |
| 1606-7 | Macbeth, Timon of Athens, Antony and Cleopatra, Pericles. |
| 1608-10 | Beaumont and Fletcher, Philaster. |
| 1608 | Coriolanus. |
| 1609-11 | Cymbeline, The Winter始s Tale, The Tempest |
| 1613-14 | (with Fletcher) Henry VIII, The Two Noble Kinsmen,and Cardenio; Globe burns down, soon rebuilt “in far fairer manner than before.” (Edmond Howes始s continuation of Stowe始s Annals (1631), quoted in Chambers, II, 419.) |
| Shakespeare in retirement,living in Stratford. | |
| 1616 | Death of Shakespeare, April 23. |
| 1618 | Twelfth Nightperformed at Court, Easter Monday, April 6. |
| 1623 | Twelfth Nightperformed at Court, Candlemas, February 2. |