A brief chronology of Henry IV' reign and Shakespeare's life
Some dates are approximate, especially those of the plays.
| 1367 | Births of Richard and Henry, male heirs to the first and third sons of Edward III |
| 1377 | Death of Edward III. His grandson, Richard II, becomes king at age of 10 |
| 1386 | Birth of Henry of Monmouth, later Henry V |
| 1391 | Birth of Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, great grandson to the second son of Edward III, via the female line |
| 1398 | Richard II banishes his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, from England for 10 years. Edmund, Earl of March, declared Richard II's heir |
| 1399 | Death of Henry Bolingbroke's father, Duke of Lancaster, 3 February. Richard II seizes Lancastrian estates and banishes Henry for life. By October Richard is deposed and Henry is crowned Henry IV |
| 1400 | Death of Richard II at Pontefract castle. Henry IV leads unsuccessful campaign against Scotland. Owen Glendower raises rebellion in Wales |
| 1402 | Owen Glendower defeats and captures Sir Edmund Mortimer (uncle to Edmund, Earl of March). Henry Percy (Hotspur) defeats Scots at Battle of Holmedon |
| 1403 | The Percy family joins forces with Glendower and Sir Edmund Mortimer against Henry IV. Hotspur's army defeated at Battle of Shrewsbury in July |
| 1405 | "Yorkshire Rising," led by Earl of Northumberland, defeated |
| 1413 | Death of Henry IV. Accession of Henry V |
| 1414 | Lollard rebellion, led by Sir John Oldcastle, suppressed |
| 1415 | Henry V defeats French at Agincourt |
| 1417 | Sir John Oldcastle captured and executed by hanging and burning |
| 1419 | Treaty of Troyes. Henry V marries French princess, Katherine |
| 1422 | Death of Henry V. Accession of Henry VI at eight months old |
| 1455-85 | "Wars of the Roses": intermittent civil war between houses of Lancaster and York |
| 1485 | Henry Tudor defeats Richard III at Battle of Bosworth and is crowned Henry VII |
| 1485-1509 | Reign of Henry VII |
| 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 |
| 1548 | Edward Hall'sThe Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York |
| 1553-58 | Reign of Mary I. Return to Catholicism |
| 1558-1603 | Reign of Elizabeth I. Return to Protestantism |
| 1559 | The Mirror for Magistrates |
| 1563 | Adoption of the Thirty-Nine Articles |
| 1564 | William Shakespeare born April 23 |
| 1569 | Northern Catholic rebellion suppressed |
| 1576 | James Burbage builds The Theatre |
| 1577 | Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland(revised edn 1587) |
| 1578 | John Lyly, Euphues |
| 1580 | John Stow's Chronicles of England |
| 1582 | Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway |
| 1583 | Birth of Susanna |
| 1583-84 | Plots against Elizabeth on behalf of Mary Queen of Scots |
| 1585 | Births of Shakespeare's twins, Hamnet and Judith. 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 moves to London; family remains in Stratford. War with Spain. The Spanish Armada fleet destroyed in July |
| 1588-94 | Shakespeare writes the early comedies and histories and the early tragedy Titus Andronicus |
| 1592 | Shakespeare attacked in print by Robert Greene. Christopher Marlowe's Edward II. John Stow's Annals |
| 1593 | Venus and Adonis.Death of Marlowe |
| 1593-1603 | The Sonnets |
| 1594 | Shakespeare joins the Lord Chamberlain's Men. The Rape of Lucrece |
| 1594-5 | A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard II, Romeo and Juliet |
| 1595 | Samuel Daniel,The First Fowre Bookes of the Ciuile Wars Between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke |
| 1596 | Death of Shakespeare's son, Hamnet, in August. Campaign against Lord Chamberlain's Men's planned Blackfriars theater (November) |
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| 1596-8 | The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV Parts I and II |
| 1597 | Earl of Essex sent to Ireland to put down a rebellion led by the Earl of Tyrone |
| 1598 | Publication of anonymous play, The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth |
| 1598-9 | Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor |
| 1599 | Shakespeare's company moves to the Globe. As You Like It, Henry V, Julius Caesar |
| 1600-02 | Twelfth Night, Troilus and Cressida, Hamlet, All's Well That Ends Well |
| 1601 | Shakespeare's father dies. Essex's abortive rebellion and his execution |
| 1603 | Death of Elizabeth I; coronation of James I, March 24 Shakespeare's company becomes the King's Men |
| 1603-4 | Measure for Measure, Othello |
| 1604 | James'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 | Coriolanus |
| 1609-11 | Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest |
| 1613-14 | Henry VIII, The Two Noble Kinsmen. Shakespeare in retirement, living in Stratford. Globe burns |
| 1616 | Death of Shakespeare, April 23 |