Q 01/05

In which English town was William Shakespeare born?

A) Warwick

B) London

C) Stratford-upon-Avon

D) Oxford

Answer · why

C) Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon, a market town in Warwickshire, was Shakespeare's birthplace in 1564; he retired there and died there in 1616.

Q 02/05

Shakespeare's only son, Hamnet, twin of Judith, died in 1596 at what age?

A) 11

B) 8

C) 14

D) 17

Answer · why

A) 11

Hamnet was 11 when he died of unknown causes and was buried on 11 August 1596; his twin sister Judith lived on until 1662.

Q 03/05

What did Shakespeare pointedly leave his wife in his will?

A) His second-best bed

B) His house, New Place

C) His share in the Globe

D) His books and papers

Answer · why

A) His second-best bed

He signed the will within a month of his death, opening it by describing himself as in 'perfect health'; scholars still argue whether the bequest was ...

Q 04/05

How many children did William Shakespeare have?

A) Two

B) Three

C) Four

D) Five

Answer · why

B) Three

Three: Susanna, born 1583, and the twins Hamnet and Judith, born 1585. Only the daughters reached adulthood, and the line ended when Susanna's daughte...

Q 05/05

Which two monarch-named eras of England’s history did Shakespeare write across?

A) Henrician and Marian

B) Victorian and Edwardian

C) Georgian and Regency

D) Elizabethan and Jacobean

Answer · why

D) Elizabethan and Jacobean

Elizabethan and Jacobean: he began writing under Elizabeth I by 1592 and continued into the reign of James I, who made his company the King's Men in 1...