List of Shakespeare authorship candidates
Encyclopedia
Claims that someone other than William Shakespeare
of Stratford-upon-Avon
wrote the works traditionally attributed to him were first explicitly made in the 19th century. Typically, they propose that the historical Shakespeare was merely a front to shield the identity of the real author or authors, who, for reasons such as social rank
, state security
, or gender
, could not safely take public credit. Although they have attracted much public interest, all but a few Shakespeare scholars and literary historians consider them to be fringe theories
with no hard evidence, and for the most part disregard them except to rebut or disparage them.
Promoters of various authorship theories say that their own candidate is a more plausible author in terms of education, life experience, and/or social status. Most candidates are either members of the upper social classes or are known poets and playwrights of the day. Proponents say that the documented life of William Shakespeare lacks the education, aristocratic sensibility, or familiarity with the royal court which they say is apparent in the works.
Mainstream Shakespeare scholars say that biographical interpretations of literature are unreliable for attributing authorship, Scholars also say that the convergence of documentary evidence for Shakespeare’s authorship—title pages, testimony by other contemporary poets and historians and official records—is the same as that for any other author of the time. No such supporting evidence exists for any other candidate, and Shakespeare’s authorship was not questioned during his lifetime or for centuries after his death.
Despite the scholastic consensus, a relatively small but highly visible and diverse assortment of supporters, including some prominent public figures, are confident that someone other than William Shakespeare wrote the works. They campaign to gain public acceptance of the authorship question as a legitimate field of academic inquiry and to promote one or another of the various authorship candidates through publications, organizations, online discussion groups and conferences.
See also Shakespeare authorship question
.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
of Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
wrote the works traditionally attributed to him were first explicitly made in the 19th century. Typically, they propose that the historical Shakespeare was merely a front to shield the identity of the real author or authors, who, for reasons such as social rank
Social status
In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society . It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group, for example son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc....
, state security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
, or gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
, could not safely take public credit. Although they have attracted much public interest, all but a few Shakespeare scholars and literary historians consider them to be fringe theories
Fringe theory
A fringe theory is an idea or a collection of ideas that departs significantly from the prevailing or mainstream view in its particular field of study. Examples include ideas that purport to be scientific theories but have little or no scientific support, conspiracy theories, unproven esoteric...
with no hard evidence, and for the most part disregard them except to rebut or disparage them.
Promoters of various authorship theories say that their own candidate is a more plausible author in terms of education, life experience, and/or social status. Most candidates are either members of the upper social classes or are known poets and playwrights of the day. Proponents say that the documented life of William Shakespeare lacks the education, aristocratic sensibility, or familiarity with the royal court which they say is apparent in the works.
Mainstream Shakespeare scholars say that biographical interpretations of literature are unreliable for attributing authorship, Scholars also say that the convergence of documentary evidence for Shakespeare’s authorship—title pages, testimony by other contemporary poets and historians and official records—is the same as that for any other author of the time. No such supporting evidence exists for any other candidate, and Shakespeare’s authorship was not questioned during his lifetime or for centuries after his death.
Despite the scholastic consensus, a relatively small but highly visible and diverse assortment of supporters, including some prominent public figures, are confident that someone other than William Shakespeare wrote the works. They campaign to gain public acceptance of the authorship question as a legitimate field of academic inquiry and to promote one or another of the various authorship candidates through publications, organizations, online discussion groups and conferences.
See also Shakespeare authorship question
Shakespeare authorship question
Image:ShakespeareCandidates1.jpg|thumb|alt=Portraits of Shakespeare and four proposed alternative authors.|Oxford, Bacon, Derby, and Marlowe have each been proposed as the true author...
.
List
This list of 80 candidates is in alphabetical order of surname, so that aristocrats appear under their family name, rather than their title (e.g. "De Vere, Edward" rather than "Oxford, Earl of").ABC
- Alexander, William (1568–1640)William Alexander, 1st Earl of StirlingWilliam Alexander, Earl of Stirling was a Scotsman who was an early developer of Scottish colonisation of Port Royal, Nova Scotia and Long Island, New York...
, 1st Earl of Stirling. - Andrewes, Lancelot (1555–1626)Lancelot AndrewesLancelot Andrewes was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester and oversaw the translation of the...
, Bishop of Winchester. - Bacon, Anthony (1558–1601)Anthony Bacon (1558–1601)Anthony Bacon was a member of the powerful English Bacon family who was also a spy during the Elizabethan era.-Early years, 1558-1580:...
, statesman, spy. - Bacon, Francis (1561–1626)Francis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, lawyer, scholar, essayist. - Barnes, Barnabe (1571–1609)Barnabe BarnesBarnabe Barnes , was an English poet. He is known for his Petrarchan love sonnets and for his combative personality, involving feuds with other writers and culminating in an alleged attempted murder.-Early life:...
, poet, playwright. - Barnfield, Richard (1574–1620)Richard BarnfieldRichard Barnfield , English poet, was born at Norbury, Staffordshire, and brought up in Newport, Shropshire.He was baptized on 13 June 1574, the son of Richard Barnfield, gentleman. His obscure though close relationship with Shakespeare has long made him interesting to scholars...
, poet. - Bernard, Sir John (1605–1674), husband of Shakespeare's granddaughter.
- Blount, Charles (1563–1606), 8th Baron Mountjoy and 1st Earl of Devonshire.
- Bodley, Rev. Miles (ca. 1553– ca. 1611), Bible scholar; proposed in 1940 (mistakenly as "Sir Miles Bodley") by W. M. Cunningham.
- Bodley, Sir Thomas (1545–1613)Thomas BodleySir Thomas Bodley was an English diplomat and scholar, founder of the Bodleian Library, Oxford.-Biography:...
, diplomat, scholar. - Burbage, Richard (1567–1619)Richard BurbageRichard Burbage was an English actor and theatre owner. He was the younger brother of Cuthbert Burbage. They were both actors in drama....
, actor. - Burton, Robert (1577–1640)Robert Burton (scholar)Robert Burton was an English scholar at Oxford University, best known for the classic The Anatomy of Melancholy. He was also the incumbent of St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, and of Segrave in Leicestershire.-Life:...
, scholar. - Butts, William (d. 1583), patron of literature; proposed by Walter Conrad Arensberg.
- Campion, Edmund (1540–1581)Edmund CampionSaint Edmund Campion, S.J. was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Protestant England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason by a kangaroo court, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn...
, poet; proposed by Joanne Ambrose in 2005. - Cecil, Robert (1563–1612)Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of SalisburyRobert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
, 1st Earl of Salisbury, statesman. - Chettle, Henry (1560–1607)Henry ChettleHenry Chettle was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era.The son of Robert Chettle, a London dyer, he was apprenticed in 1577 and became a member of the Stationer's Company in 1584, traveling to Cambridge on their behalf in 1588. His career as a printer and author is...
, playwright, polemicist.
DEF
- Daniel, Samuel (1562–1619)Samuel DanielSamuel Daniel was an English poet and historian.-Early life:Daniel was born near Taunton in Somerset, the son of a music-master. He was the brother of lutenist and composer John Danyel. Their sister Rosa was Edmund Spenser's model for Rosalind in his The Shepherd's Calendar; she eventually married...
, poet, historian. - de Cervantes, Miguel (1547–1616)Miguel de CervantesMiguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright; proposed by Carlos FuentesCarlos FuentesCarlos Fuentes Macías is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. He has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages.-Biography:Fuentes was born in...
in 1976. - de Vere, Edward, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550–1604)Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of OxfordEdward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
, courtier, lyric poet, playwright, patron of the arts; first proposed by J. Thomas LooneyJ. Thomas LooneyJohn Thomas Looney . was an English school teacher who is best known for having originated the Oxfordian theory, which claims that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was the true author of Shakespeare's plays.-Life:Looney was born in South Shields...
in 1920. - Dekker, Thomas (1572–1632), playwright.
- Devereux, Robert (Essex) (1566–1601)Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of EssexRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...
, 2nd Earl of Essex. Courtier, poet, proposed by Latham Davis in 1905. - Devereux, Walter (1541?–1576)Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of EssexWalter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG , an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantation of Ulster, where he ordered the massacre of Rathlin Island...
, 1st Earl of Essex. - Donne, John (1572–1631)John DonneJohn Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
, poet, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral. - Drake, Sir Francis (1540–1596)Francis DrakeSir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
, naval commander, adventurer. - Drayton, Michael (1563–1631)Michael DraytonMichael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era.-Early life:He was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothing is known about his early life, beyond the fact that in 1580 he was in the service of Thomas Goodere of Collingham,...
, playwright. - Dyer, Sir Edward (1543–1607)Edward DyerSir Edward Dyer was an English courtier and poet.-Life:The son of Sir Thomas Dyer, Kt., he was born at Sharpham Park, Glastonbury, Somerset. He was educated, according to Anthony Wood, either at Balliol College, Oxford or at Broadgates Hall , and left after taking a degree...
, courtier, poet; proposed by Alden BrooksAlden BrooksAlden Brooks , was an American writer, chiefly remembered for his proposal that Sir Edward Dyer wrote the works of Shakespeare.Brooks was in born in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended schools in both France and England, before graduating from Harvard University in 1905. After teaching at Harvard and as...
in 1943. - Ferrers, Henry (1549–1633), Warwickshire antiquary.
- Fletcher, John (1579–1625)John Fletcher (playwright)John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
, playwright. - Florio, John (1554–1625), linguist.
- Florio, Michelangelo (1515–1572)Michelangelo FlorioMichelangelo Florio , born in Lucca, or Florence and died in Soglio, was the son of converted Jews, who became a Franciscan friar, before converting to Protestantism. He was a pastor in both England and Switzerland, and father of the renaissance humanist John Florio.-Life:Michelangelo Florio was...
, protestant evangelist and scholar; proposed by Santi Paladino in 1925.
GHI
- Greene, Robert (1558–1592) , playwright, polemicist.
- Greville, Fulke (1554–1628)Fulke Greville, 1st Baron BrookeFulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, de jure 13th Baron Latimer and 5th Baron Willoughby de Broke , known before 1621 as Sir Fulke Greville, was an Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman....
1st Baron Brooke, poet, dramatist, and statesman; proposed by A. W. L. Saunders in 2007. - Griffin, Bartholomew (d. 1602)Bartholomew GriffinBartholomew Griffin was an English poet. He is known for his Fidessa sequence of sonnets, published in 1596.-Works:Griffin wrote a series of 62 sonnets entitled Fidessa, more chaste than kinde, London, 1596...
, poet. - Hastings, William. Supposed son of Queen Elizabeth; proposed by Robert Nield in 2007.
- Hathaway, AnneAnne Hathaway (Shakespeare)Anne Hathaway was the wife of William Shakespeare. They were married in 1582. She outlived her husband by seven years...
(1555/6-1623), Shakespeare's wife, proposed by J. P. de Fonseka, 1938. - Herbert, William (1580–1630)William Herbert, 3rd Earl of PembrokeWilliam Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, KG, PC was the son of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and his third wife Mary Sidney. Chancellor of the University of Oxford, he founded Pembroke College, Oxford with King James. He was warden of the Forest of Dean, and constable of St Briavels from 1608...
, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, candidate for the 'fair youth' in Shakespeare's Sonnets, with his brother Philip Herbert, 1st Earl of MontgomeryPhilip Herbert, 4th Earl of PembrokePhilip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery KG was an English courtier and politician active during the reigns of James I and Charles I...
sponsored the printing of the First FolioFirst FolioMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
; - Heywood, Thomas (1574–1641)Thomas HeywoodThomas Heywood was a prominent English playwright, actor, and author whose peak period of activity falls between late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre.-Early years:...
, playwright.
JKL
- The JesuitsSociety of JesusThe Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, proposed by Harold Johnson in Did the Jesuits Write 'Shakespeare'? (1916). - Jonson, Ben (1572–1637)Ben JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
, playwright, poet. - Kyd, Thomas (1558–1594)Thomas KydThomas Kyd was an English dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama....
, playwright. - Lanier, Emilia (1569–1645)Emilia LanierEmilia Lanier, also spelled Lanyer, was the first Englishwoman to assert herself as a professional poet through her single volume of poems, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum...
, poet; proposed by John Hudson in 2007. - Lodge, Thomas (1557–1625)Thomas LodgeThomas Lodge was an English dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.-Early life and education:...
, playwright. - Lyly, John (1554–1606)John LylyJohn Lyly was an English writer, best known for his books Euphues,The Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and His England. Lyly's linguistic style, originating in his first books, is known as Euphuism.-Biography:John Lyly was born in Kent, England, in 1553/1554...
, playwright, prose stylist.
MNO
- Manners, Elizabeth Sidney (d. 1615)Roger Manners, 5th Earl of RutlandRoger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland was the son of John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland.He married Elizabeth Sidney , on 5 March 1599....
, Countess of Rutland, daughter of the poet Philip SidneyPhilip SidneySir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age... - Manners, Roger (1576–1612)Roger Manners, 5th Earl of RutlandRoger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland was the son of John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland.He married Elizabeth Sidney , on 5 March 1599....
, 5th Earl of Rutland, traveller, probable patron of architect and theatre designer Inigo JonesInigo JonesInigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England... - Marlowe, Christopher (1564–1593)Christopher MarloweChristopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
, playwright; first proposed by Wilbur G. Zeigler in 1895. - Mathew, Sir Tobie (1577–1655), courtier, Catholic priest.
- Middleton, Thomas (1580–1627)Thomas MiddletonThomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
, playwright. - More, Sir Thomas (1478–1535)Thomas MoreSir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
, Lord Chancellor of England and Saint of the Catholic Church lawyer, philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist - Munday, Anthony (1560–1633)Anthony MundayAnthony Munday was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. The chief interest in Munday for the modern reader lies in his collaboration with Shakespeare and others on the play Sir Thomas More and his writings on Robin Hood.-Biography:He was once thought to have been born in 1553, because...
, dramatist. - Nashe, Thomas (1567–1601)Thomas NasheThomas Nashe was an English Elizabethan pamphleteer, playwright, poet and satirist. He was the son of the minister William Nashe and his wife Margaret .-Early life:...
, poet, polemicist. - Neville, Henry (1564–1615) politician, courtier, statesman; proposed by Brenda James and William Rubenstein in 2005.
- North, Thomas (1535–1604)Thomas NorthSir Thomas North was an English translator of Plutarch, second son of the 1st Baron North.-Life:He is supposed to have been a student of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and was entered at Lincoln's Inn in 1557. In 1574 he accompanied his brother, Lord North, on a visit to the French court. He served as...
, translator of Plutarch, proposed by Dennis McCarthy in 2011. - Nugent, William (1550–1625)William NugentWilliam Nugent was an Irish rebel, brother of Christopher, fourteenth baron of Delvin , and the younger son of Richard Nugent, thirteenth baron Delvin, from whom he inherited the manor and castle of Ross in County Meath.-Life and politics:He first acquired notoriety in December 1573 by his...
, Irish rebel; first proposed by Elizabeth HickeyElizabeth HickeyElizabeth Hickey was a well-known Meath historian and author who lived at Skryne Castle near Tara. The doyenne and best known of Meath historians, she wrote on a variety of topics...
in 1978.
PQR
- Paget, Henry (d. 1568)Henry Paget, 2nd Baron PagetHenry Paget, 2nd Baron Paget was an English MP and peer.He was the son of William Paget, 1st Baron Paget of Beaudesert, Staffordshire and his wife Anne Preston. He was knighted in 1553 and succeeded to the title Baron Paget in 1563 on the death of his father.He was elected as Member of Parliament...
, 2nd Baron Paget. - Peele, George (1556–1596)George PeeleGeorge Peele , was an English dramatist.-Life:Peele was christened on 25 July 1556. His father, who appears to have belonged to a Devonshire family, was clerk of Christ's Hospital, and wrote two treatises on bookkeeping...
, playwright. - Pierce, William (1561–1674), claimed writer; proposed by Peter Zenner in 1999.
- Porter, Henry (fl. c. 1596–99), playwright.
- Puttenham, George (1529-1590)George PuttenhamGeorge Puttenham was a sixteenth-century English writer, literary critic, and notorious rake. He is generally considered to be the author of the enormously influential handbook on poetry and rhetoric, The Arte of English Poesie ....
, English writer and critic; proposed by Charles Willis in 2005. - Raleigh, Sir Walter (1554–1618), courtier, poet, writer, soldier, spy, and explorer. Proposed by Delia Bacon as part of the "group theory", and as sole author by Henry Pemberton in 1905.
- The Rosicrucians
STUV
- Sackville, Thomas (1536–1608)Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of DorsetThomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset was an English statesman, poet, dramatist and Freemason. He was the son of Richard Sackville, a cousin to Anne Boleyn. He was a Member of Parliament and Lord High Treasurer.-Biography:...
, Lord Buckhurst, 1st Earl of Dorset. - Shirley, Sir Anthony (1565?–1635)Anthony ShirleySir Anthony Shirley was an English traveller, whose imprisonment in 1603 by King James I was an important event because it caused the British House of Commons to assert one of its privileges—freedom of its members from arrest—in a document known as The Form of Apology and Satisfaction.He was the...
, soldier, sailor, adventurer. First proposed by Scott Surtees in 1888. - Sidney Herbert, Mary (1561–1621)Mary SidneyMary Herbert , Countess of Pembroke , was one of the first English women to achieve a major reputation for her literary works, poetry, poetic translations and literary patronage.-Family:...
, Countess of Pembroke, poet, writer, translator, patron of the arts; nominated by Gilbert SlaterGilbert SlaterGilbert Slater was a British economist and social reformer of the early 20th century.Gilbert was born in Portsmouth in 1864. His father was a school teacher. Slater studied economics and worked as a professor. In 1909, he was appointed principal of Ruskin College and served from 1909 to 1915...
in 1931. - Sidney, Sir Philip (1554–1586)Philip SidneySir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age...
, poet, soldier, courtier. - Smith, Wentworth (1571 – c.1623)Wentworth SmithWentworth Smith , was a minor English dramatist of the Elizabethan period who may have been responsible for some of the plays in the Shakespeare Apocrypha, though no work known to be his is extant.-Life and career:...
, playwright. - Spenser, Edmund (1552–1599)Edmund SpenserEdmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
, poet; proposed in 1940 by W. M. Cunningham. - Stanley, William, 6th Earl of Derby (1561–1642)William Stanley, 6th Earl of DerbyWilliam Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby was an English nobleman. Stanley inherited a prominent social position that was both dangerous and unstable, as his mother was heir to Queen Elizabeth I under the Third Succession Act, a position that fell to his deceased brother's oldest daughter in 1596,...
, courtier, playwright, first proposed by James Greenstreet in 1891. - Stuart, James, King of England and Scotland (1566–1625)James I of EnglandJames VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, proposed by Malcolm XMalcolm XMalcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
in 1965. - Stuart, Mary (1542–1587), Queen of Scots.
- Tudor, Elizabeth (1533–1603)Elizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, Queen of England; proposed anonymously in 1857, re-proposed by W. R. TittertonW. R. TittertonWilliam Richard Titterton was a British journalist, writer and poet now remembered as the friend and first biographer of G. K. Chesterton. Titterton and Chesterton met on the London Daily News.-Early life:...
in 1913 (not too seriously) and by G. E. Sweet in 1956.
WXYZ
- Warner, William (c. 1558–1609)William Warner (poet)William Warner was an English poet.-Life:William Warner was born in London about 1558. He was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, but left the university without taking a degree. He practised in London as an attorney, and gained a great reputation among his contemporaries as a poet...
, poet. - Watson, Thomas (1555–1592)Thomas Watson (poet)Thomas Watson , English lyrical poet, was the son of William Watson and Anne Lee . He was educated at Winchester College and OxfordUniversity. He then spent 7 years in France and Italy before studying law in London...
, poet. - Webster, John (1580?–1625?)John WebsterJohn Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
, playwright. - Whateley, Anne (1561?–1600?)Anne WhateleyAnne Whateley is the name of a woman who is sometimes supposed to have been the intended wife of William Shakespeare before he married Anne Hathaway. Most scholars believe that Whateley never existed, but that her name in a document concerning Shakespeare's marriage is merely a clerical error...
, Shakespeare's supposed first fiancée, proposed in 1939 by William Ross. - Wilson, Robert (1572–1600)Robert Wilson (dramatist)Robert Wilson , was an Elizabethan dramatist who worked primarily in the 1580s and 1590s. He is also believed to have been an actor who specialized in clown roles....
, playwright. - Wolsey, Thomas (1473?–1530) Cardinal of England.
- Wotton, Sir Henry (1568–1639)Henry WottonSir Henry Wotton was an English author and diplomat. He is often quoted as saying, "An ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country." -Life:The son of Thomas Wotton , brother of Edward Wotton, 1st Baron Wotton, and grandnephew of the diplomat...
, scholar, diplomat; proposed in 1940 by W.M. Cunningham. - Wriothesley, Henry (1573–1624)Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of SouthamptonHenry Wriothesley , 3rd Earl of Southampton , was the second son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and his wife Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton, daughter of the 1st Viscount Montagu...
, 3rd Earl of Southampton, dedicatee of Venus and AdonisVenus and Adonis (Shakespeare poem)Venus and Adonis is a poem by William Shakespeare, written in 1592–1593, with a plot based on passages from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is a complex, kaleidoscopic work, using constantly shifting tone and perspective to present contrasting views of the nature of love.-Publication:Venus and Adonis was...
and The Rape of LucreceThe Rape of LucreceThe Rape of Lucrece is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare about the legendary Lucretia. In his previous narrative poem, Venus and Adonis , Shakespeare had included a dedicatory letter to his patron, the Earl of Southampton, in which he promised to write a "graver work"...
, candidate for the "Fair Youth" in Shakespeare's SonnetsShakespeare's sonnetsShakespeare's sonnets are 154 poems in sonnet form written by William Shakespeare, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. All but two of the poems were first published in a 1609 quarto entitled SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS.: Never before imprinted. Sonnets 138 and 144...
. - Zubayr bin William, Shaykh ("Sheik Zubayr"), supposed Arab scholar, first proposed frivolously by Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq and later in earnest by Safa KhulusiSafa KhulusiSafa Abdul-Aziz Khulusi was an Iraqi historian, novelist, poet, journalist and broadcaster. He is known for mediating between Arabic- and English-language cultures, and for his scholarship of modern Iraqi literature...
and, in 1989, Muammar GaddafiMuammar GaddafiMuammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
.