"In the name of God, Amen! I, William Shakespeare, of Stratford-upon-Avon, in the county of Warr., gent., in perfect health and memory, God be praised, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say,
First, I commend my soul into the hands of God, my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting, and my body to the earth whereof it is made."
“Good Friend For Jesus Sake Forbeare, To Digg The Dust Enclosed Heare. Blese Be Ye Man Spares Thes Stones, And Curst Be He Moves My Bones.” From the Bard’s tombstone.
Bach was a Lutheran. So there.
Robert Southwell (pronounced Suth-ell) and he were cousins. Just after Shakespeare wrote his first play about Venus and Adonis, Southwell wrote an open letter to his "cozen" and encouraged him to not write in a way which capitalized on the fleshly senses, but instead write to lift the soul. Shakespeare took his cousin's writing to heart and wrote everything else after that "to lift the soul."
Shakespeare also was the only playwright at the time who did not make fun of Catholic priests or monks and did not make them the bad guys. Instead, he portrayed them much like he did in "Romeo and Juliet" as kind and understanding.
Shakespeare was personally related to two Catholic martyrs. He was never indifferent to the plight of Catholics at the time.
If Will Shakespeare was a catholic, one wonders why he acted as a propagandist for the Lancastrian Dynasty (protestant)? I know, I know. Complicated. Like much of English history.
I know a family that believes “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is the best movie ever made.
They’re Greek.
Stephan Greenblatt, in his, “Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare” makes a very convincing argument that this indeed seems to have been the case.