William Shakespeare | How did Shakespeare die?

It is fairly well established that Shakespeare died on 23 April, 1616, his fifty-second birthday. From parish records we do know that he was buried three days later (exactly fifty-two years after his baptism). Local tradition has it that Shakespeare became ill after a bout of hard drinking with his fellow playwrights Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton, possibly as a result from having caught a chill. But there is good cause to believe that Shakespeare was ill for some time prior to his death. To begin, Shakespeare retired as a playwright in 1612 or 1613, two or three years before his death,...

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