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LONDON — William Shakespeare: poet, playwright, and now ruthless businessman and food hoarder, according to a new study.
Researchers out of Aberystwyth University found the bard, while writing a play at the height of the 1607 food riots about a famine created by the rich, was himself hoarding food.
He was also threatened with jail for tax evasion and was a ruthless businessman, according to the researchers. Over a 15-year period, Shakespeare hoarded grain, malt and barley, later reselling the products at inflated prices to neighbors and tradesmen.
Dr. Jayne Archer, lead author on the study, told the BBC Shakespeare should not be judged based on that long-forgotten fact, though: his hoarding would also have protected his family and friends in case a harvest failed.
- No one knows Shakespeare's exact birthdate. It may have been April 23.
- In all the written records containing Shakespeare's signature, he never spells his name "William Shakespeare," instead opting for 80 different variations, including "Shakspeare" and "Shakspe."
- Shakespeare's works include the first-ever records of 2,035 English words, including excellent, critical and frugal.
- Shakespeare disappears from the historical record between 1585 and 1592, so nothing is known about just how quickly he may have risen to fame.
- The epitaph on Shakespeare's tombstone warns off graverobbers with a curse: "Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare, /To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, /And cursed be he that moves my bones."
"Remembering Shakespeare as a man of hunger makes him much more human, much more understandable, much more complex,'' she said.
In "Coriolanus," Shakespeare explores the idea of a famine created and exploited by rich businessmen and politicians. Archer said he was writing about one of the most pressing political issues of the day.
"Shakespeare's representation of the way that crops grow, the way that they sometimes fail to grow and when there are problems with food supply are actually very realistically demonstrated," she said.
That meant the playwright was also a shrewd businessman, though, concerned with preserving his own means as a way to protect against potential famine.
"Shakespeare is remembered as a playwright, but there was no copyright then and no sense that his plays could generate future income ... That drove him to dodge taxes, illegally hoard (food) and act as a money-lender," Archer told the Sunday Times.
