Education and Youth:

 

     When William was 6 or 7 years old he started Stratford Grammar School (later re-named "The King's New School of Stratford- Upon- Avon by King Edwar VI)  which was located nearby his childhood home on Henley Street.  Shakespeare studied Latin and Greek poetry with a focus on recitation.  William probably was also made intimately familiar with English History along with the line of succession and the chronology of the War of the Roses during his schooling.  His knowledge of history and foreign literature would later play a major role in his stories.  He was removed from school between the ages of 13 and 14 because his father ran into political and financial hardships. 

    

    During that age, only those who had money could afford to send their children to recieve a formal education.  Shakespeare's father John was not an extrodinarily wealthy man but did have the luxury of serving the town of Stratford in a civic matter.  Once he lost that position, John was most likely forced to remove his son from classes.  What followed are reffered to as, "The Lost Years".  These are the years between his exit from Stratford grammar school and his marriage to a 26 year old pregnant woman named, Anne Hathaway.