William Shakespeare
Wrote and acted for the Globe in London, leaving nearly forty plays including Hamlet and King Lear.
| Lived | 1564 – 1616 |
| Known as | Playwright and poet |
| Birthplace or main place | Stratford-upon-Avon |
| Places on the map | London |
Stratford-upon-AvonSee the world of William Shakespeare in the interactive map
Who ruled these places in his lifetime
| Place | At birth (map of 1500) | At death (map of 1600) |
|---|---|---|
| Stratford-upon-Avon | England | England and Ireland |
| London | England | England and Ireland |
From the border maps nearest to each date; borders are approximate.
Battles and sites of the time
- Battle of Gravelines · 1588
Further reading
Contemporaries
| Lived | Person | |
|---|---|---|
| 1543 – 1616 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | First Tokugawa shogun |
| 1547 – 1616 | Miguel de Cervantes | Writer |
| 1564 – 1642 | Galileo Galilei | Scientist |
| 1552 – 1610 | Matteo Ricci | Jesuit missionary |
| 1571 – 1629 | Shah Abbas I | Safavid shah |
| c. 1574 – 1635 | Samuel de Champlain | Explorer |
| 1542 – 1605 | Akbar | Mughal emperor |
| 1533 – 1603 | Elizabeth I | Queen of England |
| 1577 – 1640 | Peter Paul Rubens | Painter |
| 1527 – 1598 | Philip II | King of Spain |
Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.