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| Memorial for Judith Combe, Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon. |
Previously in this series on the Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare Monument:
There have also been claims that the wording of the Stratford
Shakespeare Memorial plaque betrays a secret that it is not the body of Shakspere
(or the actual Shakespeare) that is buried in the floor-grave traditionally
assigned to Shakespeare at all. The evidence
cited in support of this seems to be the Latin “terra tegit” (implying an
earthen grave without further mention of monuments, stone floors, etc.) and the
English “Death hath plast / Within this
monument Shakspeare”. These together
with the lack of a name on the floor grave traditionally assigned to Shakespeare
have led to theories that the Stratford man or the playwright are buried in the
monument itself, in the wall beneath the monument or that neither is buried
anywhere nearer the monument than the graveyard outside.
As I mentioned in a previous section, I see no use in seeking to
overcome the above readings of the brief text of the monument.[1] Instead I will look at positive evidence for
the location of the body of the Stratford man.
The playwright — reasons being what precisely they might have been — was
buried in St. Augustine Church, Hackney, by best evidence. No identifying stone survives.
The first place I suggest we look, in order to clarify these
matters, is at the wall monument one up from Shakespeare’s on the north side of
the Holy Trinity chancel. This monument
is dedicated to Judith Combe. The plaque
on her monument is made of touchstone.
She died in 1649, some 15 years after the first notices of the
Shakespeare tomb — identified as the tomb of the playwright — began to appear, which
may explain the use of matching touchstone however much her family easily had
the wealth for better. Regardless,
touchstone was common at the time.
The first lines inscribed on the touchstone plaque are those that
are to our point:
HERE LYETH THE BODY OF JVDITH COMBE (DAVGHTER OF WILLIAM COMBE OF
OLD STRATFORD IN THE COVNTY OF WARWICK ESQ.)[2]
On the face of the inscription, Judith was buried in the monument
or the wall right below it. To show how
matters can be more difficult still, even if the researcher isn’t far more
literal than period inscriptions will support, sometime shortly after 1824, a
researcher would have found no associated floor grave.
I have already mentioned the 1617 and 1619-23 renovations to the “ruinous”
Church of the Holy Trinity, which houses the Shakespeare Monument. Other
renovations periodically followed.
There was another renovation, in 1839:
In 1839 the body of the church was bepewed and
galleried with square horse boxes on either side, and plain forms with backs up
the centre. In front of the tower stood a high "three-decker," and
the candelabrum now in the north transept hung from the centre; the organ was
built on a gallery over the tower arch, which had a screen, as well as that
across the chancel arch.
At this period the second restoration commenced.
The middle aisle received a new roof, the tower new pinnacles, while the organ
was removed to the west end, and in all about £3,392 were spent. The reopening
took place on the Feast of SS. Simon and Jude, 1840. It was at this period
too that the new altar was built and the pavement was laid down,…[3]
It is for this reason that the world received notice in 1891, that
the floor grave of Judith Combe had been discovered:
Some interesting discoveries have recently been made in connection
with the restoration of the parish church, Stratford-upon-Avon. In taking up some of the pavement within the
altar rails the old flooring was discovered buried about six inches below the
modern. Within a few feet of Shakespeare’s
tombstone has been unearthed a beautifully inlaid marble tablet in memory of
Judith Combe,… This slab, with others
which have been found, the committee intend to raise level with the pavement.[4]
Returning to Judith’s monument inscription, read literally it must mean... [Next page >>>]
[1] Purdy,
Gilbert Wesley. “Is John Shakespeare the Figure in the Stratford Monument?”
Virtual Grub Street, http://gilbertwesleypurdy.blogspot.com/2018/07/is-john-shakespeare-figure-in-stratford.html
[Accessed 7/29/18].
[2]
Dugdale, William. The antiquities of
Warwickshire illustrated from records, leiger ..., Volume 2. London: Osborn and Longman, 1730. 686.
[3] Bloom,
J. Harvey. Shakespeare's Church,
Otherwise the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity… London: Unwin, 1902. 20-1. Italics mine.
[4] The
Publishers' Circular, Jan. 24, '91. Vol. LIV.
(January to June, 1891). London:
Low, Marston & Co., 1891. 97.
[5] Moncrieff,
William Thomas. Excursion to Warwick. London: Longman, Hurst & Co., 1824. 11-2.
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- Dating Edward de Vere’s Sonnet 110 + 1. May 28, 2018. “By 1589, the lands of the Earldom of Oxford had been put under the control of De Vere’s father-in-law William Cecil, the Queen’s Treasurer and closest advisor, in order to save them from being sold by the deeply indebted Earl for ready money.”
- Edward de Vere's Memorial For His Son, Who Died at Birth May 1583. July 5, 2017. "The brief Viscount Bulbeck being the son of the renowned poet and playwright Edward de Vere, we might have hoped to have the text of the father’s own memorial poem. As far as traditional literary history is concerned, no such poem has yet been discovered."
- Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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