The school that William Shakespeare may have attended still stands today. I say “may have attended” because no records remain.

Boys of Stratford have been attending the King Edward VI School for hundreds of years. Since it was the only school in town at the time, if William attended school this is where he would have been educated.

We were met by Mr. Biddle, who teaches in the very room in which Shakespeare is believed to have been taught. Mr. Biddle explained what education was like when Shakespeare was a boy. Talk about grueling! In just one room, schoolboys spent up to 12 hours a day, learning mostly in Latin, and there was no time for sports or after-school clubs. And, if someone so much as talked out of turn they could expect a rather brutal whack with a switch.

Mr. Biddle described a scene from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, which may have been inspired by his time in this very room. There is a teacher in the play who shares his name with a former teacher at the school during Shakespeare’s time.

Shakespeare’s education would have ended in this room as well. He didn’t go on to become one of the university wits like other writers of the time.

The King Edward VI School has grown immensely since Shakespeare’s day. The thing that amazed me most is that this is still a working classroom! As we sat at the desks and looked out the windows, I thought about all of the writers, doctors, and others who have attended this throughout history. Many of them have carved their initials into the wooden desks. I wondered at whose desk I was sitting.

Enhance your Shakespearean knowledge: Learn about Richard Burbarge, one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries.

Die dulci fruere (Latin for have a good day),

Keep Going: Meet Shakespeare’s Lady Love.

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