New evidence suggests Shakespeare not true bard

LONDON - Shakespeare's plays were not written by the bard but rather a politician descended from King Edward III and John of Gaunt, remarkable new evidence suggests.

British Shakespeare scholar Brenda James and historian Professor William Rubinstein of the University of Wales propose the real Shakespeare was English courtier and diplomat Sir Henry Neville.

The research is already being described as "pioneering" by Mark Rylance, the chairman of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust and artistic director at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London.

The revelations - based on five years of research - are contained in a book to be launched at the Globe.

Firstly, the political content and geographical location of the bard's plays are a perfect reflection of the known travels of Sir Henry, who lived from 1562 to 1615.

Love's Labours Lost echoes in part the issues discussed at Oxford University at the time Neville was studying there between 1574 and 1579. Many characters in the play were known personally by Neville.

Measure for Measure was set in Vienna, where Neville visited in 1580. A theme of the play - laws against immorality - reflects ideas Neville discussed with a leading Calvinist philosopher there.

Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice were all set in northern Italy, which he visited in 1581 and 1582.

Hamlet was set in Denmark - and, according to James' research, Neville obtained specific information on Hamlet while visiting what is now Poland - and possibly Denmark.

Henry V reflects Neville's diplomatic duties in France between 1599 and 1600. Some of its scenes were written in French, which Neville spoke but Shakespeare did not.

Neville was involved in an unsuccessful revolt by the Earl of Essex against the government in 1601. He was jailed in the Tower of London for treason - when the tone of the plays changed abruptly from historical and comic to sombre and tragic.

The plays also portray many of Neville's ancestors - John of Gaunt in Richard II, Warwick the King Maker in Henry VI part II and King Duncan of Scotland in Macbeth - all in a favourable light.

A document written by Neville while a prisoner in the Tower of London contains detailed notes, the contents of which ended up being used in Henry VIII.

There are also similarities of style and vocabulary between Neville's private and diplomatic letters and the works of Shakespeare.

And lastly there is direct long-ignored evidence, in a document discovered in 1867, that Neville faked William Shakespeare's signature.

The document, with Neville's name at the top, features 17 attempts on Shakespeare's signature.

The book proposes Shakespeare was Neville's front man, as Neville did not want to be seen as the author of controversial political plays.

Indeed, if it was known Neville wrote Richard II, which deals with the forcible deposition of a monarch, he would have faced execution rather than jail after the Essex revolt.

Neville was a Plantagenet, a rival dynasty to the ruling Tudors. His own grandfather and great uncle had been executed by Henry VIII.

With such controversial ancestry, Neville couldn't afford to be seen writing politically controversial plays. Richard II was performed in London 40 times immediately before Essex's revolt - and was regarded as seditious. Shakespeare was questioned - but not arrested.

One of a few documents officially attributing the plays to Shakespeare was the First Folio edition, published in 1623. The writer, Ben Jonson, was employed by a London college associated with the Neville family.

James and Rubinstein believe Jonson knew about the frontman set-up and helped promote the fiction.

James and Rubinstein also claim the character Falstaff - who appears in four plays - was based on Neville. Falstaff was going to be called Oldcastle, a pun on Neville, derived from the French for "New Town".

Significantly, Shakespeare's patron was the Earl of Southampton, one of Neville's closest associates. Indeed, after the Essex revolt they spent time in the Tower together.

What is more, Shakespeare was a distant relative of Neville through his mother Mary Arden .

It is through these links that James and Rubinstein suggest Neville met Shakespeare - and proposed he become his front man. They argue Shakespeare directed, acted and part-owned the performing company but did not write a word.

Scholars have always been puzzled as to how Shakespeare wrote plays requiring detailed geographical and political knowledge and advanced skills in Latin, Greek, French, Spanish and Italian - yet ceased his formal education aged 12.

Over the past 130 years several have proposed the plays were written by lawyer and scientist Francis Bacon, the Tudor playboy and courtier Edward de Vere or even the playwright Christopher Marlow, but the evidence has never really stacked up.

Neville has never before been mentioned as a candidate.

"We have amassed such a huge body of evidence that the case for Neville seems overwhelmingly strong," said Rubinstein.

"The chronology of the plays [and] Neville's life match perfectly."

James said the "beauty and eloquence [of] Neville's letters display a linguistic liveliness and inventiveness echoed in Shakespeare".

In a foreward to the new book, Rylance says: "If the plays [were] not attributed to Shakespeare in 1623, he would be the last person you would imagine able to write such matter.

"I can't imagine that any enthusiast will be able to ignore this book."

The book, The Truth Will Out, is published on October 25.