The Ledger
Every item in the file, with its grade and which way it cuts on the question “was Shakespeare Catholic”.
| Item | Grade | Cuts |
|---|---|---|
| Spiritual Testament found in the Henley Street roof; reached Malone 1789; printed 1790; original lostSee Family, Against, Timeline | Solid | ↔ Neutral until attributed |
| Testament body matches a printed Catholic formulary (Saint-Omer 1638; Italian editions from 1613)See Family, Against | Solid | Clears Jordan of forging the body; dates it after John’s death |
| Testament belonged to John ShakespeareSee Against, Family, Case For | Disputed now heavily against (Bearman 2003, Steggle 2024) | ↑ Formerly for; now near zero |
| Testament belonged to Joan Shakespeare Hart, 1630sSee Case For, Family, Family | Disputed Steggle’s hypothesis; no refereed rebuttal found | ↑ Weakly for a Catholic household in the Birthplace, not for William’s upbringing |
| First leaf (articles I and II, “blossom of my sins”) supplied by John Jordan, not seen by MaloneSee Family, Corrections, Works | Solid | ↓ Kills the Hamlet echo as evidence |
| 1592 certificate names John among nine absent from church “for fear of process for debt”See Family, Against | Solid Disputed solid record, disputed meaning | ↓ Weakly against; the debt reading fits the Exchequer record |
| John’s Exchequer prosecutions 1569 to c. 1583 (usury, wool, £132 Crown debt)See Against, Family | Solid Parry and Enis | ↓ Against the religious reading of his 1577 withdrawal |
| John as chamberlain paid 2s for “defasyng ymages” in the Guild Chapel 1563/64See Case For, Against, Family | Solid | ↓ Against, unless read as minimal compliance |
| John’s 1580 Queen’s Bench fine (£40, surety for a Nottingham hatter)See Timeline | Solid Disputed solid record, disputed meaning | ↔ Open |
| Mary Arden descended from the Park Hall ArdensSee Case For, Against, Family, Corrections | Disputed heralds struck out the Park Hall arms in 1599 | ↓ Weakens the “Catholic Arden” lineage |
| Edward Arden executed 20 December 1583 after the Somerville affairSee Case For, Timeline | Solid | ↑ For a frightened Catholic Warwickshire; nothing on the Shakespeares by document |
| Robert Arden’s 1556 will with a Catholic preambleSee Case For, Against, Open | Solid that Lee says so; standard under Mary I | ↔ Neutral |
| Grammar school masters Hunt, Jenkins, Cottom with Catholic links; Cottom brother of the martyr Thomas CottamSee Case For | Solid Disputed solid tenures and fraternity; Hunt’s identity disputed | ↑ Weakly for a Catholic milieu |
| “William Shakeshafte” in Alexander Hoghton’s will, 3 August 1581See Against, Corrections, Corrections | Solid Disputed solid as a name; disputed as Shakespeare, leaning against | ↔ Open; several local William Shakeshaftes documented |
| Marriage licence 1582 naming Temple Grafton; vicar John Frith “unsound in religion”See Case For, Timeline | Solid Disputed solid record, disputed meaning | ↔ Open; venue unknown |
| Susanna cited 5 May 1606 for not receiving Easter communion; “dismissa”See Case For, Against, Family, Open | Solid | ↔ Open; absent from four other recusant lists |
| Godparents Hamnet and Judith Sadler cited as recusants 1606See Case For, Family | Solid widely reported; primary list not seen | ↑ Weakly for |
| William Reynolds, ring legatee, jailed for recusancy 1613See Case For, Family, Open | Solid leaning; cited at second hand | ↑ Weakly for |
| Blackfriars Gatehouse bought 10 March 1613; documented Catholic safe-house historySee Case For, Against | Solid Disputed solid history and purchase; disputed motive | ↔ Open; Munro 2026 ties it to theatre |
| Will preamble “through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour”See Against | Solid Disputed solid text; formula or belief disputed | ↓ Weakly against, or neutral |
| Davies, c. 1688 to 1708: “He dyed a papist”See Case For, Against, Family, Family | Solid Disputed solid as a document; disputed as testimony; unsourced | ↑ The only direct testimony, uncheckable |
| Southwell’s “Maister W.S.” (St Omer 1616) is ShakespeareSee Open | Disputed rejected by Klause | ↔ Open |
| Southampton’s Catholic family; 1593 and 1594 dedicationsSee Timeline, World, Corrections | Solid solid family; conventional patronage | ↔ Neutral |
| Lodged with Huguenot Mountjoys 1604; printed by Calvinist Field; godfather 1608; preacher at New Place 1614See Against, Timeline | Solid | ↓ Against |
| No recusancy citation of William in any surviving record (contrast Jonson 1606)See Against | Inference from absence | ↓ Against |
| Hamlet’s Ghost: Purgatory, “Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled”See Works, Case For | Strong Suggestive strong as dramatic sympathy; suggestive for belief | ↑ For sympathy, not for belief |
| Macbeth’s Porter and the “equivocator” (Garnet)See Works, Against | Strong | ↓ Against a Jesuit-sympathising author |
| Lear’s Harsnett borrowingsSee Works | Neutral source-explained | ↔ Open |
| Measure for Measure’s Poor Clare and three confessions, not in the sourcesSee Works, Case For | Suggestive | ↑ For formation inside the old religion |
| Benign friars and hermits across the comedies, against Brooke’s hostile prefaceSee Works, Works, Works, Case For | Suggestive as a pattern | ↑ For |
| King John keeps “no Italian priest” and the attack on bought pardonsSee Works, Against | Strong against, with a counter | ↓ Against |
| Henry V’s chantries for Richard’s soulSee Works | Suggestive | ↑ For texture; in Holinshed |
| Winter’s Tale statue, “awake your faith”, “superstition”See Works, Case For | Suggestive | ↔ Open |
| Sonnet 73 “bare ruined choirs”See Works | Suggestive texture | ↔ Neutral on allegiance |
| Phoenix and the Turtle as an Anne Line requiemSee Works | Suggestive minority | ↔ Open |
| Geneva and Bishops’ Bible dominance in his allusionsSee Works, Against | Strong for Protestant reading habits | ↓ Against recusancy |
| Valladolid Jesuit censor cut Measure for Measure entirelySee Works, Works, Against | Solid | ↓ Against a Catholic-coded author |
| Flower portrait, Darmstadt death mask, Rome pilgrim registersSee Corrections, Debate | Lore | Discard |
| Campion carried Borromeo testaments to the Midlands in 1580; John hid his in 1583See Against, Debate, On Screen | Lore | Discard |
Sources for each row are given in the exhibits above and the sections below.