1596

A coat of arms

Shakespeare family's coat-of-armsNot long after the death of his own son – and perhaps feeling the deep loss and guilt of an absent father and a renewed sense of duty as a son – William takes John Shakespeare to the College of Arms in London to secure his father a coat of arms.

In a society driven by class and social advancement, the coat of arms will give John – now seemingly out of debt and of means again – a new badge of respectability and, perhaps more poignantly, a certain immortality.

The motto, probably chosen by William, translates from the Latin as "Not without right." Perhaps a son claiming for his wronged father, and the family name, the dues he believes they richly deserve?

Evidence

Coat of arms application William's handwritten application for a Coat of Arms for his father