BIOGRAPHY (PART 3 - DEATH & AFTER)

SHAKESPEARE'S FUNERARY MONUMENT

Shakespeare died at the age of 52 (23rd April 1616), his cause of death unknown. He was married to Anne Hathaway until his death and was survived by his 2 daughters: Susanna and Judith. His son died in 1596.

SHAKESPEARE'S GRAVESTONE
INSCRIBED:
"Good Friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones" 

Shakespeare is buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was granted the honour of burial in the chancel not on the account of fame as a playwright but for purchasing a share of the tithe of the Church for £440 - which was a considerable amount of money at the time.
A monument on the wall nearest his grave, probably placed by his family, features a bust showing Shakespeare posed in the act of writing. Each year on his claimed birthday, a new quill pen is placed in the writing hand of the bust. He is believed to have written the epitaph on his tombstone.

SHAKESPEARE'S GENEALOGY (His Family Tree and Succession)