There has long been speculation about the authorship of the 'Shake-speare' plays as there is little documentary evidence about the life of the supposed author, the actor William Shakespeare. He may have been a 'front man' giving his name to the works of another, who, for reason of social position or threat of prosecution, had to remain anonymous..
Christopher Marlowe has often been a favorite contender, not least because he had the breadth of education and experience so evident in the plays, whereas what little evidence we have of William Shakespeare's interests make his concerns more mercenary.
Christopher Gamble produces new evidence that the "murder" of Christopher Marlowe in 1593 was a stratagem, organized to rescue him from execution for heresy, and to smuggle him out of the country to exile in Italy. Some 16 years later, in May 1609, Marlowe embarked on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia, aboard the flagship "Sea Venture". The subsequent shipwreck of the vessel off the coast of Bermuda, without loss of life, was to inspire the celebrated "Shake-speare" play "The Tempest". Furthermore, the intriguing Dedication to the "Sonnets", and some recently discovered papers in Lambeth Palace, all point to the survival of Marlowe and his identity as the real
"Shake-speare".
