SHAKESPEARE S LIFE AND TIMES (4) WORLD HISTORY 1595 1597 1598 Sir Walter Raleigh searched for El Dorado in South America. The Dutch sailed to the East Indies. The Japanese invaded Korea. King Philip of Spain died. The Edict of Nantes ended the French wars of Religion, when King Henry IV gave the Hugenots freedom of worship. ENGLISH HISTORY 1597 1598 1599 Francis Bacon s essays were published. Ben Jonson, the playwright, was convicted of manslaughter1 after he killed a man in a fight. The Globe Theatre opened in London. The Earl of Tyrone led a rebellion against the English in Ireland. Edmund Spenser, the English poet author of The Fairie Queene , died. Nicholas Hilliard painted the Hardwick portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. SHAKESPEARE S HISTORY 1595 1596 1597 1598 1599 Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth were performed. Shakespeare s son, Hamnet, died and was buried in Stratford 11th August. A Midsummer s Night s Dream was performed. John Shakespeare was given a coat of arms. Shakespeare bought a big, old house in New Place, Stratford. Shakespeare was a principal actor in a performance of Ben Jonson s play Every Man in His Humour. Richard II and King John were performed. The Hardwick portrait of Elizabeth I, painted by Nicholas Hilliard. 1. manslaughter: the crime of killing a person by someone who did not intend to do it.