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In April 1757, men working on the house in
Henley Street, Stratford, where William Shakespeare was born, discovered a six
page, hand-written document hidden between the eaves and the joists. It was a
copy of the Borromeo Testament, an affirmation of the Catholic faith written by
Cardinal Borromeo of Milan. Each one of the six pages was signed by John
Shakespeare, William’s father. It would seem to suggest that the Shakespeare
family continued to practice the forbidden Catholic faith. In addition, two
Stratford recusancy returns have survived from the year 1592 and on both John
Shakespeare is listed. His excuse for not attending church was that he was in
debt and feared his creditors – a myth which has persisted although evidence
suggests that John Shakespeare was not in debt and that it was a common excuse
made by Catholics to avoid the Protestant churches. The final clue that the
Shakespeare family were Catholics is a list compiled in 1606, after the
Gunpowder Plot, of people missing from the Easter communion in Stratford. On
this list is the name of Susanna Shakespeere – William’s daughter.