Sharing Shakespeare's Story
Queen Elizabeth I Warrant

The Birthplace Trust is lucky enough to hold a signature of Queen Elizabeth I. Here we see her signing off a warrant (authorising the issue of a tabard to a newly appointed herald) on 24th January 1592. This year, incidentally, also marks the end of William Shakespeare’s “lost years”, the year Robert Greene branded him an “upstart crow”! Elizabeth’s signature is large (several inches across) and ornate. Its grandiosity is certainly in keeping with her royal status. It has been suggested the flourishes might be a method to make the signature more difficult to forge