460 years ago, in 1564, in the United Kingdom, William Shakespeare, the most famous of writers. Author of classics such as Cheese and guava It is Hamlet, English is an unquestionable landmark in literature, and to this day attracts thousands of curious people to his tomb in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford-upon-Avon, his hometown. Died in 1616, at the age of 52, he is said to have written the epitaph that adorns his tomb, “cursing” anyone who disturbs his eternal rest. “Good friend, by the grace of Jesus, avoid digging the dust cloistered here. Blessed be the man who spares these stones and cursed be he who moves my bones”, says the text embedded in the tombstone.
Probably dead from a fever contracted on a night of drinking with friends, Shakespeare would have written the phrase out of fear that the tomb would be disturbed by curious onlookers, as grave robberies were common at that time. It was also common for bodies to be exhumed for research purposes or to make more space for other burials. Until recently, the writer’s wish seemed to have been fulfilled: the church has strict rules regarding the grave, and not even the officials who carried out repairs at the site in 2008 dared to move the tombstone and disturb the playwright’s rest.
It is possible, however, that the curse was tested by brave denatured people: this is because a scan conducted in 2016 of the tomb using radio frequency revealed that the tomb appeared altered, and the bard’s skull may have been stolen. The discovery — detailed in the documentary Shakespeare’s Tomb, on Channel 4 — strengthened an old story, previously discredited: in 1879, a magazine called Argosy Magazine claimed that Shakespeare’s tomb had been violated in 1874 by a group of looters who had stolen the writer’s skull at the request of a collector. The story may even have a grain of truth, but bizarre details are discarded by scholars.
In addition to the playwright’s remains, the bard’s DNA also raises curiosities. In 2019, the Folger Shakespeare Library, which holds the author’s largest collection, tested a Bible 400 years old that would have been handled by him and identified genes from two Europeans — one of them, they concluded, was from someone with a tendency to have pimples. To know whether or not the acneic DNA really comes from Shakespeare, it will be necessary to identify his descendants and test them. Exhuming the body, however, is not a possibility: thanks to the threatening tombstone, Shakespeare’s home remains sealed, keeping all his mysteries and genius underground.
