Sir Thomas Lucy was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1571 and 1585. He was a magistrate in Warwickshire, but is best known for his links to William Shakespeare. As a Protestant activist, he came into conflict with Shakespeare's Catholic relatives, and there are stories that the young Shakespeare himself had clashes with him.
Effigies of Sir Thomas Lucy and his wife, Joyce Acton, St. Leonard's church, Charlecote
Charlecote Park circa 1880
Shakespeare Before Thomas Lucy by Thomas Brooks, a typical Victorian portrayal of the poaching story
Thomas Lucy's coat of arms, depicting "luces" (pike), from William Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire
William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
The Chandos portrait, likely Shakespeare, early 17th century
John Shakespeare's house, believed to be Shakespeare's birthplace, in Stratford-upon-Avon
Shakespeare's coat of arms, from the 1602 book The book of coates and creasts. Promptuarium armorum. It features spears as a pun on the family name.
Shakespeare's funerary monument in Stratford-upon-Avon
