J. R. Mulryne. the Guild and Guild Buildings of Shakespeare's Stratford: Society: Religion, Education and Stage
J. R. Mulryne. The Guild and Guild Buildings of Shakespeare's Stratford: Society: Religion, Education and Stage. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2012. xiv + 270 pp. $119.95. Review by SCOTT K. OLDENBURG, TULANE UNIVERSITY. This book brings into conversation historical, literary, and archaeological studies of Stratford-upon-Avon's Guild of the Holy Cross and its buildings in the pre- and early modern period. Although the topic may seem narrow, it leads to a multidisciplinary examination of religious controversy, politics, education, and theater in the market town from the thirteenth through the seventeenth century. As the title suggests the book provides a deepening of one's knowledge of the world of a young William Shakespeare, but it also offers a case study of one English town's adaptability and resilience during a time of economic expansion and religious change. The Guild of the Holy Cross in Stratford-upon-Avon was established in 1269 as a hospital but soon took on the role of chantry, addressing the spiritual needs of the community. At the same time, the Guildhall, built in the fifteenth century, expanded its role beyond immediately religious matters. When the guild was dissolved in 1547, the building was quickly refashioned as the town's corporation, reclaiming some of its lost revenue and expanding its role in civic governance. With membership extending as far away as London, it fostered important business relationships. The Guildhall housed Stratford's school and was the site of at least some theatrical performances. A history of the guild's buildings, then, is at once also a religious, economic, and social history of the town itself. The first two chapters cover the founding of the Guild of the Holy Order through the aftermath of its dissolution in the Reformation fervor of the 1520s. Mairi Macdonald's essay lays the groundwork for subsequent chapters, examining the Guild's membership, leadership, functions, and buildings and how the Guild was maintained even in a period of economic decline. Sylvia Gill's chapter focuses on the Guild's response to Reformation. What emerges here is a view of this central institution as constantly adapting to the needs of the local community and the demands of the state. Gill also offers a chapter on the school housed by the guild. This along with Ian Green's study of Humanist learning at the Edward VI Grammar School provide the reader with a microcosm of educational initiatives throughout England as well as some of the specific problems faced by Stratford's community. …