What do we know about Shakespeare? Details around the legendary playwright remain mysterious. He was somewhat famous in his day, though nobody except the queen and king had biographers in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. A handful of legal documents confirm his family members. The time period in which he lived saw many people die of plague and other fatal diseases. Society was expected to abide by a set of strict laws. Some facts about Stratford and London can help paint a picture of the man, though his works are the best lens into who he was. Perhaps he traveled to Italy; perhaps not. It has recently been trendy to suggest that William did not write all the plays and sonnets attributed to him. However, evidence and alternative hypotheses are scant.