med part of Richard
Hathaway's farmhouse, and, despite numerous alterations and renovations,
still preserves many features of a thatched farmhouse of the Elizabethan
period. The house remained in the Hathaway family till 1838, although
the male line became extinct in 1746. It was purchased in behalf of the
public by the Birthplace trustees in 1892.

The bond against impediments.

No record of the solemnisation of Shakespeare's marriage survives.
Although the parish of Stratford included Shottery, and thus both bride
and bridegroom were parishioners, the Stratford parish register is silent
on the subject. A local tradition, which seems to have come into being
during the present century, assigns the ceremony to the neighbouring
hamlet or chapelry of Luddington, of which neither the chapel nor parish
registers now exist. But one important piece of documentary evidence
directly bearing on the poet's matrimonial venture is accessible. In the
registry of the bishop of the diocese (Worcester) a deed is extant
wherein Fulk Sandells and John Richardson, 'husbandmen of Stratford,'
bound themselves in the bishop's consistory court, on November 28, 1582,
in a surety of 40 pounds, to free the bishop of all liability should a
lawful impediment--'by reason of any precontract' [_i.e._ with a third
party] or consanguinity--be subsequently disclosed to imperil the
validity of the marriage, then in contemplation, of William Shakespeare
with Anne Hathaway. On the assumption that no such impediment was known
to exist, and provided that Anne obtained the consent of her 'friends,'
the marriage might proceed 'with once asking of the bannes of matrimony
betwene them.'

Bonds of similar purport, although differing in significant details, are
extant in all diocesan registries of the sixteenth century. They were
obtainable on the payment of a fee to the bishop's commissary, and had
the effect of expediting the marriage ceremony while protecting the
clergy from the consequences of any possible breach of canonical law.
But they were not common, and it was rare for persons in the
comparatively humble position in life of Anne Hathaway and young
Shakespeare to adopt such cumbrous formalities when there was always
available the simpler, less expensive, and more leisurely method of
marriage by 'thrice asking of the banns.' Moreover, the wording of the
bond which was drawn before Shakespeare's marriage differs in important
respects from t