T. Merriam writes that "Honigmann states incorrectly in 'Catholic Shakespeare?' that William was baptised during the reign of Queen Mary. He was born in 1564 during the reign of Elizabeth" (Merriam 104). What I actually wrote was that "it would not be too surprising if Shakespeare, probably brought up as a Catholic (the first child of John and Mary Shakespeare was baptised in the reign of Queen Mary), remained a church papist" (Honigmann 57−58). The first child of Shakespeare's parents was Joan, baptised on 15 September 1558, two months before Queen Elizabeth succeeded Queen Mary.

Yours sincerely,

Ernst Honigmann