Cervantes, Shakespeare and St. George : 23rd of April

Shakespeare ,  Cervantes and Saint George all have one thing in common : April 23rd.
 
On the 23rd April we celebrate St. George´s Day . It is also agreed that April 23rd 1616 is the date when both Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare died.

Saint George is the patront Saint of several cities , regions, states ..... Actually , Saint George is the patront Saint of England.  Here in Spain  Saint George is the patron Saint of both Aragon and Catalonia, as well as of cities such as Cáceres or Alcoy.

In Catalonia, the 23rd April is one of the most important festivities, and it is traditional to give a present for the loved one : red roses for women and books for men in return. In Aragon it is a public holiday, celebrated as the 'Day of Aragon'. It is also a public holiday in Castile and Leon , where the day commemorates the defeat at the Revolt of the Comuneros.

Although 23 April is often stated as the anniversary of the deaths of both Shakespeare and Cervantes, this is not strictly correct. Cervantes died on 23 April according the Gregorian calendar; however, at this time England still used the Julian calendar. While Shakespeare died on 23 April by the Julian calendar in use in his own country at the time, in actual fact he died ten days after Cervantes, because of the discrepancy between the two date systems. The apparent correspondence of the two dates was a fortunate coincidence for UNESCO.

The anniversary of the deaths, in 1616, of Cervantes and Shakespeare, has led UNESCO to declare April 23 World Book and Copyright Day.

SHAKESPEARE AND SOME OF HIS PLAYS 

Here you have some wonderful video material produced by the BBC about some of the most important plays by William Shakespeare. 

Do you want to learn about them ?

Have a look. You won´t regret it !!

Macbeth ( plot ):  click  HERE

Romeo and Juliet ( characters ) : click  HERE 

Hamlet ( plot ) : click  HERE 



To finish with , have a look at this mindmap about the life of William Shakespeare. Hope you find it useful

( to see the image in a larger size click here )