# How did Shakespeare know so much about Italy?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-shakespeare-know-so-much-about-italy/673399
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 8, 2013, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-shakespeare-know-so-much-about-italy/673399 "2013-11-08T10:25:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 14

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### Author: ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-shakespeare-know-so-much-about-italy/673399/14 "2013-11-08T19:01:29Z")

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Shakespeare’s knowledge of Italy came up in the context of [this authorship thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=700636) a few months ago. I think this post gives a good overview:

> [@A Discussion About Whether Shakespeare is Shakespeare without Dismissiveness](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-discussion-about-whether-shakespeare-is-shakespeare-without-dismissiveness/667319/49):
>
> [Here’s a nice essay that covers Shakespeare’s knowledge of history and Italy.](http://shakespeareauthorship.com/italy.html)  
> Shakespeare didn’t ever go to Italy, but he didn’t know jack about it, either. He set two entire plays in Venice, without ever using the word canal. He also created a city near Venice called “Belmont.” WTF?
> 
> You know who else set plays in Italy? Everybody. It was the place to set comedies.

From the essay **bup** links to:

> [@](#):
>
> Italian culture and literature permeated all of Elizabethan literature and drama (not just Shakespeare) to a much greater extent than anybody realized a century ago; there were many sources, both written and unwritten, which any intelligent Elizabethan could use to find out all about Italy; and many Elizabethans of Shakespeare’s social class, including members of his own acting company, visited Italy. […] Several recent studies have dealt with this question in some detail, and have shown how enamored the English were with all things Italian, how many sources there were for a curious Englishman to find out anything he wanted about Italy, and how Shakespeare got details wrong and sometimes lapsed into English customs in his Italian plays.

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