Abstract: In recent years, the view that William Shakeshafte, the servant named in the will of Alexander Hoghton in 1581, and William Shakespeare of Stratford were the same person has gained support in some quarters. The schoolmaster John Cottom and his family are invariably cited as the essential link between Lancashire and Stratford, converting, in Ernst Honigmann’s words, “a possibility to a probability.” Using archival sources not previously consulted, this reassessment of Cottom undermines the key components of this theory. In doing so, it also challenges the longer, and more widely held view, that Cottom was a Catholic and that his presence in Stratford was therefore symptomatic of the religious views of Stratford itself. Rather, there is strong evidence to support the view that he was Protestant.

中文翻译：

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莎士比亚、天主教和兰开夏郡：对约翰科托姆的重新评价，斯特拉特福德校长

摘要：近年来，1581年亚历山大·霍格顿遗嘱中命名的仆人威廉·莎士比亚与斯特拉特福的威廉·莎士比亚是同一个人的观点在一些方面得到了支持。校长约翰科托姆和他的家人总是被引用为兰开夏郡和斯特拉特福之间的重要纽带，用恩斯特霍尼格曼的话来说，转换为“可能性到概率”。使用以前未查阅过的档案资料，对 Cottom 的这种重新评估破坏了该理论的关键组成部分。在这样做的过程中，它还挑战了更长期、更广泛持有的观点，即科托姆是一名天主教徒，因此他在斯特拉特福的存在是斯特拉特福本身宗教观点的象征。相反，有强有力的证据支持他是新教徒的观点。