# The Globe burns during a performance of Henry VIII on 29 June 1613

Date: 1613

## The fact

On 29 June 1613, during a performance of All Is True ([Henry VIII](/people/henry-viii)), cannon wadding ignited the Globe's thatch. The house burned. Contemporary letters describe the event. The company rebuilt in 1614. [Shakespeare](/people/william-shakespeare) is a housekeeper, not the man who lit the fuse.

## Context

Indoor effects at an open thatch theatre were a known risk. The play is partly Fletcher's in later authorship work; the staging is the company's. Loss of the yard is a public cultural interruption, not a fatality event in the surviving letters.

## Evidence and sources

Globe and Birthplace Trust pages rest on dated 1613 correspondence (Wotton and others) describing the fire. Those letters establish day, play, and cause. They do not establish Shakespeare's physical presence. Wikipedia is not used as a causal source.

## Significance

Cohesion weakens when the main public house disappears, even if rebuilt. Weight is for the interruption, not for arson.

## What is established and what is not

Established: 29 June 1613 fire during Henry VIII. Not established: deaths; that Shakespeare ordered the cannon. Confidence high on the fire, medium on personal staging responsibility.

The event remains dated 1613-06-29. Shakespeare's documented role is: The King's Men staged All Is True/Henry VIII with [cannon](/people/aileen-cannon) effects; the thatch caught fire. Shakespeare was a housekeeper. Destruction of the principal public playhouse interrupted the main shared-performance machine for a year. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1613-06-29. Shakespeare's documented role is: The King's Men staged All Is True/Henry VIII with cannon effects; the thatch caught fire. Shakespeare was a housekeeper. Destruction of the principal public playhouse interrupted the main shared-performance machine for a year. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1613-06-29. Shakespeare's documented role is: The King's Men staged All Is True/Henry VIII with cannon effects; the thatch caught fire. Shakespeare was a housekeeper. Destruction of the principal public playhouse interrupted the main shared-performance machine for a year. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1613-06-29. Shakespeare's documented role is: The King's Men staged All Is True/Henry VIII with cannon effects; the thatch caught fire. Shakespeare was a housekeeper. Destruction of the principal public playhouse interrupted the main shared-performance machine for a year. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1613-06-29. Shakespeare's documented role is: The King's Men staged All Is True/Henry VIII with cannon effects; the thatch caught fire. Shakespeare was a housekeeper. Destruction of the principal public playhouse interrupted the main shared-performance machine for a year. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1613-06-29. Shakespeare's documented role is: The King's Men staged All Is True/Henry VIII with cannon effects; the thatch caught fire. Shakespeare was a housekeeper. Destruction of the principal public playhouse interrupted the main shared-performance machine for a year. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

## People

- William Shakespeare: https://factrail.ai/people/william-shakespeare

## Drivers

- Social Cohesion: https://factrail.ai/drivers/social-cohesion

## Sources

- https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-globe-theatre/
- https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/shakespeares-world/the-globe/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/shakespeare-globe-fire-1613