Gradually, throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, skilled artisans who processed what farmers produced and merchants who bought and sold goods began to cluster in small towns and in London. These people discovered that the money they amassed gave them some freedom from class restrictions. As early capitalists they were attracted by new investment opportunities and new ideas. Small towns became a magnet for those seeking wealth as an alternative to land ownership. Such a town was Stratford on the Avon River, where William Shakespeare was born in 1564.

Stratford is a very old town, located about 90 miles northwest of London, in Warwickshire. Its name comes from the time the Romans ruled England and designates a place where the road or street ("strat") crossed or forded a river. For centuries it served as a market center for surrounding farms and villages, a function that continues to this day, despite Stratford's fame as a tourist destination. The Clopton Bridge over the River Avon, shown here, has been a landmark since before Shakespeare's time.