©National Archives

Master of the Wardrobe's account listing Shakespeare as one of the King's Players, 1604.

Account of Sir George Hume, Master of the Great Wardrobe, showing a grant of scarlet-red cloth to Shakespeare and his companions for the king's coronation procession, 15 March 1604. James I was as fond of theatrical entertainment as Elizabeth I had been, and the 'King's Men', Shakespeare's acting troupe, are known to have performed at court at least 107 times between 1603 and Shakespeare's death in 1616.