Sir Henry Neville theory of Shakespeare Authorship

The Nevillian theory of Shakespeare authorship, proposed in 2005 by Brenda James and William Rubinstein, attributes the work of William Shakespeare to Henry Neville. James had assembled the name Henry Nevell when she set the strange and cryptic Dedication to in a grid. This name was unknown to her but further investigation led her to the parliamentarian and diplomat Sir Henry Neville. As Ambassador to France (1600-1601), Neville used codes extensively for state security. and many of his ancestors feature prominently and favourably in the history plays.
Neville himself was born in the building that later became Blackfriars Theatre. Later his father assisted with the lease of Blackfriars to the Children of the Chapel for this purpose. Neville spent his boyhood at Billingbear near Windsor where his father was a forester. Windsor is depicted in some detail in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Education and Network
As a boy, Neville was educated within the household of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley.
Neville was kinsman to Leonard Digges whose poems preface both (1623) and the (1640). Digges's father was the famous astronomer Thomas Digges whose theory of "infinite space" endured until the 20th century and seems to be referred to in Hamlet (Act II Scene ii). Neville studied astronomy at Oxford.
Zachary Lesser notes that the balanced model of "mixed government" that Neville championed within the parliaments of James I may be seen to be the antecedent of the modern Westminster system of government. This concept of "mixed government" was promoted by the Greek Historian Polybius in his Histories. This work was translated by Isaac Casaubon with assistance from Sir Henry Savile - Neville's lifelong mentor. "Mixed Government" also seems to have influenced Beaumont and Fletcher’s A King and No King (1619) as noted by Lesser. Lesser observes that the publisher's note in A King and No King acknowledges Neville's earlier input into this play. They argue that a similar system may be used to link the message revealing Neville's name in the Dedication to the Sonnet to specific numbered Sonnets.

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