Bore the motto Non sanz droictNot without right From this time on, Shakespeare could write "Gentleman" after his name This meant much to him, for in his day actors were classed legally with criminals and vagrants Shakespeare's name first appeared on the title pages of his printed plays in 1598 In the same year By "Non, sanz Droict," obviously he meant "No," the applicant did not have the necessary credentials for a Coat of Arms, and thus he was "sanz Droict," ie, "without Right" This, of course, was the reason why John came away from the College of Arms empty handed, not because, as the academics would have it, he couldn't afford the fee A motto accompanied the coat of arms, "Non sanz droict" or "Not without Right" and in Jonson's 1599 play Every Man Out of his Humour, the character Sogliardo's motto is "Not without Mustard" I wonder if Shakespeare saw the joke Fake News A Very Early Modern
