Under Development
The play's date of composition is unknown; it was registered for publication in 1602, but was probably several years old by that date. Textual allusions to the Order of the Garter suggest that the play may have been intended for performance in April 1597, prior to the installation in May of the Knights-Elect of that order at Windsor; if so, it was probably performed when Elizabeth I attended Garter Feast on April 23rd. This was not necessarily the premiere; presumably, the play was also staged at the public theatre.
The Garter theory is only speculation, but it is corroborated by a story first recorded by John Dennis in 1702: that Shakespeare was commanded to write the play by Queen Elizabeth, who wanted to see Falstaff in love (that such a story was first recorded one hundred years later -- in the same year in which Dennis had made an adaption of Merry Wives -- makes it suspect.)
However, support for this theory is divided. If the Garter theory is correct, it would mean that Shakespeare wrote 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' between King Henry IV part 1 and part 2. Critics have trouble believing this because of all the inconsistencies that appear between the Henry plays and 'The Merry Wives'. For example, there are no references to any of the major events going on at the time such as the rebellion (Henry IV part 1), or the English invasion of France (Henry IV part 2). Also there are many character inconsistencies, and loose ends in the play which supports the theory that Queen Elizabeth request Shakespeare write that play, but seems to indicate it was written after Henry V.
January 18, 1602 was the date the play was entered into the Register of the Stationers Company. The first quarto was published later that year, in an inferior text, by bookseller Arthur Johnson. It was published in a second quarto in 1619, as part of William Jaggard's False Folio; the superior First Folio text followed in 1623.
The title page of Q1 states that the play was acted by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, "Both before Her Majesty, and elsewhere." The earliest performance known with certainty occurred on Nov. 4, 1604, at Whitehall Palace. Another known performance took place on Nov. 15, 1638, at the Cockpit Theatre.
The play alludes to a German duke, who is generally thought to be Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg, who had visited England in 1592 and was elected to the Order of the Garter in 1597 (and who was eventually only installed in Stuttgart on November 6, 1603).
There is an indication that Falstaff in Merry Wives was originally called Sir John Oldcastle, as was true of Falstaff in the Henry IV plays