Drunk Horse Riding
Ep 320 | Phil Withington Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 03, 2024•25 min•Ep. 320
That Shakespeare Life
Hosted by Cassidy Cash, That Shakespeare Life takes you behind the curtain and into the real life of William Shakespeare.
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Episodes
Glass and Glass Making
In Shakespeare’s plays, he uses the word “glass” over 80 times, including to talk about specific kinds of glass like a pilot’s glass in Alls Well That Ends Well, and “the glasses of my sight” in Coriolanus. We can see from the surviving building of Shakespeare’s Birthplace in Stratford Upon Avon, that window glass existed, and there was even an old glass house in the Blackfriars where the Blackfriars theater was located, but how was all this glass made? What materials were used? What other produ...
May 27, 2024•25 min•Ep. 319
The Elizabethan Mind
Throughout Shakespeare’s plays, he references the mind over 400 times including talking about having a quick mind, an unclean mind, and even being out of your mind. Understanding how your brain worked, and what you as an individual could do to control it, and respond to it, was a hot topic for Shakespeare’s lifetime. The rise in books meant that works by authors exploring this topic of the mind, melancholy, and reason were widely available, even directly influencing the works of playwrights like...
May 20, 2024•34 min•Ep. 318
Sign Language and Deaf Culture in 16th Century England
British sign language has existed in some form among deaf communities at least since the 15th century, when some of the earliest records of sign language reveal descriptions of specific signs, many of which are still in use today. However, for Shakespeare’s lifetime, sign language was far from formalized among the Deaf, and certainly not widely accepted by the hearing community. Similarly, education of the deaf, in terms of schools established to educate the Deaf, Mute, or otherwise alternativel...
May 13, 2024•38 min•Ep. 317
Anne Hathaway, her life and her legacy
Before William Shakespeare was the great playwright of the age, he was “just Will” fromStratford Upon Avon. The one person in the world who not only loved him before he wasfamous, but walkedbeside him for the entire journey from young man with nothing but relentlessoptimism to successful playwright patronized by the monarchy of England, was his wife, AnneHathaway. Anne married William in 1582, and by the time Shakespeare was skyrocketing tofame in the 1590s with plays like his Henry VI series, T...
May 06, 2024•44 min•Ep. 316
Roderigo Lopez and Jews in 16th Century England
Close to 300 years before Shakespeare’s birth, in the year 1290, King Edward I expelled anyone of Jewish descent from England all together. It would not be until 40 years after Shakespeare’s death that Jews would be allowed to return to England. This law makes it somewhat confusing to find over 100 references to Jews and “Jewry” in Shakespeare’s plays. How did he know about Jewish people if there weren’t any in England? Additional history further muddies the waters with the story of Roderigo Lop...
Apr 29, 2024•37 min•Ep. 315
The Story of Shakespeare's Birthplace
There is something uniquely fascinating about the place where someone famous was born and grew up. As many of us travel long distances just for the chance to visit the birthplace of one of our heroes, we seem to recognize the importance of home as the foundation for future greatness. William Shakespeare’s home is no exception. WilliamShakespeare’s life journey began at his birthplace, making it an essential part of his history and the foundation of what he would go on to become. Here today to sh...
Apr 22, 2024•29 min•Ep. 314
Uncovering the Stage Boards Shakespeare Walked Upon
In October of 2023, the Norfolk Guildhall at King’s Lynn, London was undergoing a bigrefurbishment when 600 year old oak floorboards were discovered beneath the floor. A religioushouse in the 15thcentury, the site became a performance venue by 1593, hosting, amongothers, Shakespeare’s acting company according to company accounts. That discovery meansthat these newly discovered floorboards could have held the footsteps of William Shakespearehimself. Here today to tell us about the floorboards, th...
Apr 15, 2024•24 min•Ep. 313
Alarum and Parley: Military Sounds in Stage Directions
In Shakespeare’s lifetime, sound was often relied upon by playwrights to let an audience know a battle was taking place, an army was taking action, or a particular military event was about to occur. Some of these military sound cues are found in the stage directions of Shakespeare's plays when we see him indicate musicians should sound specific pieces. For example, the musicians are directed to “sound a parley” in Coriolanus Act I, and to play an “Alarum to battle” in Henry IV Part I. Here today...
Apr 08, 2024•31 min•Ep. 312
Robert Armin and Will Kemp, Fools of Shakespeare
All total, Shakespeare includes 21 Clowns and Fools in his works, that frequency wasn’tjust personal preference. It was, as you may have guessed, a reflection of actualhistory. The Fool dates all the way back to the Romansas an appointed member ofsociety whose job it was to entertain with honesty, mockery, and behavior that wouldhave been foolish for anyone else. Since it is April Fool’s Day today, that makes it theperfect time to explore the history of fools, which iswhy today, we’re meeting wi...
Apr 01, 2024•51 min•Ep. 311
Bible Translations in Shakespeare's Lifetime
One the of the most significant influences on Shakespeare’s works is the Holy Bible. There are references to biblical characters and even specific Bible verses found throughout Shakespeare’s works. Of course the original Bible was not written in English, but famous translators of the Bible including John Wycliffe who created the first modern English translation of the Bible produced from the original Biblical languages. During Shakespeare’s lifetime, the Protestant Reformation fueled more Bible ...
Mar 26, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 310
What is Wattle and Daub, anyway?
For centuries, the construction method of wattle and daub has been used to contruct buildings.For Shakespeare’s lifetime, the Tudor style of house became famous for this form of construction because Tudor homes featured exposed beams held together in the wattle anddaub style. For the uninitiated, however,you may not know what constitutes a wattle or a daub, or how this method of construction was accomplished. Here today to answer these questionsand share with us not only how the process was comp...
Mar 18, 2024•24 min•Ep. 309
Eye glasses, spectacles, and eyeware for Shakespeare's lifetime
Shakespeare uses the word “spectacles” 8 times across his works, and talks about glass eyes in King Lear . In A Winter’s Tale Leontes is talking with Camillo when he indicates Camillo should have seen something clearly because of the thickness of his eye glass. It makes sense to think that people in the 16-17th century would have suffered from near sighted ness or farsighted ness and other opthamlogic disorders, but what does the historical record show about how these sight related issues were d...
Mar 11, 2024•39 min•Ep. 308
The Battle of Lepanto, 1571
In 1571, William Shakespeare was only 7 years old, but the naval battle that occurred that year was pivotal forEngland, and indeed the Christian world, that continued to be celebrated and written about for centuries afterShakespeare. The Battle of Lepanto is the last naval battle fought exclusively with rowing vessels, known as galley warfare, and overall was a surprising naval victory for Catholics. Even James VI wrote poetry titledLepanto, that was in high demand as printed literature in Engla...
Mar 04, 2024•58 min•Ep. 307
The Real Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn Compared to All is True
Explore the real life of Henry VIII against some of the stories inside Shakespeare's play, All is True, with our guest, Kat Marchant. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 26, 2024•31 min•Ep. 306
16th Century Romance Fiction
Did you know there were romantic fiction publications in Shakespeare's lifetime? Of course they weren't romance novels , because the novel as a format was not invented, but the romance genre was a live and well. You may recognize chivalric romances, which include knights in shining armor, fighting dragons, overcoming giants, and other quest-worthy elements. In Shakespeare's lifetime, there were romantic tales as well, but as you might expect from the Renaissance era, 16-17th century romance stor...
Feb 19, 2024•42 min•Ep. 305
Declension of Pronouns with David Crystal
In the play, The Merry Wives of Windsor, as well as Hamlet and Richard III, the phrase “declension of pronouns” that comes up as a description of language. That’s not a phrase that I remember being taught in English class, and instead relates to Latin, the language of education for Shakespeare’s lifetime, and indeed across Europe. Here today to explain for us exactly what a “declension” might be, how to use them, and what it helps to understand about things like nouns, pronouns, and spelling for...
Feb 12, 2024•28 min•Ep. 304
The Life of Mary Frith, known as Moll Cutpurse
One of the most famous criminals of Shakespeare’s lifetime was Mary Frith, known as MollCutpurse. Her character is featured in several plays contemporary to Shakespeare, and itseems her real life persona was even more flamboyant than those represented onstage. MollCutpurse was a notorious pickpocket who made a name for herself in early modern England asa thief and an entertainer, who stood out from the crowd because she liked to dress, and act,like a man. Challenging cultural norms was Moll’s br...
Feb 05, 2024•28 min•Ep. 303
16th Century Plague, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Microbiology
Plague is the horrible sickness that reoccurs throughout the life of William Shakespeare, and many listeners will know that plague is to blame for several closings of playhouses around London throughout the 16-17th century. However, what does that word mean, precisely? What symptoms did people have when afflicted with plague, and how was it transmitted from person to person? The play Romeo and Juliet offers some evidence of plague responses when we see the messenger detained by confinement in a ...
Jan 29, 2024•46 min•Ep. 302
Reporting on Scottish News in England
Mary Queen of Scots and her son, James VI of Scotland, brought an urgency to England for sharing news about what was happening in Scotland. From 1580 onwards, the same years Shakespeare was writing about Scotland in plays like Henry VI Part 1 and later Macbeth, which features Scotland prominently, the rate of news about events in Scotland being published in England skyrocketed. This increase can be attributed to an expansion in news publications over a broader landscape, but events involving Mar...
Jan 22, 2024•49 min•Ep. 301
Childbirth, Midwives, and Pregnancy in the 16-17th Century
“Pregnant” is a word Shakespeare uses in his plays, but it always appears in connection with ideas, grief, or even trauma, but never as a word to describe a woman that is carrying an unborn baby. Instead, whenever a woman is carrying a child in her uterus in Shakespeare’s works, the phrase used is “with child.” This divergence between Shakespeare’s language and how we are accustomed to using the word “pregnant” today is just one way Shakespeare’s plays help shed light on the surprising world of ...
Jan 15, 2024•45 min•Ep. 300
The Marian Civil War
William Shakespeare was just two years old when Mary Queen of Scots was removed from power in 1567. The Queen was put under confinement in Lochleven Castle and forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her young son, James VI, the future James I of England. Mary and her supporters, however, did not go quietly. Mary would escape from prison one year later and incite her followers to confront their enemies in a vicious civil war known as the Marian Civil War. Mary herself left Scotland after the B...
Jan 08, 2024•41 min•Ep. 299
What Would We Have Seen at a Country House Entertainment?
For Shakespeare’s lifetime, the concept of welcoming hospitality was considered a uniquely English virtue. We see this opinion reflected in the play, As You Like It , when Shakespeare’s character Corin suggests that doing deeds of hospitality was one way to get to heaven. Nowhere was hospitality reflected more clearly, or extended more often, than at the country house estate. Now before you think of a small cottage in the countryside, when I say it was a Country House Estate, an example of a fam...
Jan 01, 2024•35 min•Ep. 298
Christmas Gifts in Shakespeare's England
Merry Christmas! I am thrilled you are spending a piece of your Christmas holiday here with us today. That’s a lovely gift in and of itself to have you on the other side of the speakers today as we explore the Christmas tradition of gift giving in 17th century England, and exactly what Shakespeare would have received as a Christmas gift in December over 400 years ago. We are also going to explore what kinds of gifts were popular to be given throughout society for the Christmas holidays from the ...
Dec 25, 2023•23 min•Ep. 297
Holiday Ghost Stories
This Christmas season we are celebrating the holidays Shakespeare style by bringing out some traditional Tudor ghosts tories. For the 16-17th century, one popular time to tell ghost stories was during the Christmas holidays. A more accurate term for these stories might be “ghost narratives” because they are different than the stories we think of today as “ghost stories”Instead of being fictional tales for the purpose of entertainment, ghost narratives fromShakespeare’s lifetime were factual tale...
Dec 18, 2023•35 min•Ep. 296
The Ghost Stories of Anne Boleyn
In Tudor England, it was a tradition to tell ghost stories to celebrate Christmas, particularly on Christmas Eve. One of the people about whom ghost stories might have been shared is none other than Anne Boleyn. If the legends are true, Anne Boleyn’s ghost must be the most traveled ghost in Britain, with stories of her spirit wandering across the country in at least 7 different locations. These stories were told after Anne’s death and survived not only through Shakespeare’s lifetime but persist ...
Dec 11, 2023•25 min•Ep. 295
Christmas Carols and Madrigals for Shakespeare's Lifetime
During the reign of Elizabeth I, which was 1558-1603 and spans most of Shakespeare’s lifetime, England was experiencing the English Renaissance, a time when all forms of art were seeing a shift in popularity, but music, in particular moved from being something you would hear only in a church to being popular at more secular events. In fact, not only did Elizabeth I herself enjoy playing music, but as an art form, music was widely applied in early modern plays, like those of William Shakespeare, ...
Dec 04, 2023•34 min•Ep. 294
Wool and Wool Sweaters in the 16th Century
William Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare, spent a great deal of time in trouble with the government over his illegal sale of wool. Several court documents show that John Shakespeare was investing in wool then selling it on to others. He didn’t have a license to sell the wool, which is why he was so regularly in trouble. What the records of his dealings demonstrate is that the wool was valuable enough a commodity in England that John Shakespeare that he felt it was worth both the risk and t...
Nov 27, 2023•38 min•Ep. 293
The Pilgrim Psalter, Book of Psalms, 1612
The Pilgrim Psalter (originally titled “The Book of Psalms, Englished in Prose and Meter”) was produced by Henry Ainsworth in 1612. Ainsworth was a Hebrew scholar and Bible teacher among the English Separatists in Amsterdam, Holland. The work is called a Psalter because it is a translation of the Hebrew Psalms which between 1010 and 930 BC during the time of David and his son Solomon. Ainsworth’s translations of the Psalms are musical, set to tunes popular in Reformation era, and are remembered ...
Nov 20, 2023•37 min•Ep. 292
Table Manners for Shakespeare's England
When we sit down to a formal dinner here in the United States, there are manners you are expected to follow like sit up straight, push your chair in, place your napkin in your lap. All of this small niceties are called collectively dining etiquette and they represent the rules for how we are to operate socially when eating a meal. Which begs the question: What about Shakespeare? When the bard sat down a meal with his friends, perhaps at the Mermaid Tavern, or even for a state dinner somewhere li...
Nov 13, 2023•28 min•Ep. 291
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