Episodes

  • Atheism in Shakespeare's England

    Atheism in Shakespeare's England
    Aug 26 2024

    To live in England during Shakespeare’s lifetime was to be Protestant, or at least as far as the Queen was concerned. The lack of religious freedom in early modern England doesn’t mean alternate belief systems did not exist, only that they were hidden. One powerful belief system that riled up conservative members of society and incited objection pamphlets to be written is atheism. Here today to discuss the real people from Shakespeare’s lifetime who were atheists, the punishment if your belief system were found out, and the role of playing companies in spreading atheism is our guest, Peter Herman.

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    52 mins
  • Accidental Deaths

    Accidental Deaths
    Aug 19 2024
    Deaths were a common occurrence on stage for Shakespeare’s characters, but the wild and often macabre deaths we see in his plays were not actually far off from the deaths that occurred in real life for the 16-17th century. From poisonings to beheadings, one person who knew a lot about how people died in Shakespeare’s lifetime was the coroner who job it was to catalog deaths and keep track of any that seemed suspicious. Our guest this week has done a great deal of research into accidental deaths for Shakespeare’s lifetime and joins us today to introduce us to the job of 16th century coroner in Shakesepare’s England, tell us about some of the more bizarre ways people died, and how all of these incidents connect to William Shakespeare. To learn all these things, and more this week, we are delighted to welcome Steven Gunn to the show today. Get bonus episodes on Patreon

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    41 mins
  • Globes: The Making of 16th Century Maps of the World

    Globes: The Making of 16th Century Maps of the World
    Aug 12 2024
    It is a frequent misconception that people from Shakespeare's lifetime believed the world was flat. In fact, the publication of the world on a spherical globe was not only well established across Europe by Shakespeare’s lifetime, but there are numerous portraits from the 16-17th century showing individuals owning and displaying spherical globes. The first English person to create a spherical globe published it in 1592, just 7 years before William Shakespeare chose “The Globe” as the name for his newly relocated circular theater in Southwark. Here today to walk us through the history of displaying the Earth as a globe, the artisans who undertook this task, the materials they used, and where they got their data to map out the world on a giant physical ball, is our guest, Sylvia Sumira. Get bonus episodes on Patreon

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    25 mins
  • Muckhills and Public Sanitation

    Muckhills and Public Sanitation
    Aug 5 2024
    Even William Shakespeare had to take out the garbage. In his hometown of Stratford Upon Avon, public waste was managed through a system of piles known as muck hills. In 1552, William Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare, was charged a fine for one of these muck hills that was kept across the street from his home on Henley Street. For a long time, scholars have thought this fine meant that John Shakespeare was keeping the dung heap illegally, or perhaps using it inappropriately, but recent research into how muck hills operate and the history of public sanitation in Stratford Upon Avon have caused us to see this record of John Shakespeare in a new light. Here today to share with us how taking out the garbage worked for Shakespeare’s lifetime is our guest, Elizabethan Tavares. Get bonus episodes on Patreon

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    33 mins
  • Paracelsus , the physician everyone thought was crazy

    Paracelsus , the physician everyone thought was crazy
    Jul 29 2024
    In the late 16th to early 17th century, a medical movement saw a meteoric rise in popularity known as Paracelsianism. Based on the writings of a physician who had died in 1541, the movement developed quite a cult following, with many claiming Paracelsus was able to work miracles of healing. Debate over the legitimacy of Paracelsus’ work became so heated that some Europeans were executed just for owning on of his books. Shakespeare takes aim at this cultural divide in his play, Alls Well That Ends Well, when in Act II Scene 3, Lafeu and Parolles have a conversation about miracles, and arguments, with Lafeu saying “They say miracles are past; and we have our philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless.” Parolles calls this perspective the “the rarest argument of wonder that hath shot out in our latter times.” with Lafeu responding it is of “Both Galen and Paracelsus.” This scene is Shakespeare’s only use of the word Paracelsus, while Galen gets used elsewhere repeatedly, even alongside Hippocrates in Merry Wives of Windsor. As a reflection of the culture of his day, Shakespeare’s plays suggest that while Galen was the established foundation of medicine for this period, Paracelsus made a significant mark on the medical landscape. Here today to introduce us to Paracelsus, the medical movement launched by his followers, and what we should know about why Parolles would call this “The rarest argument of wonder” is our guest and author of “Renaissance Medicine“, Vivian Nutton. Get bonus episodes on Patreon

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    30 mins
  • The Arden Family and the Death of Edward Arden

    The Arden Family and the Death of Edward Arden
    Jul 22 2024
    William Shakespeare’s mother, Mary, was Mary Arden before she married her husband, John Shakespeare. Mary’s possible connection to the gentry Arden family has fascinated scholars and Shakespeare fans for many years. The Arden family was an established English gentry family in Warwickshire, and 1 of a handful of Tudor families in England who could trace their lineage back to the Anglo-Saxons. The family took their name from the Forest of Arden, used as a setting in Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It. In 1583, when William Shakespeare was 19, the head of the family, Edward Arden was executed, having been convicted of treason. Here today to share with us more history about the Arden family and Edward in particular is our guest, Cathryn Enis. Get bonus episodes on Patreon

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    38 mins
  • Reproduction, Gynecology, and Female Anatomy

    Reproduction, Gynecology, and Female Anatomy
    Jul 15 2024
    In 1616, the year that William Shakespeare died, anatomist Helikiah Crooke published a book of medical diagrams that included a surprisingly high level of detail about human anatomy for a society that didn’t yet have powerful instruments like a microscope. However, noticeably absent from his medical drawings are any anatomically correct terms for the female body. For example, Crooke’s drawings correctly name many parts of the male anatomy, like the epididymis, peritoneum, penis, and the testicles, but when it comes to the female anatomy diagram, even though he has the fallopian tubes correctly drawn in the picture, he labels them as “Spermatical veins.” In another diagram, the uterus is definitely drawn in the shape of a man’s primary sexual organ, only it is labeled as a “womb,” with no mention of the cervix or the vagina. Shakespeare’s plays give us some examples of how this level of medical knowledge was known by general society because in his works Shakespeare uses anatomical terms like ‘urine” as well as “sperm” and even “Nerves and veins”, so we can see that some knowledge of human anatomy was broadly available in Shakespeare’s lifetime, but Helikiah Crooke’s diagrams raises some major questions about not only the medical understanding of women’s bodies, but exactly what kind of medical care was available for women in Shakespeare’s lifetime. In order to explore the 16-17th century understanding of human reproduction, and what the hyper-masculinization of women’s bodies meant for women’s medicine and gynecological care in Shakespeare’s lifetime, we are talking today with Roz Sklar. Get bonus episodes on Patreon

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    42 mins
  • Morocco the Dancing Horse

    Morocco the Dancing Horse
    Jul 8 2024

    It wasn’t only people who served as performers in Shakespeare’s lifetime, animals, too were often trained to perform in street demonstrations, and one very unique animal captured the hearts of the popular entertainment word as a famous dancing horse named Morocco. Morocco was famous during Shakespeare’s lifetime, with over 70 woodcuts published showcasing his talents at entertaining crowds of all sizes. He and his owner traveled across England and even internationally displaying circus feats, tricks, and even magic. Here today to share with us the history of Morocco the horse, including where his story overlaps with that of William Shakespeare, is our guest, Natalia Pikli.



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    27 mins