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 share with us the history of Shakespeare’s birthplace, how it was built, and what we know about how th ..read more

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, the history, and what’s going on with thefind today, is our guest, and create director at the guildhal ..read more

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 to share with us the 16th century military history behind these sounds, is our guest Christian Dahl ..read more

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 translations to be created, including Erasmus’s version, who wrote a New Testament in 1519, which wa ..read more

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 dealt with in Shakespeare’s lifetime? Were there glasses that people wore on their face ..read more

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 England well into the start of the 17th century. Here today to discuss with us the geopolitics of the day ..read more

Explore the real life of Henry VIII against some of the stories inside Shakespeare's play, All is True, with our guest, Kat Marchant. Get bonus episodes on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information ..read more

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 stories had their own unique spin on things. Surprisingly, Shakespeare never uses the word itself, "roman ..read more

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 16th century English when you explore Shakespeare’s plays, is our friend, and returning guest here ..read more

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 bread and butter. She wore men’s clothing,smoked a pipe, and operated as both a thief and a pimp, bein ..read more