That Shakespeare Life

By Cassidy Cash

What's That Shakespeare Life about?

Hosted by Cassidy Cash, That Shakespeare Life takes you behind the curtain and into the real life of William Shakespeare. Get bonus episodes on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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That Shakespeare Life episodes:

04.15.2024
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,...
04.08.2024
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...
04.01.2024
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...
03.26.2024
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...
03.18.2024
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...
03.11.2024
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...
03.04.2024
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...
02.26.2024
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. Get bonus episodes on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
02.19.2024
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,...
02.12.2024
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,...
02.05.2024
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...
01.29.2024
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?...
01.22.2024
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...
01.15.2024
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...
01.08.2024
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...
01.01.2024
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...
12.25.2023
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...
12.18.2023
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...
12.11.2023
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...
12.04.2023
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...
11.27.2023
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...
11.20.2023
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...
11.13.2023
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...
11.06.2023
Napkins in Shakespeare's England
Shakespeare’s plays refer to a napkin at least 20 times, including As You Like It where Rosalind mentions a bloody napkin, in Hamlet the title character is offered a napkin to “rub thy brows.” In Henry IV Part 1, Falstaff...
10.30.2023
The Legends and Folklore of Werewolves for 16th century England
Far before the time of Shakespeare, there was a prevalent belief in the creatures known as werewolves, or lycanthrope, as they were called in the Ancient world. This belief saw a large increase by the 16th century, with people believing...
10.23.2023
The 16th Century Legend of Robin Hood
William Shakespeare refers to the legend of Robin Hood in his play, As You Like it with the old Duke exiled to the Forest of Arden with a group of Merry Men who “live like the old Robin Hood of England” (Act...
10.16.2023
How Was the First Folio Physically Made?
In the year 1623, close to a decade after William Shakespeare died, the First Folio was published, which is a collection of some of Shakespeare’s plays selected by his friends and a group of business investors involved in the project....
10.09.2023
Haunted Lover's Ballads
ForShakespeare's lifetime, ghosts and spiritual manifestations were fixture in pop culture publications like songs, ballads, and of course, plays like Shakespeare’s that feature ghosts such as Banquo, Hamlet’s Father, and even a string of dead victims that visit Richard III...
10.02.2023
Maria on Board the Golden Hind
During his voyage around the world in 1577-1580, Sir Francis Drake captained a ship named the Golden Hinde. On this ship lived a woman named Maria, whose plight we only know about because of a record kept by an anonymous...
09.25.2023
The History of English Apples
Shakespeare uses the word “apple” in his works a total of 9 times, including references to crab apples, rotten apples, and the apple of your eye, among others. The word apple was used to describe the round, edible, fruit we...
09.18.2023
The Science of a 16th Century Football Found at Stirling Castle
In Shakespeare’s lifetime, the game we call soccer today, known as football in Europe, was a popular in Shakespeare’s lifetime. In fact, some sources say the game of football was invented in England during the Middle Ages. These original forms...
09.11.2023
The 16th Century Bed That Sleeps 12 People
In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Act III, Sir Toby Belch uses the Great Bed of Ware in England as a measuring stick for something that is impossibly large. The Great Bed of Ware is a real bed, as it was in...
09.04.2023
What Was Shakespeare Really Like?
When we look back at the study of Shakespeare’s plays, the question always come to mind about how much can we know about the actual William Shakespeare from the pieces of artwork, plays, and even legal documents that survive about...
08.28.2023
Expletives: Exploring 16th Century Curse Words
A short notice for you ahead of today’s episode, I apologize for the general gruff sounding voice today, I am recovering from a cold and struggling through a horrible cough that threatens to take my voice completely. But never fear!...
08.21.2023
Potatoes First Arrived in England in the 16th Century
In the play, Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff declares “Let the sky rain potatoes!” what’s unique about this quote, despite Falstaff calling for root vegetables to rain down from the sky which is of course, weird on its’ own, but...
08.14.2023
The Wadlow Portrait of Shakespeare
After we published our episode here on That Shakespeare Life about the Duncan portrait of William Shakespeare, I received an email from Steve Wadlow, telling me about the history of a portrait that had been hanging in his family home...
08.07.2023
Tewskbury Mustard from Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 2
In Shakespeare’s in Henry IV, Part 2, Falstaff has the line: “his wit's as thick as Tewkesbury Mustard” (Act 2, Scene 4). Falstaff is describing his friend Ned Poins, but it presents the question of what was Tewkesbury Mustard? Turns...
07.31.2023
Real 17thC Canon Law in Measure for Measure
In Shakespeare’s play, Measure for Measure, there’s a fictional court case against Claudio for extra-marital misconduct. The play separately asks the audience to pass judgement on Angelo regarding a marriage pre-contract that was known as a “Spousal” contract for Shakespeare’s...
07.24.2023
The Arrival of the Exclamation Point During Shakespeare's Lifetime
In his 1611 English to French dictionary, Randle Cotgrave defines the exclamation point as “the point of admiration and detestation” While credit for the original creation of the exclamation point is given to Alpoleio da Urbisaglia, the current version of...
07.17.2023
The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England
When it comes to stepping back into the life of William Shakespeare and walking around the streets of London to see what the sights, sounds, smells, people and places were really like, no one does that better than a time...
07.10.2023
A Fight Director Takes on Queen Margaret
One of Shakespeare’s strongest characters is Queen Margaret who, as a consequence of her husband’s bouts with insanity, finds it necessary to lead not only a country, but to stand at the helm of an entire army, leading England’s military...
07.03.2023
Stranger's Hall: A 16thC Home for Refugees
In the 16th century, one man from Norwich, Thomas Sotherton, wanted to encourage these refugees to settle in Norfolk, specifically, because the immigrant’s skills in textile weaving made them valuable to the economy. To that end, he setup what became...
06.26.2023
The Establishment of Fort Raleigh in 1587
In 1584, Spain dominated the coasts of Central and South America, the Carribean, and modern day Florida. England, under the rule of Elizabeth I, sought to disrupt and overthrow this control by establishing colonies in the New World. Not only...
06.19.2023
New Discoveries about the First Folio
During his lifetime, only about half of Shakespeare’s plays were available in printed versions.That meant that there were several of Shakespeare’s plays that weren’t available in printed form at all while the bard was alive. So how do we know...
06.12.2023
Farthingales & Poofy Shorts: The World of 16th Century Underpants
Today we’re talking about undergarments! 16th –17th century fashion was rife with gorgeous and elaborate outerwear, but the underwear, hose, and supportive under clothing was just as intricate. Shakespeare’s plays from this period suggest that clothing styles were a way...
06.05.2023
What was it like to be handicapped or disabled in 16th Century England?
In his plays, Richard III, in his Henry Plays, and even in macbeth, Shakespeare writes about medical disabilities and phsyical deformities like a hunchback, madness, blindness, and being lame. We can tell form these references that disability was present in...
05.29.2023
What It Means to Take a 17thC Covenant in Scotland
Shakespeare mentions “covenants drawn between’s” in Cymbeline, and mentions covenants again in Henry VI when the King is negotiating a marriage to Lady Margaret, and then it concept comes up further in both Richard II and and in Taming of...
05.22.2023
Huguenots arrive in England during Shakespeare's Lifetime
In this week’s episode you’ll hear me learn about how to pronounce this week’s topic correctly—it is the Huguenots (and not Huguenots as I had been saying and which you may have been tempted to say as well). This week...
05.15.2023
Finding a Lost Aldrovandi Portrait from the 1590s
Ulisse Aldrovandi is considered by many scientists, including Carl Linnaeus, the man who formalized the modern system of naming animals, to be the father of natural history studies. During Shakespeare’s lifetime, until his death in 1605, Aldrovandi collected a vast...
05.08.2023
Tomatoes Make a Splash in Shakespeare's England
The fruit today known as a tomato was first introduced to Europe during Shakespeare’s lifetime. As many new things were, this fruit was received at first with skepticism, considered a kind of curiosity. It was called a golden apple, as...

What's That Shakespeare Life about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

That Shakespeare Life episodes:

Uncovering the Stage Boards Shakespeare Walked Upon

Alarum and Parley: Military Sounds in Stage Directions

Robert Armin and Will Kemp, Fools of Shakespeare

Bible Translations in Shakespeare's Lifetime

What is Wattle and Daub, anyway?

Eye glasses, spectacles, and eyeware for Shakespeare's lifetime

The Battle of Lepanto, 1571

The Real Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn Compared to All is True

16th Century Romance Fiction

Declension of Pronouns with David Crystal

The Life of Mary Frith, known as Moll Cutpurse

16th Century Plague, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Microbiology

Reporting on Scottish News in England

Childbirth, Midwives, and Pregnancy in the 16-17th Century

The Marian Civil War

What Would We Have Seen at a Country House Entertainment?

Christmas Gifts in Shakespeare's England

Holiday Ghost Stories

The Ghost Stories of Anne Boleyn

Christmas Carols and Madrigals for Shakespeare's Lifetime

Wool and Wool Sweaters in the 16th Century

The Pilgrim Psalter, Book of Psalms, 1612

Table Manners for Shakespeare's England

Napkins in Shakespeare's England

The Legends and Folklore of Werewolves for 16th century England

The 16th Century Legend of Robin Hood

How Was the First Folio Physically Made?

Haunted Lover's Ballads

Maria on Board the Golden Hind

The History of English Apples

The Science of a 16th Century Football Found at Stirling Castle

The 16th Century Bed That Sleeps 12 People

What Was Shakespeare Really Like?

Expletives: Exploring 16th Century Curse Words

Potatoes First Arrived in England in the 16th Century

The Wadlow Portrait of Shakespeare

Tewskbury Mustard from Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 2

Real 17thC Canon Law in Measure for Measure

The Arrival of the Exclamation Point During Shakespeare's Lifetime

The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England

A Fight Director Takes on Queen Margaret

Stranger's Hall: A 16thC Home for Refugees

The Establishment of Fort Raleigh in 1587

New Discoveries about the First Folio

Farthingales & Poofy Shorts: The World of 16th Century Underpants

What was it like to be handicapped or disabled in 16th Century England?

What It Means to Take a 17thC Covenant in Scotland

Huguenots arrive in England during Shakespeare's Lifetime

Finding a Lost Aldrovandi Portrait from the 1590s

Tomatoes Make a Splash in Shakespeare's England