That Shakespeare Life

By Cassidy CashSociety & Culture History

That Shakespeare Life episodes

April 26, 2021 Ep 158: Excavating Bull Ring Market with Steve Thomson
Bull Ring market in Birmingham, England, UK was first known as Corn Cheaping because in the 12th century, which is when we have the first reference to Corn Cheaping, it was used as a corn market. Corn Cheaping had an iron ring setup on a grassy section of Corn Cheaping that was used as a bull baiting arena, where bulls who had been selected for slaughter would be tied and baited for entertainment before being processed into meat. That's where the name Bull Ring Market comes from. Today, in the 21st century, Bull Ring Market is still being used as an open air market, selling fish, meat, poultry, exotic vegetables, and even household supplies. But how did the market get from the 12th century to today, and why has the original purpose survived so many centuries? Headland Archaeology discovered some answers about the history of Bull Ring Market when they conducted an archaeological dig at Beorma Quarter, close to Bull Ring Market. Today, our guest, Steve Thomson, lead archaeologist for this project, is here today to share with us what they found during Phase 1 of their excavation of Bull Ring Market and what that tells us about how the space was being used in Shakespeare's lifetime.
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30 min
April 19, 2021 Ep 157: Social Order and Architecture with Matthew Johnson
As students of Shakespeare's lifetime, often we see the phrase "of certain status" to describe 16-17th century limitations on clothes, housing, and other material realities for various people. Particular if you study Elizabethan sumptuary laws, it seems like society was strictly controlled based on social status, and one's place in society was decided at birth, with little mobility allowed. The life of people like William Shakespere, however, who in his own life was able to rise in the ranks of society and establish himself as a gentleman, we have evidence that social mobility was a strong force in England for the 16-17th century. One key place that contemporaries of William Shakespeare were able to show off their status, and stake their claim to a certain place in the social order was through the design, and architecture, of their homes and grand estates. Our guest this week, Matthew Johnson, is here to explain the social phenomenon of upward mobility, define the levels of society that were present for Shakespeare, and walk us through some famous architecture of the 1500s-1600s that reveals where the lines were drawn between the classes for Elizabethan and Jacobean England.
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33 min
April 12, 2021 Ep 156: Rules for 17th C Hunting with Karen Kaiser Lee
In Elizabethan England, the Queen is immortalized in woodcuts that show her fondness for the sport of hawking. By the time James I comes to the throne in 1603, hawking is surpassed by a form of hunting called par force where animals like dogs and horses are used to round up prey. While the practical aspect of hunting animals for meat was utilized in these hunting expeditions, arguably the primary function of going hunting was to establish yourself as a member of a higher order of social status and to network with powerful political connections that might advance your station. In her paper, He Cannot Be a Gentleman Which Loveth Not Hawking and Hunting, our guest, Karen Kaiser Lee writes about the popularity of hunting par force under James I and explores the specific hunting treatises that were written during his reign to both define the methods of hunting as well as regulate the kinds of people who would be permitted to participate in this exclusive sport. Karen joins us today to take us inside the world of early modern hunting to look at who was allowed to hunt, what they used for this purpose, and how it helped usher in a new era in English history where a person could move upward in society if they were disciplined enough at a new, and important, skill.
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33 min
April 05, 2021 Ep 155: John Harington with Bob Cromwell
This week is Part 2 in our 2 part series on John Harington, the man who invented the first flush toilet in England. Our guest, Bob Cromwell, is back again this week to take us back to 16th century England and explore the exciting life of John Harington beyond his invention of the flush toilet. Harington was known as a literary figure, primarily for his translation of Orlando Furioso, and was a godson to Elizabeth I as well as a courtier in the royal court. Harington's destiny was set into motion by his father, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London alongside Elizabeth I. Harington the son would go on to tutor the son of James I during Shakespeare's lifetime. Bob Cromwell is here to share with us some of the historical research that suggests the life of John Harington created such a splash in English society during Shakespeare's lifetime that Shakespeare himself may have included references to Harington in his plays
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47 min
March 29, 2021 Ep 154: 16th C Puppets with Maureen Benfer
According to an article on the Victoria and Albert Museum website, puppetry as an art form in Britain can be traced back over 600 years, with the first recorded puppet theater performance in London happening around 1600, when William Shakespeare was 36 years old. Medieval clergy used puppets to tell Bible stories, with one performance in 1599 at Coventry featuring a puppet version of the devil. When theaters like Shakespeare's Globe were closed due to plague, puppet theaters were allowed to remain open, often travelling the country with puppet performances in tow to entertain all around Britain. While the rod and string puppets we know today as marionettes would flourish in England by the 18th century, for Shakespeare's lifetime glove puppets were the star of the show, and shadow puppets can be found in woodcuts and engravings of the period. Shakespeare himself uses the word "puppet" in his plays at least 11 times. Here today to help us explore the world of puppets in 16th century England is our guest, Maureen Benfer.
24 min
March 22, 2021 Ep 153: Galloway Nag with Miriam Bibby
In Henry IV Part II, Shakespeare writes the earliest known reference to a Galloway Nag when Pistol he says "Know we not Galloway Nags?" That comes from Act II Scene 4. If you are not a 16th century Scotsman, however, the assumption that you know what a galloway nag is, or what it is suitable for Pistol in that scene, may not be as obvious as the character suggests. Turns out, in the 16th century, a Galloway nag was a highly reputable horse from the Galloway region of Scotland. The term "galloway nag" is still used in parts of Scotland, England, and Australia to describe a horse of smaller stature that is fast, reliable, and what we call an "easy keeper" here in the US. During Shakespeare's lifetime, the galloway nag was a source of contention between England and Scotland, who would not be united until the coronation of James I in 1603. As our guest this week writes about in her publication From North to South: the Galloway Nag as an Elite Gift in the 16 th Century, prior to the unification of England and Scotland, Border laws were enacted under Henry VII and again under Henry VIII, to try and stop the trade of horses entirely. By the time James comes to the throne when Shakespeare was 39 years old, the galloway nag is sought after all along the Irish Sea, as well as into the islands and coasts of Scotland, and down into the coast of Cumbria with a strong reputation as a highly valuable, reliable, and trustworthy steed that people were going to get their hands on, regardless of what the law said! Here today to share her research into the Galloway Nag and to present evidence of a reference to Galloway nags that predates Shakespeare's use of it in Henry IV part II, is our guest, Miriam Bibby.
43 min
March 15, 2021 Ep 152: Public Executions with Murat Öğütcü
Walking across London Bridge seems like a merry trip for many, or perhaps even a dismissable part of the daily commute if you live in London today, and while travel across the bridge was a normal occurrence for William Shakespeare, as well, what was decidedly different for him is that it often featured heads of executed traitors displayed on the Southgate of London Bridge. Along with severed heads on display, public hangings, disembowelment, and even burning at the stake were very much forms of public entertainment in Shakespeare's lifetime, drawing crowds who often walked great distances to attend these events. We can see the culture of public executions echoed in Shakespeare's plays, and those of his contemporaries, and how they choose to display--or avoid--the presentation of death on stage. Here today to take us into the culture of early modern England and help us understand the reasons, methods, and place of public execution and why Shakespeare may have chosen to handle death the way he did in his works, is our guest Murat Öğütcü.
42 min
March 08, 2021 Ep 151: The First Flush Toilet in England with Bob Cromwell
Surviving archaeological items from the first English settlements at Jamestown include intact chamber pots. One of these chamber pots was part of a 2009 exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, United States. These pots were brought over to the New World by 16-17th century colonists who, at the time, used chamber pots as essential items. However, when they arrived, the colonists were surprised to discover that the natives did not have the same sanitary system as they did back in England, and by consequence, did not have streets running with open sewage as the colonists were accustomed to seeing.

Despite the Romans having developed a sophisticated system for water sanitation and disposal of waste, the English of Shakespeare's lifetime did not continue that progress. For Shakespeare's entire lifetime, and many years prior, sanitation and cleanliness was misunderstood, sometimes feared, and certainly not well practiced in 16th C England. The sanitation of Shakespeare's lifetime functions as an example of when technology did not continue to progress past the Romans, but instead, absolutely digressed to truly gross levels. Excrement was collected in chamber pots, or sometimes just in an open area, whenever someone happened to find the need to relieve themselves. Once collected, it would be disposed of by throwing it out the window and into the street below (It was not uncommon for passersby to be hit with the falling urine or feces if they weren't careful).

In 1591, a godson of Elizabeth I, and a member of her royal court, proposed a new idea. Sir John Harington would write The Metamorphosis of Ajax (A jakes is slang term for a place to go to the bathroom) in which he included detailed engineering diagrams and instructions for applicable use on the first ever flush toilet in the world.

Here today to tell us about the history of chamber pots in England, John Harington's design, and how this revolutionary piece of technology was received during Shakespeare's lifetime, is our guest, Bob Cromwell.
28 min
March 01, 2021 Ep 150: London Bridge with Tony Sharp
There has been a bridge over the river Thames since the time of the Romans and the reign of Aethelred II, when the bridge was designed as a Saxon defense against the Danish. Since then, there have been at least 5 bridges either built, or repairs made to the predecessor, which have occupied the crossing of the Thames at London Bridge. The original structure we think of as the first London Bridge was located about 100 feet east of today's London Bridge. There was a London Bridge stretched across the Thames when Shakespeare was there, it is very likely that the bard travelled upon this bridge, as did numerous travellers, pageants, and processions throughout this lifetime. A distinct difference from the London Bridge we have today, though, is that unlike today's bridge which is focused on providing passage for cars and pedestrians, the London Bridge of Shakespeare's day included houses, shops, and of course, because this was well before cars existed, provided passage for people on foot, horseback, and the occasional carriage. Known for being a site of production, as well as military armament, and even commercial business, the bridge of Shakespeare's England was quite different from the bridge we have now. Here today to share with us what London Bridge was like for William Shakespeare is our guest, Tony Sharp.
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30 min
February 22, 2021 Ep 149: Mermaids with Vaughn Scribner
When medieval cartographers drew maps of the world they included mermaids among the fantastic ocean beasts that they believed roamed the waters of foreign lands. Professional explorers like Henry Hudson in 1608, described sighting a mermaid in the NOrthern Atlantic ocean, describing how the mermaid called to the men on his ship. Philosophers, physicians, and clergymen, all described, in detail, the discovery, examination, and even display of mermaid bodies. There was a pervasive belief that mermaids were real, and a definitive threat to anyone travelling the ocean. One of the most popular settings for Shakespeare's plays, Italy was known for being a gathering place for mermaids. Along with individuals who saw mermaids in the wild, there were also persistent and incredible stories of mermaids like Melusine, who married a King of Scotland. Despite the centuries of folklore, mermaids seem to have a consistent description as to who, and what, they were, and where you would be able to find one.The 15th c saw a specific rise in the stories of mermaids, and by the time Shakespeare was writing about them, mermaids were a well established part of Renaissance thought across the British Isles. Here this week to take us back to the 16th century British Isles and share with us the history, folklore, and science behind mermaids to examine exactly what Shakespeare would have understood or believed about mermaids is the man who wrote the book on Merpeople, Vaughn Scribner.
48 min