That Shakespeare Life

The English playwright Thomas Kyd is one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries who arguably has as much, if not more, influence on the development of Renaissance theater than even the bard himself. Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy is thought to have introduced to 16th century English theater a tragic format Shakespeare would later apply in his famous tragedy, Hamlet. Little is known about the life of Thomas Kyd, but what we do know is astonishing. He was a roommate with Christopher Marlowe, suspected of treason, accused of being an atheist, and had the entire memory of his life rest on a single letter he wrote to decry claims against him. He died in December of 1594, leaving a powerful mark on the theater industry and establishing himself a permanent place in the life of William Shakespeare. 

Here this week to introduce us to Thomas Kyd and the history we have about his life as a fellow playwright alongside William Shakespeare in turn of the 17th century England is our returning guest and respected friend, Darren Freebury Jones.

Shakespeare's play King Lear is based upon the story of the ancient British King who founded Leicester in England, written by Geoffrey Monmouth. Monmouth based his story on real elements of Leicester's history, including the Jewry Wall and ancient roman tombs, some of which are still there in Leicester today. For the 16th century, this story was already hugely popular when Shakespeare decided to adapt it for his play version. The story was so tied up with the city of Leicester, that historians believe the visit of the King's Men to Leicester in 1606 was specifically to perform King Lear, which had been written that same year. While the framework of Shakespeare's version does seem to follow in Monmouth's footsteps, there are specific elements in Shakespeare's version which are strikingly similar to actual court cases in 17th c England which were captivating the cultural mindset at the time. There were real court cased being heard in 1605-1606 involving men accused of madness by their daughters, and the names of these daughters are just a few letters off from the name Cordelia which Shakespeare named one of Lear's daughters in his play. Details like these are tantalizing to explore, and we have invited our guest this week, Mathew Morris, who knows the archaeological history of Leicester best, to help us sort out the real history from the legend of King Leir.

Shakespeare’s play King Lear is based upon the story of the ancient British King who founded Leicester in England, written by Geoffrey Monmouth. Monmouth based his story on real elements of Leicester’s history, including the Jewry Wall and ancient roman tombs, some of which are still there in Leicester today. For the 16th century, this story was already hugely popular when Shakespeare decided to adapt it for his play version. The story was so tied up with the city of Leicester, that historians believe the visit of the King’s Men to Leicester in 1606 was specifically to perform King Lear, which had been written that same year. While the framework of Shakespeare’s version does seem to follow in Monmouth’s footsteps, there are specific elements in Shakespeare’s version which  are strikingly similar to actual court cases in 17th c England which were captivating the cultural mindset at the time. There were real court cased being heard in 1605-1606 involving men accused of madness by their daughters, and the names of these daughters are just a few letters off from the name Cordelia which Shakespeare named one of Lear’s daughters in his play. Details like these are tantalizing to explore, and we have invited our guest this week, Mathew Morris, who knows the archaeological history of Leicester best, to help us sort out the real history from the legend of King Leir.

In the late 1590s as William Shakespeare was writing Henry V, and the famous battle scene of Agincourt, there was a cultural battle going on between the older and younger generations of men in England concerning the use of the longbow. As Shakespeare staged Henry V in 1605, he did so with the obvious absence of the very longbows that are considered responsible for the English victory at the Battle of Agincourt. Similarly, Christopher Marlowe sidesteps the use of archery in his portrayal of Tamburlaine, when the real Tamberlaine was famous for his skills with a recurve, or Eastern-style bow. These omissions are made even more striking when we consider that scholars and historians like John Smythe and Roger Ascham were writing treatises at this time making a plea to the young men of England to take up the longbow once more in what they saw as the quintessentially English weapon to use. With an absence of teachers in the art of archery, having been replaced by the booming fencing industry coming over from Italy at this time, these pleas to take up the longbow fell on deaf ears for most of England's young men who saw the sword as the more popular weapon of choice.

Here to help us step into the moment when England was divided in their opinion about archery and young men were turning their sights on the sword while older men went so far as to pass laws to try and save the dying art of using a longbow, we can see through the silences in Shakespeare's history plays, as well as those of his contemporaries, that the case for archery in early modern England demonstrates what Lyn Tribble describes as "the intergenerational tensions and discords that arise from [trying to bring together the mindset of the] late medieval period into the very different "mental universe" of the late Elizabethan period."

Lyn joins us this week to help us explore this mental universe, as well as the cultural divide between archery and swords that existed for Shakespeare, and what we can learn from the obvious absences of the longbow in his plays.

In the late 1590s as William Shakespeare was writing Henry V, and the famous battle scene of Agincourt, there was a cultural battle going on between the older and younger generations of men in England concerning the use of the longbow. As Shakespeare staged Henry V in 1605, he did so with the obvious absence of the very longbows that are considered responsible for the English victory at the Battle of Agincourt. Similarly, Christopher Marlowe sidesteps the use of archery in his portrayal of Tamburlaine, when the real Tamberlaine was famous for his skills with a recurve, or Eastern-style bow. These omissions are made even more striking when we consider that scholars and historians like John Smythe and Roger Ascham were writing treatises at this time making a plea to the young men of England to take up the longbow once more in what they saw as the quintessentially English weapon to use. With an absence of teachers in the art of archery, having been replaced by the booming fencing industry coming over from Italy at this time, these pleas to take up the longbow fell on deaf ears for most of England’s young men who saw the sword as the more popular weapon of choice. 

Here to help us step into the moment when England was divided in their opinion about archery and young men were turning their sights on the sword while older men went so far as to pass laws to try and save the dying art of using a longbow, we can see through the silences in Shakespeare’s history plays, as well as those of his contemporaries, that the case for archery in early modern England demonstrates what Lyn Tribble describes as “the intergenerational tensions and discords that arise from [trying to bring together the mindset of the] late medieval period into the very different “mental universe” of the late Elizabethan period.”

Lyn joins us this week to help us explore this mental universe, as well as the cultural divide between archery and swords that existed for Shakespeare, and what we can learn from the obvious absences of the longbow in his plays.

The 16th century was the first time English history, and the first time in most of European history, that the average person started carrying a weapon as a matter of daily life. The rapier specifically came into fashion in England in the mid 16th century, and while it plays a prominent role in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare mentions the rapier specifically over 30 times in his plays including Hamlet, Love's Labour's Lost, and the Henriad plays. The specific terminology Shakespeare has characters like Mercutio use which refer to passado, staccato, and the punto reverso were Italian fencing terms from manual being published at the same time Romeo and Juliet was written. More than just a reference to a single manual, though, as our guest this week points out, rapier fencing was a huge cultural moment in England with official edicts from Elizabeth I being passed to try and limit or even outright ban the use of rapiers in London, as some of the noblemen in England were actively hiring Italian fencing masters specifically to be trained in this new, and rapidly popular art of rapier fencing. Here this week to take us back to the 1590s and explore the moment in history and explain what was going on in the very moment that William Shakespeare had Mercutio call Tybalt a cat who fights from the book of arithmetic, is our guest Tobias Capwell.

The 16th century was the first time English history, and the first time in most of European history, that the average person started carrying a weapon as a matter of daily life. The rapier specifically came into fashion in England in the mid 16th century, and while it plays a prominent role in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare mentions the rapier specifically over 30 times in his plays including Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and the Henriad plays. The specific terminology Shakespeare has characters like Mercutio use which refer to passado, staccato, and the punto reverso were Italian fencing terms from manual being published at the same time Romeo and Juliet was written. More than just a reference to a single manual, though, as our guest this week points out, rapier fencing was a huge cultural moment in England with official edicts from Elizabeth I being passed to try and limit or even outright ban the use of rapiers in London, as some of the noblemen in England were actively hiring Italian fencing masters specifically to be trained in this new, and rapidly popular art of rapier fencing. Here this week to take us back to the 1590s and explore the moment in history and explain what was going on in the very moment that William Shakespeare had Mercutio call Tybalt a cat who fights from the book of arithmetic, is our guest Tobias Capwell. 

Have you ever wondered why Shakespeare wrote sonnets or what purpose it served to learn iambic pentameter? Here to share with us the history of sonnets for the 16th century and explain why a playwright wrote poetry is our guest, Stanley Wells.

Have you ever wondered why Shakespeare wrote sonnets or what purpose it served to learn iambic pentameter? Here to share with us the history of sonnets for the 16th century and explain why a playwright wrote poetry is our guest, Stanley Wells.

Society in Elizabethan England is well known for being divided by class. There were workers, peasants, aristocracy, and even a kind of middle class but what was the definition of a labourer? When it comes to exploring the roles of characters like Ariel and Caliban in Shakespeare's Tempest it is important to understand the 16th century mindset towards labor. Under Catholic England, the monasteries had decided they placed a higher value on the ability to commune with your thoughts and labor at intellectual pursuits, whereas Protestant England had leanings toward a more active, physical labor as being more valuable, particularly an emphasis on trades like making gloves, shoes, or wool. The practical aspects of everyday life in England like food to eat, houses to live in, and clothes to wear were all built on the value of craftsmen, tradesmen, servants, laborers, and what Henry V might have called England's yeomen. But what is an industrious servant precisely? Can we recognize one when we see them on stage? What are the appearances, actions, or conditions of a servant for Tudor England, and what was Shakespeare trying to draw attention to with characters like Ariel who spend most of the play, The Tempest, yearning for his freedom. To explore the realities of servanthood, including where superstition overlaps with practicality to create a suspicion of magic associated with good craftsmanship is our guest, James Tink.