That Shakespeare Life

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Ep 144: 16th Century Executioners with DJ Guba Jan 18, 2021

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Many famous people from history have had their lives come to an end by execution. We tell these stories with gusto, reverence, and sometimes even humor, but the person responsible for being the executioner goes largely unnoticed beyond the recognition that someone, albeit we rarely know who, had to actually be the executioner.

The word "executioner" comes up in Shakespeare's plays 17 times, twice referred to as a "common" executioner, twice mentioned in context of characters expressing their distaste for the profession, and a few times mentioned in the stage directions as a character appearing on stage. But what was an executioner supposed to look like on stage in the 16th century? If it was a common profession, how did someone become an executioner? Who were England's executioners, how were they hired for this repulsive job, and with something so repugnant as a career that several characters in Shakespeare's plays verbalize how much they hate the idea of being an executioner, what must it have been like to live in early modern England as an executioner--were there personal ramifications against them for the performance of their duties?Here to help us answer these questions and explore the profession of official executioner in early modern England is our guest, DJ Guba.

Ep 143: 1604 Witch Trial with Todd Butler Jan 11, 2021

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When Shakespeare was 39 years old, in 1603, King James of Scotland succeeded Queen Elizabeth after her death, and he brought with him a famous repugnancy, and some call it outright fear, of witches during his reign. In Scotland, where James was dually King at this time, witchcraft had been considered a capital offense since 1563. The King brought this perspective to his management of witchcraft in England, as well. In 1604, just one year after his accession as King, James removed the mercy from Elizabeth's Act by making it a certain death penalty without clergy for anyone who invoked evil spirits or communed with what were known then as "familiars" (a general term for supernatural spirits). Jacobean England saw the creation of an official position in the English government called the Witch-Finder General, whose job as you might expect from the title was to find witches and enforce the required punishment.

One of the first trials in England to test the new and broadened laws on witchcraft under James I was the mysterious case of Anne Gunter. In 1604, Anne Gunter became sick with an illness that confounded physicians. They concluded her illness must be the result of supernatural influence, and a trial ensued to try and find the suspected witchcraft. During the trial, Anne experienced a theatrical fit of vomiting and other convulsions during which she accused 3 local women of being witches. This caused a flurry of debate over whether Anne was suffering from real witchcraft, or if she was putting on a show to try and deceive the court. Our guest this week tested this theory himself in a college classroom when he, along with his students, decided to re-create the trial of Anne Gunter and the early modern experience of witch trials in a legal courtroom. We are delighted to welcome Todd Butler to the show this week to tell us about the trial of Anne Gunter and the results of his experiment.

Ep 142: Scanning Shakespeare's Grave with Kevin Colls Jan 04, 2021

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Famously, the grave of William Shakespeare is marked with an ominous entreaty carved on his stone that warns against disturbing his bones, declaring a curse on anyone that disturbs the dust enclosed here. Respecting Shakespeare's wishes has meant that it was impossible to excavate the grave of the bard and explore questions like how he was buried, or even to confirm longstanding rumors about Shakespeare's grave, including the idea that his skull was stolen by grave robbers in the 18th century. Impossible that is, until modern technology came up with a way to scan the graves digitally and explore the insides without disturbing any dust. That's exactly the project a team of archaeologists from Staffordshire University embarked upon in 2016 when they went to Holy Trinity Church in Stratford Upon Avon, England, and applied a combination of radar technology and digital scans to take a look inside the grave of William Shakespeare, which was turned into a major documentary project for Channel 4 called Shakespeare's Tomb. Our guest this week, Kevin Colls, was the lead archaeologist on that project, and he's here to share with us what lies beneath the stones of Shakespeare's final resting place.

Ep 141: Newington Butts with Laurie Johnson Dec 28, 2020

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For centuries, theater historians have glossed over noy only the location, but actually argued over the very existence of a theater at Newington Butts. Originally established as an archery range under Henry VIII during a time when learning the sport of archery was required for all young men, the high ground at Newington Butts just outside of London proper would morph into a popular theater destination that our guest this week believes was not only a frequent destination for playing companies, but may have also been a playhouse that William Shakespeare stopped at several times. To share with us ground breaking research that changes what we thought we knew about early modern theater, and to research that is tantalizingly close to information about Shakespeare's Lost Years, is our distinguished guest, Laurie Johnson.

Ep 140: John Shakespeare with Bob Bearman Dec 21, 2020

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William Shakespeare's father was a man named John Shakespeare. When you study William's life you often hear about John Shakespeare, as many references to glove making in Shakespeare's plays like the glover's pairing knife in Merry Wives of Windsor come from an intimate knowledge with the glove making trade, which most assume came from William's father John. When it comes to the life of John Shakespeare, however, the man was much more than a glover, having served also as an ale taster, alderman, and found himself embroiled in a great deal of legal and financial trouble that some historians believe contributed to our lack of records for Shakespeare's grammar school days. To help us understand John Shakespeare better and explore the records we have of his life and how he came to be the father of the world's greatest playwright, we welcome our guest, Bob Bearman, to tell us John's story.

Ep 139: Christmas at Gray's Inn with Joe Stephenson Dec 14, 2020

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In 16th century England, Christmas time was a season of disorder, with many of the holiday celebrations centering around the idea of Misrule, role reversal, and a celebration of general chaos as part of the festivities. Which makes it surprising that the one place you would expect to find extreme order, the Inns of Court, which were essentially Law School for England's budding lawyers, was also the establishment where Shakespeare staged a performance of Comedy of Errors on Dec 28, 1594, which was so riotous, that members of the audience would refer to that night as the Night of Errors, setting up a subsequent mock trial for the law students to sort out who was the culprit behind the holiday disorder in the court.

Here to help us explore the wild and out of order nature of Shakespeare's 1594 performance of Comedy of Errors, and why it seems Gray's Inn in particular was such a hot spot for budding law students to quench their thirst for theater, is our guest Dr Joe Stephenson.

Ep 138: William Davenant with Ralph Goldswain Dec 07, 2020

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During the century following Shakespeare's life, the government tried to end playoing, shutting down theaters and passing orders against plays entirely. During this moment in history when it would have been easy for the legacy of William Shakespeare to die completely, one man who remembered William Shakespeare from his childhood, would champion the cause of theater, plays, and his mentor, William Shakespeare, to carry the legacy forward to survive the era of Oliver Cromwell, and potentially serve as the reason we continue to enjoy Shakespeare today. That man was William D'Avenant. Through the course of his life D'Avenent, through his charm and ability to tell great stories, worked his way up the status ladder in London to become not only a poet laureate but also a respected theater owner and playwright who worked alongside greats like ben Jonson, John Milton,and John Donne. As a holder of the only theater patent in London D'Avenant would use his stage to showcase 10 of Shakespeare's most celebrated works. While decidedly a devotee of Shakespeare, William D'Avenant is recorded as claiming to be the son of William Shakespeare, and many historians believe he was actually Shakespeare's godson. Here to share with us more about the life of William D'Avenant, whose childhood overlapped with the life of William Shakespeare, is our honored guest, Ralph Goldswain.

Ep 137: Christopher Marlowe with Ros Barber Nov 30, 2020

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History remembers Christopher Marlowe as a contemporary of William Shakespeare that was prone to violence. Arrested multiple times for his association with fights, duels, and even murder, scholars around the world have suggested that Christopher Marlowe had a hot temper which often ran him afoul of the local authorities in London. In addition to achieving a university education and the social rank of gentleman, Marlowe is the author of some of the most powerful plays in the English Renaissance, including Dr. Faustus, Tamburlaine, and the Jew of Malta. Undeniably a powerful force in England as well as a huge influence over the life of William Shakespeare, the life of Christopher Marlowe is as fascinating as it is essential to understanding the life of William Shakespeare. Despite his reputation for violence and certainly for including some very violent characters in his plays, our guest this week, Ros Barber, challenges the traditional assumptions about what we know of Christopher Marlowe and suggests in her publication "Was Marlowe a Violent Man?", that understanding the cultural history of what it meant to be a gentleman, the violent nature of corporal punishment in 16th century England, as well as comparing the recorded history of Marlowe to that of men like William Shakespeare, reveals that the reputation for hot tempered violence might be a posthumous application to Marlowe instead of the truth about this significant poet.

Ep 136: London Stone with John Clark Nov 23, 2020

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In William Shakespeare's Henry VI Part 2, the character Jack Cade declares himself Lord Mortimer of London by striking London Stone and then sitting upon the stone to declare his royalty. While it makes a dramatic scene for a theatrical play, this story was based in actual history and the way Shakespeare tells the story tells us as modern theater goers something interesting about the Tudor opinion of the real Jack Cade that was present as Shakespeare was writing. While Shakespeare seems to base his plays, and his portrayal of Jack Cade, on the history of Holinshed's Chronicles, there are some first hand accounts of people who witnessed Jack Cade's procession into London from actual history, as well as some variances between Shakespeare's quarto and folio versions of Henry VI Part 2 which shine light on exactly what Shakespeare thought about his colorful figure from English history.

London Stone that Jack Cade chooses to strike as he declares himself Lord of the city was more than just a passing fictional narrative by Shakespeare. The real London Stone was a major landmark for England, with native travellers using it in a similar fashion to how Big Ben is used today--people all over the world not only recognized this stop in London as a representative of England herself, but many foreign dignitaries from the 16th century went out of their way to visit London Stone as an important stop on their visit to the city.

Here today to walk us through some of the portraits of Jack Cade from Shakespeare's lifetime as well as additional items from the Medieval Collections at the Museum of London to tell us the real story of London Stone and its place in the popular culture from Shakespeare's lifetime is our guest, John Clark

Ep 135: Gravestone Curses with Philip Schwyzer Nov 16, 2020

Show notes

When William Shakespeare died, he left on his gravestone a formidable curse, warning anyone who dared steal his bones after death. You can see this curse today on his gravestone inside Holy Trinity Church and it reads

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forebear

To dig the dust enclosed here

Blessed be the man who spares these stones

And cursed be he that moves my bones.Sinister, and comical today when grave robbing seems like a far fetched idea, for the 17th century when Shakespeare was buried, stealing someone's bones comes up alot! But how effective were these curses at deterring the theft of the graves? To explore the history of grave robbing,the rumors that someone could have stolen Shakespeare's skull, as well as to explain the tradition of gravestone curses in Elizabethan England, we turn to Shakespeare expert and professor of English at the University of Exeter, Philip Schwyzer.

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