Shakespeare

Let’s visit Kent, the Garden of England….

Nov 27, 2023

archaeology, buildings, genealogy, religion, Science

“Princes”, “Tudor” propaganda, Broadstairs, Canterbury, Deal, Dover, Edward of Woodstock, Folkestone, Herne bay, Kent, Margate, Ramsgate, Richard III, Richard of Eastwell, Sandwich, Shakespeare, Tower of London, Walmer

All too often Kent, the “garden of England” is thought of as the county to come and go through, with not too much stopping on the way. But it’s a very beautiful county with a huge amount of history, and this article is about a week spent there simply exploring. It goes through the days…
How did Shakespeare sound to his audiences….?

Nov 11, 2023

buildings, The play’s the thing

accents, David Crystal, Shakespeare, The Globe

The other morning I saw an interesting news item about what Shakespeare’s original audiences heard when they watched his plays or heard his sonnets. The two gentlemen concerned in the news item were British linguist David Crystal) and his actor son Ben Crystal. I gather that David and Ben have been entertaining us with this…
Exactly how and to whom did Richard II surrender his crown….?

Oct 13, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, heraldry, religion, The play’s the thing

coronations, Henry IV, murder, Nigel Saul, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, royal arms, Shakespeare, St. Edward the Confessor, The Hollow Crown, usurpation, Westminster Abbey, Wilton Diptych

13 October was the Feast of the Translation of Edward the Confessor, who was Richard II’s most cherished saint and king. So great was Richard’s veneration that he even impaled the Confessor’s arms with the royal arms of England. See above. And on this day every year of he presented a gift at the saint’s…
The Earl of Warwick popped back from the hereafter to fight at Tewkesbury….?

Sep 5, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, The play’s the thing

Barnet, Churchdown, Edward of Lancaster, Gloucestershire, hills, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Shakespeare, Tewkesbury

The above illustration is from In search of Shakespeare in Gloucestershire The article states that “Shakespeare takes liberties with Tewkesbury” (and calls Richard III a scallywag!) and then lists all the things that are wrong in the Bard’s accounts. But it doesn’t notice the glaring error in the above illustration’s caption. I’d like to…
What is the truth behind Shakespeare’s Richard II and Richard III….?

Sep 1, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, genealogy, Science, The play’s the thing

childlessness, Elizabeth I, kyphosis, Perspective Magazine, Pontefract Castle, propaganda, Richard II, Richard III, Robert Cecil, Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, satire, scoliosis, sedition, Shakespeare, succession

Here’s an interesting take on Shakespeare‘s Richard II. Please note, NOT Richard III. There is a myth that this play was written to flatter the Tudor queen Elizabeth, and yet one scene came so close to the bone, so to speak, that she had it excised from every performance! Amused she was not. The scene…
The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio….

Aug 28, 2023

Book Reviews, Events

exhibitions, First Folio, Richard III, Shakespeare

I didn’t know how perilously close Shakespeare’s great work came to complete and utter obscurity, if not to say oblivion. But it seems that this year is the First Folio’s 400th anniversary. And if you read here 400 Years of the First Folio (shakespeare.org.uk) you’ll find the story of its miraculous survival….although I imagine the…
Ten facts gleaned from Richard’s skeleton….

Aug 23, 2023

archaeology, battles, Science, The play’s the thing

“hunchback”, “Tudor” propaganda, “withered arm”, age, Battle of Bosworth, Bow Bridge, diet, facial reconstruction, fish, height, identification, John Speed, Leicester Greyfriars, missing feet, perimortem wounds, scoliosis, Shakespeare, skull, Turi King, wine, woodlands

I wondered what was coming when I turned to this article but it’s actually quite sensible, even if some of the comments beggar belief. (Know of a woodland somewhere in the UK? Because some people think we no longer have any! Or think it’s clever and snide to pretend we don’t.) The ten facts…
A film review that praises the real Richard III….

Aug 3, 2023

anniversaries, films, sources, The play’s the thing

anti-Stratfordianism, Edward Earl of Oxford, film reviews, Larchmont Chronicle. Tony Melody, More, Richard III Society, Shakespeare, The Lost King

There have been a lot (and I mean a LOT) of reviews of The Lost King, and since its release in the US they have redoubled. There’s a dearth of poor reviews, and rightly so. This link is to a very favourable one and I have picked it out because of what it says about…
I hope this book is more accurate than the blurb

Jul 24, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, Science, The play’s the thing

“Tudors”, Bamburgh Castle, children, Edgecote, First Battle of St. Albans, Fotheringhay, Henry VII, Leicester Greyfriars, Micklegate Bar, mtDNA evidence, Pen and Sword, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, satire, Shakespeare, skeletons, teeth, Tewkesbury, The Children of Richard III, Tower of London, Towton, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, York

Perhaps this is just a matter of ambiguity rather than inaccuracy and that the book itself is clearer, however the jacket information really isn’t promising. Bamburg (sic), being by the east coast, had nothing to do with Tudors, real or imagined, until after Henry VII‘s accession, so it definitely wasn’t a “stronghold” of theirs during…
Does a certain mansion in Bishopsgate hold the secret of who really wrote Shakespeare’s works….?

May 1, 2023

buildings, The play’s the thing

Bishopsgate, City of London, exams, Henry Earl of Southampton, Henry IV Part One, Jasper Fisher, John Stow, mansions, Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man, Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford, Roger Earl of Rutland, Shakespeare, Vic Keegan

This article commences with the following: “….A cluster of individuals claimed by some to be the true authors of Shakespeare‘s works lived in or near the same ostentatious mansion in the City of London at much the same time….” The mansion is in Bishopsgate and yes, it is known for its connections with the Bard.…