Before I go any further, let me say that the above image is more or less the first view I had back in the 1970s of the Romano-British temple of Nodens, at Lydney Park near the town of Lydney in Gloucestershire. The temple is on a hillfort site on a bluff where the River Severn… Continue reading What ancient Celtic wonders did the Romans encounter beyond the estuary of the Severn….?
Tag: King Lear
Useful Shakespearean Insults for every Occasion….
Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com William Shakespeare @Abdul Rahim One, or two, of these may come in useful the next time you find yourself lost for words……. “Villain, I have done thy mother” (Really rude and should only be used in the event you don’t mind your lights being punched out..) Titus Andronicus (Act 4,… Continue reading Useful Shakespearean Insults for every Occasion….
History and cultural history (III)
We have already shown how Shakespeare was inadvertently influenced by contemporary or earlier events in setting details – names, events, badges or physical resemblance – for his Hamlet, King Lear and Richard III. What of Romeo and Juliet, thought to have been written between 1591-5 and first published, in quarto form, in 1597? The most… Continue reading History and cultural history (III)
Coming Upon the King: My Accidental Path Toward Becoming a Ricardian
I’ll be perfectly honest with you: I was never really that interested in Richard Plantagenet, later Richard III. In school I had avoided the Anglo-Saxons like the plague, and Richard, well, perhaps like a round of the flu. He wasn’t quite as intimidating, despite the double-murder allegation lodged, and I got away with not having… Continue reading Coming Upon the King: My Accidental Path Toward Becoming a Ricardian
A year of anniversaries
2016 has been the 1000th anniversary of Edund Ironside’s accession and death, also of the death of his father Ethelred Unraed and the double accession of Cnut of Denmark. It has also been the 950th anniverary of the battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings, being the end of the House of Wessex after its interruption.… Continue reading A year of anniversaries
History and cultural history (II)
In this piece, we introduced the idea that Shakespeare, although a very inaccurate historian, accurately reflected the cultural history of his time with respect to the political execution of women. We have also discussed how the Bard’s Richard III may actually have been a portrayal of Robert Cecil. Another piece showed the uncertainty as to… Continue reading History and cultural history (II)
History and cultural history (I)
As we have observed before, Shakespeare’s plays tend to be historically inaccurate but they make good cultural history for his own lifetime. As an example, we took King Lear (probably written 1605-6), in which Cordelia was executed for political reasons, something that almost never happened to women before 1536, in England or Scotland. Similarly, the… Continue reading History and cultural history (I)
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