Henry Wotton and the Invention of Diplomacy
That Shakespeare Life
There are many men who lived alongside William Shakespeare in turn of the 17th century England, but today's featured contemporary is a man who served as King James' ambassador to Venice in the 1600s. This man was named Henry Wotton. At grammar school, he received the same humanist education as Shakespeare, but unlike Shakespeare, Henry went on to university, studying at Oxford where he was tutored by Alberico Gentili, the man who was just then publishing the first handbook on international diplomacy. After graduation, Wotton spent five years travelling across Europe, stacking up experience...
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Much Ado About Cooking
That Shakespeare Life
From delectable marchpane in Romeo and Juliet, and the herbs of the Merchant of Venice to stew’d prunes of Henry IV, and carving capons in Love’s Labour’s Lost, there is a wide gambit of meals consumed in Shakespeare’s plays that span from bawdy feasts to elite noble banquets, and even popular meals eaten as much to control your behavior as they were seen as nourishment. The details about food found throughout Shakespeare’s plays reflect the real foods enjoyed from the peasants to the royalty of Shakespeare’s life. This week we are diving into these delectable delights...
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The Real Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
That Shakespeare Life
When Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, he gave the melancholy Dane two university friends with peculiarly Danish names—Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. For many centuries, audiences assumed these were simply fictional creations. Yet history reveals that Frederik Rosenkrantz and Knud Gyldenstierne were real men—Danish noblemen who traveled to England during Shakespeare’s lifetime as part of an official embassy from the Danish court. Their visit took place during a fascinating moment of cultural diplomacy: King James VI of Scotland’s marriage alliance with Denmark, his 1589 voyage to meet...
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What Did “Weird” Mean to Shakespeare? The Strange History of Macbeth’s Weird Sisters
That Shakespeare Life
When Shakespeare called the sisters in Macbeth “weird,” he did not mean what we mean by the word today. In early modern England, “weird” carried deep associations with fate, prophecy, and supernatural power—ideas rooted in classical mythology, medieval folklore, and Renaissance belief. In this episode of That Shakespeare Life, we explore what “weird” really meant in the 16th and early 17th centuries, and how that meaning reshapes our understanding of one of Shakespeare’s most famous groups of characters. Joining me are Dr. Anne-Maree Wicks and Professor Laurie Johnson,...
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New Year’s Gifts at the Court of Elizabeth I
That Shakespeare Life
Today, we think of Christmas as the season of giving—but in Shakespeare’s England, it was New Year’s Day that reigned supreme as the biggest gift-giving holiday of the entire year. Shakespeare himself alludes to this entrenched tradition in The Merry Wives of Windsor, where Falstaff quips: “I’ll have my brains ta’en out and buttered, and give them to a dog for a new-year’s gift.” It’s a grotesque image—thank you, Falstaff—but it reveals just how deeply the practice of New Year’s gifting permeated society, to the point where even dogs might expect a...
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Arthurian England: How the Tudors Used Myth to Build a Nation
That Shakespeare Life
When we think of King Arthur, many of us imagine medieval romance—knights in shining armor, enchanted swords, or chivalric quests. But for the Tudors, Arthur wasn’t just storybook material. In the 16th century, Arthurian legend was a political tool, a national symbol, and—for some—an actual piece of English history. From Henry VII naming his heir “Prince Arthur,” to Elizabeth I being welcomed at Kenilworth with Lady-of-the-Lake imagery, the Tudors used Arthurian myth to define their dynasty, elevate their authority, and shape the emerging idea of English nationalism. This week,...
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“What Masque? What Music?” Ben Jonson & the Art of Court Spectacle
That Shakespeare Life
"Say, what abridgement have you for this evening?
What masque? what music? How shall we beguile
The lazy time, if not with some delight?"
— A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, Scene 1
There are over a dozen mentions of masques, masquers, and masquing in Shakespeare's plays, and when it came to masques in England for the 16-17th century, no one did them better than Ben Jonson, who was known for staging truly spectacular
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“What Masque? What Music?” Ben Jonson & the Art of Court Spectacle
That Shakespeare Life
"Say, what abridgement have you for this evening? What masque? what music? How shall we beguile The lazy time, if not with some delight?" — A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, Scene 1 There are over a dozen mentions of masques, masquers, and masquing in Shakespeare's plays, and when it came to masques in England for the 16-17th century, no one did them better than Ben Jonson, who was known for staging truly spectacular feats of gradeur at the court of James I. Our guest is Martin Butler, Professor of Renaissance Drama at the University of Leeds, Fellow of...
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A Royal Christmas with James I
That Shakespeare Life
Merry Christmas! This holiday season, we’re taking a trip back to one of the most extravagant Christmas celebrations of Shakespeare’s lifetime—the Christmas of 1603, when the newly crowned James I hosted his first royal festivities as King of England. The court was alive with feasting, pageantry, and opulent merrymaking. It was a moment of political transition, and James made sure his first Christmas made a powerful impression.
The newly renamed King’s Men, Shakespeare’s company, pe
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A Royal Christmas with James I
That Shakespeare Life
Merry Christmas! This holiday season, we’re taking a trip back to one of the most extravagant Christmas celebrations of Shakespeare’s lifetime—the Christmas of 1603, when the newly crowned James I hosted his first royal festivities as King of England. The court was alive with feasting, pageantry, and opulent merrymaking. It was a moment of political transition, and James made sure his first Christmas made a powerful impression. The newly renamed King’s Men, Shakespeare’s company, performed for the court, securing their new royal patronage. Alongside these performances were...
info_outlineThere are many men who lived alongside William Shakespeare in turn of the 17th century England, but today's featured contemporary is a man who served as King James' ambassador to Venice in the 1600s. This man was named Henry Wotton. At grammar school, he received the same humanist education as Shakespeare, but unlike Shakespeare, Henry went on to university, studying at Oxford where he was tutored by Alberico Gentili, the man who was just then publishing the first handbook on international diplomacy. After graduation, Wotton spent five years travelling across Europe, stacking up experience that gained him employment, after which he returned to England to serve as personal secretary Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. That life abruptly ended when Wotton fled England after the 'Essex Rebellion' that cost Devereux his life. But a chance encounter brought Wotton to the attention of the man who, within months, would claim the English throne. King James recalled Wotton from exile -- and immediately sent him ambassador to Venice.
Here today to share the remarkable story of Sir Henry Wotton—a man whose real-life adventures in diplomacy were unfolding even as Shakespeare was staging ambassadors on the London stage and setting his plays amid the politics of Venice—is our guest, Professor Carol Chillington Rutter, author of Lying abroad: Henry Wotton and the invention of diplomacy. In her book, Dr. Rutter explores the extraordinary life of the man King James I called his “honest dissembler”—a maverick diplomat who fled England in disgrace, only to return and redefine the very art of diplomacy in ways that still influence international relations today.