logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
1h 56m

Episode 168: Witches, Demons and Fairies

Kevin Stroud
About this episode
In this episode, we explore the Elizabethan fascination with witchcraft and mysterious creatures like fairies and demons. Those subjects feature prominently in the literature of the period, and they reveal a lot about the world view of the people who lived in England in the late 1500s. Among the texts analyzed in this episode are Reginald Scot's 'Discoverie of Witchcraft,' Christopher Marlowe's 'Doctor Faustus,' Edmund Spenser's 'The Faerie Queene,' and William Shakespeare's three history plays about Henry VI.



TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 168
Up next
Oct 31
Episode 186: A Dutch Treat
In this episode, we explore two important developments in North America. First, we examine the legendary story of the Pilgrims' arrival in New England in 1620 and the establishment of the Plymouth Colony. Secondly, we examine the creation of the Dutch settlement in modern-day New ... Show More
1h 25m
Sep 1
Episode 185: Spelling Says a Lot (Part 2)
In the second part of our look at the sound of English in the early 1600s, we continue to explore the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that each letter represents. We explore the letters K through Z and examine how the sounds represented by those letters have evolved over t ... Show More
1h 17m
Jul 2025
Episode 184: Spelling Says a Lot (Part 1)
Over the course of the 1500s, English spelling started to become standardized, but the pronunciation of the language continued to change. By the early 1600s, English scholars noticed that spellings no longer reflected the way words were pronounced, and they recommended phonetic r ... Show More
1h 20m
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
Inside the Witch Trials: Salem | Fear In A New World
<p>We often think of the witch trials as something in the deep and distant past.</p><br><p>But, as we'll hear in today's episode, the attitudes and behaviour that led to witch trials is as present today as it was then.</p><br><p>In this third and final episode of our limited seri ... Show More
43 m
Feb 2025
542. Elizabeth I’s Sorcerer: Angels and Demons in Renaissance Europe
In Tudor England, during the reign of Elizabeth I, there lived in the very heart of her court a magician, alchemist and polymath, bent upon conversing with the angels of heaven and other supernatural beings. His name was John Dee, and he would prove to.be one of the most remarkab ... Show More
1h 3m
Aug 2024
Practical magic: curses, spells & cunning folk
From love spells to enthral the object of your desires, to charms to influence the outcome of a trial, people turned to cunning folk for all kinds of practical magic in medieval and Tudor England. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, historian Tabitha Stanmore reveals the amount of power ... Show More
33m 55s
Oct 2024
Inside the Witch Trials: Iceland | The Men Who Burned As Witches
<p>When we think of the witch trials, we often think of women being charged.</p><br><p>Whilst misogyny was at the heart of many of the witch trials, this isn't the full story.</p><br><p>In this second episode of a limited series, <em>Inside the Witch Trials</em>, we go back to th ... Show More
32m 35s
Apr 2025
The Salem Witch Trials
For more than two centuries, between the late 1400s and early 1700s, a terror of witches gripped Europe. From Scotland to Spain, thousands of people were accused, tortured and executed. But as the hysteria faded in Europe, it crossed the Atlantic. In 1692, in New England, it took ... Show More
58m 58s
Oct 2021
Women and Witch Hunts in Scotland and England
<p>Season 3, Episode 11. Between 1450 and 1750, some 100,000 Europeans were tried for witchcraft, and some of the most intense periods of witchy panic took place in Scotland and England. Most, but not all, of these so-called witches were women. During this special Halloween episo ... Show More
47m 35s
Oct 3
RE-AIR: Conversations: Dragons! Witches! Werewolves! The Ancient Supernatural w/ Daniel Ogden
This episode originally aired in October 2022! Liv speaks with professor and (prolific!) author Daniel Ogden about all things Spooky! Find his many books on ancient werewolves, dragons, magic, and more wherever you get your books! Submit your question for the next Q&A via email o ... Show More
1h 9m
Aug 2024
Henry VII: Rise of the Medieval Tudors
<p>Henry VII was descended from some of the greatest Welsh princes. When word spread that he had a chance of taking the English throne, Welsh prophecies - which foretold that one day, one of their own would become king of the islands and would be crowned in London - looked to be ... Show More
46m 2s
Oct 2021
Season of the Witch: Witch's Sabbath
The final episode in our four-part series on witches. Our three young witches enjoy a magical retreat, and discover they all share a diabolical connection. When an innocent is threatened, they must band together before "Hell on Earth" becomes a reality. Season of the Witch is a s ... Show More
51m 50s