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 ... Show More
Jul 15
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
May 13
Episode 183: The Fabric of Our Lives
In the early 1600s, cotton fabrics made in India were in high demand throughout Asia and Africa. When the English and Dutch arrived in India and Japan, they realized how popular the fabric was, and they soon began to ship it back to northern Europe. In this episode, we explore ho ... Show More
1h 16m
Mar 2025
Episode 182: World of Confusion
In the early 1600s, English began to spread around the world as speakers searched for new trading partners and new places to settle. Through that process, English become an international language, but as English speakers encountered people and languages in distant places, they so ... Show More
1h 15m
Oct 2024
Inside the Witch Trials: Salem | Fear In A New World
We often think of the witch trials as something in the deep and distant past.
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.
In this third and final episode of our limited series, Inside the Witch Tr ... 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 5m
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
35m 55s
Oct 2024
Inside the Witch Trials: Iceland | The Men Who Burned As Witches
When we think of the witch trials, we often think of women being charged.
Whilst misogyny was at the heart of many of the witch trials, this isn't the full story.
In this second episode of a limited series, Inside the Witch Trials, we go back to the the Westfjords of Iceland, to ... 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
1h 1m
Oct 2021
Women and Witch Hunts in Scotland and England
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 episode, ... Show More
47m 35s
Oct 2024
Inside the Witch Trials: Pendle | The Child Who Condemned Her Family
People in the 17th century were at spiritual war with the devil.
It was a time of huge upheaval. What became known as the witch trials soon followed.
In this first episode of a limited series, Inside the Witch Trials, we go back to the English village of Pendle in 1612, to find ... Show More
36m 18s