May ShakespeareCAT: Shakespeare's Kings & Medieval History

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________________________________________Welcome to "Shakespeare's Kings & Medieval History!_______________________________________

First let's see what history plays Shakespeare wrote (in order of the king's respective reigns):

• King John (R. 1199-1216)
• Edward II (R. 1307-1327) - Just Kidding! This was actually written by Christopher Marlowe! But if you wanted to read it or related material, I wouldn't disallow it! :-)
• Edward III (R. 1327 - 1377) - This is arguably Shakespeare's earliest work and not everyone agrees that it is canon
• Richard II (R. 1377 - 1399)
• Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 (R. 1399 - 1413) - If you're really into Falstaff, you could also read The Merry Wives of Windsor but be aware that it is actually set in Shakespeare's time, not Henry IV's, despite having crossover characters
• Henry V (R. 1413 - 1422)
• Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3 (R. 1422 - 1461 and again in 1470-1471)
• Richard III (R. 1482 - 1485)
• Henry VIII (R. 1509 - 1547)

If you are not interested in reading the plays, you could also read histories (e.g., Dan Jones), biographies (e.g., Alison Weir), historical fiction (e.g. Sharon Kay Penman), contemporary works (e.g. John Webster), watch the plays IRL (if the theaters are open), watch the filmed stagings (e.g. Globe Player) and/or film adaptations (e.g., Hollow Crown series), listen to staged performances (e.g., Arkangel recordings (available on audiobook platforms)… The field is pretty wide open!

I'll be thumbing through my copies of The Shakespeare Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained, Isaac Asimov's Shakespeare and, John Julius Norwich's Shakespeare's Kings as I make my way through Henry V and Henry VI, Part 1-- as well as listening to some BBC: In Our Time podcasts about the real history during which the plays are set and; watching some Hollow Crown :-)

Don't forget to update the wiki and have fun!
WIKI: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2022_ShakespeareCAT

If you are more interested in reading thematically, some other topics you could pursue include (but are in no way limited to):

• King John : The Magna Carta, Robin Hood...
• Edward II : Shakespeare's Contemporaries (e.g., John Ford, Christopher Marlowe and, Ben Webster)
• Edward III: The Black Plague (First wave hit England in the 1340s), The Black Prince, Chivalry...
• Richard II : Chaucer and language (The Canterbury Tales), storytelling (e.g., Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)... I think the Wycliff Bible makes an appearance around here too...
• Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 : Falstaff, Owain Glndwr (Welsh nationalism), female mystics (e.g. Julian of Norwich and Margery of Kempe)
• Henry V : Agincourt, Royal genealogy; Anglo-French unification/claims...
• Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3: The War of the Roses, Margaret of Anjou, Joan of Arc...
• Richard III : Medieval things the British keep finding when they're building car parks and highways; The Princes in the Tower, Tudor Propaganda vs Reality
• Henry VIII : H8's Six wives, English Reformation...

I'm hoping to read Time and Chance, about King John's parents Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II.

>3 NinieB: excellent book! Actually any of Penmans works are splendid. If you are interested in King John, you might want to read her Welsh trilogy here be dragons about the marriage of johns illegitimate daughter Joanne to Llywellyn the Great, prince of wales

It's Tudor rather than medieval, but I'm thinking about Black Tudors by Miranda Kaufmann

>4 cindydavid4: Looking forward to it--I read When Christ and His Saints Slept a while back. I also have Here Be Dragons on my shelf but I'm hoping to stay in order!

I'll read one of the plays, but I haven't decided which. Does anyone have a favorite from the King plays?

I have Dan Jones's latest, Powers and Thrones, staring at me from the dresser, so I'll probably count it for this challenge.

>7 thornton37814: My personal favorite is Richard II -It sets ups pretty much everything that cones after, has it's moments of high drama and, happens to be portrayed most amazingly by Ben Whishaw in the Hollow Crown series :-)

>7 thornton37814: I love King Lear and Richard III.

I read an Edward III just a few weeks ago; although not by the bard. I will either read Bill's Edward III, Richard II, or a fiction concerning Edward III's primary mistress, The King's Mistress by Emma Campion. The read depends on my mood at the time!

>10 Tess_W: I've read Lear many times so I want to read something different. (I haven't checked, but I was thinking Lear had his own month here.)

I will probably read something about Julian of Norwich or Joan of Arc.

>5 Robertgreaves: There are many that include Early Modern European History with Medieval History and, Henry VIII (definitely a Tudor) is the last in Shakespeare’s lineup so I think you are more than good for Black Tudors!
(Not that you were asking for permission, but if others have this in their stacks and we’re wavering as to whether it not it would count… 🙂)

I also have Shakespeare's Kings: The Great Plays and the History of England in the Middle Ages: 1337-1485 by John Norwich is also a possibility!

I will be reading (well, listening) to Richard II. I have the Arkangel sound recording downloaded and ready to go!

I spent a little time reading through short 1-3 paragraph summaries of the king plays and finally settled on Henry V. (Runner up with Henry VIII because I love that period of history, but the ratings were significantly lower for it.) I downloaded the Folger Shakespeare Library ebook edition from the library.

>17 thornton37814: I read Hamlet from the Folger Library and it was very difficult! So difficult as to not be enjoyable, for me.

HENRY V

Well, I've done about as much as I'm gonna on Henry V (by William Shakespeare):

For historical context:
• Listened to the BBC podcast, In Our Time, "Agincourt" (September 16, 2004);
• Read the essay, "The Great Monarchy in the West: 1420: The Marriage of France and England" from the collection of essays, France in the World (edited by Patrick Boucheron);

• Read the relevant section from The Shakespeare Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained (edited by Stanley Wells) - Simple straightforward synopsis of the play, its themes, character list, highlight infographic and illustrations;
• Read the Introduction and "Modern Perspective" essays in the Folger edition (written & edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine);
• Read The play itself - Noted for two soliloquies: "Once More Unto the Breach..." and the St. Crispin's Day Speech. This is a play that is meant to incite British patriotism as much as it highlights the horrors/ignobility of war;

Lit-Crit:
• Read the relevant chapters in Isaac Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare and John Julius Norwich's Shakespeare's Kings: The Great Plays and the History of England in the Middle Ages: 1337-1485 -- The former providing a scene by scene breakdown in an easily accessible format; The latter providing historical compare/contrast reading in chronological order;

And for a little "extra":
• Watched the Laurence Olivier film adaptation (1944) - Produced during WWII as a vehicle to promote patriotism, it ignores the ignoble parts of the play; but a seminal performance often cited in literary criticism of the play

Next: Henry VI, Part 1 (by William Shakespeare)

>19 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I'm in awe of your work on Henry V!

>19 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Wow, you are taking this very seriously indeed!

I am reading a short biography of Henry VIII and also checked out the play on ebook from the library.

My choices will be King Richard II and/or Richard the III by Will

Finished Richard II, the audio by Blackstone was read by various narrators.

>24 Kristelh: Oh, wow! That's the Oregon Shakespeare Festival! :-)

(Sad to say, even though I live close to the OSF, I did not take advantage of the opportunity to see the production)
Hangs head in shame

>25 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, yes it was OSF, they did a great job.

HENRY VI, PART 1

I finished reading Henry VI, Part 1 (by William Shakespeare! This is the play noted for a couple of things: It's one of the earliest, if not the earliest play in the First Folio and; It lacks "dramatic unity" (lots of scenes and very episodic) and has an abundance of anachronisms— and the worse off for it all— so much so that its authorship has been questioned since 1735! Nonetheless, it's still Canon and in the play itself there are a few highlights: the scene set in the Inns of Court wherein red and white roses are picked to denote sides in "The War of the Roses"; the scene in which Talbot and his son are surrounded and fight together and; the incredible slander against Joan of Arc. While of course she would be the villain from the English point-of-view, I was still a bit surprised at the viciousness of the attacks against her. She is basically reduced to a lying witch and whore in the play, reflecting contemporary thought. True, she would not be made a saint until 1920 but still, I can see why late-twentieth and twenty-first stages don't really groove on this play so much.

Interestingly, while Henry V is the play trotted out to spur English patriotism, Joan of Arc herself has been employed as a symbol of French unity pretty much since The Siege at Orleans in the 1420. And then, the other night, I happened across an oratorio on Medici (video streaming platform for the performing arts), "Joan at the Stake". This is a piece written by Arthur Honegger in the 1930s as fascism became a threat in Europe. Embedded in the lines, not subtly at all, are references to contemporary French politicians (e.g., "Le Tigre" (Georges Clemenceau)) and an undisguised effort to make the performance more than about Joan of Arc.

I honestly thought I was going to be thinking about H6P1 in the context of female mystics of the Medieval Ages; but I ended up ruminating on drama as a political tool/weapon.

I finished Henry V last night. I'll get around writing some thoughts on my thread at some point when I have time.

June thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/341784#n7838845

I didn't read any more of the Shakespeare Histories or any Medieval History Fiction/Non-Fiction; but I did manage to get around to watching three film adaptations of Henry V (by William Shakespeare)! The first one, I watched was the 1944 version starring Laurence Olivier: Black & white, with comic touches and very heavy on the patriotic zeal, it ignores the less noble parts of the play and overall, even though it's a war story, everything is very clean and orderly-- not quite "Disneyfied", but it wouldn't do to show the vicissitudes of war if you want the country to remain steadfast while they are actually enduring/fighting WWII...
The second version I watched was the 1989 movie starring Kenneth Branagh. In color, it brought home the grit and dirt of war and wasn't concerned about hiding the less ignoble parts of the story (most notably where Henry V orders all the prisoners of war executed); but it also lacks humor. A couple of poignant scenes are added with a touch of music; but while cinematically vibrant, Branagh's ego seems to take up more space than anyone or anyone else on the screen.
The last version I watched was from the 2012 BBC series, "The Hollow Crown". Tom Hiddleston plays Henry V and the overall production was the most under-powered performances of the three. There is quite a bit of material added and subtracted, but no humor, no driving theme and Hiddleston's performance perhaps a bit too subtle.

I like parts of all three: The Laurence Olivier retained the most parts of the original play, the Kenneth Branagh version included the scene where H5 kills the French prisoners and; the production values (set, choreography, lighting, costumes...) of the Tom Hiddleston version were excellent. But by the same token I'm not entirely satisfied with any of them. Perhaps, in another ten years, when a new generation of RSC actors decides to tackle the play, it will land truer and better.

Today is the last day of the challenge! Thank you to those who participated (Don't forget to update the Wiki link!) and for those who didn't finish, or maybe didn't even get to start, this thread will still be here! I personally plan on reading Henry VI, Part 2 (by William Shakespeare) in June ;-)

Better late the never! I read The King's Mistress by Emma Campion. This is the story of Alice Perrer, real-life mistress of Edward III. The novel is well written with many accurate personages including Geoffrey Chaucer. As to the question the book raises: was Alice an opportunist or a woman who had few choices? I would posit the latter. Either way, a great read about the Plantagenets.

>32 Tess_W: Definitely "better late than never". I took a BB for this, as I always enjoy reading historical fiction and non-fiction about the Plantagenets.