King Henry V: Military Life in Shakespeare's England

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In today's episode, we are exploring the realities of military life in early modern and medieval England and how those realities are reflected (or not!) in Shakespeare's King Henry V. We will discuss historical misrepresentations of the English military during Shakespeare's lifetime and how recent scholarship has discovered a wealth of narratives that prove those previous understandings to be incorrect.

We will also discuss the rules of war that existed historically during the reign of King Henry V and how accurately Shakespeare portrays and navigates those historical norms within the fictional world of the play.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

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Works referenced:

Lawrence, D.R. (2011), Reappraising the Elizabethan and Early Stuart Soldier: Recent Historiography on Early Modern English Military Culture. History Compass, 9: 16-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-0542.2010.00748.x

Meron, Theodor. “Shakespeare’s Henry the Fifth and the Law of War.” The American Journal of International Law, vol. 86, no. 1, 1992, pp. 1–45. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2203137. Accessed 18 Feb. 2025.