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That Shakespeare LifeAuthor: Cassidy Cash
Hosted by Cassidy Cash, That Shakespeare Life takes you behind the curtain and into the real life of William Shakespeare. Language: en Genres: History, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Remembering the Gunpowder Plot with a Coin from 1605
Episode 446
Monday, 2 November, 2026
November 5th, 1605. Beneath the Houses of Parliament, Guy Fawkes stood ready to ignite thirty-six barrels of gunpowder and obliterate King James I, his entire government, and England's Protestant future. When the Plot failed, relief rippled across England and far beyond, stretching across Protestant Europe, where many saw this foiled plot as a divine deliverance worth celebrating. Which is why, months later, a commemorative coin appeared not in London, but in Holland—struck without James's direct commission, yet bearing symbolism that spoke directly to his reign and even his personal agenda. Today, one of the few surviving copies of this coin rests at the University of Glasgow: a small disc of metal holding outsized secrets about power, propaganda, and a king Europe watched closely. To explore the history of this coin specifically and how it reflects the culture when it was made, I'm joined by Clare Jackson.
