ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! - DAY BEFORE:
Hollywood's Iconic Landmark - DAY BEFORE THAT:
The Sun Sets on 'Eldorado' - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
Let's Build A Rollercoaster
ON THIS DAY
The Death of Kissing
Kissing was a big deal in the Middle Ages: for signing contracts, for greeting colleagues, and for showing deference to the King – a tradition that ended on 16th July, 1439, when Henry VI issued a decree imploring his citizens to stop kissing his ring.
Some 400 years before the modern concepts of hygiene and germs had been scientifically established, the 18 year-old monarch clearly had an instinct that clamping down on kissing might stop the spread of the bubonic plague – a deadly disease that had been rampant for 100 years.
In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca explain why one village soaked their supplies in vinegar; reveal how to write a letter to the King (with appropriate levels of flattery); and consider the merits of banning bearded men from handling milk…
Further Reading:
• BBC profile of Henry VI: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/henry_vi_king.shtml
• ‘Here ye, here ye: No more smoochies!’ (History Daily, 2020): https://historydaily.org/kissing-ban-england-response-black-plague-1439
• ‘What Made The Black Death So Deadly?’ (The Infographics Show, 2019):
ON THIS DAY
The Death of Kissing
Kissing was a big deal in the Middle Ages: for signing contracts, for greeting colleagues, and for showing deference to the King – a tradition that ended on 16th July, 1439, when Henry VI issued a decree imploring his citizens to stop kissing his ring.
Some 400 years before the modern concepts of hygiene and germs had been scientifically established, the 18 year-old monarch clearly had an instinct that clamping down on kissing might stop the spread of the bubonic plague – a deadly disease that had been rampant for 100 years.
In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca explain why one village soaked their supplies in vinegar; reveal how to write a letter to the King (with appropriate levels of flattery); and consider the merits of banning bearded men from handling milk…
Further Reading:
• BBC profile of Henry VI: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/henry_vi_king.shtml
• ‘Here ye, here ye: No more smoochies!’ (History Daily, 2020): https://historydaily.org/kissing-ban-england-response-black-plague-1439
• ‘What Made The Black Death So Deadly?’ (The Infographics Show, 2019):
ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! - DAY BEFORE:
Hollywood's Iconic Landmark - DAY BEFORE THAT:
The Sun Sets on 'Eldorado' - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
Let's Build A Rollercoaster
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OLLY MANN
Olly Mann made his name with another trivia-wielding podcast, Answer Me This! with Helen Zaltzman – and now presents The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped, and Four Thought for BBC Radio Four. He also has an A-Level in History, so Dan Snow beware.
REBECCA MESSINA
Rebecca got a passion for podcasting working at The Week magazine and a passion for trivia appearing on University Challenge in 2011, making The Retrospectors her natural home.
ARION MCNICOLL
Arion started out in satirical news in Australia, then moved to the UK to work for ostensibly serious publications including The Times, CNN, and The Week… before realising that since around 2016 the news has all been satire really.
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