User deleted post
Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616. Spain had conquered the Aztecs decades before his birth, and finished conquering the Incans in his youth. The coasts of the Americas had been decently mapped out up until California. Spain and Portugal were the major colonizers, and France, England, the Dutch and other kingdoms all began to dip their toes in the Americas in his lifetime.
Being quite interested in History, i know all that stuff. But it still boggels my mind how early the Spanish (and Portugiese) started colonizing America.
It almost seems impossible now that they were once the superpowers of the world and managed to control an entire continent, with love from a Spaniard lol.
They ultimately brought upon their own demise partly by mining and minting so much silver from central America they tanked the value of their own currency.
That's just partly true, the inflation of the XVI century hit all of Europe, the main problem of Spain and Portugal is that they didn't reinvest the silver from the Americas in more efficient agriculture and manifacturies and so they had to buy most of their consumer products from Italy, England, France and especially the Low Countries. Spanish nobles preferred to invest in regular revenues such as loans to the crown, "public debt" or getting civil and military commands. This, in the space of a century, turned an efficient and mostly self sufficient Castille in a rentier state who had to import almost everything, even grain, while exporting only wool and silver. Add the fact that Philip II started to cover his loans with future silver revenues, effectively giving most of it away to foreign merchant and bankers, and you have the disaster happening in slow motion that was Spain in the half of the XVII century.
Tl;Dr : it wasn't the silver, it was how (and where) it was spent.
Oh man that's fascinating thank you!
Thanks, your username is hilarious btw
History nerd to history nerd, that means a lot!
The problem was the expensive wars against England and France. Spain got into debt for the armada. Also pirates raided ships returning from the America’s.
Of course if we talk about state expenditures, the Army of Flanders alone costed like 5 millions ducats a year.
Yes, well that and that the gold that came to us was used for very wise things like... FIGHTING A HOLY WAR!!!
This video is the best example of that XD:
That was a great documentary
They also fought a war against England right around Shakespeare's time and their giant fleet died to a hurricane, which set up England to dominate the seas until about WW2.
The amount of territory they controlled in the time of Phillip II and the armada is astounding. It always seemed reasonable to me for him to try and take England out.
Philip II was actually married to Mary Tudor aka Bloody Mary. He was King of England by right of his wife. So his children would have taken the throne of England if Mary had been able to have kids.
Except, you know, the same thing happened to the English just 1 year later:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English\_Armada
Naaah, that setup the Dutch trade supremacy, England will become the main naval power at the beginning of the XVIII century. The British had a very competent navy in the XVI century, but it was very small compared to the Spanish one.
Just goes to show you how quickly it can all come to an end. Who knows who it will be ruling the world 200 years from now? My money is on Tunisia.
When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock there were already universities in the Spanish Empire 80 years old.
Yes, plus the oldest city in the now-US is St. Augustine, Florida, and the oldest state capital is Santa Fe, New Mexico.
lol and in school ive always remembered they said that was one of first colonizations of the americas.
Leif Erikson has entered the chat 😤
Interesting. I would say Leif Erikson built a settlement, but not that he colonized. But now I’m wondering if that’s just because it didn’t last.
His purpose was absolutely to go out and Christianize other people. Hm.
Weird fact: the Spanish colonial period in the Americas lasted longer (over three centuries) than the post-colonial independence period has (two-ish centuries).
Well, from their perspective, they didn't start early. The Portuguese, for example, were colonizing parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and India way before that.
You are simply looking at them from a British or French perspective.
The same would happen if you looked at the European unified nation-state model from a German or Italian point of view and said "But it still boggels my mind how early the English (and French) concluded the unification into nation-states".
Heptarchy was best England. They need a Wessexit, Mercexit, and Northumbriexit to restore the Heptarchy now
Yeah, I’ve noticed a lot of Americans, Canadians and brits tend to think of colonization as a more recent event. Probably because they established colonies much later than the Spanish and those colonies were much less important until the 18th century.
When the American revolution happened Virginia had been established for over 150 years and the Spanish had been in the Caribbean for almost 300. The Spanish living in Peru in 1800 were as far removed from the Incan empire as I am from George Washington.
If I remember correctly, the reconquista ended the same year Columbus sailed across the Atlantic. I imagine Spain at the time was awash with nationalist and religious zeal, which no doubt played a part in their rapid expansion.
Basically: ‘Hooray! the heathens are dead!… Oh look! More heathens!’
Keep in mind that the Europeans brought diseases that decimated the indigenous people. By the time serious colonization began the local populations had suffered a major population decline.
The coasts of the Americas had been decently mapped out up until California
They were, by Iberian sailors.
That doesn't mean many people outside the Spanish/Portuguese courts knew anything about those findings,
in fact, they were often times guarded secrets.
What Shakespear knew, would perhaps be just vague informations given to English merchants by other merchants,
and English sailors and their limited discoveries by his time.
So glad someone would ask.
Shakespeare mentioned America once in his plays.
In The Comedy of Errors, during a discussion between Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Syracuse, Dromio describes a woman, a rather large woman, who, in his mind, is globe shaped.
During the course of the conversation, Antipholus urges Dromio to keep pinpointing geographic locations on her large body.
Dromio says he found America “upon her nose all o’er embellished with rubies, carbuncles, sapphires, declining their rich aspect to the hot breath of Spain; who sent whole armadoes of caracks to be ballast at her nose?
Ireland didn’t fare so well, or so high up on her anatomy.
Antipholus asks, “In what part of her body stands Ireland?”
And Dromio responds, “Many, in her buttocks: I found it out by the bogs?”
https://zippyfacts.com/did-shakespeare-ever-mention-america-in-any-of-his-plays/
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE What's her name?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Nell, sir, but her name and three quarters--that's an ell and three quarters-- will not measure her from hip to hip.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Then she bears some breadth?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE No longer from head to foot than from hip to hip. She is spherical, like a globe. I could find out countries in her.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE In what part of her body stands Ireland?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Marry, sir, in her buttocks. I found it out by the bogs.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where Scotland?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE I found it by the barrenness, hard in the palm of the hand.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where France?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE In her forehead, armed and reverted, making war against her heir.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where England?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE I looked for the chalky cliffs, but I could find no whiteness in them. But I guess it stood in her chin, by the salt rheum that ran between France and it.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where Spain?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Faith, I saw it not, but I felt it hot in her breath.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where America, the Indies?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE O, sir, upon her nose, all o'erembellished with rubies, carbuncles, sapphires, declining their rich aspect to the hot breath of Spain, who sent whole armadas of carracks to be ballast at her nose.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where stood Belgia, the Netherlands?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE O, sir, I did not look so low. To conclude: this drudge or diviner laid claim to me, called me Dromio, swore I was assured to her, told me what privy marks I had about me, as the mark of my shoulder, the mole in my neck, the great wart on my left arm, that I, amazed, ran from her as a witch. And, I think, if my breast had not been made of faith, and my heart of steel, She had transformed me to a curtal dog and made me turn i' th' wheel.
Man Shakespeare was hilarious
It reads like a shitpost
France is a receding hairline lmao
Thank you, I didn't get the double meaning joke before you pointed it out
Yo mama Thy mother so fat…
fat spherical
Then she bears some breadth?
I'm filing that one away. That's a good quip.
"She's got huge...tracts of land!"
Another funny thing about this is that the play was supposed to be set in Ancient Greece.
"What about Atlantis, cross the sea?"
"Why, it is on her back whence you could drown after she takes a step"
Hell, barely any o’ the canon is Blighty-bound. Merry Wives comes to mind.
Is this 16th century country slander?
Wait, how come I can easily understand all that? Crazy, definitely seems more modern than the Shakespeare I remember reading throughout school.
This is because this part is two lower class characters talking to each other. Shakespeare was freer in his verse in those circumstances and often dropped the iambic pentameter which forced more artificial speech patterns.
Edit: sorry not two lower class bur dromio is his servant amd they are doing boyish joking around rather than formality.
iambic pentameter
Now there’s a phrase I’ve not heard for a long time
Even in Shakespeare's day, the artistry of his meter was a tool in his belt. It allowed for so many of his famous innuendoes to be hidden like buried treasure, just below the surface. He would switch to prose for added effect: for example, in Julius Caesar, at Caesar's funeral, Brutus condescends to the gathered masses by giving his eulogy in prose; then, Antony gets up and garners the support of the masses, in part, by giving his eulogy in the standard meter.
What makes it hard for the modern reader to parse Shakespeare is not his form, but his era in the history of the English language. He lived during a period called the Great Vowel Shift (GVS), wherein the pronunciation of English vowels diverged dramatically from their Continental origins. This is why Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales are readable to us today, but with rather significant effort—Chaucer died just about when the GVS began, almost 200 years before Shakespeare's time, and the difference in pronunciation is blatantly obvious.
Those intervening centuries also saw England engaged almost constantly with Continental powers, namely France. It was during this period that England also saw another linguistic transition: the royal court switched from predominantly French-speaking, to English. This of course lead to significant intermingling of the languages. Thus, combined with the GSV, and not to mention the increasing literacy of the commonfolk, Shakespeare was born into a renaissance of language.
This was THE era to be in if you wanted to have a personal role in shaping the modern English language. Vowels were fluid and could be manipulated without care for any standardized "rules," while the commoners were hungry for all the entertainment they could find, so playwrights were able to make a true living in the cities. The populations had also finally rebounded from the impact of the Black Death in Chaucer's day, so cities like London were packed with eager audiences. The nobility even started taking an interest in performances.
Shakespeare also kept up with the slang of the day, and did not pretend to cater to an audience of higher-brow than he really did. But he did respect the audience, giving them the raunchy jokes and gags they craved, mingled with references to recent or current events (like the Spanish Armada). Bundled in stories of epic proportion, yet remarkably personal, he delivered to the audience a high standard of storytelling—though all the over-our-heads references and outdated slang certainly don't help with modern readers' understanding.
I really love Shakespeare, both as a fascinating historical figure, and as a playwright. His life coincided with the last period of significant evolution in the English language, and he demanded to have a hand in it. He played aggresively with the English language, knowing that his was an era where nobody really knew what the rules of the language were, so who's to say he can't make up words? Or write a masterpiece about a schizophrenic Danish prince and his royal family, while also taking subtle jabs at the nobility for being so wrapped up in their own intrigue that they fail to notice an invasion on their doorstep?
I would argue that it isn't so miraculous that we can still understand his writing after nearly 500 years, but rather it is incredible how he wrote with such influence that the English language is still fundamentally what he saw it to be, even after 500 years. The only other work to have such influence on English was the King James Bible—written during the height of Shakespeare's career, and commissioned by King James, the chief Patron of Shakespeare's company, The King's Men.
Thank you for this. I fucking love Shakespeare and it drives me insane that people don’t realize what a goddamn genius he was.
Ireland didn’t fare so well, or so high up on her anatomy.
Antipholus asks, “In what part of her body stands Ireland?”
And Dromio responds, “Many, in her buttocks: I found it out by the bogs?”
Not exactly surprising since, asides from the general course of Anglo-Irish relations (and the pun playing on the stereotype of Irish people living in bogs and the double meaning of 'toilet'), the Nine Years' War was ongoing as the play was first performed.
Sasana fealltach.
So how is Mexico explicitly mentioned if it wasn’t even a country back then?
He name-drops it twice in the Merchant of Venice
If you're wondering why the term was used before the country existed, it was the name for Mexico City (the city the Spanish built on top of what was left of Tenochtitlan after the conquest), and also the Archdiocese. So it was commonly used as a stand-in for the wider area, even before the country was founded.
To expand on this, it was another term for the people who were the rulers of the Aztec Empire, and the region they were from. This is also why New Mexico (first the Spanish colony, then state in roughly the same area) is older than the modern country of Mexico. "New Mexico" itself was originally the name of a mythical empire in a Nahuatl historical text, which is different than the normal new-place-named-after-a-place story.
The real name of the "Aztec Empire" was - excan tlatoloyan - or Triple Alliance. An alliance of 3 city-states of different ethnic affiliations: Tenochtitlan (mexica), Texcoco (acolhua), Tlacopan (tepaneca). The mythical place is called Aztlan. The name Mexico has a disputed etymology. There were Mexico-Tenochtitlan and Mexico-Tlatelolco.
The Viceroyalty of New Spain it's also called: "The Kingdom of Mexico" as you can see the original Heraldic symbol reads "Reino de Mexico Tenvxtitlan" (Kingdom of Mexico Tenochtitlan). You can see that in later maps still mention it equally (Mexico=New Spain), like this french map of 1717 "Mexique ou Nouvelle Espagne". The mexican identity can be traced as far as the beginning of XVII century just an example is the book "La Grandeza Mexicana" (México's Grandeur) by Bernardo de Balbuena published in 1604
Thank you very much! I remember now.
He loved spring breaking in Cancún. The locals called him Billy Shakes.
Fun fact, Shakespeare lived to see (okay he didn’t actually see it, but it happened in his lifetime) a Japanese Samurai stab a Spanish man in Acapulco, Mexico, a fact which we know because the even was recorded by the grandson of an Aztec noble. This same Samurai would then visit Rome and meet the pope.
Mexico?
Looks like it gets name-checked a couple times in Merchant of Venice. TIL!
https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/concordance/o/?i=779544
Yeah, come on OP don't leave us hangin'
What's with Bermuda?
I believe The Tempest was based on a shipwreck that happened there, but I thought he relocated it for the play. Maybe someone better educated can point us to where he explicitly mentioned it (and in which play).
From the Tempest. I think it's accepted that Bermoothes is a direct reference to Bermuda and may have been the name at the time the play was written.
Safely in harbor is the king’s ship. In the deep nook where once Thou called’st me up at midnight to fetch dew From the still-vexed Bermoothes, there she’s hid.
Another interesting thing is that we're never actually explicitly told where The Tempest takes place. Prospero and Antonio are from the Duchy of Milan and Alonso is the King of Naples, which implies that the action takes place somewhere in or around the Mediterranean and this is the generally accepted scholarly view. But the text never actually explicitly states this and there are some scholars who view the play as an allegory for the then-contemporary colonialism and believe the island is in the New World.
Personally I think you can buy into the colonialism reading without the island being somewhere in the Americas because why would the king and crown prince of an Italian kingdom be sailing to America? But it's there if you want to make the argument.
I thought so too--fictional location inspired by historical event during passage to resupply Jamestown.
But there is one reference in the play to "Bermoothes." Not a bad rendition of the Spanish name Bermudez. Particularly if back then Castilian already had the "th" for "d" pronunciation it has today.
I like a little bermoothes in my gin.
When the immigrant ship ‘Sea Venture’ got separated from the rest of the Jamestown fleet during a hurricane, Captain Somers managed to wreck it upon one of Bermuda’s many reefs, with everyone surviving before leaving on two smaller ships they made from Bermuda’s local wood.
Shakespeare was into Bermuda triangle conspiracy theories confirmed.
I’m sure there’s a line about a jewel in an Ethiop’s ear, is that only a vague reference?
Ethiopia referred to basically any part of sub Saharan Africa and so its not a direct mention to the nation. It does mean most the continent could be seen as vaguely referenced though
Similar with the antipodes (mentioned in midsummer nights dream and much ado (?) ) which don't mean Oz or New Zealand as we might use them today in the UK but were a specific reference to the opposite end of the earth.
Astonishingly the cliff notes refer to the Australia/NZ meaning and apparently don't recognise that Australia was unknown to the English in Shakespeare time.
I just looked it up to see when Captain Cook "discovered" it, and apparently there had been earlier non-English expeditions to Australia from 1606 onward. Was that considered state-secret level knowledge, or just not the kind of thing they bothered communicating between nations about and I'm looking at it through a modern lens?
That doesn't matter in the terms the map uses. Modern Germany is not co-terminus with some definition in the past of a language region. Libya was at times used by the Romans to mean North Africa, or even all of Africa known to them. North Macedonia should be blue regardless of whether culturally Greek people now live there.
That the word is in a Shakespeare play and is used by a modern country is all that matters. Most hilariously how Jordan qualifies as blue! There are two references to "jordan" in Henry IV--BOTH TIMES AS A CHAMBERPOT!
It does mean most the continent could be seen as vaguely referenced though
Doesn't need Ethiopia (or Libya) for that. Africa, Asia, and Europe are in their entirety "vaguely referenced" in exactly those terms.
Quick shout out for 'The sea coast of Bohemia' in 'The Winter's Tale'.
Quick shout out for 'The sea coast of Bohemia' in 'The Winter's Tale'.
I thought I was pretty hot in geography, and I used to live in the Czech Republic, but I never knew there was a coast.
Or is it used as an absurdity/impossibility, likes hen's teeth or hell freezing over?
Most likely it was Shakespeare either not knowing or not caring that Bohemia was land-locked, but apparently Bohemia did extend to the Adriatic at on point in the 13th century. Maybe he was giving us a clue as to when the play was set?
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Czechoslovak_Review/Volume_1/Sea_Coast_of_Bohemia
but apparently Bohemia did extend to the Adriatic at on point in the 13th century
Eh, not how it worked back then, Bohemia stayed the same, the ruler added new lands, that remained those lands, just under his rule.
those would still be different crown lands though;
Perhaps Shakespeare saw an old map of some sort and mistook something,
or it was a joke.
It did not.
Well, I don’t claim for a second to be an expert in Bohemian history, I’m just going off the article I linked.
Perhaps he meant the realm of Ottokar, King of Bohemia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottokar_II_of_Bohemia
Yes, true, the actual kingdom of Bohemia no more changed its legal boundaries than England did when its king ruled all those bits of France, and studious scholars of interfeudal relations likely knew that then and in Shakespeare's time. Still, people used the colloquialism Austria all the time for the later agglomerations of the Habsburgs, and called them the House of Austria and their empire the Austrian empire, constitutional statuses notwithstanding. So for a while, the Bohemian kingdom had an Adriatic coast.
I’ve read a few theories about this, and I think it is him using ‘Bohemia’ in the same way that Britons use ‘Timbuktu’, meaning somewhere real but very distant, and thus different.
Why do you think Czechs say “Ajoy”? Natural born sailors clearly
Bangladesh vaguely mentioned?
Maybe as a part of the British understanding of what was "India" in those days?
Bangladesh was part of Mughal territory, largest Kingdom in India in those days. Many other parts should be in green if that is the case, mainly South which were not.
Not "in those days" as Nepal/Bhutan would be completely unknown. The definition of India as a geographical region (a sub-continent) depends on later European understanding of the vast mountains to the north. It's being used in this anachronistic sense. .
But if India and America vaguely define the whole of these areas, virtually all the map would be green . Europe, Asia, and Africa are all named Shakespeare's works.
Anachronism?
Probably as bengal
Pakistan vaguely mentioned, the name Pakistan wasn’t even a thing until the 1930s
Ayyy i was hopi g to find a comment
Bengal existed as a region
Same with Pakistan lol. I’m guessing it must’ve been a city.
I would like to note that as one of only old world countries, Sweden was never mentioned. This, once again, shows that Sweden's insignificance as a country, isn't just a modern concept.
Username and comma placement check out
Imagine feeling significant only because you were dissed with "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" 400 years ago.
// Swede
Sounds like someone’s still salty about losing Norway after the Napoleonic Wars lmao
DANMARK DANMARK DANMARK 🇩🇰
Kamelåså.
How was Ethiopia mentioned?
"She doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night. Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear"
- Romeo and Juliet
Thank you.
Back in those does Ethiopia was used to refer to basically any part of sub Saharan Africa so the map could technically shade most the continent. The quote "like a jewl in an ethiopes ear" was used to show how Juliet's beauty stood out like a bright gem on dark skin.
How was Poland mentioned?
Ok, got it:
"Generally recognized as the greatest playwright in English literature, William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. In his writings, Shakespeare made several references to Poland. For example, in Act 3, Scene 2 of The Comedy of Errors, he mentions a cold Polish winter. In Act 1, Scene 3 of Measure for Measure, Duke Vincentio talks about travel to Poland. A major character in Hamlet is named Polonius, and is supposedly modeled after the Polish philosopher, Wawrzyniec Goslicki."
https://ampoleagle.com/shakespeare-a-favorite-of-many-poles-p9991-147.htm
Smote the sledded pole axe
Prince Fortinbras fights in Poland in Hamlet
can someone tell me how turkey was mentioned? i'm really curious what shakespeare said about it
Probably Othello if I had to guess. Othello was a Venetian General defending Cyprus from the Ottomans.
Probably Asia Minor in Anthony and Cleopatra
Turk/Turks/Turkish are in a lot of plays. Especially "Othello" because it's set when Venice is at war with the Ottoman Empire.
"Turkey" itself is only in reference to products associated with the region. Most often as "turkey-cock"--one or some species of fowl misunderstood as being from there.
The others are "Turkey cushion" and "Turkey tapestry." Possibly actual imports from there. Just as likely a standard expression for anything Oriental or Islamic styled. Same as you can eat off of China or wear French cuffs w/o regard to where they are made.
"Oh, thy swarthy Mexico..how I coveteth thou enchiladas and alcoholic beverages derived from ye olde mescal plant on a warm summer day."
Tequila, shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more nasty and more pestilent
LOL..I zoned out in Shakespeare class, so you win. 🏆
Honestly surprised no Holy land mentions.
Or Portugal.
"Spain" meant Iberia for the longest time. Just like Italian and Germania were already things before their respective unifications.
"Hispania"/"Spain" included Castille, Leon, Aragon, Portugal and other iterations for a lot of the middle ages. Even though they were only two separate Kings, there were more crowns that weren't merged until a bit later.
Portugal was part of the Habsburg Spain from 1581 to 1640 almost the whole Shakespeare's life.
Right, but there are a lot of references mistranslating Hispania to Spain as opposed to Iberia even before and after that. Even though Portugal has been mostly stable, borders-wise, it was always seen as part of a group, just like Castile. It's just that we ended up independent from modern Spain so now it gets a bit awkward when we used to be part of the medieval understanding of Spain (i.e. Iberia).
The Anglo-Portuguese alliance is the oldest treaty still in effect today, it was reaffirmed many times over the years. Some before Shakespeare's birth and some after.
It's been an important treaty for both countries over the years
That's beside the point. Being called Spanish wasn't a national insult at the time. Just like calling Genoans Italians. If you'd call Portuguese Castilians then there would be something, I suppose.
I'm not commenting that it's somehow a slur to call them Spanish, Portugal was clearly a recognised entity and very important part of the history of the two countries.
During his younger years (20ish) portugal was taken over and pressed into the Spanish armada. This isn't something that would have escaped him. It's an English victory we still talk about today.
Just seems odd to me.
Yeah, much the United States of America, the Kingdom of Spain is named after the region despite not being the entire region.
There are, but no modern nation-state is called "Holy Land." There would have to be countries in the region that are name-checked in Shakespeare--like Israel or Jordan.
Israel is mentioned in Hamlet with context ("O Jephthah, judge of Israel, what a treasure hadst thou!") that explicitly refers to the ancient nation. Nothing vague about that, but it is green.
Jordan OTOH . . . wait for it!!!
It's marked blue, so a specific reference. You'd think it would be about the biblical river after which the country is named. Two mentions of "jordan" in Henry IV. The best: "Why, they will allow us ne'er a jordan, and then we leak in your chimney." Shakespeare only wrote "jordan" as slang for chamberpot!
Isn't it mentioned in a speech at the beginning of Henry IV Part 1 or 2?
John of Gaunt references “Jewry” as a place in Richard II Act 2 Scene 1. Israel seems like an obvious addition.
Twelfth Night is set in Illyria, which corresponds to Croatia, Albania, and Montenegro—I’d count that as an “explicit mention”.
The region is mentioned, but not the countries specifically, I'd say that's vaguely mentioned
The title doesn't say country is an explicit reference and region is vague. Nor does it specify that country=political. It's simply that a word for a region or country is used by a modern nation-state (Germany, Italy, Turkey and nearly all of them being regional descriptors to Bill.)
Anyway, there are no consistent definitions. There's no "country" called Persia. Tunisia is counted specific for just the "Tunis" bit. Bermuda is not named at all (it is the presumed location inspiring the fictional island in "The Tempest.") [Correction: one mention as "Bermoothes"]
For that matter the UK should be vague, as only it's "regions" are mentioned. Unless we count that all the words in "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" are also in Shakespeare! But then the USA and South Africa make the cut!
If "America" counts as a vague reference to two continents and "India" to the whole subcontinent, then all of Europe, Asia, and Africa are vaguely referenced in Shakespeare's works.
Tunisia is counted specific for just the "Tunis" bit.
Tunis and Tunisia are the same word in arabic, with the country having the name of the capital. The distinction was made only fairly recently in history in other languages.
Illyria is a region spanning all of former yugoslavia and albania. But nowhere in shakespears plays are croatia, albania, serbia, bosnia, etc mentioned, therefore it is a vague mention.
POLSAK GUROM 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱
KU CHWALE OJCZYZNY
🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱
NIE BĘDZIE NIEMEIC PLUŁ NAM W TWARZ!!!!! 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱
How was Bhutan vaguely mentioned?
Likely as part of India or the indian subcontinent. Back in the 1600s, India referred to much more land than just the current republic of India.
"All the world is a taco, and all the men and women are merely filling"
BRAZIL MENTIONED
Probably just america mentioned
How was the Middle East vaguely mentioned?
On the other hand he was the guy convinced that Milan had a sea harbour and that Bohemia had a coast
Plays w/o New Zealand
I remember the Ethiopia one. In Romeo and Juliet he refers to "a jewel in an Ethiope's ear."
Shakespeare vaguely mentioned Canada, did he?
User deleted comment
1.0y
Thine kilts are plaid
Someone commented further up with the quote. He just mentions America, which could be used to describe the continent as a whole I suppose.
Iceland is in Henry V, line 548
His knowledge of geography was pretty ropey even for the time though. People get shipwrecked on the coast of Bohemia for instance in A Winters Tale (it's a landlocked part of what now is Czechia).
Maybe they were just really crappy sailors
Interesting map idea. But without a source...
The plays are the sources.
Well sure... but maybe a list of which plays have references to which countries?
Yeah, I would love if there was a listing of each reference so we could read the mentions. I personally won’t be reading all of his works in search of these mentions
You can search the country name on this website
I think it's particularly important for the vague references, since that requires interpretation
https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/search/search-results.php
And yes, some cited as specific here do not appear. Not Tunisia, except the "Tunis" bit. No Lebanon, though possibly it and Morocco have a Shakespearean spelling I can't guess. No Iran. Surely given a mulligan for "Persia."
OTOH "Ethiopian" I'd have to count as specific. The name of that region is not just implied; it's a precondition for someone being identified as from it.
As a Swede, I am mildly offended. Does he not recognize the greatness and all encompassing importance of our mighty kingdom? I am definitely not letting Shakespeare sit next to me on the omnibus!
Turnips and swedes are extremely similar vegetables, and he did mention turnips in Merry Wives of Windsor.
Could someone be kind enough to tell how was nepal mentioned?
I myself am from Nepal so would love to know
Other people in the thread are saying that "India" used to refer to a MASSIVE amount of landmass (not to mention that Shakespeare's time was about 300 years before the British recognized it as an independent nation), so Nepal is probably vaguely referenced as part of India
Where did he mentioned Russia?
The Winter’s Tale (“The Emperor of Russia was my father”).
Well besides the obvious fact that he never wrote anything mentioning Sweden, it's also interesting that there was no mention of Japan despite it being known to Europeans during his lifetime. Especially since his life took place mostly in the time before Japanese isolationism really picked up and it was known for its precious metals and jewelry at the time.
The Republic of China wasn't mentioned but the People's Republic of China was?
I guess Ol’ Shakey didn’t respect the One China Policy
16th century guy has no respect to 1992 Consensus, SMH my head
Ol’ Shakey
Me before i have a couple drinks
My lady's a Cataian, we are politicians, Malvolio's a Peg-a-Ramsey, from Twelfth Night
"Catay" was an old-timey word for "China". And during Shakespeare's time, China had only begun their colonization of the island, and were engaged with driving out the native indigenous peoples, while also fighting off European allies to the natives (Spain and the Dutch were both allied with tribal kingdoms on the island, and established military outposts, during this time). The Qing wouldn't fully absorb the island into their empire until 1684.
Turkey and Cyprus were because of Othello right?
I'm curious to know how he mentioned Iran (or probably Persia at that point)
Shakespeare mentioned Persia in "The Merchant of Venice," the character Portia references the three wise men who came from the East, including "the Persian" who brought myrrh as a gift to the baby Jesus. Additionally, in "Macbeth," the character Ross describes the "tyrant" Macbeth as being "like a Persian tyrant."
Add a third colour for “didn’t exist” I wonder what that would look like
A South American enjoyer I see /j
when was mexico mentioned?
Hungary?
How was Arabia mentioned?
“Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!”
Macbeth Act V Scene i (spoken by Lady Macbeth)
Arabs introduced perfume and scents to the Europeans.
Wait timeout.. please help where in shakespear was ALBANIA mentioned???!!!!
Twelfth Night is set in Illyria, which is the coast of Dalmatia (Croatia), Montenegro and Albania. The plays starts with a shipwreck.
Illyria is also mentioned in Part 2 of Henry VI.
when was Czechia mentioned?
I got this one! Bohemia is the setting to The Winter’s Tale
Mentioned something rotten in Denmark
Ethiopia was explicitly mentioned in Much Ado About Nothing "I’ll hold my mind, were she an Ethiope"
Where is Brazil mentioned?
I am not a Shakespearian scholar, but what is the scoop on the Americas?