Greg Jenner

Good, good.

It's the 1500s.

Well, I was going to ask you actually, you know, does the phrase Renaissance era England mean anything to you?

So what do you know?

This is where I have a go at guessing what you, our lovely listener, might know about today's subject.

And thanks to Shakespeare's plays and the many weird and wonderful adaptations you've seen, plus all the pop culture about Tudors and Stuarts, you've probably got some sense of what life was like in Renaissance-era England.

But what about disease and healthcare specifically?

Well, maybe, like me, you're just thinking of the classic scene in Blackadder where the cure for everything is leeches.

But what was visiting the doctor in Renaissance England really like?

Was there more to it than plague masks?

Did they use plague masks?

And what about those leeches?

Were they true?

Oh, and who on earth was the stroker?

Let's find out.

Ria, when we say Renaissance England, you're thinking post-Italy and France.

In your head, you've got a lovely image of Michelangelo...

I'm not going to do it.

Dr. Alana, you've used the phrase English Renaissance.

As a historian, I typically would say early modern period.