Season 8: Episode 132
On her website, Execution Ballads, Dr Una McIlvenna writes:
"Across Europe, from the sixteenth century until the early twentieth century, the news of the deeds of criminals and their subsequent executions was delivered via song, often printed on cheap, single-sheet broadsides or small, book-like pamphlets, as well as passed on orally or via manuscript. Songs were usually set to a familiar tune (often indicated at the top of the pamphlet), which allowed anyone to easily sing along. They were sold in busy streets and marketplaces by street singers, who usually sang the contents of the pamphlet in order to promote their wares."
In the episode of the podcast, Una discusses, and sometimes sings extracts of, execution ballads spanning four centuries of our history.
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of historic execution and torture. Listener discretion is advised.
To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon for as little as £1 a month and help us to keep producing free content, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast
On her website, Execution Ballads, Dr Una McIlvenna writes:
"Across Europe, from the sixteenth century until the early twentieth century, the news of the deeds of criminals and their subsequent executions was delivered via song, often printed on cheap, single-sheet broadsides or small, book-like pamphlets, as well as passed on orally or via manuscript. Songs were usually set to a familiar tune (often indicated at the top of the pamphlet), which allowed anyone to easily sing along. They were sold in busy streets and marketplaces by street singers, who usually sang the contents of the pamphlet in order to promote their wares."
In the episode of the podcast, Una discusses, and sometimes sings extracts of, execution ballads spanning four centuries of our history.
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of historic execution and torture. Listener discretion is advised.
To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon for as little as £1 a month and help us to keep producing free content, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast
EPISODE GUEST
DR UNA McILVENNA
Una McIlvenna is Honorary Senior Lecturer in History at the Australian National University. Her research interests lie in the fields of early modern cultural and literary history. She is particularly interested in the tradition of singing the news.
Una has a PhD in Renaissance Studies from Queen Mary University of London, and has taught at the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne in Australia and the University of Kent and at Queen Mary in the UK.
Her most recent book, Singing the News of Death: Execution Ballads in Europe 1500-1900, looks at the fascinating and long-lived tradition of execution ballads. These songs told the news of crime and their usually ghastly punishments in sensationalist and graphic terms. The book is accompanied by her digital platform, Execution Ballads.
Her first book, Scandal and Reputation at the Court of Catherine de Medici explores the real-life scandals that rocked the court of Catherine de Medici, the queen mother of France during the Wars of Religion. It debunks the myth of Catherine's 'flying squadron', and shows how women have been collectively slandered for centuries.
Follow Una on Twitter here. Buy Una's book with a discount code via her website here.
Una McIlvenna is Honorary Senior Lecturer in History at the Australian National University. Her research interests lie in the fields of early modern cultural and literary history. She is particularly interested in the tradition of singing the news.
Una has a PhD in Renaissance Studies from Queen Mary University of London, and has taught at the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne in Australia and the University of Kent and at Queen Mary in the UK.
Her most recent book, Singing the News of Death: Execution Ballads in Europe 1500-1900, looks at the fascinating and long-lived tradition of execution ballads. These songs told the news of crime and their usually ghastly punishments in sensationalist and graphic terms. The book is accompanied by her digital platform, Execution Ballads.
Her first book, Scandal and Reputation at the Court of Catherine de Medici explores the real-life scandals that rocked the court of Catherine de Medici, the queen mother of France during the Wars of Religion. It debunks the myth of Catherine's 'flying squadron', and shows how women have been collectively slandered for centuries.
Follow Una on Twitter here. Buy Una's book with a discount code via her website here.