The History of English Podcast · Kevin Stroud

Episode 172: Succession

·1 hr 35 min·5 clips

Richard III contains one of the early uses of “going to” for the future tense.

1. The History of English Podcast episode 172 focuses on “Succession” as a word, a political problem, and a pronunciation change. 2. The episode is hosted by the series’ narrator, who uses Shakespeare, Elizabeth I, Henry III, and Henry of Navarre to explain the topic. 3. The core question is how “succession” connects dynastic inheritance, Shakespearean history, and the shift from “-tion” to “shun.” 4. The discussion begins with an Indo-European root meaning “to go” or “to yield,” which later passed into Latin as cede and cese. 5. The root appears in English words such as cede, recede, proceed, excess, necessary, and succession. 6. The episode explains that sub- plus the root produced succession, while succeed became the verb for one leader following another. 7. The late-1500s political frame centers on England and France, where both monarchies faced childless succession problems. 8. In England, Elizabeth I had not formally named a successor, but letters to James of Scotland showed that she intended him to inherit. 9. In France, Henry III faced the claim of Henry of Navarre, a Protestant Bourbon cousin with the strongest hereditary right. 10. The French conflict intensified because Catholic opposition, Protestant minorities, food shortages, and high inflation made succession unstable. 11. The Duke of Guise emerged as a Catholic rival in Paris, and the Day of the Barricades in May 1588 became a major turning point. 12. The episode explains that “barricade” entered English after Paris residents used barrels and barriques to block the streets. 13. Henry III later had Guise assassinated, then joined forces with Henry of Navarre before Henry III himself was murdered by a monk. 14. Elizabeth then supported Navarre with several thousand English troops in Navarre’s War of Succession. 15. The episode connects this French conflict to Richard Field’s pamphlets and to Shakespeare’s awareness of current events in London. 16. The Comedy of Errors is used to show how Shakespeare dated plays through topical references and to explain the play’s twin-centered confusion. 17. A pun in The Comedy of Errors about France “making war against her heir” uses the older pronunciation of heir, which sounded like hair for some speakers. 18. The episode then turns to iambic pentameter, noting that Shakespeare’s meter can preserve older syllable counts for words like succession and possession. 19. The tone is explanatory and example-driven, with long stretches of phonology, literary quotation, and historical narrative. 20. Listeners interested in Shakespeare, historical linguistics, and Tudor politics will get the most from it, while listeners wanting a short, story-only episode may not.

As heard by us

A careful tour from royal succession to the sound shift behind `succession`.

Episode 172 tracks one English word into two kinds of succession: dynastic struggle in late 1500s England and France, and the sound changes that turned endings like `-sion` and `-tion` into `shun`.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Follow one word from monarchs of England and France to Shakespeare's stage.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The History of English Podcast