Historic Elizabethan Dice and Dice Games

That Shakespeare Life

On previous episodes of That Shakespeare Life, we have talked about the numerous early modern card games that show up in Shakespeare’s plays, and even that Ferdinand and Miranda are playing the game of Chess in the Tempest. What you may be surprised to learn is that another form of early modern game playing—the game of dice—comes up over half a dozen times across Shakespeare’s works, with references to playing the game, using them to predict the future, and of course, losing at the game of dice. Dice was a huge sport for Elizabethan, and later Jacobean, England and here today to share with us about this history, what games were played, and some specifics on the history of the playing pieces themselves is Historic Games expert, Charles Knutson.

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