Note to Much Ado About Nothing, 3.3.137: "codpiece"


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Much Ado About Nothing,
Act 3, Scene 3, line 137.
codpiece: genital covering worn by men. In the portrait below King Henry is wearing a padded codpiece. By the time Much Ado About Nothing was performed, the fashion of wearing a codpiece was past, and the subject of ridicule.
Henry VIII
Reign: 1509-1547
Source:
Cabinet of Wonders