We're Not So Different

folks, we're back with another patron mailbag episode, as promised. in this one, we answer a bunch of questions ranging from the justifications for predestination, usage of the term "Anglo-Saxon," the culture shock of being a Chinese visitor in Medieval Europe, historical murder rates, and whether Neo-Feudalism is actually a thing or not. check it out, it's a lot of fun and if you

folks, it's time for another mailbag episode to answer some of our backlog of patron questions! in fact, this is the first of two mailbags we're doing in a row, so there's more to look forward to next week. this time, we answer questions on investigating forged Medieval documents, Medieval views on allergies, whether an ironing board would make a good early Medieval shield, a bit a

folks, we're back and this time, we're going to the Early Modern period to discuss the Galileo Affair. an odd, 23-year-long saga that saw the Catholic Church and Galileo Galilee go head-to-head over heliocentrism in the early 1600s. this is the moment when the modern views of religion and science as implacable enemies and the Church as this pervasive group of thought police are tru

folks, we're back and we're talking once again doing another entry in our occasional series on large adult fail sons of the Middle Ages. Last time, we discussed Charlemagne, one of the most important rulers of all-time, his legacy, and his Carolingian Empire. however, the Carolingian Empire would only survive its founder by about 80 years thanks to the attempted coups, early deaths

folks, we're back and it's high time we talked about good ol' Karl the Great. no, not Marx, the Medieval Karl the Great, Charlemagne. though he's one of the most important figures in world history, we haven't ever done an episode dedicated to him, so we decided to remedy that. we talk about his early life, his rise to power, his military victories, his massive cultural interests, h

folks, we're back and we've got Paul Bavill, co-host of the History Rage podcast, to talk with us about dueling, trials by combat, honor, and demands for satisfaction. we discuss why duels and trials by combat were actually fought, what the difference is between honor and reputation, and even some of the most interesting duels in history. check it out and check out Paul's work on H

folks, we're back and it's time to talk about saints. tho we have often touched on the lives of various saints, we've never really talked through the whole process of canonization and how it changed quite drastically during the Middle Ages as the Catholic Church began to consolidate and centralize its power in Europe. we also talk about the types of miracles needed to become a sain

folks, you've been asking when we're doing a review of Ridley Scott's 2023 film, Napoleon, and it's finally here but with a twist! instead of just doing an entire review episode for a movie that came out a few months ago and isn't even Medieval, we decided to make it a bit more on brand. so we spend the first half talking about Scott's frankly baffling film and then spend the secon

folks, we're always thinking about falling civilizations, aren't we? whether it's the old civilizations that fell long ago or fretting over when our current empires will fall, it's often on our minds. and that's why we brought on Dr. Paul M.M. Cooper, host of the Fall of Civilizations podcast and the author of the recently-released book, Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness

folks, we're closing out our series on Weird Medieval shit with a few quick hitters of weirdness that we haven't gotten to yet. so we bounce around to a few of them before ending it where the Middle Ages probably ended: the Fall of Constantinople. we talk about Joan of Arc, our beloved Holy Roman Empire, Angkor Wat, the rise of Islam as a world religion, and, finally, the broken Th