We're Not So Different

happy 2023! we're back with part 4 of our series on heresies against the medieval church. this time we talk about Free Spirits, Beguines, and Templars before moving onto the Antipopes, the Avignon Papacy, and the Black Death breaking everyone's brains, as you might expect.

this week, we're taking a little break for Christmas and New Years so we're just reposting the holiday episode we recorded in 2021 for you to enjoy. it's about the origins of Christmas and its relationship to the pagan holiday, Saturnalia. enjoy!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor continue their series on Medieval heresies against the Church by moving into the late 12th and early 13th centuries. We talk about Peter Abelard, Henricians, Cathars, whatever a Cagot is, and a bunch of political endeavors for land, money, or power dressed up as "crusades" against heretical Christians. enjoy!by way of reminder, no new episode next week because of...

In this episode, Luke and Eleanor continue their series on heresies by discussing the early Middle Ages. we talk about Iconoclasm and how it was received differently in the East and the West, the Bogomils, and then talk about the Great Schism that permanently broke the idea of a united Christendom. Also: somehow, the HRE returned

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor begin a series on the heresies and schisms that faced the Catholic Church throughout late Antiquity and the Middle Ages leading up to the Reformation and Counter-Reformations. the first episode focuses mostly on the very early heretics like Arius and Nestorius as well as the first 4 or so Ecumenical Councils

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor are joined by Matt Christman, co-host of Chapo Trap House, to discuss his new podcast series, Hell on Earth, which is about the Thirty Years War and the rise of Capitalism. we talk about what we can still learn from the war, how it informs our current material circumstances, how it created the circumstances that allow Capitalism to become predominant, and we of co...

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor are joined by game designer Josh Sawyer to talk about his new video game, Pentiment. we discuss the late Medieval setting, the amazing soundtrack, and the inspirations that went into making the game. check it out!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor go back to an old patron question and talk in-depth about various medieval systems of measurement. we discuss how they didn't really have concepts of minutes and seconds, how many gallons are in a hogshead, whether the foot was a measurement of the king's foot size and more!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor begin by talking about the latest nonsense going on with Twitter with Elon Musk purchasing it and the discourse about verification and then use this as a jumping off point to discuss sources, source survival, and biases in medieval sources. it's a lot of fun, check it out

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor finish up their trio of spoooooky season episodes by discussing medeival conceptions of death and how they viewed the soul. we also discuss All Saints Day and All Souls Day and figure out what that's all about. enjoy!

Luke and Eleanor are back to discuss more spooooooky medieval occurrences. this time it's the real scary shit: monsters, demons, revenant dead, and other such vile creatures. We talk about Succubi, gremlins, whether Godzilla has a conscience, and more! enjoy!

in celebration of this spoooooky season, Luke and Eleanor dig into the history of ghosts and spirits in Medieval life. what were they like? what did they do? and so on and so forth

Luke and Eleanor are back to finish up their short series on the Holy Roman Empire, this time focusing on the Thirty Years War and the demise of the HRE. we talk about its thoroughly medieval structure, why Catholicism couldn't unite to stamp out Protestantism, Gustavus Adolphus, and more!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor continue their short series on the Holy Roman Empire with part 3, this time focusing on the Habsburgs and the Reformation. we talk about Charles V, the Habsburg jaw, imperial circles, and more! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Luke and Eleanor dive deeper into the Holy Roman Empire, tracking its history through the High Middle Ages with the Hohenstaufens, the Luxembourgs, an Interregnum, some stuff about the Crusades, whatever the hell a Landfrieden is, and more! check it out and enjoy!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor start a short series on everyone's favorite medieval oddity: The Holy Roman Empire. we talk about how it started and rose to power, start to introduce you to its interesting setup, and talk a bit about investiture. check it out! also, here's a link to that paper on Moravian forest management Eleanor mentioned: https://t.co/kJlIJnKtq8

a little late due to some technical issues from recording but we're back! Luke and Eleanor talk with special guest Florence H R Scott about the death of Queen Elizabeth II and how the deaths and coronations of monarchs were handled in the Middle Ages. Check our Florence's substack if you're interested: https://florencehrs.substack.com/ some of the episode had to be re-recorded so if the back end s...

Luke and Eleanor are back to finish up this short series on medievalism in video games. we talk about The Witcher, Assassin's Creed, Elden Ring, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Skyrim, and more! enjoy!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor finally get to one of the most requested topics: video games! we start by talking a good deal about Crusader Kings 3 before moving on to other strategy games with Medieval components like Age of Empires, the Total War series, and Sid Meier's Civilization games. next time, we will cover more games that are set in or heavily borrow from the Middle Ages like Assassin...

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor discuss what it was like for Medieval pilgrims heading to the three holiest sites in Christendom: Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela. we talk about why they were so holy, what pilgrims went to see, what they could expect and more!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor go through and answer some questions from patrons that we haven't gotten to yet! we talk about everything from medieval siege engine usage, the Fens of East Anglia, an Elden Ring meme, and much more! it's a lot of fun and we'll hopefully do more in the future!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor use those weird momlife webcomics (you know, the peach milkshake lady who hates her husband) as an excuse to talk about the division of parenting and domestic labor responsibilities in the Middle Ages. we talk about women's work, men's work, broad-shouldered peasant women, and more!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor take a look at books and shows like Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon using the excuse of medieval settings to justify pervasive sexual violence against women. we talk about why that's hogwash both from a historical perspective and from a literary one, check it out!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor discuss Genoa and Venice, their longstanding rivalry, the rise and fall of each, and more! but mostly it's just slander Genoa for not ever beating their rival, Venice, at least until the present day when Genoa is much larger and not sinking into the sea.

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor continue talking about Medieval cities and this time it's the powerful Italian city-states of Florence and Pisa. we see how these two rose and fell during the Middle Ages and Renaissance and eventually became beautiful, sleepy tourist spots in a united Italy.