Fortune's Wheel: A Podcast History of Our Medieval Story

SEASON 6 FINALE!!! Dilexi iustitiam et odivi iniquitatem, propterea morior in exilio . I hope you are sitting down for this one. I have one more bit of news to share with you all. The question is…how will the Countess take the news? SEASON 6 : The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 144: An Example For All Members-Only Series on Patreon: For only a dollar per month, you can hear multiple varying stories...

Hic Terror Mundi, Guiscardo . It’s one of the most powerful epitaphs in world history. SEASON 6 : The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 143: Hic Terror Mundi, Guiscardo Members-Only Series on Patreon: For only a dollar per month, you can hear multiple varying stories and storylines so far through the 11th century, including but not limited to the creation of the Kingdom of Poland, what’s happening on...

One of the most devastating events in the Middle Ages occurs on this episode. The fact that it isn’t talked about more is, frankly, criminal. And of all of our protagonists and antagonists in this season of the podcast, you may be surprised who it affects the most.  SEASON 6 : The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 142: The Norman Sack of Rome Members-Only Series on Patreon: For only a dollar per month...

Pope Gregory VII is stuck in Rome awaiting his knight in shining armor, Duke Robert Guiscard, who just returned to quell the uprisings in Apulia and Calabria. Henry IV is within reach of his life’s ambition, and Emperor Alexios is broken but not finished. And there is one place that is at the center of it all: Castel Sant’Angelo. SEASON 6 : The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 141: Castel Sant-Angelo...

Robert Guiscard returns to Apulia, Count Roger deals with his own issues back in Sicily, and Pope Gregory VII is driven into hiding. The period of 1082 - 1084 is a rollercoaster. SEASON 6 : The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 140: Unbathed & Unshaven Members-Only Series on Patreon: For only a dollar per month, you can hear multiple varying stories and storylines so far through the 11th century,...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 139: Henry IV Wants More Than Some Kingdoms Call this one a historical pit stop. In the whirlwind of 1081, a few crucial threads got lost in the chaos—and that’s on me. This addendum episode fills in the missing pieces, offering key context that deepens everything we’ve been covering. Because let’s face it: history isn’t neat, and it sure as hell isn’t l...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 138: Aftermath of Durazzo Emperor Alexios I Komnenos is wounded, his army shattered, and the road to Constantinople lies wide open. The Battle of Durazzo didn’t just end in defeat—it exploded into chaos. In this episode, we follow Alexios in the desperate, bloody aftermath: wounded, hunted, and clinging to survival. Does the emperor escape? Or does the N...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 137: The Battle of Durazzo, 1081 It all comes to a head at Durazzo. Alexios Komnenos and Robert Guiscard face off in a clash that could decide the fate of Eastern Rome. For Guiscard, Durazzo is the key to the empire’s front door; for Alexios, it’s the last lock holding the West at bay. This isn’t just a battle—it’s a test of ambition, endurance, and shee...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 136: The Adriatic At War Spring, summer, and fall of 1081—it's a whirlwind on both sides of the Adriatic. While Robert Guiscard sharpens his blade and tests the defenses of Eastern Rome, Alexios Komnenos races to hold together a collapsing empire. Meanwhile, alliances shift, cities burn, fleets sail, and popes pray for more than just divine intervent...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 135: Arrival of the...Venetians? Norman versus Eastern Roman. Robert Guiscard versus Alexios Komnenos. The war for the fate of the Balkans ignites—but just as the Old Fox prepares for a clean sweep, a new player sails into view: the Venetians. Wealthy, well-armed, and annoyingly loyal to Byzantium (for now), they throw a gilded wrench into Guiscard’s inv...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 134: The Fall of Corfu Sure, Robert Guiscard  said  he was just helping out a sad ex-emperor who wandered into his court with a sob story and a fake crown. But let’s be honest—that was just Norman theater. In this episode, we dig into the  real  reasons behind Guiscard’s audacious invasion of the Balkans. Prestige, papal politics, Byzantine chaos, and a...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 133 : The Winter of Their Discontent Schemes, preparations, and solidifications…oh my! We’re back in the West, knee-deep in papal maneuverings and vassal gamesmanship. After a brief Eastern detour, this chapter sets the stage for something massive. The gears of European power are grinding into motion, and our favorite schemer, Duke Robert “the Old Fox,”...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: The Book of Alexios: Chapter 6 (will published at a later date) EPISODE 132: April 4, 1081 This is the moment everything changes. In this episode, young Alexios Komnenos storms the gates of Constantinople—not as a defender, but as a contender. With allies at his back and betrayal in the air, he makes his play for the purple. The empire is bleeding, t...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: The Book of Alexios: Chapter 5 (whole series will be published later) EPISODE 131: Cheese Week Before the empire crowned a Komnenos, it celebrated Cheese Week—yes,  that  Cheese Week. This episode takes a detour into the rich and frankly delicious traditions of pre-Lenten Constantinople, where fasting, feasting, and politics made strange bedfellows....

Ever wonder where we get phrases like “the writing on the wall”? We kick this episode off with a look at the origins of some of our favorite doom-laden idioms—then we drop straight into the chaos of Byzantium. Emperor Nikephoros III is watching his empire disintegrate faster than his advisors can light incense. Two rebellions down, a Norman breakaway state still kicking, and his golden boy general...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: The Book of Alexios: Chapter 2 (whole series will be published later) EPISODE: 129: Bryennios's Rebellion The throne may be gold, but it’s sitting on a powder keg. In this episode, Nikephoros III Botaneiates makes his debut as emperor, dealing with the fallout of the 1078 Bread Riots and facing down his first of many coups. Spoiler alert: it won’...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: Pope Gregory VII & Matilda of Canossa EPISODE 128: Some People Just Don't Know When to Go Away Some people just don’t know when to quit—kingdoms, popes, emperors… and definitely kings named Henry. In this episode, we spotlight two historical heavyweights who refused to back down, even as the world shifted under their feet. One of them is a de...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: Pope Gregory VII & Matilda of Canossa EPISODE 127: The Walk to Canossa To  “take a walk to Canossa”  means to eat a double helping of humble pie—barefoot, in the snow, while your enemies watch. But where did this brutal phrase come from? This episode tells that story. If there were a Top 5 list of the most iconic, world-shaking moments of the ent...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 126: Meanwhile...In the Mezzogiorno While Gregory VII was busy fanning the flames of war up north, the Southern Normans were causing their own brand of chaos in Italy and Sicily. This episode takes a breather from the pope-vs-king drama to check in on the ever-scheming Hautevilles—because you just know they couldn’t sit still while Europe burned. Don’t w...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: Pope Gregory VII & Matilda of Canossa EPISODE 125: False Monk They called him a  false monk —and that was putting it mildly. In the wake of Gregory VII’s  Dictatus Papae , the gloves come off: excommunications fly, thrones wobble, and tempers turn deadly. King Henry IV’s furious letter labels the pope a fraud, and the showdown between crown and c...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: Pope Gregory VII & Matilda of Canossa EPISODE 124: Dictatus Papae This podcast loves historical documents—and when one comes along that reshapes Europe, you bet we’re diving in. Pope Gregory VII’s pen is mightier than most armies, and the document at the center of this episode is about to ignite a firestorm in both Church and state. Buckle up—Eur...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: Pope Gregory VII & Matilda of Canossa EPISODE 123: The Holy Satan's First Year, Pt. 2 We wrap up the first chaotic year of Pope Gregory VII—a man Peter Damian famously dubbed  “the Holy Satan”  for clawing his way to the top with a monk’s robes and a Machiavellian mind. This episode is a front-row seat to the holy manipulation, ruthless strat...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: Pope Gregory VII & Matilda of Canossa EPISODE 122: The Holy Satan's First Year, Pt. 1 From Hildebrand to Gregory VII—what Peter Damian lovingly (or not-so-lovingly) dubbed  “The Holy Satan” —our firebrand pope is about to dive headfirst into the chaos of reform, rebellion, and royal resistance. Matilda of Canossa, for better or worse, has pic...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest Miniseries: Pope Gregory VII & Matilda of Canossa EPISODE 121: The Firebrand & the Reluctant Wife A man who couldn’t be stopped. A woman who refused to bend.  The Firebrand & the Reluctant Wife  tells the origin story of two titans of 11th-century Italy: Hildebrand—soon to be Gregory VII—and young Matilda of Canossa, whose forced marriage lit a fuse...

SEASON 6: The Other Norman Conquest EPISODE 120: Two Brothers, Two Paths After the dust settles in Palermo, the Hauteville brothers begin to drift apart—quietly, without ceremony. History is rarely tidy. Just as most of Christendom barely blinked at the East-West Schism of 1054, the Hautevilles likely had no idea they were living through a turning point. No grand declarations, no dramatic exits—ju...