Our Fake History

Eleanor of Aquitaine has been called the "Queen of the Troubadours" by fawning biographers. She has been credited with transforming medieval European culture through her patronage of the arts. It's also been written that she presided over elaborate "Courts of Love" where she made rulings on matters of the heart. However, this image of Eleanor may just be another aspect of the so-called "Golden Myt...

When the King and Queen of France went on crusade in 1147 it nearly destroyed their marriage. The campaign led by King Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine was an unmitigated disaster. But despite (or perhaps because of) it's failure the Second Crusade would remain a potent part of Eleanor's legend. It was rumored that she dressed like an Amazonian Queen and carried on affairs with everyone from the...

Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of the best remembered medieval Queens. She has been celebrated as one of the most daring and consequential women of her age. But despite her fame Eleanor is often misunderstood. Some writers have sullied Eleanor’s historical reputation by spreading scandalous rumours about the Queen. Other writers, in an attempt to revive her reputation, have overcorrected and have pre...

The 30 Years War has reputation among history buffs as one of the most complicated conflicts you can study. Even though the war is filled with fantastic stories, it can sometimes scare away history podcasters (like Sebastian). The complexity of the war makes it difficult to break down simply and clearly. Luckily, in this episode Sebastian is joined by the one podcaster who has managed to bring the...

There are three main culprits in the alleged burning of the Great Library of Alexandria. But weirdly they all lived roughly 300 years apart from one another. How is that even possible? It’s weird anomalies like this that complicate the history of the Great Library. Many have written poetically about the dramatic burning of this ancient institution, but is this cataclysm just an elaborate myth? Tun...

The Egyptian city of Alexandria was once the most magnificent city on the Mediterranean. It was a city of wonders, whose culture was the envy of the Greek world. Tragically many of Alexandria's ancient treasures have been lost to time. Of all of these lost wonders none has been more deeply mourned than the Great Library of Alexandria. For generations people have lamented the day that the Library w...

In this throwback episode Sebastian takes a look back at a show that explores one of the greatest legends in 20th century popular music. Did the legendary blues musician, Robert Johnson, really trade his immortal soul for superhuman musical talent? In the newly recorded intro, Sebastian shares one of the wildest pieces of listener mail he ever received--- a weird and spooky tale of a listener sear...

In this OFH Throwback episode Sebastian takes a look at one of the most fun and accessible episodes in the OFH catalog. The world of food and drink is filled with colourful mythology. How much should we believe about the origin stories of our favourite foods? Could this be the best episode to recommend to someone who thinks they don't like history shows? Tune-in and find out how all night gambling...

In this throwback episode we take a look at an episode Sebastian thinks may have been the best "one-off" show created over the podcast's six seasons. Take a listen to how the host thinks this one has held up. Is this oddball episode about a German fairy tale secretly the best place to start listening to OFH? Tune-in and find out how perfect band names, a breadcrumb trail, and non-stop boogying all...

In this throwback episode Sebastian revisits "Part II" in the Season One series on the conquest of Mexico. In the freshly recorded introduction the host reflects on criticisms that this episode first received when it was originally published in 2015. Do you think Sebastian goes too hard on Cortes and the conquistadors? Tune-in and find out how far-out flute concerts, the Wizard of Oz, and a creep...

In this throwback episode Sebastian revisits a series from Season One of OFH. After the shows on Jared Diamond it seemed like a good time to take another look at the conquest of Mexico. This was also the first time "Ancient Aliens" came up on the show. Tune-in and find out how regrets about pacing, scallywags, and Christopher Walken all play a role in the story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19...

Season 6 wraps up with Sebastian taking questions from the listeners! He gets into everything from the name of the podcast, to his most loved shows, to the nature of humanity itself. Tune-in and find out how obscure Canadian playwrights, stubborn Stratfordians, and a "wombly child" all play a role in the story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https:...

Is Jared Diamond's 1997 bestseller a work of staggering genius, or a piece of intellectual garbage? Has it moved our understanding of humanity forward, or has it set us back by decades? Are these binary choices ridiculously limiting? Totally! In this episode Sebastian does his best to parse the good ideas from Guns, Germs, and Steel, while also engaging with some of the best and most memorable cri...

When Sebastian first read Jared Diamond's Pulitzer Prize winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel as an undergrad, he thought it was brilliant. That was until a Professor he deeply respected, dismissed it as being little better than the Da Vinci Code. It turns out that while the 1997 bestseller earned many high profile plaudits, it also spawned legions of of critics. What's in this book that has inspir...

Every spring thaw between 1812 and 1814 seemed to inaugurate a completely new war in North America. The momentum in the War of 1812 would swing wildly between the Americans and British until the two sides eventually hammered out a peace in 1814. Before the war was over the Niagara frontier would be desolated, York and Washington would both be ravaged by fire, and thousands would be dead. The war a...

When Sebastian first learned about the War of 1812 when he was a Canadian middle-schooler, there were two words he was told he had to remember of the test: manifest destiny. Back then it was heavily implied that this nefarious ideology was the most important cause of the war. Since then historians have largely dismissed this interpretation. But, that is just the start of misconceptions about this...

American historians sometimes refer to War of 1812 as the "Forgotten War", but this has never really sat well with Canadians. You know who has not forgotten about the War of 1812? Canada, that's who! In the Anglo-Canadian historical imagination the War of 1812 looms large. Canadians (and especially Ontarians) learn that 1812 was a hard won Canadian victory against American aggression. But, it turn...

Ethiopia's history is nothing short of remarkable. The East African nation is home to one of the worlds oldest Christian traditions. For centuries the country was ruled by a line of kings who claimed to be descended from the biblical King Solomon. They also claimed to be the caretakers of the long lost Ark of the Covenant. However, Ethiopian archaeology and other historical sources can sometimes c...

The Ark of the Covenant is one of the most fascinating objects mentioned in the Old Testament. The ancient Israelites believed the Ark held a divine power that made them unstoppable on the battlefield. When Solomon's temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587BC, most assumed the Ark was lost. That is, except the Ethiopians. According to many pious Ethiopian Christians, the Ark was...

The search for a historical Gilgamesh is filled with red herrings. As Mesopotamia's best loved epic hero, images of Gilgamesh are littered throughout the ruins of the ancient cities of the Tigris and Euphrates. Ancient documents produced by Kings looking to bolster their image would claim that Gilgamesh was their "friend and brother". But despite these bits of historical misdirection, there is som...

The oldest known piece of literature on the planet is the epic tale of Gilgamesh, king of the Mesopotamian city-state of Uruk. The story was a staple of middle-eastern storytelling for well over a thousand years. However, after the destruction of Assyrian city of Nineveh in the 600's BC, key manuscripts were lost and the tale faded from memory. When the story was rediscovered in the 1870's, by an...

There are few Christian saints more misunderstood than St. Patrick. Ireland's patron saint is best known for driving the snakes off the island, but that isn't even close to the most interesting thing about him. Both the legend of St. Patrick and the details of his real life have been poorly remembered. Driving the snakes out of Ireland is nothing compared to the wizard duels described in the medie...

In 1611 a the Hungarian Countess, Elizabeth Bathory, was confined to her castle of Cachtice, never to leave again. This sentence was imposed on her by the Lord Palatine of Hungary. But strangely, even though Bathory had been accused of some truly heinous crimes, she was never formally charged, or given a proper trial. If she was so clearly guilty, then why was she denied due process? Elizabeth's c...

Throw the name Elizabeth Bathory into your favourite search engine and you will quickly find superlatives like “history’s most prolific female serial killer” and leading questions like “Was Dracula Woman?” She is a figure with a reputation so terrifying that her name has been endorsed by Black Metal bands as a suitably evil band name. In 1611 the Hungarian Countess was imprisoned for allegedly tor...

In episode #125 a historical myth about the origins of karate snuck past Sebastian! In this bonus episode the host does his darndest to set the record straight. Many thanks to listener Philipp Surkov for pointing out the error and recommending sources. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.