Tides of History

The reign of Suleiman the Magnificent was the high point of the Ottoman Empire, but for centuries, it has also been pegged as the beginning of the empire's long, slow decline into irrelevance. Is this true? Was Suleiman's reign simultaneously the best of times and the beginning of the end? Support us by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy...

Suleiman the Magnificent ruled the Ottoman Empire for forty-six years. During that time, his armies fought everywhere from Iran to Vienna. His navies touched Indonesia and the Straits of Gibraltar. Under his reign, the Ottoman Empire reached its glorious peak. Support us by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/p...

Leah returns to chat with Patrick about one of their favorite topics - pirates. It wouldn't be a Leah episode if we didn't range widely, so we also chat about essays and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Support us by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

The Muslim world was a vast and diverse place, home to a variety of traditions and schools of thought. The Safavids began as a brotherhood of Sufi mystics, but soon transformed themselves from a religious order to the seeds of a powerful extremist state in Iran under the leadership of a teenaged prodigy, Shah Ismail I. A clash with the Ottomans and Selim the Grim was inevitable. Support us by supp...

While the Ottoman Empire spent most of its early history expanding into Christian Europe, it also faced east, toward the vast, wealthy, and dynamic Muslim world. As the Ottomans grew in prestige and power, a clash with the Mamluks of Egypt for supremacy became inevitable. Support us by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https:/...

The Pilgrims and the Puritans dominate our understanding not just of early New England, but also early America and the entire future course of American history. Yet their success and long-term influence weren't foreordained, and they weren't inevitable. Peter Mancall, Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford and Mellon Professor of the Humanities at USC, joins us to talk about his new bo...

Mehmet the Conqueror captured Constantinople for the Ottoman Empire in 1453 and ended the thousand-year reign of the Byzantine Empire after an epic siege, but he was far from done. For the next three decades, Mehmet led Ottoman armies against Serbs, Hungarians, Venetians, Wallachians, and Turkoman tribesmen, expanding his empire and drenching two continents in blood and war. Support us by supporti...

What was it like to be on the cutting edge of the Age of Exploration, and what made these enormous leaps possible? To answer those questions, we follow the life of a composite character, a Portuguese sailor named Pedro, on his journeys to the coast of Africa and then India beyond. Support this show by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy N...

What brought the son of a German shoemaker to a blood-soaked English field in June, 1487? In today's episode, we follow the life of a composite character, Hans, an artisan-turned mercenary, on his journey from Augsburg to Stoke Field and try to understand how the currents of the late Middle Ages made his life possible. Support this show by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art...

Leah declared mutiny and there was a small defenestration from the 8th Floor Wondery Studio as she took full creative control of Tides of History. Well, not quite, but she did control the interview. Patrick Wyman guests today to talk about his upcoming book, The Crunch ! Support this show by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at h...

What was it like to be a regular person in the late Middle Ages? We follow the life of a composite character, a brewer in London named Margaret, through her family, work, and marriage. She was a product of her time, everything from the Black Death to shifting expectations of work and gender, and she's a great window onto a period of upheaval and change. Support our show by supporting our sponsors!...

Leah is back on the show today to discuss The King on Netflix starring Timothee Chalamet as King Henry V, our favorite Sadboi King, as he becomes the greatest king England's ever seen. Overall, we liked it! And if you need something that everyone in your family can agree on, it's that Robert Pattinson is doing something, we aren't sure what, but a definite thing as the Dauphin. Watch it here . Tha...

Popular historian Roger Crowley returns to the show to discuss his new book, The Accursed Tower: The Fall of Acre and the End of the Crusades , which covers the last great siege of the Crusades at the city of Acre. It's a really fun read, I highly recommend it, and you can get it here . Support this show by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Pri...

Was history destined to happen as it did? That's what counterfactuals - alternative scenarios of how things might have gone - are useful for answering. In this episode, we apply them to the Protestant Reformation, one of the key processes of the past millennium. Tides is supported by our friends at Parcast. If you love myths as much as we do, you'll love their series Mythology. Check it out. See P...

The medieval economy underwent a profound transformation, becoming ever more commercialized and monetized. Merchants helped drive that change, moving goods from place to place and profiting on the returns. Today, we meet some of them: an Italian named Francesco Datini, one of the richest men in Europe, and the Cely family of English wool merchants. Support this show by supporting our sponsors! See...

Religious freedom is a core value of the modern West, but how did it emerge, and why does it matter? Economic historian Mark Koyama, of George Mason University, joins me to discuss his recent book (co-authored with Noel Johnson), Persecution and Toleration: The Long Road to Religious Freedom. Check out the book here , and follow Professor Koyama on Twitter @MarkKoyama. Support this show by support...

The roots of the modern economy, based on markets, money, and exchange, lie deep in the Middle Ages. The Commercial Revolution remade the European economy, paving the way for the explosive growth that followed centuries later. Support this show by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info...

Venice was a commercial hub, the hinge of the medieval economy, but it was also the center of a remarkable empire that spanned the sea lanes and trade routes of the Mediterranean. The Venetian Empire was an odd beast, beset on all sides by more powerful neighbors, but it survived for centuries thanks to Venice's unique combination of wealth and stability. Support our show by supporting our sponsor...

Here's the rest of our conversation with historian and bestselling author Dan Jones. In Part 1, which you should absolutely listen to if you haven't already, we covered the Crusades in general; this time out, we discuss some of Dan's favorite crusaders, the most fascinating figures from four centuries of holy war. You can support this show by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://...

Alone among the world's regions, western Europe only had one major, long-lived imperial experience: that of Rome. When it fell, nothing like it ever returned again. According to Stanford's Professor Walter Scheidel, that fact had enormous consequences for the long-term development of Europe, and was a necessary precursor to the rise of modernity. Check out Professor Scheidel's new book, Escape Fro...

When it comes to medieval and early modern economic history it is important to understand guilds, how they functioned, and their effects on society. Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie joins me to talk about guilds and her most recent book,  The European Guilds: An Economic Analysis . Find Professor Ogilvie’s book here:  https://www.amazon.com/European-Guilds-Economic-Analysis-Princeton/dp/069113...

The Crusades defined the Middle Ages and left a long legacy behind them. We chat with Dan Jones, author of the upcoming book Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Land , about why this long series of conflicts mattered so much to medieval people and why they're still important today. Get Dan's book here . Support this show by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://ar...

There’s an interesting history when it comes to books, printing, and the Reformation, all tied together through new technology and business. Professor Andrew Pettegree joins me to talk about all of this and more, as well as his new book,  The Bookshop of the World: Making and Trading Books in the Dutch Golden Age . Support this show by supporting our sponsors! Support us by supporting our spo...

A swampy lagoon on the Adriatic coast of Italy was not a promising place for a city, but Venice grew from a collection of huts on spits of land to a glittering center of commerce and the heart of a maritime empire. Today, we explore the beginnings and rise of this fascinating city from late antiquity to the Black Death. Support us by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com...

Boxing has a long past, one deeply connected to race, labor, and broader developments in American history. Professor Louis Moore joins me to talk about those topics and about his outstanding book, I Fight For a Living: Boxing and the Battle for Black Manhood, 1880-1915. Find Professor Moore's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Living-Manhood-1880-1915-Society/dp/0252082877 Support us by suppo...