We're Not So Different

last time, we talked about two famous Medieval women, Hildegard of Bingen and Eleanor of Aquitaine. they were both titans in their own respects but there's a small issue with Eleanor's legacy and that's her 4 idiot failsons. while Eleanor's daughters were apparently quite proficient, her 4 sons who survived to adulthood, Henry the Young King, Richard, Geoffrey, and John, were all giants morons who...

in this one, we revisit our occasional series on the lives of prominent Medieval women as we discuss Hildegard of Bingen and Eleanor of Aquitaine. though they made their impacts felt in different ways, they were each monumentally important. Hildegard was a polymath who made her mark in the realms of religion, music, and science. Eleanor, meanwhile, was raised from birth to be in politics, ruled re...

we're back for another episode off Medieval what if scenarios. it's late, we all know it's late, it's fine. What if the Norman Invasion failed? What if Constantinople held out in 1453? What if Arthur Tudor, Henry VIII's older brother, hadn't died early? well, there's only one way to find out...

folks, today we move out of the realm of actual history and into the realm of alternative history as we take a look at some Medieval "what if..." scenarios. We go through a series of historical events, change one small detail, and see how things would've been different, if at all. What if the Moors won the Battle of Tours? What if the English won the Hundred Years War? What if the Chinese never di...

this time, we embark on another occasional series we're going to do from time-to-time going forward and this one is all about Medieval fail sons who squandered the fortunes, power, and goodwill engendered by their parents and were just general fuck-ups. Today, we're talking about the two fail sons of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV: Wenceslas IV, King of Germany and Bohemia and Sigismund, Holy Roman...

in this episode, we discuss the entertainment that you would see at a Medieval court: troubadours, dancers, jugglers, and, of course, jesters. we take a look at these professions, what their performances were like, how and why they were hired, and more. then we talk about the unique position held by medieval jesters and how it was a real thing and not just something fake you'd see in a fantasy nov...

we're back to talk about a huge facet of Medieval life: going to the market. what were they like? what was a market town? what could you buy there? who went to market? how were they run? were Medieval goth kids hanging out at the market like they do at the mall? we will discuss all of that plus the social and cultural functions that markets allowed for and more.

in this episode, we start an intermittently recurring series where we explore the lives and times of two famous Medieval women. and while these will usually be about women who lived and rose to prominence during the Middle Ages, we kinda had to start with two women from an earlier era who were nonetheless extremely important: Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. we talk about who they wer...

we are back and we're talking Medieval mining. we often discuss the elaborate jewels and metals used for ostentatious royal displays and the iron weapons shaped by blacksmiths for war but how does all that metal get out of the ground? who's doing the work to dig it out? what mining technology and methods were present during the Middle Ages? what does the Roman Empire have to do with all this? we w...

it's time for another mailbag episode from our backlog of questions from our patrons. since we usually answer one question an episode, we can't possibly get to all the questions, so we do these mailbags from time-to-time. in this one, we cover a wide range of topics from the Brother Cadfael mystery series to church debate structure to Medieval Switzerland to hair removal practices and even pirates...

we are back and this time we're doing a deep dive into Medieval wool production and how it undergirded the economies of much of Europe and turned places like England, Flanders, and the cities of the Hanseatic League into petro states for wool. we look at how it was produced, what it meant, why something so simple could come to predominate the continental economy and more!

So we finally come to the end of our series on the Wars of the Roses and technically the Hundred Years War too. We conclude both by discussing the Treaty of Picquigny, which ended the Hundred Years Wars after 138 years, then we move onto the death of Edward IV, the villainy of Richard III, Henry Tudor, Bosworth Field, and finally, the red and white Tudor rose to rule them all

better late than never, huh? we're back with part 4 of our series on The Wars of the Roses and this time it's the Yorkists turn to take full control and dash all their external enemies: Warwick the Kingmaker is killed, the Lancastrian royal line is extinguished, and they even broker a treaty with France to formally end the Hundred Years War. now if Edward could just get along with his brothers......

we're back with more wars and more roses. this time, the Yorkists finally take control of the conflict, depose the old king, and assume full regal power over the realm. they win some battles, the old king gets passed around like a royal hot potato, and Edward York finally makes good on his dad's play for the throne. of course, the Yorkists squander it due to petty infighting, broken marriage pacts...

we're back continuing the series on the Wars of the Roses and this time we take a look at the early years. we've got the seesaw battle between Lancastrians and Yorkists, the last flourishes of English chivalry, King Henry VI is captured repeatedly, two battles that last less than thirty minutes each, and we get everyone's favorite pitiful attempt to reinforce the status quo: Loveday. check it out!

we pick up right where we left off in our Hundred Years War series as we introduce the Wars of the Roses, the dynastic conflict that paved the way for England to become the globe-bestriding colossus we know and hate. we talk all about the Plantagenets, the Lancastrians, the Yorkists, and even a couple of Tudors. it's a lot of convoluted back stories and weird family trees but we have a lot of fun...

we're back with the final episode of our series on the Hundred Years War. we talk about the English dominance in the early stages of the Lancastrian period, including the crushing victory at Agincourt and taking over huge swaths of French territory, even Paris itself. but then we see the emergence of Joan of Arc and one of the most unlikely events in history: a teenage peasant girl helps lead the...

we're back and the Hundred Years War continues on, kinda. following the Truce at Leulinghem, there is a 26-year-long peace between England and France though it wasn't because their differences had been resolved, they just couldn't continue fighting each other at the time due to domestic troubles. in England, Richard II's incompetence and John of Gaunt's death lead to a coup that put Henry Bollingb...

we're back! well, the English had their fun and won some big victories and even took a ton of French land in the Treaty of Bretigny but then everything went pear-shaped for the English. they backed the wrong sides in proxy wars, pissed off the French nobles who sided with them, and lost a series of battles when the war resumed. Then both Edwards died and the hits just kept on coming.

we're back with another installment of our series on the Hundred Years War. this time, Luke and Eleanor discuss how the English from their backwater sheepfold were able to get huge wins during the early part of the war and how they somehow still managed to field armies large enough to do battle within five years of the Black Death.

we're back with more Hundred Years War action! Luke and Eleanor do a bit more introduction for the conflict, including longbow chat, then talk about the very early years of the war and how the English navy got its first big win in history. also there's even more insanely-Medieval proxy wars!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor finally begin a series on the Hundred Years War between France and England but before we can get into the war itself, there's a lot to be introduced. we breakdown the numerous, long-standing issues that led to war such as: multiple French dynastic crises, the overlapping nature of Medieval land holdings, the compounding crisis of the 14th century, the confusing cl...

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor look at the Medieval human body as the microcosm and the idea that a structural similarity exists between it and the macrocosm that is the universe. this touches on subjects from philosophy, to religion, to astrology, and even alchemy, so check it out! if you like our new show art, check out Jen who goes by @bowsnonk on twitter

in this one, Luke and Eleanor talk about how Medieval Christians viewed the cosmology and cosmogony of our universe. we discuss so many celestial spheres, how they retconned Aristotle's geocentric model to make it work with the Biblical universe, and why the Earth was the center of everything. enjoy!

we're talking maps, folks! Luke and Eleanor are here to talk all about humanity's long obsession with maps and cartography, the Medieval world maps known as Mappa Mundi, the stories they tell, and even where you might be able to find dragons or other scary sea monsters. enjoy!