We're Not So Different

folks, we're back with part three of our series on the Norman Conquest and English Anarchy where we finish up the rest of 1066 and see William the Conqueror crowned. then we turn to William's rule of England, which was mostly absenteeism except when he was responding to the numerous but sporadic and disconnected rebellions with extreme force. we'll see all the rebellions fail, even the Revolt of the Earls, and watch as the Norman yoke fully descends on England once and for all. finally, William dies and, perhaps unsurprisingly, there's a contested succession between his two sons, Rufus and Robert.

note: yes, there is echo on Eleanor's audio because she is travelling and the only place where she could record had tall ceilings and thus an echo. this also caused some weird feedback on Luke's track too. we have done our best to minimize it, so please just bear with us.folks, we're back with part 2 of our series on the Norman Conquest and English Anarchy. last time, we introduced you to pre-Norman England and the Norman themselves as we worked our way up to 1066 CE. but now it's time for conquest! four claimants threw their names in the ring after Edward the Confessor's death in January 1066 and they would fight it out to see who would rule England. or at least they will fight it out but only after waiting for about nine months before making any offensive moves against the island. but once the party starts, England will be invaded by Norse and Danish Vikings, warriors from Orkney, perfidious Frenchmen, Bretons, and, of course, Normans. so join us as we watch William of Normandy become the Conqueror and find out why his conquest almost failed and he wasn't accepted even after his victory at the Battle of Hastings.

folks, we're back with a new series, this one covering the Norman Conquest of England and then the Anarchy that followed about seventy years later. we were originally just going to do the Anarchy but decided to do the Conquest as well because it's kind of a big deal. this episode serves as an introduction to pre-Norman England and the Normans themselves. we talk about prehistoric England, Roman Britain, the Heptarchy, Christianization of the island, Viking invasions, and more. then we turn to discuss how the warlike Normans came to dominate the northwestern part of modern-day France, all leading up to the reign of a bastard named William.

folks, we're back with another patron mailbag episode, as promised. in this one, we answer a bunch of questions ranging from the justifications for predestination, usage of the term "Anglo-Saxon," the culture shock of being a Chinese visitor in Medieval Europe, historical murder rates, and whether Neo-Feudalism is actually a thing or not. check it out, it's a lot of fun and if you want to submit your own, just sign up.audio note: if you hear a slight buzzing behind Eleanor's audio, that is because she needed to have a fan on in the background during the heat wave. We've done what we can to minimize it but it is what it is. enjoy the show!

folks, it's time for another mailbag episode to answer some of our backlog of patron questions! in fact, this is the first of two mailbags we're doing in a row, so there's more to look forward to next week. this time, we answer questions on investigating forged Medieval documents, Medieval views on allergies, whether an ironing board would make a good early Medieval shield, a bit about the Euros, and then one on whether the upper crust of society really believed in Christianity. it's fun, check it out!

folks, we're back and this time, we're going to the Early Modern period to discuss the Galileo Affair. an odd, 23-year-long saga that saw the Catholic Church and Galileo Galilee go head-to-head over heliocentrism in the early 1600s. this is the moment when the modern views of religion and science as implacable enemies and the Church as this pervasive group of thought police are truly born. this is the time when the Church censored real scientific discovery in the name of preserving the status quo and when they began insisting on biblical inerrancy as a doctrine. in short, it's when the modern misconceptions of the Medieval Church comes into being but it happens in the Early Modern period. so how and why did it get retroactively applied to the Middle Ages? let's find out!

folks, we're back and we're talking once again doing another entry in our occasional series on large adult fail sons of the Middle Ages. Last time, we discussed Charlemagne, one of the most important rulers of all-time, his legacy, and his Carolingian Empire. however, the Carolingian Empire would only survive its founder by about 80 years thanks to the attempted coups, early deaths, and tragic misrule of Charlemagne's four sons: Pepin, Charles the Younger, Pepin of Italy, and Louis the Pious. so let's take a look at how it all went so wrong for Charlemagne's territorial and imperial legacy

folks, we're back and it's high time we talked about good ol' Karl the Great. no, not Marx, the Medieval Karl the Great, Charlemagne. though he's one of the most important figures in world history, we haven't ever done an episode dedicated to him, so we decided to remedy that. we talk about his early life, his rise to power, his military victories, his massive cultural interests, how he ruled over the only fully "feudal" society (as we understand that word today) in history, and the historiographical battles over legacy. however, if you're just a huge Charlemagne hater, that's ok too, because next week we're going to talk about how his vaunted and much renowned Carolingian Empire only survived his death by about 70 years than to Karl's 4 incompetent fail sons.

folks, we're back and we've got Paul Bavill, co-host of the History Rage podcast, to talk with us about dueling, trials by combat, honor, and demands for satisfaction. we discuss why duels and trials by combat were actually fought, what the difference is between honor and reputation, and even some of the most interesting duels in history. check it out and check out Paul's work on History Rage to hear more from him.

folks, we're back and it's time to talk about saints. tho we have often touched on the lives of various saints, we've never really talked through the whole process of canonization and how it changed quite drastically during the Middle Ages as the Catholic Church began to consolidate and centralize its power in Europe. we also talk about the types of miracles needed to become a saint and how those are investigated. finally, we take a look at a few of the more popular Medieval saints: St. Louis, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Afra of Augsburg, and the martyred saints of Cordoba. enjoy!