We're Not So Different WNSD Pod

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!

folks, you've been asking when we're doing a review of Ridley Scott's 2023 film, Napoleon, and it's finally here but with a twist! instead of just doing an entire review episode for a movie that came out a few months ago and isn't even Medieval, we decided to make it a bit more on brand. so we spend the first half talking about Scott's frankly baffling film and then spend the second half talking about what it actually meant in practice for Napoleon to "smash feudalism" and to do away with all those pesky Medieval holdover institutions like serfdom and the Holy Roman Empire. and we brought on Everett Rummage of the amazing Age of Napoleon podcast to discuss it all with us.