We're Not So Different WNSD Pod

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.

folks, we're always thinking about falling civilizations, aren't we? whether it's the old civilizations that fell long ago or fretting over when our current empires will fall, it's often on our minds. and that's why we brought on Dr. Paul M.M. Cooper, host of the Fall of Civilizations podcast and the author of the recently-released book, Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline. we talk with Paul about why ruins are so fascinating, what we can learn from the fall civs of the past, what misconceptions people have about them, and what they mean for the future falls of our own civilizations. it's great, check it out!

folks, we're closing out our series on Weird Medieval shit with a few quick hitters of weirdness that we haven't gotten to yet. so we bounce around to a few of them before ending it where the Middle Ages probably ended: the Fall of Constantinople. we talk about Joan of Arc, our beloved Holy Roman Empire, Angkor Wat, the rise of Islam as a world religion, and, finally, the broken Theodosian Walls and the end of an era.