The Great Schism- Episode 3: Game of Thrones in the Vatican
A teenaged boy inherits the Papacy and the keys to Rome, and begins a career of wild partying. John XII plays power games with dangerous military leaders, and attempts to backstab the most powerful warrior in Europe. The House...
The Great Schism- Episode 2: House of Theophylact
Historians have called this period the “pornocracy”. Find out why in this episode, when the powerful and ambitious women of the House of Theophylact take over Rome and control the Papacy. Sex, murder, blindings and treachery, it’s a wild...
The Great Schism: Episode 1- Emperors and Popes
In 1054 an event occurred that split the Christian world. It has never recovered. In this mini series, we dive into the world before the Great Schism, to understand the forces that created the institutions of the Church and...
4: Salem Witch Trials –Trial and Terror
“Devil’s marks would often be found ‘in their secretest parts, and therefore require diligent and careful search'”. The witch trials in Salem involved strip searching and inspecting the bodies of accused women for any detail that could be used...
3. Salem Witch Trials- The Panic Begins
“What is the name of your demon lover?” “How many years have you been a witch?” These were the types of questions hurled at people accused of witchcraft in a small town in New England. A group of young...
2. Salem Witch Trials- Burn the Witch!
“Innocent have I come into prison… innocent have I been tortured… innocent must I die. For whoever comes into the witch prison must …be tortured until he invents something out of his head.” These lines come from a letter...
1. Salem Witch Trials: The Devil in the Old World
“Witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable.” – from the Malleus Maleficarum, the 1486 witch manual. Bodies swing from the gallows in the small town of Salem in New England. People have been executed on charges...
The Great Schism- Episode 4: The Rupture
After a century of scandal, a new Pope takes over in Rome. Leo IX has sweeping plans for reform, and then gets taken prisoner by Norman warriors. Meanwhile church controversies brew over everything from beards to communion bread until...