The Wars of Religion are the bloody outcome of the religious fracturing of Europe. They reshaped political identity and redefined the balance of power among countries. But what actually happened and why does it matter? This episode is a wild ride through three different countries, as scheming French cardinals send funds to Protestant rebels abroad,…
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In this episode we watch England execute a king. This is the strange tale of how England became a Protestant country, and why the Church of England is the way it is. Along the way we watch militant Scottish Reformers challenge the power of the monarch, and uncover the roots of the Covenanters and Presbyterian…
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John Calvin is one of the major figures of the Protestant Reformation, famous for his doctrine of pre-destination. This episode covers his time in Geneva, and how he turned that city into a grim and terrifying experiment in theocracy. It is also the story of Protestants burning a heretic at the stake, in a bizarre…
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In this episode we cover the unlikely journey of one young man from earnest Augustinian monk to rebel reformer. Martin Luther ignited a firestorm of existing anti-clerical sentiment across Europe, with results that would change Europe and the Western Christian Church forever. This is Episode 2 in a series on the Protestant Reformation.
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What is the Protestant Reformation and why does it matter? To begin to understand how thoroughly it has shaped Western Europe and North America we must travel back in time to see the world as it was before the Reformation. This episode is all about the Middle Ages, when an emperor braved the Alps in…
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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 an explosive collision of personalities leads to drama in the Hagia Sophia itself. The moment that…
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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 of Theophylact continues to create scandal, selling the Papacy itself to an Italian godfather. It’s Game…
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