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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The Crusaders have taken Jerusalem but they face one final battle. When the men start to head home, the legend of the First Crusade is born, and a massive new wave of Crusaders heads east. Not everyone wants to go home however; Godfrey of Bouillon becomes ruler of Jerusalem. His brother Baldwin manages to take…
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Both the Germans and the French trace their origins to Charlemagne and the Franks. But who were the Franks, and how did they have such a powerful effect on the shape of Western Europe? This episode is a family drama gone wild, as the warriors of Charlemagne’s family compete for land and status. Blindings, treachery…
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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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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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Both the Germans and the French trace their origins to Charlemagne and the Franks. But who were the Franks, and how did they have such a powerful effect on the shape of Western Europe? This episode is a family drama gone wild, as the warriors of Charlemagne’s family compete for land and status. Blindings, treachery…
Read More
The Crusaders have taken Jerusalem but they face one final battle. When the men start to head home, the legend of the First Crusade is born, and a massive new wave of Crusaders heads east. Not everyone wants to go home however; Godfrey of Bouillon becomes ruler of Jerusalem. His brother Baldwin manages to take…
Read More
The Crusaders have taken Jerusalem but they face one final battle. When the men start to head home, the legend of the First Crusade is born, and a massive new wave of Crusaders heads east. Not everyone wants to go home however; Godfrey of Bouillon becomes ruler of Jerusalem. His brother Baldwin manages to take…
Read More
Both the Germans and the French trace their origins to Charlemagne and the Franks. But who were the Franks, and how did they have such a powerful effect on the shape of Western Europe? This episode is a family drama gone wild, as the warriors of Charlemagne’s family compete for land and status. Blindings, treachery…
Read More
1492 was a year that changed everything. In Castile, it was the end of the Reconquista, as Isabella and Ferdinand ended a decade long war with a triumphant ride through the streets of Granada. It was also the year they signed the Alhambra Decree, which banished all Jews from Castile, and it was the beginning…
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