The Peasants’ War was the largest peasant uprising prior to the French Revolution. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people organise a labour strike and dare to demand a measure of fairness. They use the ideas of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation to do it. Luther wants nothing to do with the rebels, and supports…
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This is the story of the biggest peasant uprising prior to the French Revolution. Inspired by the writing of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, it was a shocking challenge to the social order. Serfs occupied castles, executed nobles, and plundered monasteries. Events that lasted less than a year would result in thousands of peasant…
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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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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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