Who are the Roma -- also colloquially called "Gypsies"?  Where did they come from, and how did they end up all over Europe?  How have they endured through persecution, expulsions, and political upheaval, without a state or country of their own?  We trace the path of this remarkable and resilient people from their mysterious origins in India to their arrival in Constantinople and medieval Europe and through the wave of persecution and ethnic cleansing in the 1600s.

Please sign on as a patron at any level to hear part 2 -- tracing the journeys of the Roma through the revolutions and national awakenings of the 19th century, the Holocaust, and modern politics -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/51774522

Update:  A contemporary historian, Kristina Richardson, has recently researched the lives and customs of the longstanding Romani group in medieval-era Egypt, commonly called the Ghuraba.  It seems likely that at least one major Roma group that migrated into Europe, particularly western Europe, derived from the Ghuraba.  One can see Richardson discussing her work in various places, including here:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERSduCs3Afg

Image:  Gypsies telling fortunes, in Cosmographie Universelle, Munster, 1552.

Suggested further reading:  Angus Fraser, "The Gypsies";  Isabel Fonseca, "Bury Me Standing."

Please support this podcast and hear the recent lecture on the Founding Fathers! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

History of the Roma ("Gypsies"), part 1 -- From Ancient Origins to the Eighteenth Century

We examine the so-called "zero point of history," the "first temple," the "world's oldest building," the massive and deeply ancient complex of stone-age megalithic monuments on a hilltop in Turkey, which since being uncovered in the 1990s, has dramatically overturned received ideas about the beginnings of civilization.

Please sign up as a patron to hear patron-only lectures, including the previous installment of "Doorways in Time" on The Library of Ashurbanipal:  https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Doorways in Time: The Great Archaeological Finds -- 5: Gobekli Tepe

For over a century, scholars, politicians, and pundits have debated the supposed causes of the First World War, from German naval provocations to the rising global tide of nationalism. All of these explanations tend to ignore the simple fact that the war began in eastern Europe, triggered by regional feuding and violence in what had previously been the Ottoman provinces.

We begin our exploration of the roots of World War I by following the struggles of the declining Ottoman Empire to hold its ground and contain ethnic and religious strife as Western powers circle like vultures around the so-called "sick man of Europe."

Image:  View over Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, to the Bosporus

Suggested further reading:  Alan Palmer, "Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire."

music:  "Fandango," by Scarlatti or Soler, midi file version by El Gran Mago Paco Quito.

Please become a patron to support the podcast and hear patron-only lectures, including upcoming Myth of the Month: Culture -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Origins of the First World War, pt. 1 -- The Ottoman Empire

We consider the history and explosive politics of the often-forgotten Eastern European nation that set the events of the First World War in motion:  Serbia.  We examine the country’s emergence and brief flowering as an Eastern Orthodox kingdom in the high Middle Ages, its fall to the Ottoman advance, its many years of quiet resistance in religion and song, its re-emergence amidst the Napoleonic wars and the Ottoman breakdown, and finally, its long-frustrated quest to fulfill its purported destiny of reunifying the Southern Slavs, which led a militant and conspiratorial secret society to murder their own country’s king and to smuggle teenage assassins across the border to kill their rivals’ crown prince.

Image:  Golubac Fortress, eastern Serbia, seen from across the Danube River

Intro & Outro music:  Bach, Sonata no. 4 in E Minor, played on clavichord by Balint Karosi

Origins of the First World War, pt. 2 -- Serbia

At the height of their power in the Baroque Age, the Habsburgs aspired to rule the entire world; by the end of the ninetheenth century, they strove merely to maintain control over the volatile lands of the upper Danube valley.  We trace how the Habsburgs' domains evolved from a messy collection of local duchies into an absolutist empire, and finally into a complex military-industrial state, the home of artistic modernism, which was nonetheless threatened with destruction by a welter of nationalist movements and by the rising power of Serbia and Russia.

Previous lecture on Central Europe & the Rise of the Habsburgs:  https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/age-of-absolutism-1-central-europe-and-the-rise-of-the-hapsburgs

Image:  Painting by Johann Nepomuk Geller of Emperor Franz-Josef walking in the gardens of the Schonbrunn in winter, 1908

 Suggested further reading:  Mason, "The Dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire";  Sked, "The Decline & Fall of the Habsburg Empire";  Kohn, "The Habsburg Empire"; Rady, "The Habsburgs: To Rule the World."

music:  J.S. Bach, Sonata No. 4 in E Minor, played on pedal clavichord by Blaint Karosi.

Please support this podcast to hear patron-only lectures, including an upcoming examination of the history of Bosnia -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Origins of the First World War, pt. 3 -- Austria-Hungary

To conclude our series on the origins of World War I, we trace how combat broke out on three different continents in the late summer and fall of 1914, and then examine the various real and imagined causes of the Great War, from the Anglo-German naval rivalry to French revanchism, and finally consider the deeper transformation in the idea of sovereignty in the West that gave a feud between an old empire and a new nation-state in the Balkans the power to ignite a global war.

Image: Mehmet Pasha Sokollu Bridge, Višegrad, Bosnia, with section destroyed, 1915.

Sign up as a patron at any level, in order to hear patron-only lectures on Germany, Japan, and the events of the July Crisis: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Recently unlocked lecture on Bosnia & the Assassination: https://www.patreon.com/posts/origins-of-first-86366245

Origins of the First World War, pt. 14 -- Conclusions: Was the Great War Inevitable?

We trace the tortuous path by which a scattering of villages in a marshy lagoon, founded by refugees from violence and political breakdown, forged their own stable and cohesive independent republic which would last for a thousand years, and with it a splendrous city where East and West mingled, a sprawling trade network linking Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and finally a waterborne empire that was the forerunner of the modern European colonial states.
Image: Detail of a woodcut illustration showing a view of Venice, by Reuwich & Schoffer, 1486.
Suggested Further Reading: Morris, "The Venetian Empire: A Sea Voyage"; Madden, "Venice: A New History"; Ferrarro, "Venice: A History of the Floating City."
Please sign on as a patron to hear patron-only tracks, such as the series on the Epic of Gilgamesh:  https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632

The Impossible City: The History of Venice -- pt. 1: From Asylum to Empire

We trace Venice's remarkable flowering between the 1300s and 1500s, in which it astonished Europe as a center of commercial and imperial power, learning, and art, as well as its repeated struggles -- with the bubonic plague, the Ottoman Turks, the rival Italian states, and the Catholic Church -- that forced Venice to give up its empire, and to transform into a pleasure-ground of music, theater, sex, and revelry -- arguably becoming the world's first tourist attraction -- before finally losing its long-treasured independence and becoming a pawn of modern powers.

Image: Painting by Canaletto, 1730s, showing the Sensa festival fleet and the Bucintoro returning to San Marco after the marriage to the sea ceremony.

Thank you to Sarai Cole for permitting use of an exceprt of her rendition of Vivaldi's "Filiae Maestae Jerusalem" / "Sileant Zephyri" -- https://soundcloud.com/sarai-cole-freericks/sileant-zephyri-from-filiae-maestae-jerusalem-vivaldi

Suggested further reading:  Ferrarro, "Venice: History of the Floating City"; Madden, "Venice: A New History"; Morris, "The Venetian Empire: A Sea Voyage"

Please sign up as a patron to help keep the pod coming, and to hear patron-only lectures, including the recent series on the Epic of Gilgamesh -- https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632

The Impossible City: The History of Venice -- pt. 2: Seasons of Power & Pleasure

We use a recent controversial murder case as a way to reconsider recent world events--such as war in Europe and the return of Trump--from the perspective of the epistemological crisis and the decline of trust in Truth, Facts, and Reality.

CHAPTERS:
0:00:20 – Intro & Disclaimers
0:11:45 – The Great Witch Hunt: overview
0:28:25 – The Great Witch Hunt: midwives & caregivers
0:45:10 – The Lucy Letby Case: narrative
1:15:55 – The Lucy Letby Case: analysis
1:44:10 – The Lucy Letby Case: reactions & aftermath
1:51:25 – Defensiveness & the epistemic house of cards
2:08:00 – The partisanization of knowledge
2:20:40 – The trials of the expert class
2:38:40 – Lessons of World War I
2:46:30 – The threat to democracy is the presidency
2:55:50 – The “economy”
2:59:10 – Conclusions: Notre Dame restored

Image: 18th-century farmhouse on eroding cliff's edge, Trimingham, Norfolk, England, April 2024.

Audio version of my 2022 article, "In the American Tempest: Democracy, Conspiracy, and Machine" -- https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/article-in-the-american-tempest-democracy-conspiracy-machine

Jeffrey Friedman's 2023 article, "Post-Truth and the Epistemological Crisis" -- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08913811.2023.2221502

Please sign up as a patron to hear patron-only lectures, such as on the Epic of Gilgamesh -- 
https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632

Life in the House of Cards:  2024 in Historical Context

A sample from a lecture on Patreon for patrons only for one year:
We trace the strugles of Venice, through conquest, revolution, and depression, to fashion a place for itself in the modern world, to channel or keep at bay the new floods -- of rising seas, of diseased canals, and of tourist hordes -- and most of all, to somehow square the circle of preservation and modernity.

Sign up as a patron at any level to hear this lecture:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/impossible-city-121039973

Image: The Palazzo dei Camerlenghi & Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal in the flood of Nov. 4, 1966
Intro music: Giuseppe Verdi, La Traviata, overture
Closing music: Giuseppe Verdi, La Traviata, brindisi / drinking song

Thank you to patrons, & Teaser: The History of Venice, pt. 3: Metropolis or Museum?

It is one of the foundational achievements of archaeology, and one of the most momentous discoveries ever made in any field --

We follow the long debate over whether and where the remains of the ancient legendary city of Troy could be found, and we see how the mystery was solved by the excavations overseen by the brilliant, ruthless, and indefatigable German businessman, explorer, and serial liar, Heinrich Schliemann.

Pt. 2 will examine how modern scholars and excavators have used the finds from the site in Turkey -- including the long lost priceless "Treasure of Priam" -- to reconstruct the city and its place in the Bronze-Age world.

Music: "Les Cyclopes" by Jean-Philippe Rameau, played on piano by Paul Barton, and published by Feurich Piano.

Image: Sophia Schliemann posing in a gold diadem, necklace, and earrings from Troy 2, dubbed "The Jewels of Helen," 1873-4.

Suggested further reading: Tolstikov & Treister, “The Gold of Troy”; Allen, “Finding the Walls of Troy”; Traill, “Schliemann of Troy”; Moorehead, “Lost and Found: the 9,000 Treasures of Troy”

Please sign up as a patron to hear all patron-only lectures, including the previous "Doorways in Time" on the Dead Sea Scrolls -- https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632

Doorways in Time: The Great Archaeological Discoveries, 9: Troy -- pt. 1: The Odyssey in Reverse

Unlocked after 1 year for patrons only -- We trace the evolution of Japanese society, including the tensions between its peaceable, Buddhist-inspired aspect and its martial aspect; its extraordinary transformation in the Meiji period, from an antiquated hermit kingdom to a dynamic modern power; and its crucial alliance with its European mirror image, Great Britain – which set the stage for its role in the First World War.

Dan Carrick & Japanese singers’ performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s 1885 adaptation of the Meiji anthem, “Miya Sama” -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOh5MIVP1bU

A Japanese rendition of “Miya Sama” -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DpgzFtHuBg

Image:  the grand receiving room of Nijojo, Kyoto

Suggested further reading:  Perez, “The History of Japan”;  Mason & Caiger, “A History of Japan,” 2nd ed.

Please sign up on Patreon at any level to hear all patron-only lectures:  https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632


UNLOCKED:  Origins of the First World War, pt. 10 -- Japan

We journey through the different eras and incarnations of Troy as archaeologists have reconstructed them from the excavations at Hissarlik. We then explore the surviving evidence -- including linguistic theories, newly discovered tablets from the ancient Hittite capital, and the long-lost and rediscovered "Priam's Treasure" that Schliemann unearthed-- to form a picture of who the Trojans were and what sort of city they created in the Bronze Age world.

Image: Gold jewels & vessels from "Priam's Treasure" as displayed at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 1990s.

Music: "Les Cyclopes," by Rameau, performed by Paul Barton & published by Feurich

Further Reading: Tolstikov & Treister, “The Gold of Troy”; Allen, “Finding the Walls of Troy”; Traill, “Schliemann of Troy”; Moorehead, “Lost and Found: the 9,000 Treasures of Troy”; McCarty, “Troy: The Myth and Reality Behind the Epic Legend”; Gainsford, Kiwi Hellenist blog, “The Trojan War #3: Bronze Age Evidence,” <https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-trojan-war-3-bronze-age-evidence.html>;  Fitton & Villing, British Museum blog, “The Search for the Lost City of Troy,” <https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/search-lost-city-troy>

Please sign up as a patron at any level, to hear patron-only lectures, including on the Dead Sea Scrolls -- https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632

Doorways in Time: The Great Archaeological Dicoveries -- 9: Troy -- pt. 2: Cutting the Trojan Knot

We examine the origins of the Korean people and state – from prehistoric migrations and technological advances, through the formation of warrior confederations, the rise and fall of the Chinese colony, the tumult and intrigue of the “Three Kingdoms” era, and the arrival of Buddhism, and finally to the unification of most of Korea under the Silla kingdom.

Suggested reading: Han Woo-Keun, “The History of Korea”; Michael J. Seth, “A History of Korea” & “A Brief History of Korea”; Takashi Hatada, “A History of Korea”; Ki-Baek Lee, “A New History of Korea”

Map of approximate borders of Gojoseon, the first regional confederaton in Korea, ca. 200s BC, before takeover by Wiman: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/rkauac/the_first_kingdom_of_korea/#lightbox

Map of Korea during the Three-Kingdoms period ca. 500 AD, at the height of Koguryeo power: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Three_Kingdoms_of_Korea_Map-es.svg

Image: wall mural depicting the Azure Dragon, embodying spring & the east, in a Goguryeo tomb

Please sign on as a patron to hear all patron-only lectures! -- https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632

Korea, pt. 1 -- Dragons from Small Streams

I give an update on the progress of the podcast, and an important caution on how to sign up as a patron while avoiding Apple's new fees.  I give an excerpt from my latest episode for patrons, "History of the United States in 100 Objects -- 24: Beaver-Fur Stovepipe Hat, ca. 1590-1670" --

On this episode:  A tall “stovepipe” hat, which was made in the 1600s out of felt from beaver fur and likely belonged to a powerful member of the English Parliament, illustrates the extraordinary value of finely made hats, which fueled centuries of colonization, exploration, diplomatic feuding, and warfare all across North America, as European empires and Native American nations competed fiercely for control of the lucrative fur trade.

Please sign up here (on desktop or Android app -- not iPhone!) in order to hear the whole lecture:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/history-of-in-24-126376005

Update & Excerpt -- History of the United States in 100 Obects:  Beaver-Fur Hat

We follow Korea's thousand-year struggle to maintain its integrity and independence, fending off cataclysmic invasions by the Mongols, the Manchus, and the samurai of Japan, and repeatedly transforming itself -- from a confederation of Buddhist warrior-nobles, to a strictly Confucian surveillance state, to a fledgling modern industrial nation -- before finally falling to Meiji Japan.

Suggested reading: Han Woo-Keun, “The History of Korea”; Michael J. Seth, “A History of Korea” & “A Brief History of Korea”; Takashi Hatada, “A History of Korea”; Ki-Baek Lee, “A New History of Korea”

Image: Seokguram Grotto, outside Gyeongju, late 700s

Please sign on as a patron to hear all patron-only lectures! -- www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632


Korea, pt. 2 -- The Perfect Kingdom

We follow the convulsions of Italian society -- foreign invasion, popular revolution, peasant revolt, liberal reform, Romantic pageantry, diplomatic dirty dealings, and patriotic war -- through which the residents of a fragmented, poor, and backwards section of Europe overthrew the puppet regimes of foreign rulers and challenged the internal power of the Church, to seize control of their own destiny and create a new nation-state that would take its place among the major powers of the world.

Image: "The First Italian Flag Taken to Firenze," by F.S. Altamura, 1859.

Suggested further reading: Lucy Riall, "Risorgimento"; John A. David, ed., "Italy in the Nineteenth Century."

Musical passage: "Va, Pensiero" from Nabuco, Lyrics by Temistocle Solera, music by Giuseppe Verdi, performed by Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra

Please sign on as a patron to hear all patron-only lectures, including the recent series on the Dead Sea Scrolls and on the Epic of Gligamesh! -- https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632

Italy: Revolution, Risorgimento, & Unification, 1789-1870

Unlocked after 1 year for patrons only:  We review the diplomatic landscape of Europe on the eve of war in the summer of 1914—and then trace the dizzying cascade of events that followed after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. We get a handle on the ensuing crisis that ricocheted through embassies, banquet halls, and barracks all across Europe, and plunged all the great powers of the continent into a war that soon spread around the world.

Suggested further reading: Christopher Clark, “The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914”; Margaret MacMillan, “The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914”; Barbara Tuchman, “The Guns of August.”

Image: Photograph of nine kings (George V of Britain seated, center; Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany standing, in red), at Windsor, for funeral of Edward VII of Britain, May, 1910.

Please sign up to hear all patron-only lectures, including recent series on the Dead Sea Scrolls & the Epic of Gilgamesh:  https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632

UNLOCKED:  Origins of the First World War, pt. 13 -- The July Crisis & the Outbreak of War

Update for listeners, and happy Father's Day wishes; excerpt from latest patron-only lecture on Italy between unification and the entry into the First World War.
Please sign up on Patreon to hear the latest lecture and all patron-only materials! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/italy-nation-war-131082248

Podcast website:  www.historiansplaining.com
Image:  The Paderno D'Adda hydroelectric power plant, Lombardy, 1895-8
Music: "Nel Blu, Dipinto di Blu" / "Volare," by Domenico Modugno

Update & Excerpt -- Italy: Nation-Building & Entry Into World War I

The beginning of a series of lectures on the Middle Ages.  We start by throwing out the junk, such as the notions that medievals smelled bad and liked to hunt witches, and then look into the mystical and apocalyptic roots of the idea that history should be divided into three ages.
Become a patron of Historiansplaining in order to hear the next lecture, on the "Dark Age," in which the medieval civilization first arose -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/8814492

Middle Ages 1: Exploding the Myth of the Middle Ages

We examine the flourishing of the Middle Ages between 1000 and 1300, which gave us chivalry, Gothic cathedrals, epics of King Arthur, and nearly all of the romantic images that we still associate with the medieval era, even as the noose of social conformity and repression began to tighten around Europe.
Become a patron of Historiansplaining in order to hear the next lecutre on the Late Middle Ages and follow how medieval civilization nearly broke down under the strain of the Black Death, peasant rebellions, and the gunpowder revolution -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/9369380

Middle Ages 3: the High Middle Ages

We consider how best to understand the origins of the laws and customs of the Jewish people, or what we call "Judaism."  We begin by dispelling the notion that Judaism (or any other belief system apart from Christianity) can properly be called a "religion" -- a category that derives originally from Christian practice and does not make sense anywhere else.  We further examine the roots of the idea of "Judaism" as a concept for the Jewish way of life, concluding with a careful analysis of the meaning of the ancient Greek word "ioudaismos," which originates in the Book of Maccabees.  Finally, we trace the best possible explanation for the origins of the Jewish people in the Bronze-Age Near East, using archaeological evidence including an ancient Egyptian monument and the vandalized ruins of Canaanite temples.  Ultimately, we should be able to understand Judaism and its God as the creations of a particular Middle Eastern people not entirely unlike their ancient neighbors.
Special thanks to Daniel Boyarin for his help and inspiration.
Please become a patron at any level in order to hear the next lecture, on "The Jews of Europe, from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/14535522

Judaism -- What Is It and Where Did It Come From?

We dissect the origins of the Hebrew Bible (also called the Old Testament by Christians), excavating the deepest layers of the collection of holy books, including the very ancient songs and prayers that were likely passed on orally for centuries before being written down, the scholarly theories of the lost documents that were stitched together to form Genesis and Exodus, and the differing points of view of the various prophets, scribes, and propagandists whose books made their way into the Hebrew canon.  Through this excavation, we discover a Bible comprising many voices, many facets, and many hidden meanings.
Please become a patron at any level, to hear the next lecture, on "Who Wrote the Bible? -- New Testament" :  https://www.patreon.com/posts/13773778

Who Wrote the Bible? -- Hebrew Scriptures

We join in the ongoing quest for the historical Jesus -- the struggle to unearth and understand who Jesus really was, what he said and did, and how he inspired a movement.  We trace the basic bare-bones facts that can be deduced from early Christian writings and brief references in other texts, including Jesus' baptism and crucifixion.  We throw out the flimsy theories of hacks like Reza Aslan and Bill O'Reilly, as well as the junk theory that no Jesus existed at all, and instead examine the new archeological evidence that helps to account for some of the strangest passages in the Gospels.
Please support these lectures! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

The Historical Jesus

We explore the history behind the statues being destroyed across America in a wave of iconoclasm -- when and why they were erected, and what they represented.  We consider the roots of the Confederacy, which lie in the rapid change in the American view of slavery -- from an embarrassing but necessary evil in the 1780s to a positive good in the 1850s -- that caused a sectional rift between North and South.  We examine Confederates' own words to understand why so many Southerners fought for the Confederacy -- and why just as many of them refused.
Please support these lectures as a patron at any level, in order to hear the following lecture, on "Jim Crow's America" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/14296905
More importantly, support the fight against slavery in America and in our world today --
http://www.freetheslaves.net/
https://www.antislavery.org/

The Confederacy -- Its Roots and Its Legacies

Most of the human story is so-called "pre-history," which in fact is inseparable from history and still going on today. We trace the origins of the human species around 300,000 years ago in Africa, including our early adaptation into long-distance hunters.  We examine our long and awkward co-existence with other human-like species such as Neanderthals and Ebu Gogo, as well as our slow development of critical technologies like sewing and pottery that allowed us to out-compete them.  We trace the dangerous and improbable journey across sea channels and deserts that a small band of our distant ancestors had to make in order to populate the entire world beyond Africa.  Finally, we consider the mysterious roots of the technology that eventually allowed for the rise of urban civilization -- agriculture.
Please sign on as a patron to hear the sequel -- "Land of Vital Blood: Pre-Columbian America" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/15158590

In Search of the Dawn: Human Prehistory

We trace the shocking and rapid rise of Islam in the 600s, as a confederation of desert towns and tribes unite around Muhammad and his prophesies from the Abrahamic god, then swiftly launch a stunning campaign of conquests against the major empires of the age.  We consider the roots of the basic teachings and practices of the new religion, including the Qur'an, the hadiths, the Five Pillars, jihad, shariah, the divide between Sunni and Shiah, and Islamic laws regarding the status of women and of Jews and Christians or "people of the Book."
Please sign up on Patreon in order to hear Islam, Part 2, on the journey of Islam from the "Golden Age" to the rise of modern fundamentalism -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/15728401

Please help to make it possible for these lectures to continue! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632
Suggested further reading:  Karen Armstrong, "Islam: A Short History"; Michael Cook, "Past Masters: Muhammad."

Islam 1: Muhammad, the first Caliphate, and the core teachings

We trace the waves of crop failure, famine, pestilence, and war that swept over Europe in the 1600s as the climate sank into a “Little Ice Age” and armies literally marched across frozen seas.  In the midst of unimaginable crisis, alchemists, astrologers, and apocalypticists scoured the Bible for prophecies to explain the disasters around them as part of the approaching End Times.  Many of the defining institutions of the modern world we know today – such as overseas colonization, investor-owned corporations, public education, religious toleration, and scientific academies – have their origins as attempts to cope with the crisis of the seventeenth century and prepare the way for the Second Coming.

Sign on as a patron in order to hear the next installment in this series, on "The Catholic Reformation" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/19116040

Suggested Further Reading:  Webster, "The Great Instauration";  Yates, "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment";  Hobsbawm, "The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century"

Age of Ice and Fire: The General Crisis Of The Seventeenth Century

We follow how a relatively obscure family of Swiss counts took advantage of the chaos of the late Middle Ages to become the most powerful dynasty in the history of central Europe, towering over European affairs, ruling "an empire on which the sun never sets," and even setting their sights on the dream of global dominion.  We then consider the obstacles that the French, the Ottoman Turks, and the Protestants threw in their way, leading to the disastrous Thirty Years' War and their gradual fall from power.

Please become a patron in order to hear the next twp installments in this series --
"Age of Absolutism 2:  Tudor England" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/27439446
&
"Making The Modern State: Spain, Portugal, And The Inquisition" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/making-modern-16827184

Suggested further reading:  Paula Sutter Fichtner, "Meaning Well: The Curious Life of a Habsburg Idealist."

Age of Absolutism 1:  Central Europe and the Rise of the Habsburgs

We consider the vast sweep of Central Asian history, from the first nomads to tame the horse and gain mastery of the steppes, to the splendrous cities of the first Silk Road, to the rise of Ghenghis Khan. Few Westerners learn the dizzyingly complex and tumultuous history of Central Asia, even though it forms the linchpin connecting all the major civilizations of the Old World, from Europe to Persia to China. Finally, we consider the unsettling paradox of the Mongol empire, which fostered a vibrant cosmopolitanism at the same time that it brutally repressed subject peoples.

Please support this podcast, in order to hear all patron-only lectures, including, "The History of Central Asia -- pt. 2", on the rise of the Ottoman Turks and the Russian empire, the Soviet era, and the struggles over mineral resources, nuclear sites, and global trade in the post-Soviet age -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/29126231

Suggested further reading:  Peter Golden, "Central Asia in World History";  Gavin Hambly, "Central Asia";  Rene Grousset, "The Empire of the Steppes"

In the Ocean of Land:  The History of Central Asia -- pt. 1

Feudalism – it’s what they did in the Middle Ages!  Nobles controlled the land and extracted labor from the serfs, and everyone from peasants to great lords was arranged in a big hierarchical pyramid leading up to the king.  Or were they?
We examine the ambiguities inherent in the idea of “feudalism,” and the reasons why it simply cannot hold up to examination against the historical record.  Finally, we consider why the myth of feudalism developed and has persisted as a way of justifying the inequalities of our own era.

Suggested further reading:  Carl Stephenson, “Mediaeval Feudalism”;  Susan Reynolds, “Fiefs and Vassals”;  Elizabeth Brown, “Tyranny of a Construct.”

Music:  “A Gut Yor,” written by David Meyerowitz and performed by Joseph Feldman, 1915, courtesy of Yiddish Penny Songs, http://www.yiddishpennysongs.com/2017/09/a-gut-yor-git-yuhr-zu-alle-leite-gut.html

My recent conversation on the queer Talmud podcast, “Xai, How Are You?” – https://soundcloud.com/xaihowareyou/32-why-god

My Patreon – please support to hear the next Myth of the Month! – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Myth of the Month 13:  Feudalism

History lectures by Samuel Biagetti, a historian (and antique dealer) with a Phd in early American history; my dissertation was on Freemasonry in the 1700s. I focus on the historical myths and distortions, from "the Middle Ages" to "Race," that people use to rationalize the world in which we live.   More info at www.historiansplaining.com

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