Villains and Virgins History Podcast

The Vikings terrorised coastal Europe in their longboats, plundering and killing as they went.  Some of them were offered a deal: they could accept land and settle in France, in exchange for defending the area from other raiders.  These Vikings became known as Normans, and while the name changed, the game remained the same.  They begin arriving in Italy, and soon become the most coveted military muscle for hire.  The Pope himself becomes their hostage and the daughter of a Norman almost becomes the Byzantine Empress. This is a tale of the high Middle Ages, full of pilgrims and pillagers, popes, kings, battles and emperors.  

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 the German nobles in killing these "mad dogs".  The heavy cavalry and the landsknecht armies of the Swabian League are on the march, and this rebellion is about to turn into a war.

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 deaths, and change the direction of the Reformation itself.  This episode is the first in a two part series.

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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 churches.  The episode culminates in the English Civil War, as competing versions of church and state vie for the future of the nation.  Monarchy in Europe will never be the same again!

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 moment of borrowing the very punishments that had been used to suppress them.  This episode captures a dramatic moment as reformers struggle to redefine the roles of church and state. 

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. 

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 winter to appeal to a Pope, and thousands of people in Southern France were slaughtered by Crusaders.  It is a world of towering cathedrals, in which the power of the Church rivaled that of the Crown.  In this medieval world a poor boy from Yorkshire earned a doctoral degree at Oxford University, and began developing ideas that would shake this world to its foundations.  His name was John Wycliffe. 

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 of the end of Moorish presence as well.  The connection between these two events and the Spanish Inquisition was a drive for religious purity that would forever change the history of Spain.  This is also the year that Christopher Columbus obtained royal support for his expedition, opening the door to Spain's colonial empire in the New World.

You have probably heard of the Spanish Inquisition, even if only from a certain Monty Python sketch.  The truth about why it was started and for what purpose will probably surprise you.  In this episode we take a close look at the episodes in Spanish history that prepared the way for the Inquisition.  We also examine how it operated, what forms of torture were used, and who it targeted.  Why did the Pope try to stop it?  What was an auto da fe?  What did it have in common with totalitarian surveillance states?  The villains and victims in this history are almost certainly not who you would expect. 

In this episode, our plucky and determined heroine discovers the mantle of religious warfare.  Isabella and Ferdinand respond to an attack on a Castilian city from Moorish forces.  This becomes the first skirmish in a "Holy War" against Muslims in Spain.  It is a war that will last a decade, and inflict a terrible fate on the city of Malaga.  Harem politics of betrayal and revenge undermine Moorish resistance to Castilian forces.  Along the way, Ferdinand and Isabella champion Renaissance learning and education for their daughters, but the war against the Moors will occupy most of their attention.  They see themselves as champions of Christianity, not just in Spain but in Europe.  Their use of religious languages and symbols emerges against a larger global context where Christian countries fear the rising power of the Ottoman Empire.  Victory against Muslims on the battlefield in Spain takes on a larger significance, and encourages a terrifying drive for religious purity that will have catastrophic consequences.

After a high risk secret marriage to Prince Ferdinand of Aragon, Isabella finds there is no easy path to gaining the crown of Castile.  An evil uncle, a civil war, and a heroic Portuguese flag bearer appear in this episode as Isabella fights to be Queen.  An astonishing solution to a domestic quarrel paves the way for female rulers in Spain, and Isabella reveals her courage and determination as she takes on rebellious nobles and a kingdom in desperate need of management.  Along the way the incredible social mixture that makes up the cultural fabric of Spain comes into focus.

Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain are figures you may have heard of in passing, as the sponsors of Christopher Columbus.  The fact that Isabella's name is remembered in the same breath with Ferdinand's is remarkable in an age when only men could hold political power.  From the Black Death to royal scandal, this episode introduces the fascinating story of these two people and how their marriage would change Spain forever.

The remarkable story of the mass evacuation of Britain's children in the darkest days of WWII.  Britain, under Winston Churchill, faces aerial assault and imminent collapse.  This is a moment when it is clear that history could have taken a radically different direction.  

After the execution of Anne Boleyn, what is next for Henry VIII and for England?  A terrible jousting accident changes the king, and may be a hidden factor in his increasing ruthlessness.  The future of England and its religion hangs in the balance as Henry decides to assert his authority over English monasteries.  This episode covers the Pilgrimage of Grace, the sordid fall of Catherine Howard, and the many other marital misadventures of England's most notorious king.

This episode covers the sordid and sickeningly fast story of Anne Boleyn's fall from grace.  It has rumor, scandal, and a completely hilarious introduction to the codpiece.  This is also the moment that Henry VIII begins to resemble the ruthless monster that he has become in popular imagination.  With Anne's position hanging precariously, what will be the fate of Protestantism in England?

The woman who is blamed for turning Henry VIII from a most Catholic king into the one who separated Tudor England from the Catholic Church was a dark eyed stunner named Anne Boleyn.  This is the story of how a king overturned the institutions of his country to get a divorce.  It is also the story of a more complex king than the Henry VIII you think you know.  

You may think you know all about Henry VIII, but the version of his life that gets passed around focuses on an obese maniac who married and divorced or beheaded quite a number of women.  There is much more to the story than that.  In this series we look at Henry the Renaissance man and his bold Spanish queen, against the dazzling backdrop of Europe in the grip of seismic changes.  Henry himself will be the surprising instrument of remaking England.  Find out how.

This episode uncovers the forgotten history of some of the most badass women you've never heard of.  The Kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa had all female army units who consistently fought better and more courageously than the men.  Their deeds of bravery are recorded by their admiring enemies.  These real women are the inspiration for the Dora Milaje of Wakanda in the Marvel movies.  Meet the Black Amazons of Benin!