https://youtu.be/INVs2XoVu8U What was Britain like before the Romans made contact? The world of the Celts, with its wild blue Northerners, Druids, and sacrifices is painted here, setting the stage for one of the most astonishing female figures in British history. Her name is Boudica, and she is the warrior queen. This is the first of several episodes about her world and her story. ...
“Devil’s marks would often be found ‘in their secretest parts, and therefore require diligent and careful search'”. The witch trials in Salem involved strip searching and inspecting the bodies of accused women for any detail that could be used as evidence of a pact with the Devil. The process of the court was designed to eliminate any defense. In this episode we cover how the infamous Salem Witch Trials were conducted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OunRqVAC19A ...
“What is the name of your demon lover?” “How many years have you been a witch?” These were the types of questions hurled at people accused of witchcraft in a small town in New England. A group of young girls suffer mysterious ailments and soon the whole community is in an uproar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7pfX25J6rE ...
“Innocent have I come into prison… innocent have I been tortured… innocent must I die. For whoever comes into the witch prison must …be tortured until he invents something out of his head.” These lines come from a letter written by a father to his daughter in 1628, as the witch craze raged across Europe. In this episode we cover this horrifying period of history and explore what caused so many executions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkj96OrKxDA ...
“Witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable.” – from the Malleus Maleficarum, the 1486 witch manual. Bodies swing from the gallows in the small town of Salem in New England. People have been executed on charges of witchcraft in America. How did we get to this? The story starts in Old Europe… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JebuVI7advI ...
This is perhaps the most well known witch trial in North America, but it is a pale shadow of the witch hunts in Europe. In this mini series we explore the origins of the social concept of “witch” before turning to the shift in Church teaching that opened the door to the persecution of suspected witches. Then Puritan beliefs and culture are introduced to set the stage for the unfolding of mass hysteria and...
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 changed the Christian world forever is explained here. https://youtu.be/B4xiWZ9OQWA ...
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, eventually selling the Papacy to an Italian godfather. It’s Game of Thrones in the Vatican. https://youtu.be/i3QzSJV94hA ...
Historians have called this period the “pornocracy”. Find out why in this episode when the powerful and ambitious women of the House of Theophylact take over Rome and control the Papacy. Sex, murder, blindings, and treachery: it’s a wild ride through the Dark Ages. https://youtu.be/nPyW14s6b-w ...
In 1054 an event occurred that split the Christian world. It has never recovered. In this mini series, we dive into the world before the Great Schism, to understand the forces that created the institutions of the Church and then tore them apart. How did we get Popes anyway? Emperors, bishops, and warriors… this is the world at the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle Ages. https://youtu.be/6TeKvoaROgg ...