Along the walls of the Chamber of the Great Council in the Doge's Palace in Venice, there are portraits—one after another—of the Republic's doges. Each man has his likeness, and a description of some of his accomplishments. But there's a gap in the parade -- one man was painted over, and covered with a painted black veil. A man who committed a crime against the Republic so great, that he was "condemned in memory." Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Noble Blood Merch — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Very Special Episodes, we tell one incredible story each week. Stranger-than-fiction tales about normal people in extraordinary situations. Stories that make you say, “this should be a movie.” Follow Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday. Listen here or on the iHeartRadio app. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau is best known for something that he accomplished as an infant -- traveling with his mother, Sacagawea, and Lewis and Clark with the Corps of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean. But as he reached adulthood, he would become a symbol of a new American identity, eventually spending six years living alongisde an eager explorer who happened to be a German Duke. Support Noble Blood:— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon— Noble Blood Merch— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the late 19th century, French writer Marc de Montifaud was sentenced to prison for indecency in his work. But rather than being sent to the rather cushy location for literary criminals, he was sentenced to forced labor... as a woman. Born Marie, but ultimately living as Marc, the Comtesse de Montifaud remains one of the most interesting and enigmatic figures in literary history, a trans man who defied social conventions to live and work as he pleased. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel, 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alchemist, magician, astronomer, astrologer - John Dee served as an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, interpreting the stars for her. And when a comet crossed the sky, he told her that it portended the birth of something he came up with the name for: the British Empire.Support Noble Blood:— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon— Merch— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CW: Gore, cannibalism. The village of Hautefaye was a sleepy town in France best known for a local fair. But in the summer of 1870, gripped by paranoia and political anger, the villagers turned on a young nobleman and unleashed a torrent of horrific violence that would scar the town for a century. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch!  — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to legend, around 1100, a woman disguised herself as a man and was unanimously elected Pope. The ruse lasted until she gave birth while riding her horse through the streets of Rome. The story isn't true, but how the story came to be, and why it persisted, becomes its own history of Christianity in Europe and the power of propoganda. Support Noble Blood:— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon— Merch— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

William the Conqueror is considered the first King of England. But the road to his victory at the Battle of Hastings was strange and challenging, and it would take more than a coronation to get England to submit to him. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, Josephine went from a sugar plantation to prison to Empress. But her rise and her fall reveal a dark undercurrent in the trend toward women in post-Revolutionary France. Dana is joined in conversation by the writer Jennifer Wright. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When her husband, King John of England died, the widowed Isabelle of Angouleme sailed back to France to fight for her own independent kingdom. But over decades of trying to pit England and France against each other, sacrificing her reputation and her relationships with her children, Isabelle's efforts would have a greater cost than she could afford.Support Noble Blood:— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon— Merch— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.