We're Not So Different

we are back and we're talking Medieval mining. we often discuss the elaborate jewels and metals used for ostentatious royal displays and the iron weapons shaped by blacksmiths for war but how does all that metal get out of the ground? who's doing the work to dig it out? what mining technology and methods were present during the Middle Ages? what does the Roman Empire have to do with all this? we will discuss all that plus look at some of the big centers of Medieval mining across Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia.below are links to recent archaeological finds that Eleanor mentioned in the answer to this week's question:shipwreck: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-64151535unusually shiny sword: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bronze-age-sword-germany-180982399/warrior women: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tomb-containing-three-generations-amazon-warrior-women-unearthed-russia-180973877/

it's time for another mailbag episode from our backlog of questions from our patrons. since we usually answer one question an episode, we can't possibly get to all the questions, so we do these mailbags from time-to-time. in this one, we cover a wide range of topics from the Brother Cadfael mystery series to church debate structure to Medieval Switzerland to hair removal practices and even pirates. check it out!

we are back and this time we're doing a deep dive into Medieval wool production and how it undergirded the economies of much of Europe and turned places like England, Flanders, and the cities of the Hanseatic League into petro states for wool. we look at how it was produced, what it meant, why something so simple could come to predominate the continental economy and more!

So we finally come to the end of our series on the Wars of the Roses and technically the Hundred Years War too. We conclude both by discussing the Treaty of Picquigny, which ended the Hundred Years Wars after 138 years, then we move onto the death of Edward IV, the villainy of Richard III, Henry Tudor, Bosworth Field, and finally, the red and white Tudor rose to rule them all

better late than never, huh? we're back with part 4 of our series on The Wars of the Roses and this time it's the Yorkists turn to take full control and dash all their external enemies: Warwick the Kingmaker is killed, the Lancastrian royal line is extinguished, and they even broker a treaty with France to formally end the Hundred Years War. now if Edward could just get along with his brothers...oh and sorry about the audio

we're back with more wars and more roses. this time, the Yorkists finally take control of the conflict, depose the old king, and assume full regal power over the realm. they win some battles, the old king gets passed around like a royal hot potato, and Edward York finally makes good on his dad's play for the throne. of course, the Yorkists squander it due to petty infighting, broken marriage pacts, and power politics, but it's fun while it lasts, right?

we're back continuing the series on the Wars of the Roses and this time we take a look at the early years. we've got the seesaw battle between Lancastrians and Yorkists, the last flourishes of English chivalry, King Henry VI is captured repeatedly, two battles that last less than thirty minutes each, and we get everyone's favorite pitiful attempt to reinforce the status quo: Loveday. check it out!

we pick up right where we left off in our Hundred Years War series as we introduce the Wars of the Roses, the dynastic conflict that paved the way for England to become the globe-bestriding colossus we know and hate. we talk all about the Plantagenets, the Lancastrians, the Yorkists, and even a couple of Tudors. it's a lot of convoluted back stories and weird family trees but we have a lot of fun with it, so check it out!

we're back with the final episode of our series on the Hundred Years War. we talk about the English dominance in the early stages of the Lancastrian period, including the crushing victory at Agincourt and taking over huge swaths of French territory, even Paris itself. but then we see the emergence of Joan of Arc and one of the most unlikely events in history: a teenage peasant girl helps lead the French army to martial victories and gets a new French king crowned. despite her early, horrible death, this helped the French turn things around and eventually win the Hundred Years War.yet, this in turn leads directly to the Wars of the Roses, which sets the stage for England to become the globe-bestriding colossus we know and despise today, which we will go over next time.

we're back and the Hundred Years War continues on, kinda. following the Truce at Leulinghem, there is a 26-year-long peace between England and France though it wasn't because their differences had been resolved, they just couldn't continue fighting each other at the time due to domestic troubles. in England, Richard II's incompetence and John of Gaunt's death lead to a coup that put Henry Bollingbroke and the Lancastrians on the throne. meanwhile, France has a mad king who can't broker peace between his feuding relatives and so the land breaks out into civil war. don't worry though, England and France will finally get back to real fighting and resolve all this next time.