Western Civ

The German Peasants’ War was the greatest popular uprising in Western Europe before the French Revolution. In 1524 and 1525, it swept across Germany with astonishing speed as well over a hundred thousand people massed in armed bands to demand a new and more egalitarian order. The peasants took control of vast areas of southern and middle Germany, torching and plundering the monasteries, convents, and castles that stood in their way. But they proved no match for the forces of the lords, who put down the revolt by slaying somewhere between seventy and a hundred thousand peasants in just over two months.  In Summer of Fire and Blood, the first history of the German Peasants’ War in a generation, historian Lyndal Roper exposes the far-reaching ramifications of this rebellion. Though the war’s victors portrayed the uprising as naive and inchoate, Roper reveals a mass movement that sought to make good on the radical potential of the Protestant Reformation. By recovering what the people themselves felt and believed, Summer of Fire and Blood reconstructs the thrilling, tragic story of the peasants’ fight to change the world. Buy The Book Here

Cardinal Richelieu comes to power in France, altering the course of French history.WebsiteWestern Civ 2.0 

For millennia, land has been a symbol of wealth and privilege. But the true power of land ownership is even greater than we might think. In Land Power, political scientist Michael Albertus shows that who owns the land determines whether a society will be equal or unequal, whether it will develop or decline, and whether it will safeguard or sacrifice its environment.  Modern history has been defined by land reallocation on a massive scale. From the 1500s on, European colonial powers and new nation-states shifted indigenous lands into the hands of settlers. The 1900s brought new waves of land appropriation, from Soviet and Maoist collectivization to initiatives turning large estates over to family farmers. The shuffle continues today as governments vie for power and prosperity by choosing who should get land. Drawing on a career’s worth of original research and on-the-ground fieldwork, Albertus shows that choices about who owns the land have locked in poverty, sexism, racism, and climate crisis—and that what we do with the land today can change our collective fate.  Global in scope, Land Power argues that saving civilization must begin with the earth under our feet.Buy The Book

Frederick V's brief stint as the leader of the Protestant resistance comes to an end. WebsiteWestern Civ 2.0

The Thirty Years War begins with the Bohemian revolt. That begins by a bunch of guys getting chucked out a window...WebsitePatreon Support

The death of Emperor Rudolf in 1612 brought his brother Matthias to the throne. While this marked a period of recovery for the Habsburg dynasty, Matthias's position was precarious. He lacked the same authority as his brother and was already 55 years old, making his grip on power tenuous from the outset. The empire Matthias inherited was one riddled with internal divisions and vulnerabilities. The Turkish truce of 1606, though bringing much-needed peace, had ironically diminished the emperor's international standing. The Austrian Habsburgs' policy of neutrality in European conflicts further sidelined them in international affairs, further weakening the perception of imperial strength.WebsiteWestern Civ 2.0

The years leading up to the Thirty Years War saw the repeated failures of various institutions within the Holy Roman Empire.WebsiteWestern Civ Podcast

We have not covered Denmark or Sweden much since the Viking Age. Today that changes. Both kingdoms will play major roles in the Thirty Years War so today we break down how both look coming into that conflict.WebsiteWestern Civ 2.0 Free Trial

Spain was truly a world empire by the opening of the Thirty Years War in 1618. While it was not without weaknesses, it was perceived as being the most dominant European power of the early modern period. WebsiteWestern Civ 2.0

Today I interview historian Josiah Osgood and we discuss his latest book: Lawless Republic: The Rise of Cicero and the Decline of Rome. In its final decades, the Roman Republic was engulfed by a crime wave. An epidemic of extortions, murders, and acts of insurrection tested the court system’s capacity to maintain order. As case after case filled the docket, an ambitious young lawyer named Cicero seized every opportunity to litigate, forging a reputation as a master debater with a bright future in politics. In Lawless Republic, historian Josiah Osgood recounts the legendary orator’s ascent and fall, and his pivotal role in the republic’s lurch toward autocracy.  Cicero’s first appearance in the courts came shortly after the end of a brutal civil war. After leveraging his fame as a lawyer to become a consul, he ruthlessly crushed a coup by suppressing the liberties of Roman citizens. The premiere legal mind of Rome came to argue that the pursuit of a higher justice could sometimes justify sweeping the law aside, laying the groundwork for Roman history’s most famous act of political violence—the assassination of Julius Caesar.  Lawless Republic vividly resurrects the spectacle of the courts in the time of Cicero and Caesar, showing how politics trumped the rule of law and sealed the fate of Rome.Buy the Book HEREWestern Civ 2.0