Western Civ

We back the narrative up a little bit this time to catch up with England and France before continuing with the Black Death. In this episode, Edward III becomes King of England in his own right and the Hundred Years War begins. We explore the Battle of Crećy as well as the King's son, also a rising start: Edward the Black Prince. Finally, we look at how the longbow revolutionized combat in the Late Middle Ages.  For those interested, I have included the link to my first Young Adult Historical Fiction Novel, The Agency: Crisis at Kadesh, here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0859LCJ4M It will be available free of charge in ebook form from March 13-15.

We continue tracking the Black Death as it moves from Italy to France in this episode. First we follow the plague to Marseilles and see our first anti-semitic response to the mounting death toll. Then the plague chases the Pope out of Avignon. Finally, we follow the plague across the medieval French countryside before it descends on Paris.

In this episode, we continue our Black Death narrative. Last time we considered the impact of the plague on medieval Genoa and Venice. This time we turn to Florence, Siena, and Rome.  From Florence we get our greatest plague chronicler: Giovanni Boccaccio.

In this episode, we follow the Black Death as it moves from Sicily to Italy - striking the Italian cities of Genoa and Venice.

We resume our narrative proper and take up the story of the Black Death in this episode. Now, the Black Death finally arrives in Europe in 1347 via, according to some truth and a lot of legend, the Genoese traders of Caffa on the Black Sea.

In this final introductory episode to the Black Death, we consider the ecological factors that made Europe especially susceptible to plague in the Fourteenth Century.

In this episode, we begin our Black Death narrative arc with a look at the plague itself. We will cover what causes the plague and what made the Black Death so destructive in Medieval Europe.

In this supplemental episode, we take a whirlwind tour of Europe at roughly the year 1350, when the plague will begin to hit Europe. We cover quickly which kingdoms were where and who was rising or declining. Then, we take stock of the huge period of history we have covered since the fall of the Western Roman Empire before moving on to the Late Middle Ages.

In this episode we follow the hapless reign of King Edward II of England. King Edward would find himself dominated by one court favorite after another starting with the infamous Piers Gaveston until finally he is simply removed from power in favor of his son, Edward III. In France, things are no better. The death of of Philip IV would led to three kings in the better part of two decades with no producing male heirs. This will lead to our first encounter with the so-called, Salic Law, which will ultimately plunge England and France into the Hundred Years War.

In this episode we continue our look at the High Medieval period in France and England. When we last left off, the deaths of two Kings, Henry II in England and Louis IX in France, left new kings in power. In this episode we will watch as Philip of France and Edward I of England led their kingdoms increasing toward nationhood.