Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong

Who are the Roma -- also colloquially called "Gypsies"? Where did they come from, and how did they end up all over Europe? How have they endured through persecution, expulsions, and political upheaval, without a state or country of their own? We trace the path of this remarkable and resilient people from their mysterious origins in India to their arrival in Constantinople and medieval Europe and through the wave of persecution and ethnic cleansing in the 1600s. Please sign on as a patron at any level to hear part 2 -- tracing the journeys of the Roma through the revolutions and national awakenings of the 19th century, the Holocaust, and modern politics -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/51774522 Update: A contemporary historian, Kristina Richardson, has recently researched the lives and customs of the longstanding Romani group in medieval-era Egypt, commonly called the Ghuraba. It seems likely that at least one major Roma group that migrated into Europe, particularly western Europe, derived from the Ghuraba. One can see Richardson discussing her work in various places, including here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERSduCs3Afg Image: Gypsies telling fortunes, in Cosmographie Universelle, Munster, 1552. Suggested further reading: Angus Fraser, "The Gypsies"; Isabel Fonseca, "Bury Me Standing." Please support this podcast and hear the recent lecture on the Founding Fathers! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Why was the excavation depicted in "The Dig" the most important archaeological discovery ever made in Britain, or arguably in all of Europe? How did some artifacts found in a mound near an English widow's garden in Suffolk on the eve of World War II revolutionize our understanding of the Dark Age? Why would they come to serve as symbols of the ancient roots of the English nation, and how did Sutton Hoo vindicate the new science of archaeology? The story that Netflix did not tell you. Image: the Sutton Hoo purse lid. Please support this podcast and hear the recent lecture on the Founding Fathers! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

How did Freemasonry expand in the 1700s from a small, secretive fraternity in Lowland Scotland to a massive global network, with lodges from the Caribbean to Russia to India? Who became Freemasons in the 1700s, and what sort of opposition and persecution did they face? What was their relationship to radical groups like the Illuminati? We examine to the growth, expansion, and divides in Freemasonry in the eighteenth century, all of which laid the groundwork for the Craft to influence the course of the age of revolutions. Please support this podcast and hear the recent lecture on the Founding Fathers! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Previous lecture on the core myths and rituals of Freemasonry: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/the-freemasonry-its-origins-its-myths-and-its-rituals Image: Depiction of procession of the Grand Lodge of England, London, 1742 Suggested Further Reading: David Stevenson, "Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's Century"; Margaret Jacob, "Living the Enlightenment"; Jessica Harland-Jacobs, "Builders of Empire"; Ric Berman, "The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry"; Steven Bullock, "Revolutionary Brotherhood"; Jasper Ridley, "The Freemasons"; Andre Kervella, "L'Effet Morin: Prestige d'un Homme, Genese d'un Systeme."

Since the Covid-19 pandemic has killed over half a million Americans, is it historically sound to say that the disaster is "bigger" than World War II? What do such comparisons mean, and are they illuminating? Such questions are truly a new dilemma, since from ancient and biblical times through the First World War and the Spanish Flu pandemic, people have usually understood war and pestilence as going hand in hand. Here, I present a recording of my recent interview with a journalist about putting pandemic and war into historical perspective, followed by an excerpt from my recent patron-only lecture on "Myth of the Month 16: The Founding Fathers." Image: "Death on a Pale Horse," by Gustave Dore, 1865. Music: Fandango, by Soler or Scarlatti, early 1700s, arranged for Midi file by El Gran Mago Paco Quito. Please become a supporter to hear all Myths of the Month: www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

The messy exit of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from the royal family marks the third great crisis of the British monarchy in the past hundred years – following the abdication of Edward VIII to marry an American divorcee in 1936 and the breakup of Charles and Diana’s marriage in the 1990s. Michael and I discuss the ramifications for the monarchy, Britain, the empire, and the world, situating the disaster in the context of the crown’s central role in the long-running struggle to redefine Britain as it loses its imperial status. Since the reign of Victoria, the monarchy has lost its political “hard” power but has correspondingly gained in the “soft” power of social influence and celebrity, rising to become the primary symbol representing the British nation to itself, and forcing the monarch to navigate the tension between Britain’s place at the head of the multi-racial Commonwealth and its connection to Europe. The appearance and quick departure of a bi-racial American woman in the royal family serves as a test of the monarchy’s supposed embrace of a color-blind future. Link to beginning Vernon Bogdanor’s lecture series at Gresham College on the monarchy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZUQd22OdVk Please support in order to hear the upcoming Myth of the Month on the “Founding Fathers” – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

The Voynich Manuscript -- often called the "world's most mysterious book" -- consists of 116 leaves of parchment covered in outlandish botanical and astrological drawings and thousands of lines of undeciphered text in an unknown language. A century after images of the codex were first published, still not one line has been decoded. What could it say? And more importantly from the historical perspective, who created it and why? This is the most balanced and impartial consideration of the evidence that you will find. Hear the first part of our investigation of the Voynich manuscript here: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/the-voynich-manuscript-the-worlds-most-mysterious-book-a-historians-view-pt-1 In this second part, we examine the mysterious text, and evidence as to its provenance and chain of ownership. Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

A small cloth sack, containing nails, beads, glass, and a cowrie shell, found under the floorboards of the garret of the oldest house in Newport, Rhode Island, points toward the continuation and adaptation of African practices in New England and throughout the complex "African Atlantic." We discuss with Michael J. Simpson, Phd student at Brown University, who is researching slavery and the slave trade in Rhode Island. Thank you to the Newport Historical Society for their help on this installment. Image: Components of the spirit bundle in a museum display -- 2005.12, Collection of the Newport Historical Society. Suggested further reading: Jason R. Young, "Rituals of Resistance: African Atlantic Religion in Kongo and the Lowcountry South in the Era of Slavery"; Judith Carney, "Black Rice"; Wyatt MacGaffey, "The Personhood of Ritual Objects," Etnofoor, 1990; Woodruff, Sawyer, and Perry, "How Archaeology Exposes the Nature of African Captivity and Freedom in Eighteenth-Century Connecticut," in Connecticut History. Please become a patron to hear all of the History of the United States in 100 Objects – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

I discuss, with Michael of "Xai, how are you?", the life and times of Sabbatai Zvi, the purported messiah of the 1660s, and the massive messianic awakening that he sparked and that swept across the entire Jewish diaspora in 1666, drawing in men and women, wealthy and poor, clergy and laity, Sephardic and Ashkenazi, and even Jews and gentiles. We consider the development of messianic theology and kabbalah that paved the way for the Sabbatian movement, as well as the lasting imprint that it left on Judaism in the modern era. Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

The Voynich Manuscript -- often called the "world's most mysterious book" -- consists of 116 leaves of parchment covered in outlandish botanical and astrological drawings and thousands of lines of undeciphered text in an unknown language. A century after images of the codex were first published, still not one line has been decoded. What could it say? And more importantly from the historical perspective, who created it and why? This is the most balanced and impartial consideration of the evidence that you will find. In this first part, we consider the physical features and visual content of the book. In the second part, we examine the mysterious text, and evidence as to its provenance and chain of ownership: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/the-voynich-manuscript-the-worlds-most-mysterious-book-a-historians-view-pt-2 Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Suggested further reading: Carlo Ginzburg, "The Night Battles" and "Ecstasies: Deciperhing the Witches' Sabbath"; Tucker and Janick, "Identification of Phytomorphs in theVoynich Codex," hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/pdfs/hr44…1-phytomorphs.pdf

What did Shakespeare mean when he wrote that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”? Why do we call independent countries “states” endowed with “sovereignty”? Why do historians and philosophers speak of “state formation” and clashes between “church and state”? How did these concepts come about, and what do they mean in international law and political theory? The answer runs from absolutist royal courts through the French Revolution and the Weimar republic of Germany; after centuries of struggle and democratization, the concept of “the state” has formed to fill the vacuum left behind by the Crown. Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Image: Christiansborg, the parliamentary palace of Denmark. Recent NPR segment in which I am quoted – https://www.npr.org/2021/01/26/960631333/covid-19-deaths-draw-comparisons-to-other-tragic-death-tolls Introductory episode of “God Save America,” on religion in the US – https://soundcloud.com/godsaveamerica/0-introduction