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

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

Unlocked for the public after one year for patrons only: --Made of willow wicker on a wood frame --Made ca. 1620, most likely in the Netherlands --Allegedly brought on the Mayflower; held by the Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Mass. This rocking cradle was reportedly stowed on the Mayflower in anticipation of the birth of Peregrine White, the first English child born in New England, who came into the world as the ship was temporarily anchored in Provincetown Harbor. Passed down for centuries in the wealthy, powerful, and embattled White and Winslow families, the cradle reflects both the Pilgrims' unprecedented ambition to create a self-perpatuating European society in exile, and their strict child-rearing practices that sought to shape the infant into a miniature adult. Please become a patron to hear all lectures on the History of the United States in 100 Objects! ---- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

How did a chain of sparsely populated islands, stalked by earthquakes, hurricanes, and deadly tropical diseases, become the most powerful and prosperous colonies on earth? We trace how bands of adventurers, including pirates and Crusader knights, took advantage of Spain's fragile hold on the Caribbean islands, superior seafaring skills, and the growing slave trade, to build unlikely new societies, while the Irish and African laborers that they forced into service adapted or struck out for freedom. Image: 17th-century drawing of Tortuga, while it was ruled by the "Brethren of the Coast." please become a patron! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Inaugural episode of "God Save America," on religion in the United States: https://soundcloud.com/godsaveamerica/0-introduction

Unlocked for the public, after one year for patrons only, the final lecture of the series on Shakespeare: Could it be that "Shakespeare" wasn't Shakespeare? -- That someone else, perhaps a highly-educated aristocrat, actually wrote the works attributed to the actor from Stratford? Am I a crackpot for even entertaining such a ridiculous idea? We consider the evidence. I know this is an absurdly long one, but forgive me, it was so much fun to research and record. please become a patron! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Suggested Further Reading: S. Shoenbaum, "Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life"; Diana Price, "Shakespeare's Unorthodox Biopgraphy"; James Shapiro, "Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?"

What to make of this wonderful year? I venture into a little punditry, and give a clip from my patron-only lecture on the enigmatic alchemical physician's chair that belonged to John Winthrop Junior, the "magus of Connecticut." please become a patron! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

How did the early church hammer out a shared set of practices and teachings out of the welter of confusion and bitter contestation among Montanists, Docetists, Donatists, Paulines, Gnostics, and Ebionites? Why did it take 300 years just for the church to settle on the "creed" that most of us now understand as the core of the faith? please become a patron! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 image: earliest known manuscript of the Didache suggested reading: E. Glenn Hinson, "The Early Church" for context: --on composition of the New Testament texts: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/who-wrote-the-bible-new-testament --on the historical Jesus: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/the-historical-jesus

How did a small movement of Jewish fanatics, devastated by the ignominious demise of their leader, rise to become the official state religion of the Roman empire, Armenia, Georgia, and Ethiopia? We trace the dramatic rise of the new faith through three centuries of preaching, prophesy, and persecution. image: fresco of a woman at the 3rd-century house-church of Dura-Europos please become a patron! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 suggested reading: E. Glenn Hinson, "The Early Church" for context: --on composition of the New Testament texts: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/who-wrote-the-bible-new-testament --on the historical Jesus: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/the-historical-jesus

Teaser sample of "Myth of the Month 14: Astrology." Become a Patron at any level to hear the complete Myths of the Month: https://www.patreon.com/posts/44717945 Description: Why do we divide history into epochs separated by "revolutions"? Astrology. How did Magellan chart his course around the globe? Astrology. How did Ronald Reagan schedule his acts of state? Astrology. We trace how the highest of the occult arts evolved from interpreting omens in ancient Babylonia, to containing medieval epidemics, to providing fodder for middle-brow magazines. Whether you are a believer or not, astrology is the secret rhythm of our lives. Suggested further reading: Benson Bobrick, "The Fated Sky"; Nicholas Campion, "The Great Year," Julie Beck, "The New Age of Astrology," The Atlantic magazine; Elijah Wolfson, "Your Zodiac Sign, Your Health," The Atlantic magazine; Sonia Saraiya, "Seeing Stars," Vanity Fair magazine. Image: Horoscope (birth chart) cast for Iskandar Sultan, grandson of Tamerlane, born 1384.

When we speak of "absolutism," most of us think immediately of Louis XIV, the Sun King, and his splendrous court at Versailles. But those glittering images cover over a centuries-long struggle by the Bourbon dynasty to consolidate power by forging quiet strategic alliances with the lower and middle classes against the nobility, building up a precarious potemkin village that would soon collapse under financial strain, throwing all of Europe into confusion. Please become a patron to hear the upcoming Myth of the Month: Astrology -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Image: Louis XIV as Jupiter, vanquisher of the Fronde, Charles Poerson, 1650s.