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

-Found in Monroe County, Illinois -Made of bauxite or "flint clay" -Dated to early 12th cent. AD One year after being shared with patrons only, this second installment of History of the United States in 100 Objects becomes public. We consider the statuette of a woman tearing into the back of a serpent (known to archaeologists as the Birger Figurine), which was found broken in pieces and buried in a pit outside of a small village site in Illinois. The figurine, despite its small size and condition, is the most exquisite piece of art surviving from the Mississippian civilization, a massive and powerful urban society that dominated the interior of North America for more than three hundred years before falling into decline and obscurity. The statuette most likely represents a goddess of death and rebirth that presided over the Mississippians' prosperous golden age. Suggested further reading: Timothy Pauketat, "Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians"; Reilly and Garber, "Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms"; Guy Prentice, "An Analysis of the Symbolism Expressed by the Birger Figurine." Please sign on as a patron in order to hear the 1st installment in the series on the History of the United State in 100 Objects – on the “Panther Effigy Pipe” – https://www.patreon.com/posts/18504136 ; and the 3rd installment in the series – on the “Scarlet Macaw Feather Sash” – https://www.patreon.com/posts/19617998

We put the disastrous fire at Notre Dame de Paris into historical perspective -- by considering the history of Gothic cathedrals, their cosmic religious meanings, and their remarkably powerful and mysterious construction. How did medieval builders create these massive, complex structures without steel, steam power, electricity, or even written plans? We also follow the tumultuous experiences of Notre Dame itself, the social and symbolic center of Paris--from religious riots and Revolutionary iconoclasm to malign neglect and controversial restorations. Finally, we consider the resilience of Gothic buildings through fire, lightning, earthquake, war, and revolution, and ask what other important monuments or community buildings we should support in our own communities. Please support this podcast, so that you can hear all of my patron-only materials, including a new special discussion of Game of Thrones and the magic of monarchy: www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Intro music: Domenico Scarlatti, "Fandango," played by Genoveva Galvez; used by permission of Ensayo Records. Image: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, immediately after the 2010 earthquake. Suggested further reading: John Fitchen, "The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals"; Otto von Simson, "The Gothic Cathedral"; Knoop and Jones, "The Mediaeval Mason"

--In time for Passover, this lecture on the myth of the Exodus from Egypt, which I recorded solely for patrons one year ago, becomes public for all.-- We examine the origins and the political and theological meanings of the myth of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. We consider the possible real historical events that might underly the exodus story, including the argument put forward in Richard Elliot Friedman's new book, The Exodus. Finally, we trace some of the many ways that peoples around the world, from the early Christians to Rastafaris, have adopted the exodus myth and cast themselves as the new Israelites. Please sign on as a patron in order to hear the next installment in this series – “Myth of the Month 3: The Exodus” – https://www.patreon.com/posts/18937861

Universities are unique -- a quintessential product of the High Middle Ages that has miraculously survived and even flourished in the modern world. In the first part of the history of universities, we examine the origins of the first universities in the power struggles of Popes and emperors; the ways that medieval students learned, lived, and annoyed their elders; and the ways that universities adapted to and withstood serious challenges from Renaissance humanism and the republic of letters. Next will be the rise of universities in America, the modern research university, and the current crisis of academia. Please support Historiansplaining, in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry, and to get patron-only lectures such as part 2 of this history of universities: https://www.patreon.com/posts/25222358 Suggested further reading: Walter Ruegg, ed., “A History of the University in Europe,” 4 vols.; William Clark, “Academic Charisma and the Origins of the Research University”; Olaf Pedersen, "The FIrst Universities." Image: "Master and Scholars," illustration from "L'Image du Monde," copybook by Gautier de Metz, 1464, in collection of British Library. Intro music: Domenico Scarlatti, Sonata in D minor, played on harpsichord by Wanda Landowska.

In the first half of my discussion of Patrick Deneen's "Why Liberalism Failed," I examine the structure of Deneen's argument, tracing his effort to connect present-day crises in education, science, culture, and morality to the fundamental flaws in "liberalism," which he calls the "operating system" of modern Western society, and which he claims has left us isolated, lonely, and afraid, with our social system possibly on the brink of collapse into a totalitarian nightmare. Cheers! Please support Historiansplaining, in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry, and to get more free lectures in the bargain! Sign up here to listen to this review, part 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/23955111

We follow how a relatively obscure family of Swiss counts took advantage of the chaos of the late Middle Ages to become the most powerful dynasty in the history of central Europe, towering over European affairs, ruling "an empire on which the sun never sets," and even setting their sights on the dream of global dominion. We then consider the obstacles that the French, the Ottoman Turks, and the Protestants threw in their way, leading to the disastrous Thirty Years' War and their gradual fall from power. Please become a patron in order to hear the next twp installments in this series -- "Age of Absolutism 2: Tudor England" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/27439446 & "Making The Modern State: Spain, Portugal, And The Inquisition" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/making-modern-16827184 Suggested further reading: Paula Sutter Fichtner, "Meaning Well: The Curious Life of a Habsburg Idealist."

We unearth the tangled roots of the earliest forms of modern science, beginning with the radical alchemical theories of the rabble-rousing healer called Paracelsus, and running through the heated debates over Galileo's astronomy, which broke down the distinction between the earth and the heavens. Due to these shocks, the old teleological, or purpose-driven, scheme of the world broke down, giving way to a free-for-all of speculation and apocalyptic excitement. We question the historical meaning of the concept of "science," and consider how modern-day pop scientists like Neil DeGrasse Tyson portray the past selectively in order to build the myth of reason and science as beacons of light amidst superstition. Please become a patron and contribute what you can in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry! www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Suggested further reading: Walter Pagel, "Paracelsus"; Charles Webster, "The Great Instauration"; Francis Bacon, "The New Atlantis"; Pamela Smith, "The Body of the Artisan"; Deborah Harkness, "The Jewel House"; Frances Yates, "Giordano Bruno" and "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment"; Thomas Kuhn, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions"; Steven Shapin, "The Scientific Revolution"

What is behind the popularity of Outlander? Why have crazed fans of the show from around the world begun to overrun Scottish castles? – and why did the UK Prime Minister secretly meet with TV executives to stop its premier in 2014? We examine the show’s success in light of Scottish history and politics, and in the context of the ongoing romance of Scotland, by which modern people project their longings for tradition, attachment, and honor onto a small, craggy country in the north of Britain. Please become a patron and contribute what you can in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry! www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

We trace the waves of crop failure, famine, pestilence, and war that swept over Europe in the 1600s as the climate sank into a “Little Ice Age” and armies literally marched across frozen seas. In the midst of unimaginable crisis, alchemists, astrologers, and apocalypticists scoured the Bible for prophecies to explain the disasters around them as part of the approaching End Times. Many of the defining institutions of the modern world we know today – such as overseas colonization, investor-owned corporations, public education, religious toleration, and scientific academies – have their origins as attempts to cope with the crisis of the seventeenth century and prepare the way for the Second Coming. Sign on as a patron in order to hear the next installment in this series, on "The Catholic Reformation" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/19116040 Suggested Further Reading: Webster, "The Great Instauration"; Yates, "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment"; Hobsbawm, "The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century"

We trace the roots of the idea of witchcraft in the "cunning folk" of the Middle Ages. We consider how the church and state began to fuel fear of witchcraft and persecute witches in the tens of thousands during the age of the Renaissance and the Reformation. We consider theories of why witch-hunting arose so dramatically in this age, including economic strain and political agendas. Finally, we examine evidence for an enduring shamanic belief system centering on ecstatic night journeys that may have provided the inspiration for the mythical witches' sabbath. Please sign on as a patron in order to hear the next installment in this series on "The Century of Splintering: The Reformation in its Swiss and Radical Phases, 1519-1619" -- www.patreon.com/posts/18658722 Suggested further reading: Margaret Murray, "The Witch-Cult in Western Europe"; Norman Cohn, "Europe's Inner Demons"; Carlo Ginzburg, "Ecstasies"; Mary Beth Nortion, "In the Devil's Snare"; John Demos, "Entertaining Satan."