Western Civ

As the 1440's come to a close, those around Henry VI begin to come to terms with his ineptitude. First, the Duke of Suffolk and then the Duke of Somerset tries to control the government from behind th...

12 Mar 202137min

We begin our Wars of the Roses story arc by looking at the death of Henry V and the minority of his son, Henry VI. The Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester vie for power as England desperately tries to sta...

5 Mar 202140min

Today we catch up on early modern France after the Hundred Years' War. Then we do a quick run through the medieval Low Countries, Scandinavia, and Ireland to catch everyone up to 1492.  Check out our ...

26 Feb 202143min

In this episode, we cover the Rus as they do battle with the Mongol's Golden Horde and medieval Russia begins to emerge around Moscow. Then, we turn back to the Holy Roman Empire for the first time si...

19 Feb 202141min

Valentine's Day has not always been all flowers and heart-shaped cards. Our eighth most popular holiday today, St. Valentine's Day is the product of a combination of ancient, medieval, and Victorian t...

14 Feb 202113min

Leonardo da Vinci. Everyone knows the name. But how much do you really know about the great man? The Mona Lisa? Sure. The Last Supper? Of course. But, Lady with Ermine? Probably not. Groundbreaking me...

10 Feb 20212h 44min

Today we wheel east and bring our narrative up to date for several regions we have not discussed in some time: Bohemia, Hungary, the Balkans, and Poland. We cover the early modern/renaissance history ...

5 Feb 202145min

In this bonus episode, we do cover the basics of Renaissance painting, sculpture, writing, and architecture. I highly recommend looking at the images on our website, westerncivpodcast.com, while liste...

31 Jan 202115min