PODCAST · history
The Renaissance Times
by Cameron Reilly & Ray Harris
The ultimate podcast about the Renaissance!
Episodes
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The Good Society – The Renaissance #248
We wrap up the witches series by pulling together everything we’ve covered – the folklore, the hallucinogens, the conspiracy theories, the Inquisition, and yes, the broomstick thing. Turns out the witch trials weren’t really about witches. They were about famines, heresy, herbal healers, ergot...
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The Smell of Evil – The Renaissance #247
We’re deep in the witchy end of the Renaissance now…. women falling into trances, communing with the dead, healing the sick, and charging for it, which honestly sounds like a pretty solid business model. Meanwhile men called the Căluşari are dressing as women, leaping around with swords, and...
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Werewolves Lost Again – The Renaissance #246
We’ve finally made it to witch trials…. sort of. First: an 80-year-old man in 1692 Livonia confessing to being a werewolf, werewolves who apparently lose battles against sorcerers armed with broomsticks, and a fertility cult called the Benandanti who leave their bodies in the shape of butterflies...
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Head on a Platter – The Renaissance #245
We’ve been building up to witches for a while now, and this episode we take a detour back to the second century CE…. because of course we do. Before Christians started accusing Jews of ritual murder, cannibalism, and orgies, Romans were accusing Christians of exactly the same thing. The stories...
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The Devil’s Recipe Book – The Renaissance #244
We finally get to the witches. Only took us a couple of hundred episodes. The trail leads through the Black Death, tortured confessions about poisoned powders and boiled infants, a German theologian named Nider who wrote the first book on witchcraft in 1435, and a judge who apparently knew an...
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Blame the Jews (The Plague Made Them Do It) – The Renaissance #243
Twelve Genoese galleys dock at Messina in 1347 carrying rats, fleas, and Yersinia pestis…. and within weeks Europe is looking for someone to blame. Spoiler: it’s the Jews. Also the beggars. Also, possibly, the planets. Pope Clement VI tries to point out that Jews are dying of the plague too…
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The Silence of Marguerite – The Renaissance #242
The Beguines were a movement of independent women who lived like nuns, owned property, preached in the vernacular, and answered to no man or church…. which, predictably, the church absolutely could not stand. We work through three of the great Beguine mystics, including Marguerite Porete, who…
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Rats, Jews, and the Man with the Flute – The Renaissance #241
The Jews have been expelled, the lepers have been burned, and somebody clearly had a plan…. we just don’t know who. We dig into the mechanics of medieval conspiracy theories, how the same story spread across France at a speed that makes you go “hmm,” and why the whole thing is basically a…
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A Goodly Sum – The Renaissance #240
The King of France issues a royal edict blaming the lepers for poisoning the wells…. conveniently leaving out the Jews, who had just paid him 150,000 livres – roughly a third of the entire royal annual revenue. Pure coincidence. We also get a forged letter from the future, a secret room full of...
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The Tall Dark Man with a Scimitar – The Renaissance #239
We’re still talking about the Great Leper Scare of 1321 and now we’re deep into the trials. We’ve got lepers across France being rounded up, tortured into confessions, and burned at the stake, because Jesus loves nothing more than the smell of burning human flesh. Under torture, we’ve got Jews...
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POISON IN THE WELL – The Renaissance #238 (The Witches Part 2)
We're still talking about the Great Leper Scare of 1321 - where lepers, Jews, Muslims, and the devil himself are allegedly conspiring to poison the wells and topple Christendom. It's the juicy tale of how a rumour spiralled into a pyramid scheme of scapegoating that ended with 160 Jews burned…
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Burn the Lepers – The Renaissance #237
We are taking a break from Michelangelo to talk about lepers, Jews and... WITCHES! Today we start with the 1321 leper panic in France, where thousands of people were burned alive or locked up for life based on tortured confessions of a supposed plot to poison the water supply and take over the...
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Ghosting the Pope – The Renaissance #236
On this episode, Michelangelo is done waiting around in Rome — he packs up and heads back to Florence, effectively ghosting the Pope before the Pope can ghost him any harder. Julius II is furious and tries every trick in the book to drag him back, including leaning on Florence's own leader...
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The Warrior Pope and the Marble Dreamer – The Renaissance #235
Michelangelo gets summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II — the baddest, most belligerent pope who ever lived — to build the greatest tomb the world has ever seen. Mickey heads to Carrara for six months to find the perfect marble, starts dreaming of flooding Rome with giant statues, and then one of…
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The Price Just Doubled: Michelangelo, the Doni Tondo, and the Birth of the Artist as Rockstar – The Renaissance #234
In this episode of The Renaissance Times, Cameron and Ray dive deep into Michelangelo's three extraordinary marble and painted roundels — the tondos — created during his Florence years between 1501 and 1506. Beginning with the origins of the tondo format itself (those circular domestic artworks...
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Renaissance #225 – Teenage Michelangelo: The Buff Baby Jesus and the Marble Prodigy (Michelangelo, part 3)
In this episode of The Renaissance Times (Episode 225), Cameron and Ray return to Florence to explore Michelangelo’s earliest surviving sculpture, Madonna of the Stairs (Madonna della Scala)—a marble relief carved when he was […] The post Renaissance #225 – Teenage Michelangelo: The Buff Baby…
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Renaissance #224 – Privilege, Paint, and Patronage (Michelangelo, part 2)
In this episode of Renaissance, Cameron and Ray continue their exploration of Michelangelo’s life and career, digging into the family connections, social structures, and cultural forces that shaped his rise. They trace Michelangelo’s privileged entry into the Medici circle, compare his fortunes…
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Renaissance #223 – Mickey The Angel (Michelangelo part 1)
Cameron and Ray dive into the life and legend of Michelangelo, kicking off what promises to be a long-running series on one of history’s most celebrated artists. Drawing on Vasari’s Lives of the Artists […] The post Renaissance #223 – Mickey The Angel (Michelangelo part 1) appeared first on The...
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Renaissance #222 Thank Christ: The End of the First Crusade (The Crusades part 31)
In this final instalment of the First Crusade series, Cameron and Ray bring the long march to its bloody climax with the siege and fall of Jerusalem in 1099. They blend dark humour with historical detail as they recount the Crusaders’ desperate conditions, the political and religious fervour...
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Renaissance #221 God Doesn’t Do Requests (The Crusades part 30)
In this penultimate episode of _The Renaissance_’s epic First Crusade arc, Cameron and Ray finally march the crusaders to the gates of Jerusalem — nearly three years and 2,000 miles after they first set […] The post Renaissance #221 God Doesn’t Do Requests (The Crusades part 30) appeared first on...
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Renaissance #220 Valentine’s Day: Blood, Not Roses (The Crusades part 29)
In this wild, irreverent, and historically sharp episode of _Renaissance_, Cam and Ray tear into the chaotic early months of 1099. As Raymond of Toulouse and the other Crusader leaders fumble their way down the Levantine coast, we get siege fails, castle bluffs, and political drama worthy of a...
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Renaissance #219 – Jerusalem or Bust (The Crusades part 28)
In Episode 219 of The Renaissance Times, Cameron and Ray are diving deep into the next leg of the First Crusade. They follow Raymond of Toulouse as he reluctantly resumes the crusade […] The post Renaissance #219 – Jerusalem or Bust (The Crusades part 28) appeared first on The Renaissance Times.
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Renaissance #218- Eat the Rich (aka the Turkish Prisoners) (The Crusades part 27)
In this darkly hilarious and horrifying episode, Cam and Ray dive deep into the Crusades—specifically the winter of 1098–1099—where starvation and power games took centre stage. The guys discuss Bohemond’s Machiavellian brilliance in manipulating […] The post Renaissance #218- Eat the Rich (aka…
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Renaissance #217- Christian Cannibals & Cowardly Crusaders (The Crusades part 26)
In this episode of _The Renaissance Times_, Cam and Ray dive into the chaos and absurdity that followed the siege of Antioch in 1098. With the Pope’s legate dead, the Crusader princes lose their […] The post Renaissance #217- Christian Cannibals & Cowardly Crusaders (The Crusades part 26)…
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Renaissance #210 – Jesus Starves (The Crusades part 19)
By Christmas of 1097, the Crusaders continued to lay siege to Antioch but it has gone on so long they are running out of supplies. One out of every seven men was dying […] The post Renaissance #210 – Jesus Starves (The Crusades part 19) appeared first on The Renaissance Times.
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Renaissance #208 – Omar Comin’ (The Crusades part 17)
Kerbogha, the governor of Mosul, with a massive coalition army he’d built, on his way to relieve Antioch, paused to eliminate Baldwin in Edessa. One of his new allies was Ridwan of […] The post Renaissance #208 – Omar Comin’ (The Crusades part 17) appeared first on The Renaissance Times.
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Renaissance #204 – A Coalition of Competing Interests (The Crusades part 13)
This episode finds the Crusaders marching through the Anatolian desert, doing deals with French pirates, selling their armour and watching pack animals sliding down wet mountain paths, until finally reaching the city/fortress of Tarsus - where they immediately turn on and kill each other, before...
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Renaissance #200 – Raw Meat (The Crusades part 9)
On his way to Constantinople, Bohemond attacked a village of Christian heretics, because having different opinions should not be tolerated. When he arrived at the Byzantine capital, he met with Alexios but didn’t trust […] The post Renaissance #200 – Raw Meat (The Crusades part 9) appeared first…
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Renaissance #197 – The Prince’s Crusade (The Crusades part 6)
The failure of the People’s Crusade didn’t stop the overall appetite in Europe for pillaging the Holy Land. They still had the Prince’s Crusade. A bunch of rich young men, their vassals […] The post Renaissance #197 – The Prince’s Crusade (The Crusades part 6) appeared first on The Renaissance...
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Renaissance #195 – The Holy Goose and the Holy Goat (The Crusades part 4)
At the end of April in 1096, a priest by the name of Volkmar, a monk called Gottschalk, and an army from the Rhineland led by a Count Emich set off on the First Crusade with tens of thousands of soldiers and enthusiastic pilgrims... following a goose that had been inspired by God... and a holy...
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#138 – Toby Lester, Da Vinci’s Ghost – Leonardo da Vinci Part 27
Our guest today, Toby Lester, has worked as a refugee affairs officer for the United Nations, helped with programmes in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, undertaken Peace Corps work in Yemen. He has written also extensively for national publications, including the Smithsonian, The Wall...
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#136 – Julia & The Vatican
Taking a short break from Leonardo, our guest today is Julia Charity, an official Vatican tour guide! Julia, who originally hails from the UK, tells us how she ended up as a Vatican tour guide and about some of her favourite art on display in the Pope's fortress, including "The Last Judgment" by...
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#120 – Leonardo da Vinci Part 13 – Curtis Wong
Curtis Wong has had an incredible career. He has produced critically acclaimed educational CD-ROMs at Corbis and the Voyager Co., as well as the definitive editions of feature films for the Criterion Collection. He ran the Content Group at Intel, and was granted many patents at Microsoft…
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#118 – Leonardo da Vinci Part 11 – Matthew Landrus
We chat with one of the world’s leading authorities on Leonardo da Vinci – Matthew Landrus from Oxford University, author of Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow. The post #118 – Leonardo da Vinci Part 11 – Matthew Landrus appeared first on The Renaissance Times.
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Where are rest of the episodes?
If you’re wondering “where are rest of the episodes?”, they are on our website as part of our membership program. The post Where are rest of the episodes? appeared first on The Renaissance Times.
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#108 – Leonardo da Vinci Part 1 – A Complete Bastard
"Extraordinary power ... conjoined with remarkable facility, a mind of regal boldness and magnanimous daring." That's how Vasari described Leonardo da Vinci. But how much do we really know about the world's most famous artist? And how much of what we think we know is myth? The post #108 –…
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#105 – Savonarola Part 12 – Trial By Fire
With Charles out of the picture, Piero de Medici figures it’s time for him to return to Florence. He marched into Tuscany with a force of four hundred lancers, light cavalry, and foot soldiers. Unfortunately, nobody shows up to welcome him and he goes back into exile. But his attempt at a return...
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#99 – Savonarola Part 6
Savonarola’s predictions that God was going to punish the Florentines seem to be coming true when, in 1494, King Charles VIII of France invades Italy to take control of Naples. On his way south, he also threatens to attack Florence. When Piero de Medici tries to negotiate a settlement, it’s a...
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#98 – Savonarola Part 5
In 1492, Lorenzo The Magnificent died. His heir was his eldest son, 20 year old Piero de’ Medici, a useless turd. The Pope died soon afterwards and was replaced by the corrupt Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI. Savonarola proclaimed that the “Sword of the Lord” would soon descend upon...
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#94 – Savonarola Part 1
After Lorenzo de Medici’s death in 1492, Botticelli gave up painting, abandoned his humanist studies, and became a hardcore fundamentalist Christian. As did a lot of Florentines. The reason? They all fell under the spell of the original fire and brimstone preacher. He wasn’t rich. He didn’t have…
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#89 – Sandro Botticelli
During Lorenzo de Medici’s life, no fewer than three of the outstanding artists of the Renaissance are thought to have spent at least a brief formative period of their early lives in the Palazzo Medici: Leonardo and Michelangelo and the one we're going to talk about for the next few episodes…
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#86 – Edicts Of Grace
When the Inquisition came to your town, they would grant you 30 days to confess to being a heretic. This was known as the "Edicts Of Grace". If you confessed, you might get a hefty fine, but at least you wouldn't end up in prison or burned at the stake. Of course, many conversos decided it was…
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#81 – Introducing The Gentleman
On this episode we discuss the artists Poliziano, who popularised the new sophistication and learning expected of a gentleman; Mirandola, who at age 23 decided to debate the entire world; and the magnificent breasts of Simonetta Vespucci. The post #81 – Introducing The Gentleman appeared first on...
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#78 – The Pazzi Conspiracy
Early in his rule, Lorenzo de' Medici cracked down on the town of Volterra, resulting in rampage, murdering, looting and raping. Meanwhile, in Milan, on the day after Christmas 1476, Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, was stabbed by three noblemen as he entered church. And Larry upsets Pope Sixtus…
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#77 – The Marriage Of Lorenzo
Lorenzo de' Medici throws himself a jousting tournament to take Florence's minds off the fact he's marrying a Roman girl. The ‘Queen of the Tournament’ was Lucrezia Donati, a Florentine hottie who Lorenzo was writing love poetry about, even thought she was married to someone else. His bride,...
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#71 – The Greek Invasion
It’s been a while since we have caught up with Cosimo de Medici. Four years after his return to Florence in 1434, he secured a huge opportunity for Florence, that would have far reaching effects on the Renaissance – hosting the Ecumenical Council between the East and West churches. This saw a...
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#70 – Gutenberg Part 6
In 1453, when the Turks took Constantinople, Pope Nicky 5 wanted a crusade and authorized the sale of letters of indulgence—religious documents that released the buyers from penalties for their sins. And guess who printed them? Then he finally got around to working on his masterpiece and the book...
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#69 – Gutenberg Part 5
Commercial opportunities for a printing press went beyond books. One of those was the Fall of Constantinople. In 1453, the Ottoman Empire lead by 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II defeated the army of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine Emperor. To tell this story we also need to talk about...
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#68 – Gutenberg Part 4
Hand carving a piece of metal type for a printing press would take a skilled craftsman an entire day. Just setting one page of the Bible would take 2600 pieces of type. So Gutenberg needed to come up with an efficient way to manufacture type – which is a lot harder than it sounds. He […] The post...
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#67 – Gutenberg Part 3
One of Gutenberg’s partners died, and the guy’s brothers wanted in on the secret project. Gutenberg refused, so they took him to court. Then in 1444, Gutenberg left Strasbourg and went… where? We don’t know. He disappeared for three years. Some interesting conspiracy theories about where he might...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The ultimate podcast about the Renaissance!
HOSTED BY
Cameron Reilly & Ray Harris
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Renaissance Times have?
The Renaissance Times currently has 116 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Renaissance Times about?
The ultimate podcast about the Renaissance!
How often does The Renaissance Times release new episodes?
The Renaissance Times publishes regularly with 116 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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Who hosts The Renaissance Times?
The Renaissance Times is created and hosted by Cameron Reilly & Ray Harris.
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