The Medici Podcast
The Medici Podcast explores the history of the Medici family, a middle-class banking clan that rose to become European royalty and shaped the modern Western world. The podcast covers their role in the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and their sponsorship of Galileo, set against the backdrop of a fractured Italy.
Episodes
The Drop-Out Who Destroyed a Society
In 1519, Europeans made their first diplomatic contact with an urbanized empire in the Americas—and, within a few years, that empire will no longer exist, in no small part because of a failed law student from Spain.
5/30 Update
Here is just a short update on the next episode and the state of the "Turning Modern" Patreon.
Turning Modern: Martin Luther on Trial
Martin Luther braves persecution by the Church to come to the city of Worms to have his case heard by Emperor Charles V. In this contest between a reviled monk who is the son of a mine owner and a monarch whose empire spans an ocean, the victor is perhaps not the person one would normally expect...SourcesGregory, Brad S. The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (H
The "Journalist" Who Covered the Ottoman Invasion of Egypt
Writing in the years of 1516 and 1517, an inhabitant of Cairo likely witnessed firsthand a new era as Egypt lost its independence and was forcibly annexed by the Ottoman Empire. However, he not only observed the collapse of the old regime, but also the toll it took on the people. Sources:Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: A History of the Ottoman Empire (Basic Books, 2005).Ibn Iyas. An Account of th
The Erotic Publication That Scandalized Renaissance Europe
The apprentice of a legendary artist, the first publisher in history to be sued over copyright, and a famous satirist team up to create a provocative work of erotica that enraged the Pope himself.Sources:Romano, Giulio; Raimondi, Marcantonio; Aretino, Pietro; and Waldeck, Count Jean-Frederic-Maximilien. I Modi: The Sixteen Pleasures, An Erotic Album of the Italian Renaissance, trans. and ed. Lynne
The German Peasant Who (Almost) Started a Revolution
A young German herdsman draws crowds while preaching about the evils of the nobility and the clergy and a new world where goods and land are shared. In hindsight, he is offering the elites of the Holy Roman Empire a warning about the near future, but will they listen?Sources:The German Peasants’ War: A History in Documents, eds. Tom Scott and Bob Scribner (Humanities Press International, Inc., 199
Turning Modern: The African King Who Had a Portuguese Name
The Kingdom of Kongo establishes a rare partnership with an up-and-coming European power, Portugal, to the point that the King of Kongo and his family embrace Christianity and take Portuguese royal names. However, this partnership will also be ground zero for one of the greatest atrocities in human history. Sources:Almeida, Marcos Abreu Lelitão de. “Speaking of Slavery: Slaving Strategies and Mora
Turning Modern: The First Book Banned By The Church
A genius prodigy sets out to change the world by resolving all philosophical and religious disputes with one book, his own 900 Theses, and a debate in Rome between Europe's brightest intellectual lights. And he will leave his mark on history, just not in the way he wants...Sources Cited:Hanegraaf, Wouter J. Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture (Cambridge Universit
Turning Modern: The Age of Anxiety Prelude
As the sixteenth century begins following plague, turmoil, traumatic defeats, and the discovery of new continents, people from all faiths feel that the end of history and salvation are at hand while others look to the past to find hope for the future.
Turning Modern Introduction
What is Turning Modern, and why the "early modern West"?
Episode 87: Finale
Anna Maria Luisa, the last representative of the main branch of the Medici, saves her family's legacy through an innovative agreement. Also we survey Tuscany's post-Medici future and the branches of the family that survived into the 21st century.
Episode 86: Recluse and Reformer
At the age of 52, Gian Gastone comes to power as the opposite of his uptight, moralistic father in almost every possible way. But even as the Medici family fades, could Tuscany's future be getting brighter?
Episode 85: Waiting For The Inevitable
The vultures surround Tuscany as the Medici begin to die out. The only thing left for Cosimo III is to try to guarantee Tuscany's independence in the future, even though most of the great powers of Europe are working against him.ERRATA: In this episode I said that King Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese's firstborn son was Carlos. What I overlooked was that Philip V had a wife before
Episode 84: Too Few Heirs
The Medici family are approaching the brink of extinction. It's up to Cosimo III's three children to preserve the family, but even with the dynasty's survival on the line, the Medici cannot stop themselves from repeating the mistakes of the recent past.
Episode 83: The Breakup
Cosimo and Marguerite-Louise's dysfunctional marriage hits its dramatic crescendo and falls apart. Will Marguerite-Louise escape back to her homeland, or will she remain a prisoner of her despised husband?
Episode 82: His Royal Highness
Grand Duke Cosimo III sets out to make Tuscany great again with tariffs and religiosity. At the same time, Cosimo aims for royal glory, even at a time all of Italy is under the boot of the Hapsburgs.
Episode 81: Love and Marriage
Ferdinando II had high hopes that marrying his introverted, overly devout son to a French princess would both loosen his son up and save the dynasty from extinction. Things wouldn't turn out quite like he wanted.
Episode 80: The Scientist Grand Duke
Despite his unorthodox love life, Ferdinando II is well-liked for his genuine concern for his people and his scientific patronage. However, Tuscany is in decline, and the seeds for the dynasty's extinction have already been planted.
Episode 79: The Judgment
Cosimo II finally dies after a prolonged illness. Meanwhile, the Church loses its patience with Galileo.
Episode 78: Galileo's Revolution
Why was Galileo's scientific work considered both something worth celebrating and a threat to the status quo? Galileo himself must have pondered that question as his work, celebrated as it was by the Medici and even high-ranking members of the Church, nonetheless caught the attention of the Roman Inquisition.
Episode 77: The Contentious Scientist
The celebrity natural philosopher and writer Galileo rises out of a life of near-poverty to become a favorite at the Medici court. But when controversy rears its head, will the Medici actually protect the quarrelsome Galileo?
Episode 76: The People's Grand Duke
After his brother's hands-off approach to ruling, Grand Duke Ferdinando I instead tends to the economic health of his state and his people.
Episode 75: Day of the Dupes
Marie de' Medici believes she finally triumphed over her protege turned archenemy Richelieu and has secured her place as Louis XIII's benevolent advisor. As the proverb goes, though, pride goeth before a fall...
Episode 74: Baroque Queen
Marie de' Medici goes to war against her own son. On a less violent front, she also oversees her most important legacy, a prime example of Baroque art. http://medicipodcast.com
Episode 73: There Is No Middle Ground
Marie de' Medici's hope of staying in power by keeping her son in line indefinitely falls apart thanks to a love affair, and her friends pay a heavy price. Still, the Medici aren't known for accepting even the most devastating of defeats, and Marie is no exception.
Episode 72: How to Raise a Teenage King
Even amidst challenges to her rule, the new queen regent Marie de' Medici is sure that she has her son, King Louis XIII, firmly in line, at least for now.
Episode 71: Royal Dysfunction
Marie de' Medici finds herself in a turbulent domestic life with an adulterous husband and a troubled son. And history is going to repeat, propelling her toward a more dramatic role.
Episode 70: Poor Little Rich Girl
We wrap up with the shoddy and bloody reign of Grand Duke Francesco and meet his daughter Maria, the lonely girl destined become the other Medici queen of France.
Episode 69: A Deadly Scandal
The reign of Grand Duke Francesco was inflicted with multiple scandals, but none were worse than the fates of the Grand Duke's own sister and sister-in-law.
Episode 68 - The Ghetto
Cosimo's legacy was to give Florence stability and prosperity it had not known in about half a century, but there is a much darker side to that legacy too.
Episode 67: Making the Medici Legend
Besides being a political reformer, Cosimo was also a master at using art and literature to glorify not only himself, but his ancestors.
Episode 66: The Conquest of Tuscany (Mostly)
Although kept on a leash by the Emperor Charles V, Cosimo I completes Florence's consolidation of the rest of Tuscany...except for one hold-out.
Episode 65: Building a State
Now secure in his reign, Cosimo sets about building something like a modern state. But was he a reformer, a tyrant, or something in-between?
Episode 64: The Medici Phoenix
In the wake of Alessandro de' Medici's assassination, the Medici family's country cousin Cosimo becomes the new duke. Right away, he has to fight for his throne and prove that he is no pawn.
Episode 63: Anticlimax
The Wars of Religion reaches its crescendo with a three-way struggle, and Catherine watches as her most beloved child makes a horrific and bloody mistake that would prove too much for her to bear.
Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.
Support the podcast on Patreon. You can also drop some change in the tip jar and see my other work here.
Episode 62: Misery and Worry
Henri tries to get comfortable as king surrounded by his minions and scholars while Catherine's problem son, François d'Alençon, helps cause the Wars of Religion to break out again.
Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.
Support the podcast on Patreon. You can also drop some change in the tip jar and see my other work here.
Episode 61: The Favorite
With an atrocity between them, Catherine de' Medici's relationship with her son King Charles IX falls apart. She can take pride in her favorite son Henri's election as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, although unfortunately her beloved child decides he hates his new job.
Episode 60: Massacre
Catherine de' Medici and King Charles IX lash out against perceived enemies only to release a horror beyond their control, one that will stain Catherine's image forever.
Episode 59: Eve of an Atrocity
Catherine seems to have finally ended the religious civil war, a lasting peace that would be sealed with the marriage of her glamorous daughter Margot and the Protestant great hope Henri de Bourbon. But no one saw the storm that was coming...
Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.
Support the podcast on Patreon.
Episode 58: Everyone's a Martyr
The war between Catholics and Protestants in France finally erupts in earnest. Catherine travels across France with Charles IX to try to calm the volcano, but her own patience with the increasingly desperate Protestants is wearing thin...
Episode 57: Under Pressure
Catherine de' Medici takes the reins under the novel title of Governess of France. Just as she assumes power, a crisis that will overshadow the rest of her life begins to take shape.
Episode 56: Queen Mother
Catherine de' Medici's chronically ill son is now King François II of France. Rather than getting to enjoy the perks of being a king's mother, she finds herself caught having to deal with not only the growing tensions between Catholic and Huguenot, but the feud between two powerful families, the Guises and the Bourbons.
(Note that I'm going on hiatus until late January. Also, apo
Episode 55: Ménage à trois
Now queen of France, Catherine de' Medici is forced to form a somewhat unorthodox household with her husband Henri and Diane de Poitiers. Meanwhile religious persecution and violence have been growing, and Henri prepares to once again face his and his father's nemesis, Emperor Charles V.
Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.
Support the podcast on
Episode 54: The Girl Has Come To Me Completely Naked
Far from a fairly tale life, to secure her future Catherine de' Medici must overcome snobbery at the royal court, anti-Italian racism, escalating religious and political tensions, her husband's bizarre love for his own surrogate mother Diane de Poitiers, and even her own body's seeming inability to get pregnant with an heir to the French throne.
Check out pictures, bibliographies,
Episode 53: No Girls Allowed
Catherine de' Medici has just married into the monarchy of France, arguably the oldest surviving Catholic Christian monarchy in Europe. So it's a good time to ask the question that would shape Catherine's life: how was it that a monarchy that barred women and their children from the crown also had a long history of powerful women guiding it?
Check out pictures, bibliographies, and mo
Episode 52: The Little Duchess
From the start of her life, the orphaned Catherine's life was marred by politics. First, she was destined to be a figurehead for her great-uncle's territorial ambitions. Then she was a hostage blamed for the crimes of her family, and next a pawn on the royal marriage market. No one could have guessed that the future had grander things in store for her than just a marriage to some prince..
Episode 51 - Family Feud
Duke Alessandro de' Medici enters a deadly contest with his cousin, Cardinal Ippolito. The real threat, however, may be closer to home.
Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.
Support the podcast on Patreon
Episode 50 - How The Medici Did It
For our 50th episode, I give an overview of how the Medici went from being just one of several powerful banking families to joining the ranks of European royalty and high nobility.
Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.
Support the podcast on Patreon
A Quick Update
Just a brief update on the latest way the Worst Summer Of My Life has messed with me and what that means for the podcast along with what's in store with future episodes.
Episode 49: Duke
We leave the Medici papacy behind and look at the life and times of Alessandro de' Medici, the first Medici de facto ruler of Florence and (possibly) a black head of state in Renaissance Europe.
The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles.
Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.
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Episode 48 - The Emperor and His Pope
Pope Clement VII sells his soul to Emperor Charles V to get back Florence. Part of the bargain includes Clement essentially signing off on the death warrant of the Republic of Florence.
Episode 47: The Old New Republic
Lorenzo the Magnificent's granddaughter Clarice triggers a coup in Florence just by berating the man in charge. Meanwhile Pope Clement is driven to hide in a derelict palace in the mountains and receives an unwelcome visitor all the way from England.
The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles.
Check out pictures, biblio
Episode 46 - Sack of Rome
Pope Clement tries once more to loosen Emperor Charles V's grip on Italy, another revolution in Florence is narrowly avoided through one man's incompetence, and the stage is set for one of modern history's most notorious war-time atrocities.
Episode 45: The Edge of the Abyss
Clement VII brings back the artistic glories of Renaissance Rome, but disaster for himself, his family, and for Rome looms overhead.
The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles.
Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.
Support us at Patreon.
Episode 44: Interregnum
After Leo X's sudden death, the Medici are briefly out of power in the papacy. In the meantime, Emperor Charles V changes the landscape of European politics by getting elected as Holy Roman Emperor, and the fate of the Medici family is put in the hands of an orphaned, illegitimate son.
Check out images, maps, genealogies, and more at medicipodcast.com.
Support me on Patreon
Episode 43: The Drunken German
While Pope Leo works with the artist Raphael toward the preservation of Roman antiquities and tries to steer Italy between the deadly rocks of France, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, a little problem crops up to demand his attention. And that little problem had a name: Martin Luther.
The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by
Episode 42: The Orphan
A new Medici is born amidst tragedy, Pope Leo struggles with the threats posed by France, Spain, and the Holy Roman and Ottoman empires and a deadly conspiracy close to home, and an obscure monk and university lecturer in Germany starts to inspire a bit of controversy.
Episode 41: The Prince
Pope Leo X goes through his own "annus mirabilis." Meanwhile the next generation of Medici men come into their own: the wannabe aristocrat, Lorenzo "the Younger", and the juvenile delinquent turned freelance mercenary, Giovanni of the Black Bands.
Episode 40: New World Order
We look at Pope Leo X's reign, from how he got an edition of a pivotal Jewish text dedicated to him to the elaborate practical joke he engineered involving his pet elephant and an old-fashioned Roman triumph. But Leo also has to face the fact that the fate of Europe, especially Italy, now lays in the hands of three young, ambitious, and powerful monarchs.
Episode 39: The Lion of God
The unlikely partnership between the bookish, affable Giovanni de' Medici and the rough-and-tumble Pope Julius II will finally bring the Medici back to power and set the stage for Giovanni's turn as Pope Leo X, which would prove to be one of the most consequential papal reigns in history for reasons no one could have predicted.
Check out the website for extra materials and one-time donations: medi
Episode 38: Mother Church
The Catholic Church was once the most important, omnipresent institution in Europe. Before we meet the Medici Popes, we'll delve into what exactly the Church did for the people, from providing early nursing homes to giving people one of the few shots at social mobility, and how powerful the Popes really were.
Check out the website for extra materials and one-time donations: medicipodcast.com
Supp
Episode 37: The Exile
Still in exile, Piero de' Medici throws himself on the mercy of the new king of France and Cesare Borgia. But will they prove to be reliable friends?
Check out the website for extra materials and one-time donations: medicipodcast.com
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/medicipodcast
Episode 36: The Tigress and the Popolano
This time, we check in on the sons of Pierfrancesco de' Medici, the brothers Popolano, Lorenzo and Giovanni. While Lorenzo tried to play a small, non-partisan role in Florence's new government, Giovanni fell in love with one of the most famous and daring women of the Renaissance.
Check out the website for extra materials and one-time donations: medicipodcast.com
Support me on Patreon: https://www.
Episode 35: Trial By Ordeal
We conclude Savonarola's story by looking at why one of his most fervent followers decided to try to shut up the growing criticism of Savonarola by resorting to an obsolete medieval ritual and how that decision backfired catastrophically.
Check out the website for extra materials and one-time donations: medicipodcast.com
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/medicipodcast
Episode 34: The Borgia Vs. The Prophet
Savonarola may be enjoying the peak of his influence over Florence, but he's made a relentles enemy who just so happens to be a pope and, worse, a Borgia. Meanwhile, Piero and his supporters spin plots for a Medici restoration.
Check out the website for extra materials and one-time donations: medicipodcast.com
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/medicipodcast
Episode 33: God's Republic
Charles VIII marches on Naples not knowing a brand-new plague is waiting for him, the Medici adapt to the existence of the new republic in different ways, and Savonarola and his allies in government tighten their grip over Florence, even while Rodrigo Borgia closes in on Florence's popular preacher.
Check out the website for extra materials and one-time donations: medicipodcast.com
Support
Episode 32: The Friar and the King
Piero de' Medici is gone, and a new rising star is a hotshot preacher named Girolamo Savonarola. Once an itinerant preacher and lecturer, Savonarola now finds himself hobnobbing with King Charles VIII of France and even having a say in Florence's newly rebuilt, Medici-free republic.
Episode 31: The Flood Comes
Piero doesn't get to enjoy being the de facto lord of Florence for long before he has to deal with an impending French invasion of Italy. He decides to imitate his father's boldest move, which would surely work...won't it?
Episode 30: Piero the Brief
The fourth Medici to come to power as "unofficial lord" of Florence is Lorenzo the Magnificent's son, Piero. Although a strapping, handsome, and popular young man, forces within the regime are already working against him. But the real threat is starting to stir many miles outside of Florence...
Update for May
An update explaining the brief hiatus and what the planned schedule for the show will be going forward.
Episode 29: After Me, The Deluge
We step back from the Medici to look at Europe as a whole circa 1492. The balance of power is shifting and that means, for Medici and Italy as a whole, the flood is coming.
Episode 28: The End of the Golden Age
The golden age of the Medici's unofficial lordship over Florence is drawing to an end with Lorenzo's death. Here we look back over Lorenzo's legacy as the patron, the politician, and even the embezzler and the human being. Also, what exactly was Lorenzo's contribution to the course of not only Florentine but European history as a whole?
Episode 27: The Decline and Fall of the Medici Bank
Lorenzo is at the height of his power and security. However, just behind the scenes, the family bank that caused the Medici to come into power in the first place is slowly but steadily falling apart, thanks to the Ottomans, a squabble between English royals, and, most of all, the ugly realities of politics.
Episode 26: The Private Life and Patronage of Lorenzo the Magnificent
The Lorenzo we see from his volumnious letters is a man who had a short temper and bouts of depression, but was also capable of tremendous compassion and generosity. Unfortunately, his relationships with his own wife and sons were perhaps less than ideal.
Episode 25: Into The Lion's Den
To try to stop a war Florence is badly losing and take some steam out of the Pope's vendetta against him, Lorenzo does something few politicians had done before or since: put himself directly in enemy territory.
Episode 24: Bloodshed
The Pope, his nephew, an archbishop, and a mercenary decide Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother Giuliano have to die (or at least be overthrown). Unfortunately, the conspiracy develops some hiccups, namely having to send a couple of clergy instead of a mercenary to take down Lorenzo...
Episode 23: The Calm Before The Storm
Lorenzo resorts to unsavory methods in order to keep the Medici bank afloat. In the meantime, his path crosses with the man who would prove to be his most relentless enemy: Christ's representative on Earth himself.
Episode 22: Triumphs and Missteps
Not long after coming to power, Lorenzo de' Medici has to fend off enemies at home and abroad. Unfortunately, in the course of protecting Florence from a crisis that could spiral out of control, Lorenzo sets the stage for a humanitarian disaster. But how much was he really to blame?
Episode 21: The Rising Son
Even as a small child, Lorenzo had been thrust into the role of the public face of the Medici regime. Now an adult, Lorenzo's own marriage to a Roman noblewoman from a clan claiming the Emperor Augustus and Julius Caesar as ancestors is a chance for the Medici to ascend even higher. Meanwhile, Piero is finally succumbing to his gout, just when both the domestic and foreign situations are starting
Update for 10/29/2021
An update on the show schedule for 10/29 and a thank you to everyone making sure this podcast isn't just me talking to myself.
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