Each morning during my summer at Oxford, I would trot down to a little coffee shop called

Theo's right there on Broad Street outside of Baleo College and get an iced oat milk latte.

I would sit on the patio and I would just take in the sights, chattering Chinese tourists,

church bells chiming, a farmer's market setting up, the good people of Oxford, a city devoted

to learning, prestige, and the pinnacles of human achievement going about their day.

But from where I sat, I could only see one thing, the ghostly specter of three devout men

calling out to their God as they burned alive.

I'm Shalin Lester, and this is crowned and canceled.

If you've done any dives into European history, even a little bit, the Catholic versus

Protestant battle looms large over basically everything,

from royal marriages to civil wars to how and why borders were drawn. But like, what in the

fuck was the issue between these two groups, right? I mean, they worship the same God. Is it really

necessary to be fighting wars and burning people at the stake?

Well, to understand how three Protestant holy men ended up in flames, you have to understand the woman who put them there.

Mary. The queen so famous for religious executions that she earned the nickname everyone has heard.

Bloody Mary. But to understand her, we need to go back

a little bit further, away from Oxford, away from England, even away from the Vatican in Rome,

a little further north in Italy to Florence, specifically to the Medici family.

If you've been to Florence, you have no doubt heard this family's name.

And if you've been with me to Florence on one of my magical girls' trips, you've had some

very in-depth talks about how badass and cool this family was and what they were able to create,

namely a spectacular church and a dome that is still the jewel of Florence today.

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