Is the Renaissance a Myth?

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Eleanor Janega reveals the darker side of the Renaissance with Dr. Ada Palmer, challenging the notion that it was a golden age, exposing it as a period of political instability, medical decline, and relentless power struggles. From the propaganda of the era to the destructive reign of Renaissance popes, Eleanor and Ada hugely enjoy dissecting the complexities and darker realities that belie the glorified stories of the Renaissance while contrasting it with the misconceived 'dark' Middle Ages.

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Edited by Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis.
0:02.6	And I'm Dr. Eleanor Yonaga.
0:04.2	And we're just popping up here to tell you some insider info.
0:08.0	If you would like to listen to Gone Medieval ad-free and get early access and bonus episodes,
0:13.3	sign up to History Hit.
0:14.5	With the History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries.
0:20.6	Such as my new series on everyone's favorite
0:22.8	conquerors, the Normans, or my recent exploration of the castles that made Britain. There's a new
0:29.9	release to enjoy every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe, or find a link in the show notes for this episode.
0:45.9	Hello, I'm Dr. Eleanor Yonaga and welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast
0:55.4	that delves into the greatest millennium in human history. We uncover the greatest mysteries,
1:01.6	the gobsmacking details, and the latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the Normans,
1:07.7	from kings to popes, to the Crusades. We delve into the rebellions,
1:12.6	plots, and murders that tell us who we really were, and how we got here.
1:21.9	Before we start today's episode, a word of warning. We are talking about the Renaissance,
1:26.9	and that means that we also
1:28.9	make some references to sex acts that people may or may not have been indulging in at the time.
1:34.5	You may want to have a listen and decide whether it's appropriate for the little listeners in
1:38.5	your life before you launch in. It's historical gossip, you see. We couldn't help it.
1:53.0	In 1350, Francesco Petrarch wrote a letter to his former confessor, Diony de Bourgo Saint-Sepocro, telling him that he and his brother Gerardo had recently ascended Montvanteau in Provence.
1:58.0	At the top, Petrarch sat down and opened a copy of Augustine's Confessions,
2:03.6	which he had hiked up the mountain with for some reason, to very conveniently stumble across
	...

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