The Black Death | 1. Introduction

Is there a real historical phenomenon behind Bridgerton’s masked ball? And what would it really have been like? In this episode, Meghan Kobza takes us behind the doors of the glittering Georgian masquerades. Speaking to Charlotte Vosper, she discusses the history of the masquerad ...  Show more

Weimar is a small German city. Yet it looms large in European history. In the 1920s, it was synonymous with liberalism, internationalism and the fine arts. Yet, within a decade, many of its residents had embraced Nazism and Hitler was professing his love for the city. Here, in co ...  Show more

The epidemic known as the Black Death struck Europe in 1347 and completely upended medieval society. It's been estimated that roughly half of the European population was killed by this gruesome disease. Despite huge advances in our understanding of this epidemic debate still rema ...  Show more

In October 1347, a ghostly fleet of trading ships docks at a port in Sicily. The crew members – dead already, or well on their way – bear bubonic plague. The ‘Great Pestilence’ will ravage the populations of three continents over the next decade. What changes to society will resu ...  Show more

Between 75 million and 200 million people died in the Black Death, or Plague, which caused social, economic and religious upheavals that had a profound effect on the course of European history. How did the Black Death come about? How did if affect particular populations? For how ...  Show more

The Black Death was the most fatal pandemic in recorded human history, decimating a late Medieval world unaided by the germ theory of disease. In this episode of Stuff to Blow your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the ways that religion responded to the plague and the effects these e ...  Show more