by Cameron | Dec 13, 2018 | Podcast
Against complaints about how much they were demanding, the popes said “hey looking this good isn’t easy!” Clement VI had been forced to lend Philip VI of France 592,000 gold florins – $135 million. And 3,517,000 more to King John II, Philip’s son and heir....
by Cameron | Dec 8, 2018 | Podcast
After the death of Clement V, Dante wrote to the Italian cardinals and urged them to hold out for an Italian pope who would return the papacy to Rome. But only six of the 23 cardinals were Italian. And when they met just outside Avignon in their conclave to decide the...
by Cameron | Dec 1, 2018 | Podcast
We want to go back and discuss the political situation in Italy in the 14th century. We mentioned in an earlier episode that in 1309, Pope Clement V moved the Papacy from Rome to Avignon. He was French. The former bishop of Bordeaux. And King Philip IV of France, who...
by Cameron | Nov 23, 2018 | Podcast
BTW – in 1421, Bruno was awarded the world’s first ever patent for invention. The patent describes Bruno as “a man of the most perspicacious intellect, industry and invention,” And this document granted him a patent of monopoly for “some machine or kind of ship,...
by Cameron | Nov 16, 2018 | Podcast
So what was the magic solution that Bruno brought to the Dome on August 7, 1420? How do you build a dome out of bricks, that curves upwards, with no support, that won’t fall down? Well he actually invented not one, not two, but a handful of new tricks. And this is...
by Cameron | Nov 9, 2018 | Podcast
It’s thought that Bruno returned to Florence probably in 1416 or 1417 Which means he was in Rome for 15 years. How did he earn a living? Vasari says he didn’t have to at first. Before he left Florence he sold a small farm that he owned. So he lived off that money for...
