by Cameron | Sep 14, 2018 | Podcast
Let’s talk about the Filocolo The title means “the one struck down by love”. It is considered to be the first novel of Italian literature written in prose. Florio, son of the King of Spain, and Biancifiore, an orphan. They grow up together, get separated,...
by Cameron | Sep 9, 2018 | Podcast
Let’s talk about the other, slightly more creepy and rapey father of the Renaissance. For books in the vernacular to appear in considerable quantities, there must be a demand for them. There must exist a class of people who have had enough education to be...
by Cameron | Aug 18, 2018 | Podcast
“Africa” became alternately Petrarch’s obsession and his revulsion, and he left it incomplete at his death. Despite Petrarch’s best efforts to conceal his occupation, word of the Africa spread quickly. It was not long before Petrarch’s fame...
by Cameron | Aug 10, 2018 | Podcast
Now that his parents are dead, Petrarch decides to dump law and become a scholar and a poet. But you couldn’t make a living as a poet in the early 14th century. So he took minor orders with the church. In the Catholic Church, you have the major holy orders of priest...
by Cameron | Aug 5, 2018 | Podcast
I want to pick up our story in the year 1302 To talk about a man called Pietro di Parenzo di Garzo. Well actually I want to talk about his SON. But we’ll get there. And to get there, we’re going to need to duck in and out of the 800 years we’ve skipped since our last...
by Cameron | Aug 4, 2018 | Podcast
Justin was born near modern Skopje, in the fake Macedonia. He started off life as a peasant and a swineherd. But he rose through the ranks of the army and ultimately became Emperor, in spite of the fact he was illiterate and almost 70 years old at the time of...
