The Medici Podcast

The Drop-Out Who Destroyed a Society 06.06.2026 21min

In 1519, Europeans made their first diplomatic contact with an urbanized empire in the Americas—and, within a few years, that empire will no longer exist, in no small part because of a failed law student from Spain.

5/30 Update 30.05.2026 2min

Here is just a short update on the next episode and the state of the "Turning Modern" Patreon.

Turning Modern: Martin Luther on Trial 15.05.2026 27min

Martin Luther braves persecution by the Church to come to the city of Worms to have his case heard by Emperor Charles V. In this contest between a reviled monk who is the son of a mine owner and a monarch whose empire spans an ocean, the victor is perhaps not the person one would normally expect...SourcesGregory, Brad S. The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Harvard University Press, 2012). Luther, Martin. Works: Letters I, vol. 48, ed. and trans. Gottfried G. Krodel (Fortress Press, 1963).Parker, Geoffrey. Emperor: A New Life of Charles V (Yale University Press, 2019).Roper, Lyndal. Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (Penguin Random House, 2016).For more information, transcripts, and ways to support the show, go to turningmodern.com.

The "Journalist" Who Covered the Ottoman Invasion of Egypt 01.05.2026 30min

Writing in the years of 1516 and 1517, an inhabitant of Cairo likely witnessed firsthand a new era as Egypt lost its independence and was forcibly annexed by the Ottoman Empire. However, he not only observed the collapse of the old regime, but also the toll it took on the people. Sources:Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: A History of the Ottoman Empire (Basic Books, 2005).Ibn Iyas. An Account of the Ottoman Conquest of Egypt, trans. W.H. Salmon (Royal Asiatic Society, 1921).Ibn Iyas. Journal d’un Bourgeois du Caire, ed. and trans. Gaston Wiet (Libraire Armand Colin, 1945).Lord Kinross. The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire (HarperCollins, 1979).Petry, Carl F. The Mamluk Sultanate: A History (Cambridge University Press, 2022). For more information, transcripts, and ways to support the show, go to turningmodern.com.

The Erotic Publication That Scandalized Renaissance Europe 17.04.2026 19min

The apprentice of a legendary artist, the first publisher in history to be sued over copyright, and a famous satirist team up to create a provocative work of erotica that enraged the Pope himself.Sources:Romano, Giulio; Raimondi, Marcantonio; Aretino, Pietro; and Waldeck, Count Jean-Frederic-Maximilien. I Modi: The Sixteen Pleasures, An Erotic Album of the Italian Renaissance, trans. and ed. Lynne Lawner (Northwestern University Press, 1988).Talvacchia, Bette. Taking Positions: On the Erotic in Renaissance Culture (Princeton University Press, 1999).Vasari, Giorgi. Vasari’s Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, vol. III, trans. Mrs. Jonathan Foster (George Bell & Sons, 1894).

The German Peasant Who (Almost) Started a Revolution 29.03.2026 31min

A young German herdsman draws crowds while preaching about the evils of the nobility and the clergy and a new world where goods and land are shared. In hindsight, he is offering the elites of the Holy Roman Empire a warning about the near future, but will they listen?Sources:The German Peasants’ War: A History in Documents, eds. Tom Scott and Bob Scribner (Humanities Press International, Inc., 1991).Peters, Margaret E. "Government Finance and Imposition of Serfdom After the Black Death." European Review of Economic History 27.2 (2023): 149-173.Roper, Lyndal. Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants’ War (Basic Books, 2025).Wazer, Caroline. "Medieval Peasants Only Worked 150 Days Due to 'Frequent, Mandatory' Holidays?" Snopes.com (August 31, 2024). Last accessed: 3/28/2026. Wunderli, Richard. Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen (Indiana University Press, 1992).Support this project: turningmodern.com/support

Turning Modern: The African King Who Had a Portuguese Name 14.03.2026 32min

The Kingdom of Kongo establishes a rare partnership with an up-and-coming European power, Portugal, to the point that the King of Kongo and his family embrace Christianity and take Portuguese royal names. However, this partnership will also be ground zero for one of the greatest atrocities in human history. Sources:Almeida, Marcos Abreu Lelitão de. “Speaking of Slavery: Slaving Strategies and Moral Imaginations in the Lower Congo” (Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, September 2020).Bosma, Ulbe. The World of Sugar: How the Sweet Stuff Transformed Our Politics, Health, and Environment over 2,000 Years (Harvard University Press, 2023).Etherington, Norman. “Christian Missions in Africa", The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to African Religions, ed. Elias Kifon Bongba (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).Garretson, Peter P. "A Note on Relations Between Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Aragon in the Fifteenth Century." Rassegna di studi etiopici 37 (1993): 37-44.Gondola, Ch. Didier. The History of Congo (Greenwood Press, 2002).Hanno. “Gorilla Warfare.” Lapham’s Quarterly, Last accessed: 3/12/2026. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/animals/gorilla-warfare Klein, Herbert S. The Atlantic Slave Trade, 2nd edition (Cambridge University Press, 2012). MacGaffey, Wyatt. “Economic and Social Dimensions of Kongo Slavery (Zaire)", Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives, eds. Suzanne Miers and Igor Kopytoff (University of Wisconsin Press, 1977).Russell-Wood, A.R. The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808: A World on the Move (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).Thornton, John. A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250-1820 (Cambridge University Press, 2012).___________. Afonso I, Mvemba a Nzinga, King of Kongo: His Life and Correspondence, trans. Luis Madureira (Hackett Publishing Co., 2023). Support this project: turningmodern.com/contact

Turning Modern: The First Book Banned By The Church 28.02.2026 21min

A genius prodigy sets out to change the world by resolving all philosophical and religious disputes with one book, his own 900 Theses, and a debate in Rome between Europe's brightest intellectual lights. And he will leave his mark on history, just not in the way he wants...Sources Cited:Hanegraaf, Wouter J. Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2012).Bradatan, Costica. Dying for Ideas: The Dangerous Lives of Philosophers (Bloomsbury Academic, 2015).Kristeller, Paul Oskar. Eight Philosophers of the Italian Renaissance (Chatto &Windus, 1965).Mirandola, Pico della. Syncretism in the West: Pico’s 900 Theses (1486), ed. and trans. S.A. Farmer, 2nd edition (Arizona State University, 2003).____________. “Oration on the Dignity of Man”, trans. Cosma Rohilla Shaizi. Cosma’s Home Page, 21 November 1994. Last accessed 2/23/2025: . Slattery, Luke. “A Renaissance Murder Mystery.” The New Yorker (20 July 2015).Last accessed 2/25/2025: .Stethern, Paul. Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City (Pegasus Books, 2015).

Turning Modern: The Age of Anxiety Prelude 21.02.2026 5min

As the sixteenth century begins following plague, turmoil, traumatic defeats, and the discovery of new continents, people from all faiths feel that the end of history and salvation are at hand while others look to the past to find hope for the future.

Turning Modern Introduction 21.02.2026 8min

What is Turning Modern, and why the "early modern West"?

Episode 87: Finale 10.01.2026 24min

Anna Maria Luisa, the last representative of the main branch of the Medici, saves her family's legacy through an innovative agreement. Also we survey Tuscany's post-Medici future and the branches of the family that survived into the 21st century.

Episode 86: Recluse and Reformer 13.12.2025 28min

At the age of 52, Gian Gastone comes to power as the opposite of his uptight, moralistic father in almost every possible way. But even as the Medici family fades, could Tuscany's future be getting brighter?

Episode 85: Waiting For The Inevitable 27.11.2025 26min

The vultures surround Tuscany as the Medici begin to die out. The only thing left for Cosimo III is to try to guarantee Tuscany's independence in the future, even though most of the great powers of Europe are working against him.ERRATA: In this episode I said that King Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese's firstborn son was Carlos. What I overlooked was that Philip V had a wife before Elisabeth, Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy, and they had three sons, Luis, Felipe Pedro, and Fernando. This is important because I suggested wrongly that Carlos stood to inherit both the Spanish crown, the duchy of Parma, and Tuscany if he were made the eventual heir. While his older half-brothers would die and Carlos *would* become King Carlos III of Spain eventually, at the time Cosimo III was still alive he was a possibility to keep Tuscany independent (if also very likely a satellite of Spain). At least it is true that Cosimo III was still opposed to the possibility, preferring instead to let Anna Maria Luisa appoint her own successor. I apologize for the error!

Episode 84: Too Few Heirs 14.11.2025 21min

The Medici family are approaching the brink of extinction. It's up to Cosimo III's three children to preserve the family, but even with the dynasty's survival on the line, the Medici cannot stop themselves from repeating the mistakes of the recent past.

Episode 83: The Breakup 31.10.2025 13min

Cosimo and Marguerite-Louise's dysfunctional marriage hits its dramatic crescendo and falls apart. Will Marguerite-Louise escape back to her homeland, or will she remain a prisoner of her despised husband?

Episode 82: His Royal Highness 15.10.2025 18min

Grand Duke Cosimo III sets out to make Tuscany great again with tariffs and religiosity. At the same time, Cosimo aims for royal glory, even at a time all of Italy is under the boot of the Hapsburgs.

Episode 81: Love and Marriage 25.09.2025 20min

Ferdinando II had high hopes that marrying his introverted, overly devout son to a French princess would both loosen his son up and save the dynasty from extinction. Things wouldn't turn out quite like he wanted.

Episode 80: The Scientist Grand Duke 28.08.2025 26min

Despite his unorthodox love life, Ferdinando II is well-liked for his genuine concern for his people and his scientific patronage. However, Tuscany is in decline, and the seeds for the dynasty's extinction have already been planted.

Episode 79: The Judgment 06.08.2025 24min

Cosimo II finally dies after a prolonged illness. Meanwhile, the Church loses its patience with Galileo.

Episode 78: Galileo's Revolution 01.07.2025 20min

Why was Galileo's scientific work considered both something worth celebrating and a threat to the status quo? Galileo himself must have pondered that question as his work, celebrated as it was by the Medici and even high-ranking members of the Church, nonetheless caught the attention of the Roman Inquisition.