The Renaissance Times

When the Inquisition came to your town, they would grant you 30 days to confess to being a heretic. This was known as the "Edicts Of Grace". If you confessed, you might get a hefty fine, but at least you wouldn't end up in prison or burned at the stake. Of course, many conversos decided it was the smart move to confess - whether they actually were a crytpo-Jew or not.

The post #86 – Edicts Of Grace appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

On this episode we discuss the artists Poliziano, who popularised the new sophistication and learning expected of a gentleman; Mirandola, who at age 23 decided to debate the entire world; and the magnificent breasts of Simonetta Vespucci.

The post #81 – Introducing The Gentleman appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Early in his rule, Lorenzo de' Medici cracked down on the town of Volterra, resulting in rampage, murdering, looting and raping. Meanwhile, in Milan, on the day after Christmas 1476, Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, was stabbed by three noblemen as he entered church. And Larry upsets Pope Sixtus IV over a loan request, which leads to an assassination attempt in 1478 on both Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano, also while attending church. It's known as The Pazzi Conspiracy.

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Lorenzo de' Medici throws himself a jousting tournament to take Florence's minds off the fact he's marrying a Roman girl. The ‘Queen of the Tournament’ was Lucrezia Donati, a Florentine hottie who Lorenzo was writing love poetry about, even thought she was married to someone else. His bride, Clarice Orsini, arrived in Florence a while later, and they were married just before Piero died.

The post #77 – The Marriage Of Lorenzo appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

It’s been a while since we have caught up with Cosimo de Medici. Four years after his return to Florence in 1434, he secured a huge opportunity for Florence, that would have far reaching effects on the Renaissance – hosting the Ecumenical Council between the East and West churches. This saw a contingent of 700 […]

The post #71 – The Greek Invasion appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

In 1453, when the Turks took Constantinople, Pope Nicky 5 wanted a crusade and authorized the sale of letters of indulgence—religious documents that released the buyers from penalties for their sins. And guess who printed them? Then he finally got around to working on his masterpiece and the book he is most remembered for – […]

The post #70 – Gutenberg Part 6 appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Commercial opportunities for a printing press went beyond books. One of those was the Fall of Constantinople. In 1453, the Ottoman Empire lead by 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II defeated the army of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine Emperor. To tell this story we also need to talk about The Great Schism, how and why […]

The post #69 – Gutenberg Part 5 appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Hand carving a piece of metal type for a printing press would take a skilled craftsman an entire day. Just setting one page of the Bible would take 2600 pieces of type. So Gutenberg needed to come up with an efficient way to manufacture type – which is a lot harder than it sounds. He […]

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One of Gutenberg’s partners died, and the guy’s brothers wanted in on the secret project. Gutenberg refused, so they took him to court. Then in 1444, Gutenberg left Strasbourg and went… where? We don’t know. He disappeared for three years. Some interesting conspiracy theories about where he might have gone. We also talk about the […]

The post #67 – Gutenberg Part 3 appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

In 1428, Gutenberg moved to Strasbourg where he would live for the next 20 years. It was there that he had his first big business venture—making holy healing ray containment devices. He brought on investors who later became suspicious that he was holding out on them. He had a secret project that he was working […]

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