Épisodes

  • After the Plague: Medieval Medicine's Bold New World — Fexingo History

    After the Plague: Medieval Medicine's Bold New World — Fexingo History
    Apr 26 2026
    In the wake of the Black Death, European medicine underwent a quiet revolution. This episode explores how the pandemic's staggering mortality—killing perhaps half of Europe's population—forced physicians to confront the limits of ancient authority. We follow the career of Guy de Chauliac, a papal physician who survived the plague and wrote the era's most influential surgery manual, yet admitted that his training in Galen and Avicenna failed in the face of bubonic pestilence. We examine the rise of dissection in universities, from Mondino de Luzzi's early public dissections in Bologna to the first anatomical theaters. And we meet a controversial figure: the Jewish physician Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet, who brought Arabic medical knowledge into Christian Spain. The episode also touches on plague tracts that began to advocate quarantine and public health measures, long before germ theory, and how the shortage of clergy forced monks to take up medical roles. Finally, we ask: did the Black Death plant the seeds for the scientific revolution?

    #BlackDeath #HistoryOfMedicine #GuyDeChauliac #MondinoDeLuzzi #IsaacBenSheshet #MedievalMedicine #Dissection #Anatomy #Bologna #Montpellier #PlagueTract #PublicHealth #Galen #Avicenna #ScientificRevolution #FexingoHistory #MiddleAges #PandemicResponse #MedievalEurope #YersiniaPestis

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    7 min
  • The Black Death's Artistic Aftermath: The Triumph of Death — Fexingo History

    The Black Death's Artistic Aftermath: The Triumph of Death — Fexingo History
    Apr 26 2026
    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the trauma of the Black Death reshaped European art and culture, focusing on the macabre masterpiece 'The Triumph of Death' painted in the 1350s in Pisa. They discuss the shift from Gothic idealism to a raw, realistic depiction of human fragility, the rise of the Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) as a popular motif, and the specific details in the fresco by Buonamico Buffalmacco. The conversation also touches on how plague survivors commissioned art that reflected their fear and faith, leading to innovations like the 'memento mori' tradition. Lucas connects these artistic changes to broader social and psychological shifts, showing how the pandemic left an indelible mark on the Western imagination.

    #BlackDeath #TriumphOfDeath #BuonamicoBuffalmacco #DanseMacabre #MementoMori #MedievalArt #Pisa #CamposantoMonumentale #Iconography #PlagueArt #14thCentury #GothicArt #HistoryOfArt #Epidemiology #CulturalHistory #Macabre #MedievalEurope #FexingoHistory #YersiniaPestis #Feudalism

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    4 min
  • The Black Death's Economic Earthquake — Fexingo History

    The Black Death's Economic Earthquake — Fexingo History
    Apr 25 2026
    In episode 5 of The Black Death: The Pandemic That Rebuilt Europe, Lucas and Luna explore the economic aftershocks of the 1348 plague. They discuss how labor shortages gave peasants unprecedented bargaining power, leading to the Ordinance of Labourers in England and the rise of the Lollard movement. The conversation covers John Ball's radical sermons, the 1381 Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's confrontation with King Richard II, and the long-term decline of serfdom. They also touch on sumptuary laws, wage inflation, and the shift toward a cash economy. This episode reveals how the plague didn't just kill millions—it rewrote the rules of work and class.

    #BlackDeath #EconomicHistory #PeasantsRevolt #JohnBall #WatTyler #RichardII #OrdinanceOfLabourers #Lollards #Serfdom #SumptuaryLaws #WageInflation #MedievalEurope #1381 #LaborShortage #CashEconomy #FexingoHistory #History #MedievalHistory #YersiniaPestis #Feudalism

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    7 min
  • The Jewish Pogroms of 1348-49: Scapegoats of the Black Death — Fexingo History

    The Jewish Pogroms of 1348-49: Scapegoats of the Black Death — Fexingo History
    Apr 25 2026
    In this episode of Fexingo History's The Black Death series, Lucas and Luna explore the wave of anti-Jewish violence that swept across Europe during the plague years of 1348-1349. They discuss how well-poisoning accusations spread from southern France through the Holy Roman Empire, fueled by confessions extracted under torture. Lucas details the tragic destruction of major Jewish communities in Strasbourg, Basel, and Mainz, where entire populations were burned alive. He explains the role of local authorities, including the intervention of Emperor Charles IV and the stance of Pope Clement VI, who issued a bull condemning the accusations. The episode also touches on alternative responses like the 'Jewish pope' rumor and the lasting demographic and cultural impact, including the flight of Jews to Poland under Casimir the Great. The conversation ends with a reflection on how crisis economies of scapegoating echo into modern times, drawing connections to the Ottoman Empire's later use of scapegoats. Specific names include: Benveniste of Strasbourg, Charles IV, Clement VI, Casimir the Great, and communities like Basel, Freiburg, Erfurt, and Speyer.

    #BlackDeath #JewishHistory #MedievalEurope #Pogroms #Antisemitism #Strasbourg #Basel #Mainz #CharlesIV #ClementVI #CasimirTheGreat #Scapegoating #WellPoisoning #1348 #1349 #History #FexingoHistory #MedievalPersecution #YersiniaPestis #Feudalism

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    8 min
  • The Flagellants: Faith, Flagellation, and the Plague — Fexingo History

    The Flagellants: Faith, Flagellation, and the Plague — Fexingo History
    Apr 24 2026
    In the shadow of the Black Death, a radical religious movement swept across Europe: the Flagellants. This episode follows their rise from the Balkans to Germany, their public processions of self-inflicted penance, and their belief that the plague was divine punishment for humanity's sins. We explore the theology behind their rituals, the social conditions that fueled their popularity, and the church's eventual crackdown. Pope Clement VI condemned them in 1349, but not before they had left a mark on medieval spirituality. Contrary to popular myth, the Flagellants did not directly spread the plague, but their itinerant lifestyle and disregard for conventional authority created friction with local clergy and civic leaders. Their story reveals how a traumatized society sought meaning in catastrophe, and how the church asserted its authority against a movement that threatened its monopoly on salvation. Drawing on chronicles, papal bulls, and contemporary accounts, this episode examines a fascinating and often misunderstood chapter of plague history.

    #Flagellants #BlackDeath #MedievalEurope #ReligiousMovements #Penance #PopeClementVI #Germany #Balkans #1349 #Plague #MedievalHistory #Christianity #Heresy #Processions #SelfFlagellation #DivinePunishment #History #FexingoHistory #YersiniaPestis #Feudalism

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    7 min
  • The Plague Doctor's True Origins — Fexingo History

    The Plague Doctor's True Origins — Fexingo History
    Apr 24 2026
    In Episode 2 of The Black Death: The Pandemic That Rebuilt Europe, Lucas and Luna move beyond the arrival of the plague to explore the surprising origins of that iconic symbol of the era: the plague doctor. Discover that the beaked mask and leather suit weren't medieval inventions but emerged from 17th-century French physician Charles de Lorme, based on a mistaken miasma theory. Then, dive into the radical public health measures that medieval authorities actually took—like the world's first lockdowns in Pistoia and Venice, and the creation of quarantine stations or 'lazarettos' on Venetian-held islands. The episode also examines the economic fallout through the eyes of Italian chronicler Gabriele de' Mussi, who documented the plague's spread via Trade. Finally, Lucas and Luna discuss the cultural aftermath: the rise of the Dance of Death motif, the persecution of Jewish communities, and how the massive labour shortage permanently altered the feudal system, paving the way for the Renaissance. A focused, humane look at the plague's impact on medicine, society, and the medieval mindset.

    #PlagueDoctor #CharlesDeLorme #MiasmaTheory #Pistoia #VenetianQuarantine #Lazaretto #GabrieleDeMussi #YersiniaPestis #BlackDeath #MedievalMedicine #DanceOfDeath #JewishPersecution #Feudalism #Renaissance #PublicHealth #14thCentury #History #FexingoHistory #MedievalEurope #Caffa

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    6 min
  • The Black Death Arrives: Messina, 1347 — Fexingo History

    The Black Death Arrives: Messina, 1347 — Fexingo History
    Apr 23 2026
    In October 1347, twelve Genoese ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina, carrying a cargo no one could have imagined: the bubonic plague. Within days, the city began to die. This episode opens in that harbor, then pulls back to trace the plague's origins in the steppes of Central Asia, its journey along the Silk Road, and its catastrophic arrival in Europe. We meet the bacterium Yersinia pestis, explore the crowded medieval cities and fragile trade networks that made the continent a tinderbox, and ask a question that haunted survivors: was this divine punishment, or something else? We also preview the extraordinary changes the plague would unleash — labor shortages, peasant revolts, the collapse of feudalism, and a new questioning of authority that paved the way for the Renaissance. This is not just a story of death, but of a world remade in its aftermath.

    #BlackDeath #BubonicPlague #YersiniaPestis #Messina1347 #SilkRoad #MedievalEurope #Feudalism #GenoeseShips #Caffa #KipchakKhanate #MongolEmpire #PlagueDoctor #MiasmaTheory #Flagellants #RenaissanceOrigins #History #FexingoHistory #PandemicHistory #PeasantsRevolt #Jacquerie

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    7 min