WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:03.240 Hello, what's up? 2 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:05.040 Oh, not much. 3 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:12.800 You know, it's another beautiful day here on Turf Island and. 4 00:00:10.279 --> 00:00:12.119 And yeah, yeah, that's what's up. 5 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:16.399 How are you you know about the same another beautiful 6 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:20.760 day here? And uh, I don't know, I don't know. 7 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:24.559 I don't know what you call it anymore. 8 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:28.679 Hey, yeah, we got we've got a snappy name, at 9 00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:32.200 least for our our particular bigotries. 10 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:34.960 But you know, hey, ho, what can you say? 11 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:40.840 It's beautiful? It's beautiful over here. Yeah, like yeah, I mean, 12 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:43.399 like I was texting you about this all last week. 13 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.039 But it's like. 14 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:48.439 The highs are high and the lows are low. We 15 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:52.560 had a good Seann Freud a high the other week, 16 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:59.520 which was very funny. So our Chancellor Rachel Reeves, So 17 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:05.480 she is responsible for saying I'm afraid we're going to 18 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:10.040 have to like starve every poor person in the UK 19 00:01:10.280 --> 00:01:12.920 because the line is sad, right, Like that's that's her job. 20 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:18.280 And she is notable because so she's the first woman 21 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:23.040 to ever run the Exchequer or whatever. And when she 22 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:25.359 was like gearing up, her big move was to like 23 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:27.840 write a history of women in economics. 24 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:29.640 And then it like immediately came out that. 25 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:35.079 She plagiarized a lot of it from Wikipedia, and everyone 26 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:37.480 was like I'm sure it'll be fine, right, And like 27 00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:40.439 her big deal is like I'm tougher than the Tories, 28 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:44.040 like what I do, Like I just do evil things 29 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:46.040 even more than the Tories, which for some reason we're 30 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:49.239 supposed to like, so it's like she's doing she's doing 31 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.280 kind of like turbo austerity again, like in the hopes 32 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:54.480 that it will make the line happy, which it won't 33 00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:57.799 because it doesn't. But so anyway, like all sorts of 34 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:00.840 bad stuff has been happening, like and one of the 35 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:02.120 big things they were going to do was like cut 36 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:07.560 a bunch of benefits to people with disabilities, and finally 37 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:09.800 like five of the labor MP's were. 38 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:13.919 Like, wait a minute, this sounds evil, and like. 39 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:16.879 Rebelled and then there was like a so so as 40 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.719 a resultable as there was like you know, the Parliament 41 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:22.599 got together and Kara Star wars like saying a bunch 42 00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:24.719 of stupid shit, and people were asking questions and they 43 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:27.280 were like, well, Rachel Rrie's gonna have to go, and 44 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:29.800 he was like, well, I don't know, and she sat behind. 45 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:31.000 Him and starts crying. 46 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:36.599 And then like the way the Center responded, this is 47 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:40.560 if she was upset over an unrelated, different matter, and 48 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:43.000 then they all got like really mad at you online. 49 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:47.159 If you were like, oh, yo, I think it's funny 50 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:49.800 that this woman who's the architect of misery for so 51 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:52.280 many millions of us, is sad, they were like, oh, 52 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:55.360 because you're sexist and you hate women. Like, she's just 53 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:58.520 doing a very hard job. So anyway, that was really funny. 54 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:03.919 Yeah. Oh, I can't hear you anymore. I've lost you. 55 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:05.840 I was muted there go. 56 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:10.120 Yeah, it's very funny. 57 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:11.199 It's very funny. 58 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:11.599 Though. 59 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:15.960 On the other hand, I like it's very hard working 60 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.560 down at the children's starving factory, Okay. 61 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:22.840 I you know, yeah, you guys, I mean, and then 62 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:26.639 you guys got a new party. Who knows, you know, 63 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:31.599 the efficacy of such things. Yeah, I mean, see if 64 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:35.879 mister Corbyn can keep from apologizing his way out of 65 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:37.879 the yeah. 66 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:38.439 I mean, I think that's the way that this is 67 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:40.800 going to have to work, is that as Zara Sultana 68 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:41.439 is going to have. 69 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:41.919 To really be. 70 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.680 Like the face of it, because she's a bit more 71 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:50.560 good at attacking I would say, And you know, my 72 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:54.039 good friend JC, it's a lovely guy. 73 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:56.560 But that's the trouble. 74 00:03:57.400 --> 00:03:59.400 Like, that's the trouble, right, It's like he's just like 75 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:01.919 such a nice boy, and we actually need someone who 76 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:05.840 can break legs, which which he isn't you know. 77 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:14.000 Yeah, he's yeah, the classic put upon imperial core socialist. 78 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:14.800 You know, he's like. 79 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:18.600 He you know, he's a great heart and everything, but 80 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:25.879 you know, his first inclination seems to be to apologize 81 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:28.160 for a lot of things. And you can't do that 82 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:31.519 in front of these people, No, no, at all. You 83 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:37.160 can't give them even like the slightest inch. Yeah, And 84 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.800 I mean, you know, I hope, you know, I hope 85 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:46.079 it works out whatever, you know, whatever's working over there. 86 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:48.199 It's it's nice that you guys can just have like 87 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:49.839 a new party pop up, you know. 88 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:51.399 But yeah, like that's a good thing. 89 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:54.920 There is also some hope in terms of like entryism 90 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:57.480 at the Green Party at the moment, because there's a guy, 91 00:04:57.639 --> 00:05:04.959 Zach Polanski who is for the leadership of the Green Party, 92 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:08.319 which could in theory turn it into a leftist vehicle. 93 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:10.360 Because like the trouble is at the moment, it's a 94 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:12.480 real broad church and you've kind of got like Tories 95 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.079 who like the Newts in their stream on one hand, 96 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:19.240 and you know, people who wish to bring about the 97 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:21.680 fall of capitalism, because ultimately, if we're going to save 98 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:25.199 the planet, that's what has to be done, right, And 99 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:27.399 so perhaps. 100 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:28.720 That's like one way of going in. So I've got some. 101 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:30.360 Friends who are doing that, who are like joining the 102 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:32.079 party in order to vote for him, and then we'll 103 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:32.879 see what happens. 104 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.480 But I don't know. I don't know what I'm going 105 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:37.040 to do yet. 106 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:39.759 I'm kind of like having a look at all sides, 107 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:43.839 and I don't know, just like trying very hard not 108 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:44.319 to despair. 109 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:46.439 Stuff's bad here, but it is. 110 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:48.759 It feels good to like maybe have options, even in 111 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:51.959 a limited sense, I guess, get it again. 112 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:57.839 God, Yet, you know, I don't want to burpen in 113 00:05:57.879 --> 00:05:58.839 the mic and you know. 114 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:00.759 That, but I mean that's what the workers being professional. 115 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:02.360 He's being professional over here. 116 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:02.720 You know. 117 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:12.079 It's uh. Yeah, yeah, I don't know, it's uh. Just 118 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:17.079 a lot of stuff right now is really uh and 119 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:22.480 it's really fucked up. But that's a technical term. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 120 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:27.480 it's uh. You know, it's the term of art. 121 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:30.160 It's real fucked up. Dog. 122 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:37.360 I've noticed I noted on related but not the same 123 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:41.560 news that Linda Why the hot Dog diva herself has 124 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:45.639 just stepped down as head of Twitter CEO of Twitter. 125 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:49.560 Where have where have you gone? Linda yeck are renewing? 126 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:53.519 Like a nation turns its only eyes to you. 127 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:54.399 Diva down? 128 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:59.680 You know, Like I gotta say, it's very I I 129 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:05.399 find very funny to to like leave now. I think 130 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:07.839 it's really funny where it's like it's basically like the 131 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:11.199 AI going full of Hitler is what did it? 132 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:13.720 Apparently? I mean, like do you think that's what it is? 133 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:14.759 Or do you think it's. 134 00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:17.279 Just like I mean, like she was always just a 135 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:20.000 fig leaf there and like yeah do like no, like 136 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:23.600 you can like you can tell because like nobody even 137 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.079 the media didn't really treat her as like the CEO 138 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.680 of the thing until like like they did for like 139 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:32.959 a few months and then they were like, okay, anyway 140 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.759 back to actually talking to Eline about this stuff because 141 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:39.439 this is just a fig leaf. I mean, so like 142 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:41.800 on the one hand, it's like I expected her to leave. 143 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:44.240 On the other hand, like that was an embarrassment, even 144 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:49.319 though they apparently have uh turned all that off due. 145 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:52.560 To yeah, we turned the back of Hitler off guys, 146 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:54.399 so don't worry to uh. 147 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:56.560 Yeah, don't worry about it due to I don't know, 148 00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:00.839 the threats of lawsuits and stuff like it was saying 149 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:07.720 like prescribed stuff in Turkey. Uh hell yeah, anti anti 150 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:10.360 Urdawan ship over there. 151 00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:11.639 It's just so like. 152 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:14.920 That's it's harding to kill the king of Thailand. 153 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:21.040 Just like it's like it's just one of those things 154 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:26.160 where you look at it and you're like, man, you 155 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:31.839 guys are fucking idiots, like like like, on the one hand, 156 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:35.440 it's horrifying to be led by such idiots. On the 157 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:40.759 other hand, it's kind of like, I mean, if you guy, 158 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:43.039 if this is how you guys run everything. 159 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:43.759 Good, God like. 160 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:49.879 You got you guys. Like, I don't know, I think 161 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:56.399 it's probably a bad idea overall to implode the economy 162 00:08:57.240 --> 00:09:00.480 while kicking a bunch of people off Medicaid and using 163 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:03.360 like a carrot and the stick approach to try and 164 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:06.279 like get them to like work awful jobs. They don't 165 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:10.799 want to work that nobody in Uh you know that 166 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.240 a lot of people in medicaid can't even work because 167 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:16.919 they don't because it's like grueling farm work and stuff 168 00:09:16.919 --> 00:09:20.080 like that, and it's just like you just you get, 169 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:22.360 you get all this stuff. But I mean, at the 170 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:30.919 same time, like this structure is looking more rickety by 171 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:33.440 the day, and like it like I don't know, I 172 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:38.759 don't know what's going to happen, but like this cannot 173 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:46.399 continue for long. I mean it, frankly, just it can't. 174 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:50.480 Like things are grinding to a halt here and you know, 175 00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:59.279 the inertia of world capitalism can't sustain, can't pull it 176 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:03.399 along for there's too many there's too many contradictions now 177 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.159 and it's being pulled apart at the top and from below. 178 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:09.440 And I don't know what it's going to look like 179 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:12.159 after that, but yeah, it's gonna be something. I don't 180 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:15.120 have any fucking clue. They don't. They don't tell me 181 00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:21.320 anything at the at the big Illuminati world meetings, nobody. 182 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:24.080 You gotta work your way up. Yeah. 183 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:27.440 Hurtful stuff, hurtful stuff. Yeah. 184 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:34.080 Well, let's uh, you want to talk about people doing 185 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:38.600 you want to talk about Slavs being Slovs. 186 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:38.840 Do you know what? 187 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:40.519 Like there are very few things that I like to 188 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:43.039 talk about more than that, So I'd say. 189 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:54.120 Yes, yeah, yeah, it's so weird, little guys, weird little guys. 190 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:55.159 Weird little guys. 191 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:56.600 They're little because they're squatting. 192 00:10:57.399 --> 00:10:58.840 That's right, that's right. 193 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:36.279 Uh, folks, welcome back to We're Not So Different, a 194 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.559 podcast about how we are all wearing our ceremonial adidious 195 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:44.759 track suits today and squatting. I don't know if that 196 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:48.320 stereotype still holds weight. If it doesn't, most of you 197 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:49.279 are old enough to get it. 198 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:49.919 Just go along. 199 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:52.960 Look, I'm delighted to announce that it is still true. 200 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:58.399 Yes, good for them, good, good for the Slavs. Folks. Uh, 201 00:11:58.919 --> 00:12:04.159 we're back in We are heading back to ye old Bohemia. 202 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:13.720 You know, Eleanor is pumped. Bohemia mentioned vaguely, Central European, 203 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:20.879 Eastern Europe and border lands mentioned. No questions, because we'll 204 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:22.759 get them. We'll get to them in the course of 205 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:24.879 the show. But folks, at the beginning of the year, 206 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:27.360 we promised to visit various places and times during the 207 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:29.639 medieval era that we haven't really focused on in the 208 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:30.440 show before. 209 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:32.039 This previously brought. 210 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:34.720 Us on a visit to Constantinople in the Eastern Roman Empire, 211 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:38.360 as well as the seven hundred year long period of 212 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:42.399 Muslim rule on Alan deLuce and now it takes us 213 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:49.320 to Bohemian the Czech Lands. Now now, now, now, now, 214 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:51.720 Before you remind me that we've been literally dozens of 215 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.919 episodes in Bohemia talking about Prague, the Habsburgs, the Holy 216 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:58.120 Roman Empire, the Thirty Years War, et cetera, let me 217 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:01.120 finish today. Our trip takes us to Bohemia and the 218 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:05.159 Czech Lands of the early medieval era. As much as 219 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:09.000 we love them and as they serve as a homeland 220 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:11.879 for one of the hosts of the show, we barely 221 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:14.679 even hinted at the history of the region before Prague 222 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:19.679 became a world renowned religious, cultural, scientific, and economic hub 223 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:23.279 in the High Middle Ages, back before the famous Yawns 224 00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:28.320 miliic Kus and Jushka among you know, certainly millions of 225 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:31.840 others turned the Kingdom of Bohemia into a rebellious haven 226 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:35.480 of religious heterodoxy that would eventually birth the downfall of 227 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.679 the Catholic churches hegemonic grip on Europe, both from the 228 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:44.600 Hussite Wars and then from the Third Disfinistration. Yep, folks, 229 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:48.080 they loved to demonstrate, they love to definishtrate what were 230 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.759 Bohemia and the surrounding Czech lands, even like before, they 231 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:56.559 had buildings barely tall enough for a proper definistration. Well 232 00:13:56.919 --> 00:14:01.159 we're gonna find out now, tries On. I couldn't find 233 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:06.440 a sufficiently spectacular natural disaster, geography, geologic event with which 234 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:09.360 to lead off this episode, so instead you're stuck with 235 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:11.480 the other thing that leads me all struck, the enduring 236 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:15.039 human spirit of discovery and the random happened stances that 237 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:19.000 conspire to bring us together. And Bohemia, a central European 238 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:22.480 region that in medieval times was composed of the western 239 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:25.080 half of the modern day Czech Republic, along with parts 240 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:30.279 of Greater Moravia and Czech Silesia, is a perfect example 241 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.639 of that, as it serves as something as a crossroads 242 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:35.720 of humanity and even our forebears, and really, who could 243 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:38.559 blame them. If the inviting hills and expansive valleys of 244 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:43.600 resource rich land nestled against picturesque mountains of Bohemia don't 245 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.480 appeal to you, then the vast plains of Western Europe 246 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:51.960 Ripe for farming, herding, and even more resource exploitation most 247 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:54.679 certainly will. And it's not just humans that have so 248 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:57.159 interest in the area, as tools dating back to eight 249 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:00.759 hundred thousand years ago have been discovered. Cave and Bruno 250 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:05.600 human camps cropped up around two hundred thousand years ago, 251 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:08.679 and since then we haven't stopped inhabiting or at least 252 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:12.200 passing through the region. Excavations in Bohemia have shown that 253 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:17.000 basically every major European archaeological culture, meaning groups who left 254 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:20.919 discernible archaeological remnants but no other records, so they are 255 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:24.360 grouped together by broad commonalities and pottery or art styles, 256 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:27.720 has inhabited the area for at least some time. Everyone 257 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:30.840 from the Gravedians some twenty five thousand years ago with 258 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:35.360 their beautiful venus figurines, to the Linear pottery culture and 259 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:38.799 the funnel beakers in the Stone Age. Thereafter the courted 260 00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:42.200 where people arrived, then the Boden, the bell beakers that 261 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:45.919 urn fills, the Tumulus culture, and lastly, among many others, 262 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:50.799 the hallstat showed up circa eight hundred BCE to round 263 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:54.279 out the Bronze Age. In total, the grounds of Bohemia 264 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:56.600 are littered with the remnants of more than a dozen 265 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:00.320 separate pre Iron Age cultures, which is far were the 266 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:04.000 most places still the start of recorded history and antiquity 267 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:07.159 in the region didn't stop people from coming, as Celtic 268 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.720 tribes from Western Europe soon invaded. One such tribe, the 269 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:17.440 Boye boy I. Boy boy Ye, settled and eventually gave 270 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.799 their name to the lands of Bohemia, though they were 271 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:25.399 soon chased away by the Germanic Marcomanni and Lombard peoples. 272 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:28.879 By the outset of the verse century BCE, the Romans 273 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:33.279 expanded north, but never conquered Bohemia or the Marcomanni despite 274 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:36.559 years of clashes, and the area stayed much the same 275 00:16:36.679 --> 00:16:41.120 until at long last, the Slavs began their great migration 276 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:44.919 from the Eurasian step into Central and Western Europe. Though 277 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.600 the migration began earlier, the Slavs didn't target Bohemia for 278 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:52.639 permanent settlement until the late sixth century CE, when a 279 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:55.440 group known as the Czechs invaded it, took over and 280 00:16:55.480 --> 00:17:00.679 assimilated themselves with the remaining Celtic and Germanic peoples in Bohemia, 281 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:06.200 later the Western Slavic Peoples. Another Slavic group settled Great 282 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:09.599 Moravia to their west, and a beautiful friendship with form, 283 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:13.799 mostly over their mutual hatred of Germanic peoples and being 284 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.839 constantly confused for one another. But you know, you know 285 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:22.039 how that goes, Folks. Even this area, which was still 286 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:25.319 a provincial backwater, was a melting pot of diversity even 287 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:28.039 before the Middle Ages began. And that's where we pick 288 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:31.319 up our story as we look at Bohemia from the 289 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:36.680 six hundreds through the end of the Premislids Premaclea dynasty 290 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:39.880 in thirteen oh six. This episode was requested by our 291 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:44.759 patrons Arc Arcturus and Alas Sahir Alsa Heir. We'll have 292 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:47.440 a couple of questions from Arc later, while Alsa here 293 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:50.279 was basically asking for a more deep dive into the 294 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:54.839 earlier era. So here you go, eleanor me think of Bohemia. 295 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:57.839 We typically think of the later medieval Bohemia with all 296 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:01.000 its pomp and luxury and political power. But what are 297 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:03.920 we missing when we fail to take these earlier years 298 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:05.079 into account. 299 00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:09.680 Yeah, it's a really interesting place, is the thing. And 300 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:12.599 one of the big reasons that we tend to go 301 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.599 kind of like straight to the High Medieval period is 302 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.759 because it is so important and rich and interesting, and 303 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:19.839 there's so much stuff going. 304 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:20.079 On with that. 305 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:25.960 And also fundamentally, look, we we just didn't get literate, 306 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:29.720 okay until until the ninth century, we had other stuff 307 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:33.440 to do, okay, probably farming. 308 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:37.759 Perfect perfect encapsulation of why like all the oh these 309 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:40.839 people are destined for great and blah blah blah, like 310 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:44.000 White Europe. It's like they didn't even learn how to 311 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:46.279 they didn't even learn how to write in Prague until 312 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:50.079 like the eight fifties. Like, y, it's okay, and then 313 00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:53.200 we'll tell you within five hundred years or like one 314 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:55.680 of the most important political centers on the planet, you know, 315 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:58.559 like right, you know, look what you can do if 316 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:02.079 you just happen to settled in a really resource rich 317 00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:08.640 area and find yeah, silver and also well anyway, yeah. 318 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:09.640 Yeah, I mean that that is the thing. 319 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:11.519 Right. One of the things that is most important about 320 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.000 it is it's incredibly resourced rich, Like the living is 321 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:19.160 easy in Bohemia, that's the thing. Tons of fresh water, 322 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:23.759 really great woodlands, so that's important for stuff like heating 323 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:26.319 homes and things at the time, like right, for coppicing, 324 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:30.960 incredibly rich soil. And it is also in the middle 325 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:34.680 of very very many trade routes, so you get a 326 00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:37.559 lot of back and forth going in terms of people 327 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:39.920 need to come in and out of the area, and 328 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:44.039 when they do they spend money, right, So it is 329 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:47.279 a major east west trade route, it's a major north 330 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:53.799 south trade route, and so it's just incredibly rich in resources, 331 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:57.440 which is why we have so many varying civilizations who 332 00:19:57.559 --> 00:19:59.680 lived there over time, you know. And like the first 333 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:01.160 thing I ever did when I moved to the Czech 334 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:05.720 Republic was lived in Moravia and did a Bronze Age 335 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:08.160 burial mound dig, which was cool. 336 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:12.759 Yeah, it was. It was fucking hype, I'll tell you 337 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:13.160 that much. 338 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.799 So it's like you can and you can go, and 339 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:19.079 there's just like, oh yeah, here's the like remnants of 340 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.079 the hilltowns from the Bronze Age, and here's all of 341 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.000 these burial mounds, and here's this and here's that, and 342 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:27.720 it is just this place where people always wanted to 343 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:33.160 live because it's just not hard to do so, right, 344 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:37.039 And so as a result, I think it's really easy 345 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:38.680 to kind of discount it now because people don't want 346 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:42.359 to learn check fair enough, and also because like we 347 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:48.440 come into literacy a little bit later, but you know, 348 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:52.799 we were just too busy eating pigs presumably to to 349 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:54.240 learn how to write things down. 350 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:56.319 But you know, yeah, yeah. 351 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:00.960 There are worse ways to live so yeah, what what 352 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:05.160 from this pre kingdom era still sticks around into the 353 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:07.039 modern and postmodern world today. 354 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:13.960 Okay, so the basic outlines of what will become the 355 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:18.480 Czech Republic are kind of in action and what you 356 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:25.200 can see from what we call Great Moravia, Great Moravia Balin. 357 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:28.640 We simply love to see Great Moravia. And you know, 358 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:34.480 I'm a huge I'm a huge fan of my Moraverian brethren, Missen. 359 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:39.039 But basically we know that at some point in time 360 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:44.319 in the eight thirties or so, we have this empire kingdom. 361 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:45.880 It's difficult to know what to call it. 362 00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:50.559 Great Moravia that is founded, and we don't know how 363 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:53.359 big it was, weirdly, because you know, there's a lot 364 00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:56.119 of people who like write a lot of different things. 365 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:59.119 But we've got this guy a Moynier, the first of 366 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:01.880 Moravia right now. He does a bunch of conquering and 367 00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:09.079 either like he's within the kind of traditional boundaries of Moravia, 368 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:11.799 which is kind of like from the Morava River over 369 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:17.160 towards like outside of the Elba basin zone, but it 370 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:20.400 might have gone down as far as Serbia. It certainly 371 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:23.960 took in a lot of the Hungarian plains. It definitely 372 00:22:24.359 --> 00:22:27.079 covered Bohemia and up into parts of Poland. Like it was, 373 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:31.519 it was huge, right, and they're doing incredibly well for themselves, right. 374 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:34.839 They managed to link up a lot of desperate peoples 375 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:36.759 and they've got they got themselves with a nice little 376 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:42.200 kingdom going. And so basically then you hit in the 377 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:48.920 eight forty six, the Prince of Russi'slav comes to the throne. 378 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:51.680 Russislav also one of my favorite names of all time. 379 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:55.400 Name your pets, Russislav. Why wouldn't you do that? 380 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:03.720 And basically he is like, you know, I see what. 381 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:05.559 The krolin Jeans are doing over there, We're doing a 382 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:08.559 similar thing over here. And one of the things that 383 00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:11.400 he thinks that he wants to do, because he keeps 384 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:15.799 getting in all of these like battles with the Frankians, 385 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:18.839 like because that's rather the thing as he's like, look, 386 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:20.920 I think that we're gonna have to like Christianize, We're 387 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:22.519 going to have to get booked to the fuck up 388 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:25.039 because we can't be we can't be dealing with these 389 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:25.759 Frankish people. 390 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:26.000 Right. 391 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:27.799 So the first. 392 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:32.000 Thing that he kind of does is he writes down 393 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:36.559 to Rome and says, hey, could can he spare any 394 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:39.000 any like priests to come to teach us how to read, 395 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:44.960 and Rome is like, now, which is very funny, right, 396 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:46.960 and also like this is a this is a real 397 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:50.160 story like about how you know, when everyone is like, oh, 398 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:53.200 you know, the medieval church so powerful and rich and stuff, 399 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:54.799 and it's like it's the middle of the ninth century 400 00:23:54.839 --> 00:23:57.960 and they can't even like see the utility of like 401 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:01.279