Agnes Sampson was a midwife and local cunning woman in a small village in Scotland at the end of the 16th century when she was accused of practicing witchcraft and conspiring with the devil. After extreme torture, she confessed to 53 indictments against her -- including a plot to assassinate King James VI. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 15, 2022•24 min•Season 5Ep. 13
"One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the One as the fourth.” That’s the most famous axiom attributed to Mary the Jewess, who, it’s said, is the first known alchemist of the Western world. She is known to have invented processes and apparatus that went on to be used for centuries, both in and out the scientific community – in fact one of them, you may have used in your home kitchen. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio....
Mar 08, 2022•22 min•Season 5Ep. 12
John Dee: scientist, or sorceror? Much evidence suggests he inspired Marlowe’s Faustus, Shakespeare’s Prospero, and Ben Johnson’s The Alchemist. He spent much of his life studying alchemy, divination, mathematics, and Hermetic philosophy -- and his library, it's said, housed an amazing 4,000 works. He was accused of using mathematics, of being a conjurer, and of spying for the English crown - which makes sense, because it's rumored John influenced the character of James Bond. Learn more about yo...
Mar 01, 2022•28 min•Season 5Ep. 11
The idea of magic wasn’t strange in ancient Greece. But it has a noticeable overlap with what we’d consider science or religion today – with a dash of superstition thrown in for flavor. Magic, it was believed, could provide protection. It was a source of healing. It was a way to ensure you were successful in business, in love, and really in anything you wanted to be successful doing. It could also be used as a method for viewing and predicting the future. But it could also get you arrested, sent...
Feb 22, 2022•23 min•Season 5Ep. 10
Her real name was Ursula Southeil, but she was known about town as Mother Shipton (and also “Hag Face”). She was believed to be the love child of a 15-year-old girl and the devil, himself. She was known as a powerful prophetess. While some scholars have argued that she a work of fiction, there are those, however, that argue she was an actual person, with her story embellished through local tradition into a folk legend. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See ...
Feb 15, 2022•26 min•Season 5Ep. 9
Eccentric alchemist Dr. William Butler is described as being a "well-known alchemist, the pretended discoverer of the philosopher's stone and of a powder for bringing the dead to life.” In this episode, we're serving up a case of alchemy with a side of lies. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 08, 2022•23 min•Season 5Ep. 8
The Pappenheimers were an itinerant family from Bavaria. Accused of murder and practicing black magic by just one person, a known thief, the family was tried and executed for having been instruments of the devil. Their trial was of one of the most well-publicized witch trials in German history, and it also exhibited sadistic accounts of torture. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 01, 2022•24 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Georg Honauer was maybe a scientist. He was maybe a goldsmith. He was definitely, a fraudulent alchemist in the service of Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg. And when he couldn't fulfill the sensational promises he made -- turning 2 tons of iron into 2 tons of gold, the duke ordered his execution. Welcome to Criminalia, where all that glitters is not gold. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 25, 2022•24 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Imagine one day your local pharmacist is arrested and accused of drinking the blood of infants and flying on the back of a goat to an orgy involving the devil. From the 14th through the 18th century, there were some wild superstitions about witches. The first witch to confess to riding a broom was a man: Guillaume Edelin. But it was Matteuccia di Francesco who was the first accused and tried for flying. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/l...
Jan 18, 2022•23 min•Season 5Ep. 5
More than 500 years after his death, Heinrich Agrippa is considered one of the most influential occult philosophers of the early modern period. But not everyone in his lifetime was pleased with his theories and experimentation. While his work was denounced as heretical, it, and the work of fellow alchemists, laid the foundation for what we now call chemistry. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 11, 2022•24 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Agnes, also known as Mother Waterhouse, was accused of bewitching to death William Fynne. In the bigger picture, she was accused of using witchcraft to cause illness -- and her 18-year-old daughter was accused of the same crime. Agnes was hanged for a crime you may not guess, becoming the first woman executed for witchcraft in England. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 04, 2022•24 min•Season 5Ep. 3
A man named Stedelen was accused of practicing witchcraft between the years 1397 and 1406, in Switzerland. His was one of the earliest trials for maleficium and diabolism in Europe, and for certain, in Switzerland – at least according to the historical record. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 28, 2021•24 min•Season 5Ep. 2
For centuries according to the historical record, it was midwives who were most often prosecuted for witchcraft. Often in the historical record, midwives were written of as, quote, "unwomanly." And of course not assuming all 16th --century midwives are alike, many were considered suspicious for such things as being unmarried, or for their sexual behavior. Ursula Kemp made a living as a midwife -- and that made her a good choice as a scapegoat. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.ihea...
Dec 21, 2021•24 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Season 5 is going to be all about witchcraft and alchemy, and the fate of many who practiced such things – or, who maybe didn't. And just like we always do, we'll look at the lives and motivations of some of women and men who were accused of using the so-called 'black arts' throughout the centuries. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 14, 2021•2 min
One of the problems with uncovering the real stories of pirate legends is that there isn't always much historical evidence about many of them, especially if they never were captured or put on trial. If there is evidence of their lives, the stories often – but not always -- have been embellished. Embellished or not, though, they did all have interesting stories. Among the pirates, we did definitely had our favorites – as we're sure you have, too. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.ih...
Dec 14, 2021•33 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Charles Vane has been described as good, but unlucky, in his career of piracy during the Golden Age of Piracy. He's often spoken of as being one of the most skilled pirate captains among his peers, which included men such as Blackbeard and Black Bart. He was also known as a cruel and ruthless pirate who tortured and murdered his prisoners. And as captain, he preferred punishing his crew with extreme tortures. And he was unrepentant of his life as a pirate. Learn more about your ad-choices at htt...
Dec 07, 2021•25 min•Season 4Ep. 15
We recently talked about Stede Bonnet, a wealthy landowner who ditched it all for a life of piracy. Bonnet though was not the only aristocrat to turn his back on his life for a life plundering the high seas. Jeanne de Clisson is another noble-turned-pirate who got into the revenge business - upon her husband Olivier's execution by the King of France. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 30, 2021•23 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Sayyida al-Hurra -- which translates roughly as "Lady who is free and independent" in Arabic -- was born as Lalla Aicha bint Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami. Aicha was queen of Tétouan from 1515–1542 -- and she was a pirate queen. And she is considered to be one of the most important female figures of the Islamic West in the modern age. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 23, 2021•22 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Stede Bonnet was not really your typical pirate, if there is such a thing. Many pirates, such as unemployed sailors or laborers, chose the lifestyle because they didn't have many options. But Bonnet chose piracy over a wealthy and a respectable life. Was he was just looking for something bigger and more adventurous, or was there more to it? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 16, 2021•32 min•Season 4Ep. 12
When Mary Wolverston married Sir John Killigrew, she married into a pirate family, and was very hands-on with the family business. She would ultimately be accused of preying on shipping vessels that passed along the coastline, arrested, and convicted -- yet not executed. Holly and Maria talk about why. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 09, 2021•23 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Sometimes, and it happens with all scurvy sea dogs, male or female, there just isn't enough evidence left behind to know for certain that a person was a real part of history, or if they're just a fictional composite of several people. And because of that, there are just four confirmed female pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy – and one on that list is marginal. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 02, 2021•26 min•Season 4Ep. 10
As long as there have been pirates, there have been people hired to make them stop what they're doing. And, sometimes, those individuals hired to catch pirates are, themselves, pirates. From Woodes Rogers to Benjamin Hornigold, Holly and Maria tell the stories of the influential pirate hunters of the Golden Age of Piracy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 26, 2021•26 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Sir Francis Drake was a politician, a naval officer, a sea captain, an English explorer, and the second person to circumnavigate the globe. He was also a pirate -- disguised as a privateer. Drake considered King Phillip II, the King of Spain, a life-long enemy, and he especially targeted their possessions and colonies. There was a rumor among Spaniards, and especially sailors who fought in the Spanish Armada, that Francis Drake had supernatural powers, and nicknamed him El Draque, or The Dragon....
Oct 19, 2021•26 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Henry Every, also known as Henry Avery, Jack Avery or John Avery, as well as Benjamin Bridgeman or Long Ben OR The Arch Pirate or The King of Pirates, was an English pirate who apparently looted names. But he also became the most prosperous pirate when he took down the Gunsway -- it's estimated his treasure would be at least $60 million if not considerably more after inflation. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...
Oct 12, 2021•24 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Hayreddin Barbarossa was a pirate and a privateer. But he wasn't just looting ships and enslaving people. He was a skilled warrior, and an admiral in the Ottoman navy. And he had a certain political sensibility that helped him navigate not just alliances but kingdoms as well. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 05, 2021•26 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Valkyrie, she-warrior, pirate, shield-maiden – whatever the name you call her, stories about strong women including Lagertha are mentioned in lore dating centuries back. But, as we'll see, history can get in the way of itself. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 28, 2021•24 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Rachel Wall may have been the first American-born woman to become a pirate – but she most certainly was the last woman to be hanged in Boston, though the specific crime that landed her that fate wasn’t actually piracy at all. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 21, 2021•27 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Welcome to our Talk Like a Pirate Day celebration! Although pirates didn't actually use words like Arrr and Matey, that doesn't mean it isn't a lot of fun to throw that lingo around, right? Just like we speak in pirate talk that doesn't have much to do with real pirate talk, some famous pirates themselves are just as fake as that vocabulary – although many of us may think it's all real. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...
Sep 14, 2021•27 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Queen Teuta is often considered the “Pirate Queen” of antiquity, but that's actually a bit misleading -- Teuta was not actually a pirate. In line with her expansionist policies, she encouraged and sanctioned her tribe's piratical activities. This queen led an army of pirates. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 07, 2021•26 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Legend says that Grace refused to bow before Elizabeth because she did not acknowledge her as Queen of Ireland. Maybe she did, or maybe she didn't. Now she's considered a famous, feminine sea captain, and the most notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 31, 2021•27 min•Season 4Ep. 1
