This week we’re going to take a look at what happened with Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria. This relatively minor-sounding player in the midst of Charlemagne’s dynastic growth may sound unimportant, but he is a bellwether of just how strong Charles was becoming as King. You see, Charles and Tassilo were the most current iteration of an inter-family rivalry going back decades, hundreds of years even. They marked the high-water point of both groups and, as we will see, they also will symbolize just how much raw power the Carolingians had obtained by the late 8th century. ⚜️ ⚜️ ⚜️ Links to social media and the website: Patreon: Become royalty! Wise: The better way to send and convert money Audible: Try an audiobook for free!   Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613

This week, we’re going to take a look at Charlemagne's 778 campaign into Spain. Since the most memorable part of the campaign is an epic poem entitled The Song of Roland - a poem focused on the tragic loss of part of Charlemagne's army and the death of his lieutenant, Roland - we can tell you that things don't turn out well for the Franks. Despite this, about the only thing that the Song gets right about the actual history is that the Franks were involved, and they suffered a loss.   The Song of Roland was written somewhere between 1040-1115 CE. And wouldn’t you know it, the values and ideals put forth in Roland just so happen to line up with the time frame that incorporates the First Crusade. The events inside of the Song bear almost no resemblance to the actual events of 778, but all of that is extraneous. What was important for 11th-century France and this chanson de geste, this song of deeds, was to depict clear differences between Christians and Muslims.   So, how did we get from a sideline meeting in 777 at Paderborn between Charles and several Muslim walis, to an epic poem hyping up Christian warriors in the 11th century? Listen in and find out!   ⚜️ ⚜️ ⚜️   Links to social media and the website: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thugsandmiracles  Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613

This week, we’re going to take a look at one of the great resistance leaders from the age of Charlemagne: Widukind. Because - news flash! - lots of people did not like Charlemagne. Before we get into everything, there is one more thing we should clarify to help keep us straight on where we are in the chronology: The majority of today’s episode is set between 777-785. This is a pretty big leap, time-wise, considering that it took us several episodes just to get through the first three years of Charlemagne’s rivalry with his brother, and then another full episode to discuss the Lombard campaign and the taking of the Iron Crown in 774. We are also five years removed from our last regular episode of T+M wherein Charles cut down the Irminsul and took the religious site’s attendant treasures. In those five years, Charles inflicted defeats and mass baptisms on the Saxons at least three times, in 772, 775, and 777.   And this was just the start. Hang on for what is one of the darkest episodes of Thugs and Miracles to date...   ⚜️ ⚜️ ⚜️   Links to social media and the website: Shelley Puhak: shelleypuhak.com The Dark Queens: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Queens-Bloody-Rivalry-Medieval/dp/1635574919   Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Patreon: Thugs and Miracles Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613

Today on the show, we interview Shelley Puhak, the author of the soon-to-be-released book The Dark Queens! It is all about Fredegunda and Brunhilda, the rival Merovingian Queens who ran Kingdoms and fought against one another (we spoke all about them in Episodes 15-25 of Season One). The publisher gave us an advanced copy of the book to check out, and we can tell you... it is really good! The book has all of the murders, assassinations, plotting, intrigue, and general mayhem that went down during this time, and it is written in an incredibly engaging way. Believe me, as someone who has waded through more dense, boring, or just plain weird history books, we can tell you that The Dark Queens is a breath of fresh air. The history is readable without sacrificing details or accuracy. We cannot recommend the book highly enough. You can pre-order The Dark Queens for the U.S. at Amazon, Bookshop, or Barnes and Noble, or for the U.K. at Amazon U.K. or Foyles. Also, Shelley will have a Politics and Prose online launch event for the book on 27 February; register for free here! ⚜️ ⚜️ ⚜️ The Dark Queens Links: Shelley Puhak Author Website: https://www.shelleypuhak.com/  Politics and Prose 27 February online launch event: https://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/pp-live-shelley-puhak-dark-queens-bloody-rivalry-forged-medieval-world  Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Queens-Bloody-Rivalry-Medieval/dp/1635574919/  Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dark-queens-shelley-puhak/1136943153  Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/books/the-dark-queens-the-bloody-rivalry-that-forged-the-medieval-world/9781635574913  Amazon U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Queens-Bloody-Rivalry-Medieval/dp/180110915X/  Foyles U.K.: https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/biography/the-dark-queens-the-bloody-rivalry,shelley-puhak-9781801109154    Links to T+M social media and website: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThugsAndMiracles Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613

This week we’re going to take a look at what may be one of the great military miscalculations of all time. Charles was a solid tactician and an excellent logistician, and clearly very successful in most things he tried his hand at. Politics, religion, culture, war... there was no area in which he did not make an enormous impact during his life. Knowing this, how was it then that he so dramatically failed to see just how long and hard a campaign against the Saxons would be? Einhard, one of the first and most eminent biographers of Charlemagne, and a man who studied the whole of the great King’s life, would describe it this way: “No war taken up by the Frankish people was ever longer, harder, or more dreadful.” This is both factually correct and a huge understatement. After all, we are not talking about an extra battle or two; we are talking about nearly 30 additional years of battle, plus additional pockets of resistance that would not be fully squelched until well after Charles’s lifetime. Was it hubris, bad intelligence, an overestimation of his own military capabilities, or an underestimation of his enemies that led to all of this? Or was it a bit of all of the above? Finally, even with all of these factors in mind, did Charles really have a choice of whether or not to face the Saxons? I mean, was their fight inevitable, and if so, could it have been less bloody for both sides? ⚜️ ⚜️ ⚜️ Links to social media and the website: Shelley Puhak: shelleypuhak.com The Dark Queens: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Queens-Bloody-Rivalry-Medieval/dp/1635574919 TDQ Politics & Prose Launch Event: https://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/pp-live-shelley-puhak-dark-queens-bloody-rivalry-forged-medieval-world    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThugsAndMiracles Wise: https://wise.prf.hn/click/camref:1100lmi64/creativeref:1011l34332  Audible: https://www.audibletrial.com/thugs    Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613

This week we’re going to take a look at how, for the third time in less than two decades, the Franks and the Lombards came to blows. However, the Franks would be under new management for the fight this time. Would the change of leader make a difference in the outcome of the war? Let's return to 771, where the newly minted King of the Franks has a Queen and a Prince on the run for their lives. Why did Gerberga flee to Italy, and why did Charles allow it to happen? ⚜️ ⚜️ ⚜️ Links to social media and the website: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThugsAndMiracles Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613

This week we’re going to take a look at what exactly happened between Charles and his brother Carloman. The two are referred to in all of the histories as having had a troubled relationship, and this is another one of those situations where, if you poke around on the Internet a little, you can find people asking the counterfactual question of, “What if Charlemagne had died rather than Carloman?” Because, belated spoiler alert, Carloman is going to die shortly, in 771. And it’s interesting to think of what might have happened if he had lived. It’s also interesting to consider how he died, because it was rather convenient for Charles that his pesky little brother up and kicked the bucket for no well-documented reason at the age of 20. Now, people died young all the time back at this time, and quick illnesses with tragic endings were really not all that uncommon. And that could have been the case... it was just very convenient for Charles.     * * * Links to social media and the website: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThugsAndMiracles Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613

This week we’re going to take a look at the first few years of Charles and Carloman’s reign as seen through the eyes of their mother, Queen Bertrada. Honestly, she’s a tremendous woman who took her shot when she had it; however, when you listen to today's opening story, you will notice that I cribbed a line from Neville Chamberlain, “peace in their time.” Bertrada really thought she had a diplomatic solution all figured out, a path to peace and security that couldn’t possibly backfire. Well, just like Chamberlain, a few overwhelming personalities and the general tide of history served to make empty that promise of peace in just a few years. So what happened? * * * Links to social media and the website: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThugsAndMiracles Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613

This week we’re going to look back one last time at the life and times of one of the most horribly underrated Kings in all of French history, a guy who may have done more to establish the foundations of modern-day France than any other individual out there, and yet whose name remains lost to all but the most intrepid history nerds - and yes, I’m looking at all of you! - because he happened to sire the one name that everyone knows: Charlemagne. So, we’re going to take a look at what King Pépin I did after he returned back to Francia from Italy in 756 and how he spent the last decade and some change of his life. After that, we’ll break down the entirety of his reign using our Monarch W.A.R. rating, and we’ll see where he stacks up against the Merovingian kings who came before him. On a more contemporary note, Happy New Year ‘22 to you! If you’re still looking for a resolution, may we suggest donating to the shows and artists who you enjoy? Even a small contribution goes a long way toward helping with the costs of the show, but more than that, it tells us that you appreciate what we’re doing. We hope that’s the case, and if nothing else, there are perks to being a T+M Patron. Find out more by clicking on the link below: thanks! * * * Links to social media and the website: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThugsAndMiracles Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613

Hello everybody, and welcome to 2022! We here at Thugs and Miracles hope you had an enjoyable New Year’s Eve, and if you’re traveling home today or tomorrow, well, we’re here to keep you company! And not just us! Nope, we’re joined today for a talk with Dirk Hoffman-Becking of the History of the Germans Podcast; he’s been running his show for about a year now, and we profiled his Episode #1 back in September on our feed. Dirk spoke with us for this on topics ranging from where he’s from, to what compelled him to start a podcast and what drives him to keep going, to what his favorite bit of history that he’s covered to this point has been, and also what he’s hoping to cover in ‘22. It was a great talk, and so good in fact that we got together again later and he interviewed me for his show! So, if you are not already subscribed to History of the Germans, well, now’s a great time to check Dirk out and to get even more T+M content for the New Year, as well as about 50 episodes of Germans. And, along those lines, now is as good a time as any to tell you that we’ll have a new episode coming out tomorrow on this feed and our first Patreon Exclusive episode is going live on the 9th, so head on over to Patreon.com/ThugsAndMiracles to check that out. Alright, with all of that, I shall step aside. Again, welcome to 2022; now, sit back and enjoy our interview with Dirk Hoffman-Becking of the History of the Germans Podcast; enjoy! * * * Links to social media and the website: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThugsAndMiracles Site: https://www.thugsandmiracles.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thugsandmiracle (with no “s” on the end) Facebook: @ThugsAndMiracles Instagram: @ThugsAndMiracles YouTube: Thugs and Miracles Academia.edu: Life After Rome Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613