Podcasts about eastern france

This week Scott and Patrick are joined by author and friend of the show Domenic Scarcella to discuss the theological implications of the 15th century historical figure Jeanne D'Arc best known worldwide as Joan of Arc. She was a simple peasant girl in Eastern France during the course of the 100 Years War, who stepped into the shoes of a local legend of a maiden who would save France. A fascinating look into the past of the Catholic Church as well as into a totally different time socially speaking, this was an incredibly fascinating discussion that touches on politics, religion and sacrifice. Subscribe to Dom on Substack goodneighborbadcitizen.substack.com and follow him on twitter @goodneighbadcit and buy his book on amazon, lulu or barnes and noble get Patrick's stuff at www.cantgetfooledagain.com Don't forget to join our Telegram channel at T.me/historyhomos and to join our group chat at T.me/historyhomoschat For programming updates and news follow us across social media @historyhomospod and follow Scott @Scottlizardabrams and Patrick @cantgetfooledagainradio OR subscribe to our telegram channel t.me/historyhomos The video version of the show is available on Substack, Rokfin, bitchute, odysee and Rumble For weekly premium episodes or to contribute to the show subscribe to our channel at www.historyhomospod.substack.com You can donate to the show directly at paypal.me/historyhomos To order a History Homos T shirt (and recieve a free sticker) please send your shirt size and address to Historyhomos@gmail.com and please address all questions, comments and concerns there as well. Later homos

In 2011, in Paray le Monial, France, I had the chance to speak with Msgr. John Esseff at the First Sacred Heart World Congress.  Msgr. Esseff is one of the founders of the Sacred Heart Apostolate, sponsor of this event which brought laity, religious, and priests from around the world.  Talks were given by Cardinal Raymond Burke, Bishop Robert Herman, Christendom College President Timothy O'Donnell, and EWTN show host and author Fr. Mitch Pacwa, as well as many others  Why did they come to this small French community nestled in Eastern France?  Because our Lord choice this place and two very remarkably humble saints to communicate the message of his Sacred Heart.  He said to St. Margaret Mary:  "My Divine Heart is so inflamed with love for mankind ... that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its burning charity and must spread them abroad by your means." She described that His Heart was on fire and surrounded by a crown of thorns. Our Lord told her that the flames represented His love for humanity, and the thorns represented man's sinfulness and ingratitude. Jesus informed her that her mission was to establish the devotion to His Most Sacred Heart, and He revealed twelve promises that He would bestow upon all those who practice the devotion. She had three more visions over the next year and a half in which Jesus instructed her in a devotion that was to become known as the Nine Fridays. Christ also inspired Margaret Mary to establish the Holy Hour and to receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of every month. In the final revelation, the Lord asked that a feast of reparation be instituted for the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi. Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, a holy and experienced Jesuit, arrived as confessor to the nuns, and in him Margaret Mary recognized the understanding guide that had been promised to her in the visions. He became convinced that her experiences were genuine and adopted the teaching of the Sacred Heart that the visions had communicated to her. Msgr. Esseff talks about that message, what it means for us today, and how we can live it out. The post Living in the Sacred Heart of Jesus – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Welcome to our sixth podcast episode!Raw, unfiltered with plenty of sediment.Questions this week:* 4 min 51 Which price point do we think you start to get more from wine?* 9 mins 52 Our initial thoughts about Majestic potentially taking over Vagabond.* 12 mins 38 Perfect wine to pair with an Easter egg.* 15 mins 52 What is in our glass today?* 19 mins 43 What do we think of the region where this wine comes from?Will's wine of the week:Morgon Cuvee Corcelette, 2020, Jean FoillardLuke's thought of the week:Deep listeningReferences:Bush Vine - a way of growing a grapevine. No training.Coravin - wine preservation system.Vagabond X Majestic - Majestic to buy all or part of Vagabond.Vagabond - London centric wine bar chain.Recioto della Valpolicella - sweet version of Amarone della Valpolicella - an iconic Italian wine.Banyuls - French wine region..Sancerre - French wine region.Bordeaux - French wine region.Malbec - grape variety.Primitivo - grape variety.Canace Nero di Troia - wine from Puglia, Italy.Morgon Cuvee Corcelette, 2020, Jean Foillard - available to buy.Gamay - grape variety.Beaujolais - wine area just south of Burgundy, France.Burgundy - highly regarded wine region in Eastern France.Pinot Noir - grape variety.Intracellular Fermentation - wine-making procedure.Interstellar - must watch movie.Georges Duboeuf Fleurie - available at Sainsbury's.Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages - available at Tesco.Moulin-à-Vent - one of the 10 Beaujolais Cru's.Cru's, Grand Cru, Premier Cru - different quality levels of vineyards.Morgon - one of the 10 Beaujolais Cru's.Fleurie - one of the 10 Beaujolais Cru's.Brouilly - one of the 10 Beaujolais Cru's.As always please like, share and comment.Stay Corked - Luke & Will This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lukeflunder.substack.com/subscribe

Pre-Loved Podcast is a weekly vintage fashion interview show, with guests you'll want to go thrifting with! For more Pre-Loved Podcast, subscribe to our Patreon! On today's show, we're chatting with Marie Remy, who is the founder & owner of The French Workwear Company. Marie grew up in the 1970s and 80s in rural Eastern France, where her dad had a mechanic's garage.  She always dreamed of moving to Paris, which she did as a student and soaked up all the indie music gigs, record stores, vintage fashion and flea markets every weekend. On this episode, Marie shares the stories that lead to her launching a French workwear vintage business, after several years in the music industry and settling in London. Like many of us, she first started selling her “surplus,” as she and her musician husband were both vintage lovers, but would continue to go back to France to source workwear, particularly the ‘bleus' which were a quintessential part of her upbringing. Tune in for Marie's fab stories, plus a fascinating amount of social and fashion history – this episode is a really fun deep dive, so let's get right into it! DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE: [4:01] Growing up as a teenager in rural France in the 1980s, loving indie music and vintage fashion. [5:37] On Marie's first trip to Paris she saw Azzedine Alaïa while out and about. [7:12] Thrifting in Paris in the late 1980s at the Guerrisol. [11:33] On shopping at the iconic Parisian flea markets. [16:23] She first started selling her “surplus,” as she and her musician husband were both vintage lovers. [19:36] The history and aesthetics that drew Marie to vintage workwear. [39:53] French workwear is meant to last a long time, and some pieces have beautiful mending. [51:59] The pieces in her vintage collection that Marie finds especially unique.  EPISODE MENTIONS:  @frenchworkwearco The French Workwear Company The Face magazine Black Spot on Netflix Yves Klein Blue or 1920s Bugatti blue car @little_moth_mends @the_elephant_in_my_wardrobe @stewarteaston Thomas Turner - fashion historian @fash_rev LET'S CONNECT: 

Breathing specialist Dr Veronica Sigh (Mary Rose Kirwan) pops in ahead of her expedition to Eastern France with Colin. We talk her feud with Wim Hof, Colin's addiction to oxygen-tank vaping and Cillian's invisible first wife. Follow LWAH on Instagram, merch and live shows on TheImprovPodcast.com. Follow Colin and Cillian's 'handlers': Mark Cantan & Luke Benson.

In the latest of our series of Battlefields in a Day, we travel to Eastern France and look at the Battlefields around Verdun. Verdun was the longest single battle of the Great War, lasting some 300 days and 300 nights, fought between February and December 1916. More than 770,000 French and German soldiers became casualties in what the Poilus called 'the mincing machine'. Support the show

CRIMINAL CURRENTS: It has been almost 40 years since the murder of four-year-old little Gregory in the town of Lépanges-sur-Vologne in Eastern France. The parents, daunted with anonymous letters and calls filled with threats after his birth, made them fear for everyone's safety. The killer, that they would come to know as the Crow, had been keeping a watchful eye over their brand new home. He knew where their schedule, where they ate, family nick names, and even dark family history. And on October 16, 1984, no one could have prepared them for what was to come. This is an unsolved case, shared in hopes to keep this case & his story alive. We all want to know the identity of The Crow, and justice for little Gregory. TRIGGER WARNING: This case does involve, obviously, a child death, miscarriage, and suicide. Sources: https://www.thescarechamber.com/the-unsolved-murder-of-gregory-villeminhttp://crimemagazine.com/gr%C3%A8gorySupport the showThanks for listening! Subscribe here: For Bonus Friday Episodes! (You'll also get a shout out on the show, a handwritten thank you from your ladies, and 20% off our merch! Follow us on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

Holidays in Eastern France

In this episode we ask: what was The Hindenburg Line? A system of German defences built in Northern and Eastern France, it was the largest single engineering project of the Great War on the Western Front. Some of the key battles of 1917/18 were fought along it, and we look at the background to these important First World War fortifications.Support the show

Bitter Sweet: A Wartime Journal and Heirloom Recipes from Occupied France Kitty Morse In our speaker's own words: “I'd never come across another suitcase quite like it. But what was the tattered black leather valise doing there, hidden behind a crocheted comforter on the top shelf of my late mother's closet? The tarnished brass locking mechanism had already been sprung.” … Looking up at me from inside la petite valise was a photographic portrait of a teenage girl dressed in the traditional Alsatian attire of the late 1800s, complete with an oversized black bow in her hair. Blanche Lévy-Neymarck, my great grandmother and namesake. Her portrait partially hid a pocket-size doctor's notebook titled Carnet Médical 1936, the daily journal of Doctor Prosper Lévy, my great-grandfather, a distinguished army surgeon twice the recipient of the Legion of Honor, that commemorated the advance of the Germans on Eastern France from April to December 1940. As I dug deeper, I retrieved another notebook containing close to 120 of Blanche's handwritten recipes. This gave rise to the question: what would I do with all the information? The answer became clear. I would publish Prosper's journal along with Blanche's recipes—as a way to memorialize and breathe life back into a family so ruthlessly destroyed. I translated journal and recipes from the French, and kitchen-tested the dishes for the American kitchen. My husband, Owen Morse, provided the food photography for Bitter Sweet: A Wartime Journal and Heirloom Recipes from Occupied France. Biography Kitty Morse was born in Casablanca, Morocco, of a French mother and British father, and emigrated to the United States in 1964. She began catering Moroccan parties while studying for her Master's Degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Catering and giving Moroccan cooking classes eventually led to writing ten cookbooks, including the award-winning Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from my Moroccan Kitchen, The vegetarian table: North Africa, and The Scent of Orange Blossoms: Sephardic Cuisine from Morocco. Her first memoir, Mint Tea and Minarets: a Banquet of Moroccan Memories, which she translated into French as Le Riad au Bord de l'Oued, were recipients of a Gourmet World Cookbook Award. Kitty's career as a food writer, cooking instructor, and tour leader spans more than three decades. She has contributed articles in French and English to leading publications in the US and abroad, and has been a guest on local and national television stations. She is a staff writer for winedineandtravel.com, an award-winning online travel magazine. Kitty has lectured around the country on Moroccan cuisine and culture. One of the highlights of her career was cooking alongside Julia Child to benefit the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Kitty lives in Vista, CA. To order books: Unsigned copies of Bitter Sweet are listed on Amazon.com as a preorder. The books will be available in March 2023. For a signed copy shipped directly, please contact Kitty Morse at kitty@kittymorse.com. Shipping via media mail in the US only. Send a check for $37.50 made out to Kitty Morse, La Caravane Publishing, P.O. Box 433, Vista CA 92083. Recorded via Zoom on February 15, 2023 CONNECT WITH CULINARY HISTORIANS OF CHICAGO ✔ MEMBERSHIP https://culinaryhistorians.org/membership/ ✔ EMAIL LIST http://culinaryhistorians.org/join-our-email-list/ ✔ S U B S C R I B E https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Y0-9lTi1-JYu22Bt4_-9w ✔ F A C E B O O K https://www.facebook.com/CulinaryHistoriansOfChicago ✔ PODCAST 2008 to Present https://culinaryhistorians.org/podcasts/ By Presenter https://culinaryhistorians.org/podcasts-by-presenter/ ✔ YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Y0-9lTi1-JYu22Bt4_-9w ✔ W E B S I T E https://www.CulinaryHistorians.org

Come on a journey with Mary Jane Fox to a small village in Eastern France called Ars. St. John Vianney, the patron saint of all parish priests, spent 41 years living in this small town with a population of about 780. The village contains two churches: the old 12th-Century church where St. Vianney preached and a new Basilica of Ars, where you can observe his preserved body in a glass coffin. On this journey, we will learn about: The incredible life of St. John Marie Vianney. The area of Ars that have the Basilica, Chapel of the Heart, His home, and the old Church used by the Saint. The Sacrament of Reconciliation also known as Confession – a beautiful gift given to us by the Lord. Click here for photos, additional resources, and a map view of the  Shrine of St. John Vianney Jewel for the Journey: "Every Consecrated Host is made to burn Itself up with love in a human heart." - St. John Vianney Featured Image courtesy of  Sanctuaire d'Ars captured from their Official Facebook Page.  All rights reserved. Stay up to date with our new media series, "Who is The Man of The Shroud?" at DiscoverWho.org Like what you hear? Would you like to support Journeys of Hope? Become a Missionary of Hope by sponsoring a month of Journeys of Hope 2022 Radio Broadcast & Podcast! Click here to get started. Learn more at PilgrimCenterOfHope.org/Journeys Help us spread hope! PilgrimCenterOfHope.org/Donate

In 2011, in Paray le Monial, France, I had the chance to speak with Msgr. John Esseff at the First Sacred Heart World Congress.  Msgr. Esseff is one of the founders of the Sacred Heart Apostolate, sponsor of this event which brought laity, religious, and priests from around the world.  Talks were given by Cardinal Raymond Burke, Bishop Robert Herman, Christendom College President Timothy O'Donnell, and EWTN show host and author Fr. Mitch Pacwa, as well as many others  Why did they come to this small French community nestled in Eastern France?  Because our Lord choice this place and two very remarkably humble saints to communicate the message of his Sacred Heart.  He said to St. Margaret Mary:  "My Divine Heart is so inflamed with love for mankind ... that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its burning charity and must spread them abroad by your means." She described that His Heart was on fire and surrounded by a crown of thorns. Our Lord told her that the flames represented His love for humanity, and the thorns represented man's sinfulness and ingratitude. Jesus informed her that her mission was to establish the devotion to His Most Sacred Heart, and He revealed twelve promises that He would bestow upon all those who practice the devotion. She had three more visions over the next year and a half in which Jesus instructed her in a devotion that was to become known as the Nine Fridays. Christ also inspired Margaret Mary to establish the Holy Hour and to receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of every month. In the final revelation, the Lord asked that a feast of reparation be instituted for the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi. Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, a holy and experienced Jesuit, arrived as confessor to the nuns, and in him Margaret Mary recognized the understanding guide that had been promised to her in the visions. He became convinced that her experiences were genuine and adopted the teaching of the Sacred Heart that the visions had communicated to her. Msgr. Esseff talks about that message, what it means for us today, and how we can live it out. The post BKL-Special “Living in the Sacred Heart of Jesus” with Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

In 2011, in Paray le Monial, France, I had the chance to speak with Msgr. John Esseff at the First Sacred Heart World Congress.  Msgr. Esseff is one of the founders of the Sacred Heart Apostolate, sponsor of this event which brought laity, religious, and priests from around the world.  Talks were given by Cardinal Raymond Burke, Bishop Robert Herman, Christendom College President Timothy O'Donnell, and EWTN show host and author Fr. Mitch Pacwa, as well as many others  Why did they come to this small French community nestled in Eastern France?  Because our Lord choice this place and two very remarkably humble saints to communicate the message of his Sacred Heart.  He said to St. Margaret Mary:  "My Divine Heart is so inflamed with love for mankind ... that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its burning charity and must spread them abroad by your means." She described that His Heart was on fire and surrounded by a crown of thorns. Our Lord told her that the flames represented His love for humanity, and the thorns represented man's sinfulness and ingratitude. Jesus informed her that her mission was to establish the devotion to His Most Sacred Heart, and He revealed twelve promises that He would bestow upon all those who practice the devotion. She had three more visions over the next year and a half in which Jesus instructed her in a devotion that was to become known as the Nine Fridays. Christ also inspired Margaret Mary to establish the Holy Hour and to receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of every month. In the final revelation, the Lord asked that a feast of reparation be instituted for the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi. Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, a holy and experienced Jesuit, arrived as confessor to the nuns, and in him Margaret Mary recognized the understanding guide that had been promised to her in the visions. He became convinced that her experiences were genuine and adopted the teaching of the Sacred Heart that the visions had communicated to her. Msgr. Esseff talks about that message, what it means for us today, and how we can live it out. The post BKL-Special “Living in the Sacred Heart of Jesus” with Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

The wine region of Jura in Eastern France, the wines, styles, appellations, and ullage. Yes, ullage, along with straw lustiness, yellow wine, toasted angels, and dinosaurs ... all in under 30 minutes. Resources from this episode: Books: A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic tales of revolution, war, and enlightenment (Chapter 40. Revelation in a Bottle), [Audio Edition], Hénault, S. & Mitchell, J. (2019) French Wine Scholar Study Manual, 5th Edition, Wine Scholar Guild (2015) Jura Wine, Lorch, W. (2014) Oxford Companion to Wine, 4th Edition, Robinson, J., Harding, J. (2015) Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours [Kindle Edition], Robinson, J., Harding, J., & Vouillamoz, J. (2013) The World Atlas of Wine [7th Edition], Johnson, H., & Robinson, J. (2013) Websites: Active Wild: Jurassic Dinosaurs List: Discover The Dinosaurs That Lived In The Jurassic Period https://www.activewild.com/jurassic-dinosaurs/ Christie's: Level/Ullage Descriptions and Interpretations (2013) https://www.christies.com/Wine/Ullages_2013.pdf Decanter: What is Ullage in Wine and Should You Worry? - ask Decanter, Douglas, E. (8 July 2020) https://www.decanter.com/learn/advice/ullage-in-wine-ask-decanter-383430/ Explore France: The 5-minute Essential Guide to Jura Wines, Dive, C. (26 August 2019) https://www.france.fr/en/jura-mountains/list/5-minutes-wines-jura Forbes: Vin Jaune, the Yellow Wine from Jura, one of France's Most Remarkable Wines, Karlsson, P. & B., (18 February 2022) https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlsson/2022/02/18/vin-jaune-the-yellow-wine-from-jura-one-of-frances-most-remarkable-wines/?sh=96e51655c60b Isle of Jura Scotland: Jura history https://isleofjura.scot/isle-of-jura-history/ Jura Vins: Comité Interprfessionnel des Vins du Jura https://www.jura-vins.com Jura Wine UK (Wink Lorch's Website) https://jurawine.co.uk/ Merriam Webster: Ullage (May 2022) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ullage Glass in Session® Episodes Mentioned in this Session: S1E1: Fringe Wines and Flor https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/s1e1-fringe-wines-and-flor S3E3: Wine Caves - Dishing the Dirt https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/s3e3-wine-caves-dishing-the-dirt S3E4: Wine from Dried Grapes https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/s3e4-wine-from-dried-grapes S4E6: Got Wood? Talkin' ‘bout Oak https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/s4e6-got-wood-talkin-bout-oak S8E1: Thunder Dragon (Part 1) - Bhutan and Wine with Michael Juergens https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/s8e1-thunder-dragon-part-1-bhutan-and-wine-with-michael-juergens S9E2: Whisky, Burns Night, and … Beerhenge? https://glassinsession.libsyn.com/s9e2-whisky-burns-night-and-beerhenge   Glass in Session® is a registered trademark of Vino With Val, LLC. Music: “Write Your Story” by Joystock (Jamendo.com cc_Standard License, Jamendo S.A.)

In this latest episode of Trench Talk it's a pleasure to be joined by Mike Cunha.  Mike is a military historian, researcher, podcaster, and high school teacher from Boston in the United States.  His podcast "Battles of the First World War" is hugely successful and examines battles in almost microscopic detail.We talk about how a heavy metal track inspired Mike's interest in the Great War and in this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about Mike's podcast, and his desire to bring WW1 to the wider American public.  We look at the Doughboys, the American readiness for a European War, and the crucial role played by the Americans on the Western Front in 1918.  Mike's passion for the Meuse-Argonne offensive shines through as we chat about what happened in Eastern France and discuss the enigma that is "Blackjack" Pershing.Please be sure to check out Mike's podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/battles-of-the-first-world-war-podcast/id1119044000Support the podcast:http://www.patreon.com/footstepsofthefallenhttp://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsblogSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsblog)

Every year tens of thousands of young people descend on the small Christian community of Taize in Eastern France. Founded by a Swiss man, Roger Schütz, the ecumenical ministry provides a place of refuge where Christians and non-believers can reflect, pray, study, and engage with their contemporaries from around the globe.  Special Thanks to: Sister […]

Every year tens of thousands of young people descend on the small Christian community of Taize in Eastern France. Founded by a Swiss man, Roger Schütz, the ecumenical ministry provides a place of refuge where Christians and non-believers can reflect, pray, study, and engage with their contemporaries from around the globe. Special Thanks to: Sister Judith Russi sister of Saint Mary of Namur, is the director of Catholic educational charity EducareM Steven Betancourt Assistant Director of Campus Ministry at Loyola University Chicago Brother Sebastien of the Taize Community Picture: Croix de Taizé Surfnico Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Music: Bless the Lord © Ateliers et Presses de Taizé --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/daniel-mainwaring5/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/daniel-mainwaring5/support

Welcome back to Wine Club! Join us for another "mini bar" episode - this time all about Jura. These episodes are quick overviews of different wine making regions.  Jura is in Eastern France and boarders Switzerland. It is known for some special, regional wines including vin jaune (yellow wine). 

Welcome to episode 238 of the Sexology Podcast! Today I am delighted to welcome Guy Blaise to the podcast. In this episode, we discuss the cultural differences between dating in the US and France, looking at the issue of unsolicited dick picks and why paying more attention to your partner will get you better sex.      Guy Blaise is an author and Frenchman currently living in America. He lived in Eastern France and Paris, where he witnessed the dating experiences of the strong women in his family and listened closely to the advice his grandmother routinely gave them about love.     After two decades of living in America and struck by the differences between two cultures' approaches to romance and sex, Guy started writing books offering his insights and started The French Perspective blog.     In this episode, you will hear:     The biggest differences between dating in the USA and France   Analyzing the cultural differences between dating in the USA and France   How we are living in a “Plenty of Fish / Tinder” culture of dating   The social attitudes of men in the USA compared to France   Looking at the issue of unsolicited dick picks   The difference of how American women deal with dicks compared with women in France  How unsolicited dick picks can be red flags for not being good at consent   Looking at the differences between the way French men make love to women compared with American men   Why paying more attention to your partner will get you better sex   Understanding that sex doesn't start and end in the bedroom   Knowing that no relationship is perfect and requires constant work to keep sex great   The importance of women taking agency of what they want         Find Guy Blaise Online   www.thefrenchperspective.com    Dating Anxiety Checklist  https://oasis2care.com/dating-anxiety    Podcast Produced by Pete Bailey - http://petebailey.net/audio  

What is romance really all about? Why do some people shy away from it? And how people can Americans learn a thing or two about romance from the French?  We also answer a sex question: I want to experience pegging with my wife but how can I bring this up when she doesn't like talking about sex?  Want to skip to the interview? Fast forward to minute 17. About our guest: Guy Blaise is an author and Frenchman currently living and working in America. He lived in Eastern France and Paris, where he witnessed the dating experiences of the strong women in his family and listened closely to the advice his grandmother routinely gave them about love. After two decades of living in America and struck by the differences between two cultures' approaches to romance and sex, Guy started writing books offering his insights and started The French Perspective blog. Learn more at thefrenchperspective.com Other links: Get 10% off + free shipping with code SHAMELESSSEX on Uberlube AKA our favorite lubricant at uberlube.com Get $5 off while mastering the art of pleasure at OMGyes.com/shameless Get turned on with 30 days free of super hot audio erotica at dipseastories.com/shameless Get 2 for 1 of our favorite Willy Willy Hot Sauce at WillyWillyHotSauce.com/shameless Want to try one of our favorite boutique wines? Get 10% off of 3 bottles or more with code SHAMELESSSEX10 or 15% off of 6 bottles or more with come SHAMELESSSEX15 at marginswine.com Get 15% off all of your sex toys with code SHAMELESSSEX at purepleasureshop.com Buy some Shameless Sex swag while supporting a good cause when you visit teepublic.com/stores/shameless-sex-podcast  

The celebrated French chef Raymond Blanc tells Emily Thomas about his life through five dishes. From a childhood roaming magical forests in Eastern France, to the rather less enticing restaurant scene of 1970s England, Raymond describes how with little grasp of the language and no formal training, he quickly became one of the UK's best known chefs. His restaurant, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, has been thriving for almost 40 years and during that time he has added a string of cookbooks, TV shows and brasseries to his name. Raymond explains how he balances being a gastronome and perfectionist with running a large business. But we also hear another side to the exuberant chef. The past year has been perhaps one the most difficult of Raymond's life - closing his restaurants, the isolation of lockdown, the death of his mother and being hospitalised with coronavirus for a month. He tells us why he thinks it will make him a better man.

Welcome to episode fifty-seven of the Low Tide Boyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We’re officially in February and this month we are kicking off a series of interviews all about partners. This month we will be featuring teams from all over the world to chat about one of the funnest aspects of Swimrun. This week we are chatting with Toby and G Flo of Team Max Mockermann from Germany. They have been supportive of the show since we started out and we were super stoked to finally get to sit down and chat with them.More with Toby and G Flo later in the show.ShoutoutsThis week we’re shouting Henrick Forssell. We’ve been connected with him on the internets and he regaled us with stories about Helas Frostbite Swimrun and his plans to host a fun monthly swimrun for folks in Stockholm all year. Keep up the great work!Adventure Time/Training UpdatesWe are still training at our own speeds but we’re starting to turn the screws a bit in the pool so we should have sore lats for the foreseeable future. Other than that, Chris is ramping up for some long runs and Chipper is putting in a ton of HIIT work.Feats of EnduranceThis week’s Feats of Endurance honoree is Alexis Humeau in Paris, France. He low-key threw down a 55km point-to-point run from Sarzeau to Vannes in Eastern France over the weekend. An impressive feat for sure...and the course looked Swimrunnable too!Make sure to join us on Strava and cheer on your fellow Swimrunners as they train all over the world.This Week in Swimrun (Powered by Raceid.com)We have a few race updates to share this week.Congratulations to everyone that qualified for the ÖTILLÖ World Championship! This is no small feat with a record amount of submissions for entry for the race that started it all. We look forward to cheering you all on from afar (and maybe from near) on September 6th.Swimrun Lake James, happening on April 24th, is officially sold out for both the short and long course distances. They do have a waitlist going, so sign up for that if you’re interested in racing. On a side note, they have the teams list on their site and some of the team names are 100% solid gold. Here’s a sample of what the race directors will be dealing with: Hold My Paddles While I Poop, Phyllis Hold My Shower Beer, Still Unsure Why We’re Doing This, Traveling Dingleberries, Vodka Juniors, and While our Bikes Gently Weep. If you’re listening and part of one of these teams, send us a message and we’ll put some stickers in the mail for you.The race date of October 3, 2021 has been set for Ödyssey Swimrun Lubington and registration is officially open with super early bird pricing that’s good through February 14th. The course looks dope but don’t take our word for it. You can check out the Short and Long Course maps on their website. We have a correction from last week’s edition: we mentioned that Hero Swimrun was an ÖTILLÖ qualifier. It was a qualifier in 2020 but it’s not one this year.That’s it for this week. Feel free to email us to tip us off to any events or Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.UpdatesWe’ve narrowed down the options for our forthcoming hats and will be posting the mockups up on IG for folks to vote on what they like best.We’re super stoked to report that we’ve passed 25,000 total downloads this week. When we started the show, we always hoped that people would listen but to think that we would also get so much support and encouragement from our listeners has been amazing. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve come up with some new stickers for everyone to slap on their cars, bikes, water bottles, etc. These “Super Stoked on Swimrun” stickers are free for everyone who wants one. Just drop us a message on IG or send us an email with your address and we’ll put one in the mail for you.This Week’s InterviewTo kick-off partner’s month, we have Toby and G Flo all the way from Germany. We first learned about Team Max Mockermann when we started the show but we realized what we were dealing with when they posted a video of them running and trying to swim in the snow the day before ÖTILLÖ Engadin last year. We knew then and there that we wanted to have them on the show.In this interview, we chat about how they met and decided to team up, how they train for Swimrun when they live in different parts of Germany, and how they are doing their part to build up the Swimrun community where they are. They also have their own podcast that they record while they are training on Zwift...so there’s that! This was a really fun interview and we think that everyone will enjoy it.You can follow Team Max Mockermann’s exploits on Instagram and check out their podcast (it’s in German.)That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, please be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

Daniel Galmiche was enthralled with cooking from an early age. Born in Lure in the Comte region of Eastern France, he grew up eating produce from his grandparents farm and game hunted by his father. His career has since taken him all over the world including the UK, Sweden, Portugal, and Singapore. In London he worked at the highly acclaimed Le Gavroche under the tutelage of Michel Roux. While at Knockinaam Lodge in Scotland in 1990, Daniel was awarded Master Chef of the Year and gained his first Michelin star. He was also awarded a Michelin Star at Harvey’s in Bristol, retaining it at L’Ortolan and again at the magnificent Cliveden House in Berkshire. An author, TV personality, consultant and guest chef Daniel still loves to cook every day. He is a passionate teacher with a wealth of knowledge to share on this week’s episode of Kitchen Therapy. (Note - apologies on the crappy audio - but the content is awesome!)

Leading Irish grocer Dunnes Stores recently brought in a range of white wines from the Reine Pedauque stable in Burgundy. In this podcast Savinien Legelaux from Reine Pedauque guides us through the delights of the label and of Burgundy itself.  Wine, Food and Passion. Enjoy Burgundy is a place in Eastern France where magic happens! With just two principle (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) and two minor grapes (Aligote and Gamay) winemakers manage to make extremely fine wines. We need to bear in mind that Burgundy is quite long and very narrow. Its vineyards are cooler in the north than the south and cross over a multitude of slope types each sitting on top of a wild assortment of fractured geologies. Over the years the vineyards of Burgundy have been analysed and divided into smaller and smaller of Appellations.  Does all of this confuse us? Not a bit of it - so long as we get to taste wines from the region at an affordable price. Thanks Savinien.  

This is Draw The Line Radio Show with Jacki-e, featuring my mix in the 1st hr of music made by women and then, for the 2nd hr, I hand the decks over to a female DJ. Helping me Draw The Line this week, with her guest mix in the 2nd hour is DJ Liema who comes from Mulhouse in Eastern France. Links for Liema:- https://www.facebook.com/djliema/ https://soundcloud.com/liema In my mix in the first hour the featured EPs are ‘Atmosphere’ by Anna Reusch, released by Tronic on 18th March 2019; and ‘Aphelion’ by La Fleur released by Power Plant Records on 15th March 2019. I’ve also got my remix of ‘One Way Forward’ by The Kid Inside,, to be released by DeepDownDirty on 2nd April). Pre-order link:- https://www.beatport.com/track/one-way-forward-jacki-e-remix/11746775 And I’m featuring tracks from Chloe, Christina Semmler, Sara Simonit, Ursula Rucker, Juliet Fox, Hannah Holland, Ninna V, Vanessa Sukowski, Lady Maru, Paula Temple and Insolate. If you like the tracks we play, please support the artists by buying their music. It's time to say NO to gender imbalance in dance music. It's time to Draw The Line!! Track list. 1st hour mixed by Jacki-e:- 1. Chloe - Resolve & Dive (original mix) Diynamic Music. 2. La Fleur - Hunting Grounds (original mix) Power Plant Records. 3. Christina Semmler - Vibes (Seyed Key remix) Analog Musiq. 4. Sara Simonit - Magia (original mix) Tronic 5. Anna Reusch - Atmosphere (original mix) Tronic. 6. 2pole - Alone ft Ursula Rucker (original mix) Suara. 7. La Fleur - Aphelion (original mix) Power Plant Records. 8. Chloe - What Will Be (original mix) Diynamic Music. 9. Metodi Hristov, Juliet Fox - Completely (original mix) Filth on Acid. 10. Anna Reusch - I'm About (original mix) Tronic. 11. Hannah Holland - Dubonica (original mix) Batty Bass promo to be released 1st April 2019. 12. Ninna V - Endgame (original mix) Bandcamp release https://ninnav1.bandcamp.com/album/ninna-v-origins-ep 13. The Kid Inside - One Way Forward (Jacki-e remix) DeepDownDirty promo to be released 2nd April 2019. Pre-order link https://www.beatport.com/track/one-way-forward-jacki-e-remix/11746775 14. Sara Simonit - Space Division (original mix) Tronic. 15. Vanessa Sukowski - Unknown Signal (Sebastian Groth remix) Rewasted. 16. Paula Temple - Raging Earth (original mix) Noise Manifesto promo to be released 12th April 2019. 17. Insolate - Strike (original mix) Machine Label. 2nd hour DJ Liema - An Exclusive Guest Mix for Draw The Line Radio Show. 1. Unknown. 2. Unknown. 3. Medeew & Chicks Luv Us - Magnificence (original mix) Craft Underground. 4. FlyHigher & PierLuigi Abbonzio - Belle Voix (Emiliano Ferreyra remix) Alboratory) 5. Unknown. 6. Francesco Parente - Inerte (original mix) Convention. 7. Unknown. 8. Steven Beyer - Panda Fire (Medeew & Chicks Luv U remix) Supub Digitales. 9. Unknown. 10. Martin Books - I Know (original mix) Carti. 11. Unknown. 12. Unknown. Draw The Line Radio Show is produced for radio by Sergio Erridge and is A Darker Wave production.

In this presentation, Dr. Corbett introduces us to three very interesting people. The first is Nicholas Herman who was born to peasant parents in Eastern France in 1611. As a young teenager, he enlisted in the French military but was discharged at the age of 40 for health reasons. He would go on to have a profound effect upon millions of people. The other man we are introduced to us Izaak Walton who was born in England in 1593. He during during the reign of four monarch and the civil war. He is now remembered as 'the compleat man'. His books have now sold in the millions of copies.

From the moment war broke out, the Franco-Prussian War was a massive disaster for the French. After initial battles in the summer of 1870, the large force under Marshal Francois Bazaine went into the fortifications of the city of Metz in Eastern France. There, the French Army was put under siege by a Prussian force led by Prince Friedrich Karl. In order to assist the beleaguered soldiers at Metz, French Emperor Napoleon III formed the massive Army of Chalons to relieve Metz. Unfortunately for him, he never made it to Metz. At the Battle of Sedan, on September 1 and 2, Napoleon III would not just be routed by a Prussian Army, but actually would be captured. The French Empire was dissolved, and a new Third French Republic was proclaimed. Yet the force at Metz held out under Bazaine, who was trying to keep the Empire going with himself as a leader. Meanwhile, the Government of National Defense in Paris was trying to restructure the French war, as Paris was now under siege. By October 27, Bazaine's men were threatened with starvation, and he surrendered. Notably, he refused allowing his men to perform in honors of war, and quietly was captured by the Prussians.

This episode is titled – The Great Recession.I usually leave house-keeping comments for CS to the end of each episode but wanted to begin this by saying thanks to all who subscribe, listen regularly, and have turned others on to the podcast.Website stats tell us we have a lot of visitors & subscribers. Far more than you faithful ones who've checked in on the Facebook page & hit the “like” button. Can I ask those of you who haven't yet to do so?Then, if you're one of the many who accesses the podcast via iTunes, you probably know how difficult it can be to find what you're looking for there. Millions use iTunes as their podcast portal yet the search feature is clunky. So tracking down what you want can be a challenge. What helps people find content on iTunes is reviews. So, if you're an iTunes user and like CS, you could be a great asset by writing a brief review for the podcast. Thanks ahead of time.Okay, enough shameless self-promotion . . .Christianity more than proved its vitality by enduring waves of persecution prior to Constantine the Great. When persecution was withdrawn & the Faith climbed out of the catacombs to become the darling of the State, the question was whether it would survive the corruption political power inevitably brings. While many thousands of pagans professed faith because it was the politically expedient thing to do, some sincere believers marked the moral corruption that took place in the church & forsook society to practice a purer faith in monasteries, as we saw in our last episode.The institutional Church, on the other hand, organized itself in a manner that resembled the old Roman Imperial system. When the Empire crumbled under the weight of its own corruption, that fall accelerated by barbarian invasions, the question was, would Christianity fall with it?The story of Christianity in the West is a remarkable tale of survival. So often in history, when a culture is swept away, so is its religion. Christianity has proven an exception. As often as not it endured when the culture changed. Such was the case in Europe and the events that followed the Fall of Rome at the end of the 5th Century.When the Gospel first came to those urban centers which were the cultural heart of the Roman Empire in the late 1st & early 2nd Centuries, it was regarded as a Jewish reform movement. Its first converts were Jews scattered around the Empire and those Gentiles who'd attached themselves to the Jewish synagogues. But once these God-fearing Gentiles came to faith, they evangelized their Gentile friends. Following Paul's example in speaking to the philosophers on Mars Hill, these Gentile Christians recast the Gospel in Greco-Roman terms, using ideas & values familiar to the pagan mind.When I say “pagan” don't think of it as the insult it is in our modern vernacular; someone void of moral virtue. By pagan, I mean those who practiced the religion of the Greeks & Romans with its pantheon of gods. In that sense, Plato & Aristotle were pagans. Zeno, the philosopher who developed Stoicism, was a pagan. These were all men who developed the philosophical framework that shaped the worldview of Greco-Roman culture & society. They asked some penetrating questions that provided the intellectual backdrop of the 1st & 2nd Centuries. Gentile Christians picked up these questions & used them to say they'd found their answers in Christ. Many other pagans found these arguments convincing & were won to faith. Some of the Early Church Fathers even appealed to the ancient philosophers in the formal letters they wrote to the Emperors on why persecution of Christians was bad policy. They argued for a promotion of the Faith as a boon to the health of culture, not a harm to it. Their defense of the Faith was couched in terms the Emperors were familiar with because they shared the same philosophical language.My point here is that Christianity made an appeal to the Greco-Roman worldview it was growing in the midst of. So, what would happen when that society fell?Also, the Church's organizational structure increasingly came to resemble the Imperial structure. What would happen when that was dismantled? Would the Faith survive? Had Christianity grown too close to the culture?The answer is à Yes & no. The Empire's demise did pose a set-back to the Church. But we might ask if maybe that was good. The institutional Church had in many ways deviated from its purpose & calling. Not a few bishops were far more concerned for their political power than for their role as spiritual shepherds. In many minds, spiritual & earthly power had merged into the same thing.Rome's fall allowed the Faith to break away from the political attachments that had corrupted it for a century & a half.  But there's little doubt that from the 6th through 9th Centuries, Christianity suffered a kind of spiritual declension. Over that 400 years, the total number of people who claimed be Christians dropped, fresh movements of renewal declined, & moral & spiritual vigor flagged.  While there were exceptions, overall, Christianity lost ground, giving this period of time in Church history the title, as Kenneth Scott Latourette calls it, the Great Recession.Following the timeline of Church history at this point becomes difficult because so much was going on in various places. So for the balance of this episode, I want to give a quick sketch of both the many reversals & few advances Christianity saw from the 6th thru 9th Centuries.When the Goths, Visigoths, & Ostrogoths moved in to pick clean the bones of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th Century, something remarkable happened. While they helped themselves to the wealth of the Empire, they also adopted some of the Roman customs they admired. But nothing was so surprising as their embrace of Christianity. In truth, these barbarians were already what we'd have to describe as nominally Christian. Their invasion of & settling into Roman lands greatly furthered their identification with the Faith.Remember that in the ancient world, war was more than just an attempt to take land & plunder; it was a contest of faiths. The ancients believed armed conflict was a kind of spiritual tug of war. The mightiest god gave his or her people victory. This is why when one people defeated another, the loser's religion was often wiped out.But the Germanic barbarians tended to embrace Christianity rather than destroy it. There was something different in the message of Christ from their ancient folk faiths that drew and converted them. So when they took down the Roman Imperial structure, they left the churches intact. Bishops continued to exercise oversight in their flocks.Unlike other religions, Christianity was super-cultural. It wasn't just the faith of one group; it potentially embraced all. Even those who rejected the Gospel recognized it wasn't merely the spirituality of a specific ethnic group. Its message transcended culture to encompass all humanity.That was the situation on the north & northeastern borders of the Empire. The situation in the south was very different.  In the 7th Century, Islam swept out of Arabia to conquer the Middle East & North Africa. The Muslims managed to get a foothold in Spain before the armies of Charles Martel stopped them pushing any further North in 732. Where Islam conquered, it replaced native religions. Enclaves of determined Jews & Christians eked out an existence but by & large, the Crescent replaced the Cross throughout the Middle East & North Africa.While there's no specific date or event that marked the onset of the Great Recession, we'll set the year 500 as the starting point.  Here's why …In 476 the last Roman Emperor was deposed by the Goth leader Odoacer. This marks the end of the Western Roman Empire. The capital then shifted undisputedly to Constantinople in the East.20 years later, in 496, the Frank king Clovis was baptized. This marked a new era in which Germanic rulers became the standard-bearers of the Faith instead of Romans.Then in 529, the Eastern Emperor Justinian closed the Schools of Athens. These academies were the last official symbols of Greco-Roman paganism. Justinian ordered them closed to signal the final triumph of Christianity over paganism.In that same year, 529, Benedict built his monastery on Monte Cassino as we saw in our last episode. The Benedictine Rule was to have a huge impact on the course of the Faith in the West.While Christianity seemed to stumble in many of the places where it had been installed 3 & 400 years before, it continued its relentless spread into new territory. It was during the early 6th Century that the Faith went up the Nile into Sudan. In the latter part of that century, Pope Gregory sent missionaries to Britain and in the early 7th Century the Gospel reached China.But the 7th Century was when the Arab conquests began. In less than 20 years after Mohammed's death, Islam had raised its banner over, Israel, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, & Egypt. Before the end of the Century they'd conquered all North Africa, including the capital at Carthage and by 715 had taken Spain.If you've been listening from the earliest episodes, you know that these lands the Arabs conquered had a rich Christian history, especially in North Africa. Alexandria & Carthage were home to some of the most prominent Christian leaders & theologians – Athanasius & Arius, Alexander, Cyril, & Augustine, to name a few.At the same time, the Arabs were spreading Islam across Christian lands, up in the Balkan peninsula & Greece, pagan Slavs moved in. In 680, Asians called Bulgars crossed the Danube River & set up a kingdom in what had been the Eastern frontier of the Empire.Between these losses to the Arabs in the South & the Slavs & Bulgars in the East, about half the total land area that had been Christian territory was lost.The 8th Century saw large numbers of German tribes come to Faith. But the 9th & 10th Centuries were marked by repeated invasions of pagans from the distant north. These  Scandinavians raided the shores of northern Europe, Britain, and all the way to Russia. They delighted in looting the many defenseless churches & monasteries they included in their conquests.These Scandinavian raids helped shatter the fragile unity the Carolingians had pulled together in Europe. As society broke apart into minor political regions, the quality of spirituality in the churches declined.  Discipline in the monasteries grew lax. Bishops focused more on secular than spiritual matters. The clergy grew corrupt. The Roman Papacy became a political football.The Eastern church of the 8th & 9th Centuries was rent by a theological controversy over the use of images. In the 9th Century, Muslims conquered Sicily & Crete, & established a beachhead in southern Italy.In China of the mid 9th Century, Christianity experienced a wave of fierce persecution. This was due to the Faith having been too closely identified with the previous dynasty.As we come to the dawn of the 10th Century, there were several positive signs the Faith was growing again in the regions where it had declined. Churches were planted among the Slavs & Bulgars. The Faith extended its reach into Russia & there are indications the Church in India grew during this time.One sign of a positive spiritual turn took place in Eastern France in a place called Cluny. In 910, Duke William of Aquitania founded a monastery on the Rule of St. Benedict. The abbots selected to lead it were men of tremendous character & piety. They were determined to correct the lax moral attitudes that had become all too common in monastery life.The Clunaic reforms not only reinvigorated monastic life, they established a new hierarchy for monasteries. Prior to Cluny, monasteries were connected to & in a sense answerable to local bishops & nobility. Cluny and the monasteries that came from it were directly answerable to the Pope.  This became an important element of church life when during the 11th Century, the popes tried to un-tie the Church from secular powers.While the monastic life may seem strange & at the same time stereo-typical of the romanticized view of Medieval life we have today, monasteries acted as repositories of the wisdom & learning of previous generations. As wave after wave of invaders washed over Europe, and society was shattered into a thousand bits, monasteries remained cultural lighthouses.

Welcome to the 49th installment of CS. This episode is titled “Charlemagne Pt. 2.”After his coronation on Christmas Day AD 800, Charlemagne said he didn't know it had been planned by Pope Leo III. If setting the crown of a new Holy Roman Empire on his head was a surprise, he got over the shock right quick. He quickly shot off dispatches to the lands under his control to inform them he was large and in-charge. Each missive began with these words,  “Charles, by the will of God, Roman Emperor, Augustus … in the year of our consulship 1.” He required an oath be taken to him as Caesar by all officers, whether religious or civil. He sent ambassadors to soothe the inevitable wrath of the Emperor in Constantinople.What's important to note is how his coronation ceremony in St. Peter's demonstrated the still keen memory of the Roman Empire that survived in Europe. His quick emergence as the recognized leader of a large part of Europe revealed the strong desire there was to reestablish a political unity that had been absent from the region for 400 years. But, Charlemagne's coronation launched a long-standing contest. One we'd not expect, since it was, after all, the Pope who crowned him. The contest was between the revived empire and the Roman Church.In the medieval world, Church and State were two realms comprising Christendom. The Medieval Church represented Christian society aimed at acquiring spiritual blessings, while the Medieval State existed to safeguard civil justice and tranquility. Under the medieval system, both Church and State were supposed to exist side by side in a harmonious relationship, each focused on gaining the good of mankind but in different spheres; the spiritual and the civil.In reality, it rarely worked that way. The Pope and Emperor were usually contestants in a game of thrones. The abiding question was: Does the Church rule the State, or the State the Church? This contest was played out on countless fields, large and small, throughout the Middle Ages.Charlemagne left no doubt about where sovereignty lay during His reign. He provided Europe a colossal father figure as the first Holy Roman Emperor. Everyone was answerable to him. To solve the problem of supervising local officials in his expansive realm, Charlemagne passed an ordinance creating the missi dominici or king's envoys. These were pairs of officials, a bishop and noble, who traveled the realm to check on local officials. Even the pope was kept under the watchful imperial eye.Though Charlemagne occasionally used the title “emperor” in official documents, he usually declined it because it appeared to register his acceptance of what the Pope had done at his coronation. Charlemagne found this dangerous; that the Pope was now in a position to make an Emperor. The concern was—The one who can MAKE an emperor, can un-make him. Charles thought it ought to be the other way around; that Emperors selected and sanctioned Popes.In truth, what Pope Leo III did on Christmas Day of 800 when he placed the crown on Charlemagne's head was just a final flourish of what was already a well-established fact – Charles was King of the Franks. One recent lecturer described the coronation as the cherry on the top of a sundae that had already been made by Charles the Great.In our last episode we saw a major objective of Charlemagne's vision was to make Europe an intellectual center. He launched a revival of learning and the arts. Historians speak of this as the Carolingian Renaissance. Charlemagne required monasteries to have a school for the education of boys in grammar, math and singing. At his capital of Aachen he built a school for the education of the royal court. The famous English scholar Alcuin headed the school, and began the difficult task of reviving learning in the early Middle Ages by authoring the first textbooks in grammar, rhetoric, and logic.It was Charlemagne's emphasis on education that proved to be his enduring legacy to history. He sent out agents far and wide to secure every work of the classical age they could find. They returned to Aachen and the monastery schools where they were translated into Latin. This is why Latin became the language of scholarship in the ages to come. It was helped along by Charlemagne's insistence a standard script be developed – Carolingian miniscule. Now, scholars all across Western Europe could read the same materials, because a consistent script was being used for Latin letters.This became one of the most important elements in making the Renaissance possible.Few historians deny Charlemagne's massive impact on European history, and thereby, the history of the modern world. The center of western civilization shifted from the Mediterranean to Northern Europe. After 300 years of virtual chaos, Charles the Great restored a measure of law and order. His sponsorship of the intellectual arts laid a heritage of culture for future generations. And the imperial ideal he revived persisted as a political force in Europe until 1806, when the Holy Roman Empire was terminated by another self-styled emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte.In reality, the peace of Charlemagne's rule was short-lived. His empire were too vast, its nobility too powerful to be held together once his domineering personality was removed. Like Clovis before him, Charlemagne's successors were weak and the empire disintegrated into a confusion of civil wars and new invasions. The Northmen began their incessant raiding forays, called going “a-viking” à So we know them as the Vikings. They set sail from Scandinavia in their shallow-hulled long ships, able to sail up rivers and deep inland, where they raided villages, towns and any other unfortunate hamlet they came on. These raids of the Vikings, forced the native peoples to surrender, first their lands, then their persons to the counts, dukes, and other local lords who began to multiply during this time, in return for protection from the raiders. It's not difficult to see how the process of feudalism developed.Common people needed protection from raiders; whoever they were. But the king and his army was a long way away. It could take weeks, months even, to send a message and get help in reply. In the meantime, the Vikings are right here; right now. See ‘em? Yeah à That blond, long-haired giant berserker with his 2 headed battle axe is about to crash through my door. What good is the king and his army in Aachen or Paris?What I need is someone near with enough men at his call, enough trained and armed soldiers that is, who can turn away a long-ship's crew of 50 berserkers. How expensive is it to hire, train, outfit and keep a group of soldiers; figure 2 for ever Viking? Who can field an army of a hundred professional soldiers? Well, the nearest Count is 20 minutes away and he only has a half dozen hired men for protection.That count's a smart guy though and realizes he's the only one in the area to do what needs to be done. So he goes to 25 of the area's farmers and says, “Listen, I'll protect you. But to do that, I need to field an army of a hundred men. That's very expensive to do so here's what I need in exchange for protection: Give me the title to your land.  You live on and continue to work it. You keep half the yield of all the farm produces; the rest is mine. And for that, I and my army will keep you safe.”When the choice is either yield to that Count or face the long-ships on your own; there's not much choice. So feudalism with its system of serfs, counts, barons, dukes, and earls began.Central to feudalism was the personal bond between lord and vassals. In the ceremony known as the act of homage, the vassal knelt before his lord, and promised to be his “man.” In the oath of loyalty that followed, called fealty, the vassal swore on a Bible, or a sacred object such as a Cross. Then, in the ritual of investiture, a spear, a glove, or a bit of straw was handed to the vassal to signify his control, but not ownership, over his allotted piece of the lord's realm.The feudal contract between lord and vassal was sacred and binding on both parties. Breaking the tie was a major felony because it was the basic bond of medieval society. It was thought that to break the rules of feudal society was to imperil all of society, civilization itself.The lord was obliged to give his vassals protection and justice. Vassals not only worked the land for the Lord, they also gave 40 days w/o pay each year to serve as militia in the event of all-out war. But only 40 days, because as farmers, they needed to be home to work their fields and tend the herds.For the most part, this system worked pretty well, as long as the lord treated his vassals well. What became a problem was when lords got greedy and decided to mobilize their army and militia to make a land grab on a neighboring lord. Ideally, Feudalism was supposed to be for protection, not conquest.As the Church was so much a part of medieval life, it couldn't escape being included in the feudal system. Since the Vikings were equal opportunity raiders, they had no qualms whatever about breaking into churches, convents and monasteries, putting priests and monks to the sword, raping nuns, and absconding with church treasures. This meant the Church turned to local lords for protection as well. Bishops and abbots also became vassals, receiving from the lord a specific region over which their authority lay. In return, they had to provide some service to the Lord. Monasteries produced different goods which they paid as tribute, and priests were often made the special private clergy for the noble's family. This became a problem when loyalty to the lord conflicted with a ruling from or mission assigned by the Church.  Who were the abbots, priest and bishops to obey, the duke 10 minutes from here, or the Pope weeks away in Rome? In the 10th and early 11th Cs the popes were in no position to challenge anyone. The office fell into decay after becoming a prize sought by the Roman nobility.What made the latter Middle Ages so complex was the massive intrigue that took place between Nobles and Church officials who learned how to play the feudal game. Society was governed by strict rules. But there were always ways to get around them.  And when one couldn't get around them, if you had enough money or a big enough army, why bother with rules when you can write your own, or pay the rule-interpreters to interpret them in your favor. We know how complex political maneuvering can be today. Compared to Europe of the High Middle Ages, we're infants in a nursery. Don't forget, it was that era and system that produced Machiavelli.On a positive note; while there were a few corrupt Church officials who saw religious office as just another way to gain political power, most bishops, priests and abbots sought to influence for the better the behavior of the feudal nobles so their vassals would be taken care of in an ethical manner. In time, their work added the Christian virtues to a code of knightly conduct that came to be called Chivalry. Now, to be clear, chivalry ended up being more an ideal than a practice. A few knights and members of the nobility embraced the Chivalric ideals but others just took advantage of those who sought to live by them.Knights in shining armor, riding off on dangerous quests to rescue fair maidens makes for fun stories, but it's not the way Chivalry played out in history. It was an ideal the Church worked hard to instill in the increasingly brutal Feudal Age. Bishops tried to impose limitations on warfare. In the 11th C they inaugurated a couple initiatives called the Peace of God and the Truce of God. The Peace of God banned anyone who pillaged sacred places or refused to spare noncombatants from being able to participate at Communion or receiving any of the other sacraments. The Truce of God set up periods of time when no fighting was allowed. For instance, no combat could be conducted from sunset Wednesday to sunrise Monday and during other special seasons, such as Lent. Good ideas, but both rules were conveniently set aside when they worked contrary to some knights desires.During the 11th C, the controversy between Church and State centered on the problem of what's called Investiture. And this goes back now to something that had been in tension for centuries, and was renewed in the crowning of Charlemagne.It was supposed to be that bishops and abbots were appointed to their office by the Church. Their spiritual authority was invested in them by a Church official. But because bishops and abbots had taken on certain feudal responsibilities, they were invested with civil authority by the local noble; sometimes by the king himself.  Problems arose when a king refused to invest a bishop because said bishop was more interested in the Church's cause than the king's. He wanted someone more compliant to his agenda, while the Church wanted leaders who would look out for her interests. It was a constant game of brinkmanship, in which whatever institution held most influence, had the say in who lead the churches and monasteries. In places like Germany where the king was strong, bishops and abbots were his men. Where the Church had greater influence, it was the bishops and abbots who dominated political affairs.But that was the controversy of the 11th C. The Church of the 10th could see the way things were headed in its affiliation with the Throne and knew it was not prepared to challenge kings and emperors. It needed to set its own house in order because things had slipped badly for a couple hundred years. Moral corruption had infected large portions of the clergy and learning had sunk to a low. Many of the clergy were illiterate and marked by grave superstitions. It was time for renewal and reform. This was led by the Benedictine order of Cluny, founded in 910. From their original monastery in Eastern France, the Benedictines exerted a powerful impulse of reform within the feudal Church. The Cluniac program began as monastic reform movement, but spread to the European Church as a whole. It enforced the celibacy of priests and abolished the purchase of church offices; a corrupt practice called Simony.The goal of the Clunaic reformers was to free the Church from secular control and return it to the Pope's authority.  Nearly 300 monasteries were freed from control by the nobles, and in 1059 the papacy itself was delivered from secular interference. This came about by the creation of the College of Cardinals, which from then on selected the Pope.The man who led the much-needed reform of the papacy was an arch-deacon named Hildebrand. He was elected pope in 1073 and given the title Gregory VII. He claimed more power for the papal office than had been known before and worked for the creation of a Christian Empire under the Pope's control. Rather than equality between Church and State, Gregory said spiritual power was supreme and therefore trumped the temporal power of nobles and kings. In 1075 he banned investiture by civil officials and threatened to excommunicate anyone who performed it as well as any clergy who submitted to it. This was a virtual declaration of war on Europe's rulers since most of them practiced lay investiture.The climax to the struggle between Pope Gregory and Europe's nobility took place in his clash with the emperor Henry IV. The pope accused Henry of Simony in appointing his own choice to be the archbishop of Milan. Gregory summoned Henry to Rome to explain his conduct. Henry refused to go but convened a synod of German bishops in 1076 that declared Gregory a usurper and unfit to be Pope.  The synod declared, “Wherefore henceforth we renounce, now and for the future, all obedience to you.” In retaliation, Gregory excommunicated Henry and deposed him, absolving his subjects from their oaths of allegiance.Now, remember how sacred and firm those feudal oaths between lord and vassal were! The Pope, who was supposed to be God's representative on Earth, sent a message to all Henry's subjects saying not only was Henry booted out of the Church, and so destined to the eternal flames of hell, he was no longer king or emperor; their bonds to him were dissolved. Furthermore, to continue to give allegiance to Henry was to defy the Pope who opens and closes the door to heaven. Uhh, do you really want to do that? Can you see where this is going? Henry may have an army, but that army has to eat and if the peasants and serfs won't work, the army falls apart.Henry was convinced by the German nobles who revolted against him to make peace with Pope Gregory. He appeared before the Pope in January of 1077. Dressed as a penitent, the emperor stood barefoot in the snow for 3 days and begged forgiveness until, in Gregory's words “We loosed the chain of the anathema and at length received him … into the lap of the Holy Mother Church.”This dramatic humiliation of an emperor did not forever end the contest between the throne and the pope. But the Church made progress toward freeing itself from interference by nobles. The problem of investiture was settled in 1122 by a compromise known as the Concordat of Worms. The Church kept the right to appoint the holder of a church office, then the nobles endorsed him.The Popes who followed Gregory added little to the authority of the papacy. They also insisted society was organized under the pope as its visible head, and he was guarded against all possibility of error by the Apostle Peter perpetually-present in his successors.During the Middle Ages, for the first time, Europe became conscious of itself as a unity. It was the Church that facilitated that identity. Though it struggled with the challenge of how to wield power without being corrupted by it, the Church gained a level of influence over the lives of men and women that for the most part it used to benefit society.We're used to seeing priests and bishops of the medieval era as modern literature and movies cast them. It's far more interesting to make them out to be villains and scoundrels, instead of godly servants of Christ who lived virtuous lives. A survey of movies and novels written about the Middle Ages shows that churchmen are nearly always cast in 1 of 2 ways; the best are naïve but illiterate bumblers, while the worst are conniving criminals who hide their wickedness behind a cross. While there was certainly a handful of each of these 2 type-casts; the vast majority of priests and monks were simply godly lovers of Jesus who worked tirelessly to bring His love and truth to the people of their day. Guys like that just don't make for very interesting characters in a murder mystery set in a medieval monastery.