Podcasts about Normans

From the tactical nautical decisions of the Normans and Vikings to medieval monks' meticulous wind records, medieval civilisations have always harnessed and feared the wind.Dr. Eleanor Janega and Simon Winchester explore the intimate relationship medieval people had with the wind, from it's role in agriculture and health, to its perceived divine and magical properties, providing a comprehensive look at the wind's historical significance.MORE:The Medieval MoonListen on AppleListen on SpotifyMonsters of the Medieval ApocalypseListen on AppleListen on SpotifyGone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producers are Rob Weinberg and Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the good ship Three Ravens is pulling into port in the south-westerly Welsh county of Pembrokeshire!Populated in days of yore by 'The Demetae' - the Mead Drinkers - Pembrokeshire was, for a time, known as 'Little England Beyond The Border' as once it was claimed by the Normans, it stayed under their control.With a long legacy in naval trade, piracy and smuggling, the county is hardly short of folklore - and its castles also remain standing! Mostly...Along the way we discuss the significance of Preseli Bluestone, avoid the monstrous, water-dwelling Afanc, tell the tale of a sleepy giant who had to intervene when two fish got into a protracted argument, explore some unsettling ghost stories, and plenty else besides, interspersed with some extracts from this Saturday's upcoming interview with Pembrokeshire storyteller Deborah Winter.All of which leads up to Eleanor's story for this week, "The Toads of Nevern" which sees an English curate encountering some sinister enemies of the church.Including ones that hop about, and pay no heed to scripture!We hope that you enjoy the episode, and will speak to you again on Thursday with our new Forgotten Melodies bonus episode all about Witch Songs!The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcastProud members of the Dark Cast Network.Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(Originally published Oct. 2016) In 1066, the course of English history was dramatically altered, as the realm was conquered by Normans from across the Channel. Join CJ as he discusses: Some backstory on Medieval England & Normandy The death of Edward the Confessor & coronation of Harold Godwinson William of Normandy's preparations for invasion to […]

Pope Nicholas II became the first pope in history to actually regulate papal elections! In his episode, we discuss a major change in relations with the Normans, the beginnings of the Pataria, and the massively influential In Nomine Domini!    Support Pontifacts: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pontifactspod   Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/pontifactspodcast    Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/pontifactspod   Amazon Wishlist: https://tinyurl.com/pontifactswishlist

After the madness of Haunting Season, we're returning to Series 7 and the history and folklore of Monmouthshire in south east Wales!We discuss the county's history of invasion, by the Romans, the Normans, the English, and of course by heavy industry, and its many changing names - Caerwent, Gwent, Wentland and Monmouthshire.We couldn't fail to mention our favourite son of Monmouthshire, Geoffrey, as well as some of the incredible landscape and cultural features of the county. We're helped along in this by some excerpts from our Local Legends interview with Christine Watkins.Then we dig into folklore, finding surprising cures for warts and meeting cunning men, wily bridge-building parsons, and some rather mean-spirited fairies.Eleanor's story "Winter's Eve" has the chilling Gwrach y Rhibyn drifting through a cloud of mist, and a whole host of Nos Galan Gaeaf customs.We hope that you enjoy the episode, and we'll speak to you again on Thursday with a new Magic and Medicine episode all about Reiki!The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcastProud members of the Dark Cast Network.Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we think of Europe in the 11th century, one date stands out: 1066. However, as Professor Charles West explains, this was a century of great change, and great events, across all of Europe. In conversation with David Musgrove, Charles talks about why we should perhaps be more concerned with the battle of Manzikert than the battle of Hastings, and why the 11th century is a story of cities and popes as much as it is of conquest and the Normans. (Ad) Charles West is the author of Europe in the Eleventh Century: Beyond Revolution and Reform (Oxford University Press, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=3041&awinaffid=489797&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FEurope-Eleventh-Century-Revolution-Medieval%2Fdp%2F0198860234%2F%3F_encoding%3DUTF8%26pd_rd_w%3DnAZG5%26content-id%3Damzn1.sym.a7785aa2-ac28-4769-b3eb-cff7b9738627%26pf_rd_p%3Da7785aa2-ac28-4769-b3eb-cff7b9738627%26pf_rd_r%3D130-4414563-4593041%26pd_rd_wg%3DfXSDe%26pd_rd_r%3D5b153ec9-1b16-4286-8ae5-7ff403b76e63&clickref=historyextra-social-histboty. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Justin as he chats with filmmakers Micheline Pitt and R.H. Norman about haunted attractions, V/H/S: Halloween, Stephen King, paranormal experiences, and more!Micheline Pitt and R.H. Norman bio:Micheline Pitt was recognized as an LA Weekly Person of the Year in 2020, and named Allure Magazine's top 10 Gothic Beauty Icons. Her breakout directorial and writing debut is her short film Grummy made along side her creative partner and husband R.H. Norman. The Normans' short films have screened in Academy Award-qualifying film festivals and their feature scripts have placed in the finals of high profile competitions including Final Draft's Big Break Contest, Shore Scripts, Screencraft, and others.Intro and outro theme created by Wyrm. Support Wyrm by visiting the Serpents Sword Records bandcamp page (linked below):https://serpentsswordrecords.bandcamp.com/Monsters, Madness and Magic Official Website. Monsters, Madness and Magic on Linktree.Monsters, Madness and Magic on Instagram.Monsters, Madness and Magic on Facebook.Monsters, Madness and Magic on Twitter.

After five years we come to our final 'everything you wanted to know about' episodes. We revisit our first episode where Marc Morris, author of an acclaimed history of the Norman Conquest, tackles some of the big questions about William the Conqueror and his followers. Our brand new multipart specials begin next Sunday starting with a look at the Gunpowder Plot. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Luke's HAARP Time Warp: Part 15 Marion becomes Queen. Based on a post by somethin fishy, in 15 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Chapter 70. Luke spent a couple of days in Sheffield while the rest of the army arrived. The first thing he did when he arrived though was that he sent Pollyanna's engineers ahead with a strong dragoon escort to prepare the way for his artillery. Mostly this involved doing work at river crossings. At many of the crossings they would have to build bridges that were strong enough to support the weight of the cannons for the big ones weighed a couple of tons. Luke had designed them so that when smokeless powder became available, he wouldn't have to redesign them. The plan for crossing the Thames was to build a large number of boats and create a pontoon bridge with them. This way supplies could keep up. Within a week of Luke arriving in Sheffield, he was looking at the Norman's fort. The march south had been extremely rapid and uneventful for no noble was willing to challenge Luke's army. As uneventful a trip as the army had; Luke's personal trip was far more eventful. Alice's medical unit was one of the last ones to arrive in Sheffield for she had to finish some important things in York before she could depart. That evening she went into Luke's tent. Luke always stayed in a tent while he was in the field. His theory was that his soldiers slept in tents so he should too. His army stayed in tents because Luke had forbidden the army from sharing civilian homes unless it was a dire emergency. She found him lying on his cot and looking at an old picture. It was the picture of Luke and his older sister just after he had graduated from Marine basic training. He was in his dress blues while she was wearing one of her formal gowns. He was so into just staring at the picture that he didn't even hear Alice enter. It wasn't until she cleared her throat that Luke noticed that she was there. “Oh, sorry Alice. I didn't hear you come in. What can I do for you this evening?” As she always was, she was struck by that line. It was never “what do you want?” or even “hello”. It was always “what can I do for you?” It was just another reminder for Alice that Luke was the kindest person that she had ever met. She decided right there that if Luke wanted her, she would be his lover. After all Marion had Gabriel; why shouldn't Luke have someone else too. “The voices bothering you again?” Alice asked trying to sound as innocent as possible for she knew of Luke's sometimes hair trigger temper. “Marion talked to you, didn't she?” “Yes, she did. Luke, she is concerned for you and so am I.” “Why are you concerned for me?” It was evident from his tone that while he wasn't angry, he could become very angry very quickly. Alice decided then and there to lay all her cards on the table and confess to Luke her true feelings for him. “Why? Because I love you, Luke. You saved me from being raped. You taught me medicine. You enabled my late fiancé and I to actually have a chance with each other. You have already saved the lives of countless people. Finally, you are the kindest, most loyal person that I have ever met. So, tell me, why would I not love you.” “Well let's see. I'm married and I'm broken. I have almost constant nightmares when I sleep. In fact, most nights I don't sleep but for maybe an hour or two and I've been having nightmares for many years now. I hear voices in my head telling me that I be dead by the end of this campaign and yet here I am getting ready to wage this campaign anyway. If that's not broken and hopeless then I don't know what is.” “Luke you're not broken. Only a very strong person could have survived what all you have been through. You not only survived but you have thrived. As far as being on this campaign see my previous comment on loyalty and as far as you being married; well Marion has a lover so why shouldn't you. After all she was the one who fixed us up the other night. She was the one who begged me to do what I could to watch over you during this campaign. So, please Luke can you just give us a chance.” “I don't…” that was as far as he got before Alice's lips locked onto his. When she broke the kiss, she locked onto his eyes with hers. He had tried to look away but Alice put her hands on his face and gently pulled his eyes back to hers. “Please Luke” With their eyes locked she could almost see the epic battle going on inside Luke's mind. On one hand he was loyal. He was absolutely loyal to his wife. On the other hand, Alice was exceptionally beautiful and smart and she reminded him of someone who had been extremely dear to him that he had lost a few years before. It seemed like hours before Alice saw a change in Luke's eyes, but finally a look of calm took over. He moved over in his cot and invited Alice to lay down with him. Since he was so large the only way that Alice could realistically lay with Luke was to lay on Luke. “Before you say anything, I want to show you something. Something that even Marion has never seen and I don't want her to see it either for she already has enough to worry about.” Luke then pulled out another picture. This one was of him when he was in his mid to late twenties and he was with a stunning redhead. When Alice saw the picture, she gasped for the redhead in the picture could have been her twin sister. “Who is she, Luke?” “Who was she, Alice? Her name was Rebecca, Becky, and she was my fiancé but she was killed two days before we were to get married. She was driving home late one night when a deer jumped out in front of her car. She tried to avoid it and in doing so lost control of her car and hit a tree. The autopsy showed that she died almost instantly so at least she didn't suffer. It also revealed that she was eight weeks pregnant with twin girls. That was when I moved to Alaska for, I wanted to get as far away from where she died as I could. I never did step foot back in Louisiana again. She was my entire life and after her my life has just wasn't been worth living until, I met Marion. Then I met you and everything went upside-down. You two even have very similar interest for she was a surgical resident at the local hospital and was within a month of finishing.” “Oh Luke, I didn't know!!” She gripped him as tight as she could and by the time, she finished crying Luke had fallen asleep. She continued to lay there and now paying attention she noticed Luke's body tense up several times. When this happened, she would hold him tighter and he would relax. Eventually she was able to fall asleep, but now she was having nightmares of her own. Only hers were what might happen if that voice in Luke's head turned out to be right. Would Marion be able to hold things together. As Alice thought about it, the more she was convinced that Marion wouldn't be able to. Alice had a huge amount more interaction with the general populace than anyone else in Marion's group except for Luke, so she knew that a major reason the people were willing to follow her was because of Luke. For it was Luke that had the people's complete trust. The one's that didn't trust him, feared him so much that they wouldn't do anything that might risk his wrath. Alice of course knew why; after all this was the 11th century and everyone understood brute force. This was what most people saw in Luke. His power was blindingly so obvious that most everyone overlooked his true power, his intelligence, his willingness to listen to the people around him, and his kindness. Alice knew that Marion didn't understand this dynamic and she probably never would, after all she had been born into a very privileged life and she was blind to the general population as a whole. Put any single person or small group in front of her and she treated them with upmost respect. But she was at best partly blind to the lower classes. At least to her credit, Marion tried. The next morning Luke was up early as usual. He gently slid out from under Alice and covered her back up for she was still sleeping soundly. He started his morning the same way he always did. He checked the night sentries. Granted he was in friendly territory but that was no excuse for letting one's guard down. With sunrise the army got ready to leave. A message had come in overnight from Pollyanna telling him that things were clear all the way to the Thames. When Alice caught up with Luke later that morning, he invited her to keep her things with his and she gladly accepted. The army moved like the wind on their way south. By the time they reached the Thames, Pollyanna had the pontoon bridge done so Luke's army didn't even have to pause. They moved so fast that they caught the Norman army completely by surprise. The only thing that saved the Normans from being annihilated during the first contact was a storm had blown up and limited the visibility thus allowed them to escape back to their fort. Not that being in their fort would do them any good. Luke ordered his artillery to ring the fort at a distance of five hundred meters with his infantry to dig in in front of them at a distance of three hundred meters from the walls. At this range they could pick off anyone who came outside the walls and depending on the wind, his motors could drop rounds on the fort. It took about a day to get into position at the end of which, he sent his surrender demands to William of Normandy. If they laid down their arms then they would be allowed to return to Normandy. If they didn't then they would all have English graves for the rest of eternity. It didn't surprise Luke any when his demands were refused with what was his experience was typical French snootiness, not that he cared. The bombardment started at sunrise the next morning. Luke made sure that his gunners fired slow enough so that they didn't fire through all their shells in one day. Their first target was the walls. If they could be destroyed then his troops could pick off William's troops at will. Within an hour, the walls had been blown to bits, but now they had another problem. William had built his fort on a hilltop and Luke's soldiers couldn't see into the fort so Luke ordered a number of towers to be built around the hill. These towers were made of crossed logs that had both ends notched to fit into notches of the logs above and below them. From these towers, his best shots would be able to pick off William's men no matter where they were at. It had taken the rest of the day to build the towers, but Luke had another trick up his sleeve. That night he ordered illumination rounds fired continuously over the Norman heads. This way, his sharpshooters could pick out their targets and the Normans wouldn't be able to get any sleep. Luke's sharpshooter teams only were allowed to work for four hours before they were relieved so that they could get some rest. The next morning, the Normans presented Luke an offer for them to surrender but Luke flat out rejected it. The price was now their unconditional surrender which of course the Duke of Normandy was not going to do. After the messenger left with Luke's response, Alice asked him: “Luke, why did you condemn all those men over there to death? That seems extremely cruel and that's definitely not like you.” “Because I don't want Marion to have to look over her shoulder constantly wondering if she will be invaded again from Normandy. This will buy her the time that she will need to shore up her support.” “You talk like you won't be there to help her. You're not leaving, are you?” “I hope not for I am happier here than I ever was before, but reality doesn't care about people.” Luke said with a sad smile. Alice knew that he was still being bothered by the voices and worse still was that he now not only believed them but had accepted what they were telling him to be the truth and was conducting himself accordingly. All through the day, Luke's artillery and sharpshooters killed many Normans. That evening, Luke summoned one of his crack cavalry units and ordered them to advance on the fort and scout it for it was too windy for him to have the balloon deployed. As the cavalry advanced, Luke ordered a cease fire so that he wouldn't have to worry about friendly fire. He also had gone up to the top of one of the towers so that he could get a better view. He watched as the cavalry went into the fort and watched as they looked around. They signaled that everyone in the fort was dead and that it was safe to enter. Alice was one of the first ones not in the cavalry to enter the fort and she stunned by what she found for almost none of the Normans were still alive. What shocked her worse was Luke's reaction to the carnage that he had caused. He just ordered the bodies thrown into a nearby gully and buried. After he had helped his troops dispose of the bodies he went and had dinner. Chapter 71. Earl John of Sheffield had been waiting for this moment since the summer. He hated that his serfs had been liberated and it really pissed him off that some of the minor nobles in the area were now making more money than he was. He just couldn't bring himself to pay the lower classes to do work that they should have been doing anyway for they were not good for anything else. At least in his opinion. It really pissed him off when Marion's labor board had fined him for shorting his employee's paychecks. He knew that he would have to wait for the perfect opportunity to revolt or Marion's army would crush him. As he waited, he wasn't idle. He put our feelers to the other nobles in the area to see if any of them would be interested in joining him. He found four other fairly minor nobles that were interested in joining him in his revolt. As his diplomatic efforts were under way, he had sent men to infiltrate Marion's army and learn about her style of warfare. As his diplomatic efforts were coming to fruition, he was able to find a black-market supplier for small arms for his army. One of the minor nobles that joined him was named Hildyard and John didn't think that much of him. He was arrogant and constantly thought of himself more than he was. As far as John was concerned though, Hildyard would make good cannon fodder. Hildyard's wife on the other was against rebelling for she had been making really good money for herself under Marion's rule and knew that Marion's troops would crush any rebellion. She actually was mad enough, with Hildyard, that she kicked him out of her life for she wanted nothing to do with this rebellion and wanted to protect her family at all cost. She had seen the cost of rebelling against Marion and she wanted no part of it. John watched as Marion's army crushed the Viking invasion and he hoped that Godwinson's army would tangle with Marion's, but that didn't happen. Just after the Viking invasion had been beaten off, his spies returned and began to train the rest of the noble's combined army in absolute secrecy. John watched as his army was brought up to the standards that Marion's army had been trained to, and John was finding that he couldn't wait to bring Marion's army to battle and crush it. He would then make her his personal whore. As his army was training, John looked for the ideal land to do battle on. He knew he would do much better to stay on the defensive so he looked for land that was easy to defend and would allow him an escape route in the event that his plans were upset. He found the perfect place in a spot that was surrounded on three sides by impenetrable swamps. Carefully he began to fortify the area and to protect his men against the expected artillery barrage; he had bunkers built and earthen walls put up around the area. Finally, he was ready and now he just had to find the perfect opportunity. It came much sooner then he thought. Five days after King Godwinson got to York, the Normans invaded and he took off, back South. By mid-October word came that the King's army had been defeated in battle. John had been waiting for this for he was sure that Marion would send her army south and when she did, he would revolt. He was sure that this would force Marion to further divide her forces for he knew about the troops that she had in Scotland. Sure enough, she did exactly what he had been expecting and he watched as Marion's army moved through the area. A week after Marion's army left Sheffield, no word had come and now John knew that it was safe for him to revolt. He sent coded messages to the rest of his co-conspirators and they mobilized their armies. In all they had almost ten thousand men, all armed with firearms. The lack of artillery bothered John some but he was banking on cutting Luke's supply lines and hopefully he would shoot through his supply of ammunition making his artillery useless. It would take a few days for the nobles to gain control of the entire area, so they had spread out some. Their first target was the rail depot and supply dump that was there. Since Luke hadn't been expecting a revolt in the area, he had left only a token force behind to guard it. John's forces quickly overwhelmed the guards but not before the commander had set demolition charges in the power stores. As the guards were being marched out, the powder went up with a massive explosion. The explosion had been caused be a booby-trapped door and caused the death of John's oldest son and a number of his men. John was so upset with this that he ordered the female guards brutally raped before they were drawn and quartered. The male guards were to be castrated before they too were drawn and quartered. Although the guards suffered, they all understood that John's war effort would be crippled for he had been relying on capturing those powder supplies intact. It took almost an entire day to slowly kill the guards and the last to die was the commander. This way, he would have to watch his troops suffer because of what he did. Once all the guards were dead, John ordered that every building was to be torched and the army was to move to the appointed gathering point. Once all the noble's armies had gathered, they would march on York and forever put an end to all this bull about men and women being equal and the lower classes having equal rights with the nobles. What John didn't know was that Luke was already on his way north. He wouldn't find out until he got a message from one of the other nobles. It had been sent in a hurry for the noble didn't even have time to write it down. The message simple; “Marion's army is back.” John knew that he wouldn't have enough time to gather the rest of the men, so he headed toward his swamp fortress. At least two of the other nobles had been able to meet up with him. All told they had just over seven thousand troops and John was sure that Luke had suffered casualties in battling the Normans. The way John and the rest of his commanders figured; the armies would be about equal. Almost as soon as John was settling into his new fortress, he got word that Hildyard's forces had also been eliminated. Here it seemed like Luke had launched a night attack and that had caught Hildyard's army by complete surprise. John had tried to warm that idiot about underestimating Luke, for he had managed to send some time talking with Luke during Luke's summer campaign in the area and had come away from that meeting with a huge amount of grudging respect for Luke's command talents. Now Hildyard paid the ultimate price for his stupidity. John spent the time before Luke arrived, strengthening his defenses and had a number of scouts posted to inform him when Luke's forces made it into the area. One of the other things that John had done was to make a hidden path out of the back of the marsh, so that his forces could escape if anything went wrong. He placed hidden fortifications where the path came into the fortress in case Luke tried to come up that path and had even placed a number of booby traps along it to slow Luke's forces down. Now all that there was to do was wait. They had plenty of food, water, and ammunition in the bunkers and had enough bunkers for all the men to hide in. Chapter 72. The very next morning, Luke's army was on the road again. This time they were headed to Scotland to settle some unfinished business. Everyone in the army was now stunned at just how cold Luke had become. Before he would always be the one who would warm the mood of the room with their presence. Now the mood turned subarctic everywhere he went. Of course, everyone still had the upmost respect for him, they just wondered what had happened to him. Once the army was back north of the Thames, Alice cornered him: “Okay Luke you can stop with the little voices now! The campaign is over and you survived just like everyone else in the army.” “Really, the campaign is over now? Since when and who said anything about the voices bothering me?!?! And while we are on the subject of the campaign, when the fuck did you become a god-damn fucking general? Because I don't ever remember saying that the campaign was over yet.” This was the first time that Luke had ever terrified Alice. Normally his face was always an even color no matter how angry he got, but now he was redder than her hair. For a second, she was petrified but then she fled with tears in her eyes. The look in Luke's eyes basically said that he didn't feel anything about making Alice cry. Luke then received a message that some of the nobles in the Sheffield area was rebelling and that his supply depot had been destroyed to keep it out of the rebel's hands. The army had been gone for almost a week and a half with no news about if they had won or not. In fact, Luke had sent a single highly coded message to Marion telling her of their victory and that he was taking the army up to Scotland. He had also asked her not to say anything to anyone for he wanted to see if any of the nobles would rebel. He was determined that should he die; that Marion would be able to rule and not have rebellious nobles to worry about. Up to this point the army was making about their usual distance of just short of twenty-two kilometers a day. As soon as Luke got the message, he ordered the pace be picked up for he wanted almost forty kilometers a day. With this everyone knew that something bad was going on but Luke was close lipped about it. The army raced north arriving back in the Sheffield area in a matter of days. They found the whole area in an uproar for it seemed like a number of the remaining nobles in the area had been waiting on the army to be away so that they could rebel. They hated that their serfs had been freed and many of them had taken massive hits to their incomes as a result. To make matters worse, every one of them had firearms for their personal armies. Luke had moved his army so fast that he had managed to catch one of the rebellious nobles by complete surprise and annihilated that noble's army within only fifteen minutes. The noble had been captured alive and Luke ordered that he and his entire family be impaled and left at the side of one of the major roads in the area. To really drive his point home, the noble was forced to watch as absolutely everyone in his family was stripped naked and impaled on objects from his own castle. Once they had been impaled, he was impaled as well. Luke was tired of nobles rebelling every time he had his back turned and he was determined to put a permanent end to their rebelling. Luke didn't even take time to loot the noble's possessions before he went after the next target. This one had some warning but it wasn't enough for him to get completely ready. Luke now pulled yet another trick out of his hat and made a night attack. This caught the noble off guard and most of his army routed without even putting a hand on their guns. The rest of the army was killed where they stood. The noble this time was killed in combat. When Luke investigated, he found that the noble's wife had kicked him out because he wanted to rebel while she loved being under Marion's rule. This saved her and her families lives and Luke made sure that her property was not touched. He even invited her to dinner that evening but she respectfully declined. Now Luke's army had knocked off two rebel nobles and had only suffered forty casualties, while killing or capturing almost three thousand. All prisoners were required to dig the mass graves for the dead and then they were sent to a prison camp that Luke had set up where they could be dealt with later. He made sure to leave enough guards to keep the prisoners under control and a cavalry unit to scout for any enemy units trying to free the prisoners. The third noble out of the five that rebelled was now fully alerted that Luke was in the area. This one wasn't an idiot and had set himself up in an area that he could easily defend. Luke knew that he was going to have a problem with this one for he had met this bastard before and remembered him. Not only was this noble the smartest out of the five but he had the largest army and he was in as easily defensible position. In addition, Luke learned that the other two remaining nobles had joined him and swelled his ranks. Luke, with a small cavalry escort, rode around the enemy position and he noticed that there was a small, tight path into the rear of the enemy position. The problem that Luke had with it was that it was almost too obvious. In the end, Luke decided not to attack along the path, like some of his subordinates wanted to. Luke was going to pull out another trick and make his own path. He had his artillery start firing at dawn, the day after they had arrived in front of the noble's defenses. They were to fire as fast as they could for four hours and then stop. While the artillery was firing, Luke would take one of his brigades around and hack their way through the swamp that was guarding the enemy's flank. The brigade that he would be using, left camp well before daylight so that he could be in position to start hacking when the barrage started. This, Luke's troops easily accomplished. On the way through the marsh, Luke saw that one of his soldiers was having an especially rough time. Her problem was that she wasn't tall enough and she couldn't keep her ammunition box out of the water without a huge amount of effort. Another problem she had was that the water was cold and she was completely soaked. Luke came up behind her and picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. She was one of the new recruits so she didn't know that Luke often helped his troops like this. “Hello private. What's your name lass?” “M-Madeline, sir.” “Please while you're up there, Luke will do just fine. I do have one favor to ask of you though. Can you help keep an eye out ahead of us for the enemy please?” “Yes sir... uh Luke” Luke smiled at her hesitation. “So why did you join the army, Madeline?” “To get out of an arranged marriage to an awful man. That and I wanted to serve Marion for she had done so much good for my village.” “How long have you been with us?” “I joined right after you beat those Vikings.” “So, this is going to be your first real battle?” “Yes.” “So, are you going to enroll in reading and writing classes or can you read and write already?” “I don't know. I mean I'm just a girl Luke.” “So what? Marion reads. Her head body guard, Gabriel, reads. The chief engineer, Pollyanna, reads. The head doctor, Alice, reads; so why do you think that you can't?” “Well, I… I don't know. It doesn't seem like a very lady like thing to do.” “Neither is joining the army and yet you did that. Tell you what, after this battle, stop by my tent and you can talk with Alice for a bit so you can learn about all the benefits of reading. Can you at least do that, please?” Madeline was stunned for nowhere in all the legends that she had heard about Luke did they talk about his encouraging women to read and write. She found that she really liked Luke the person. She found the general to be very fair and likeable as well but he could be a bit heavy handed when it came to disciple. In her opinion anyway. As they traveled on, Madeline tried to ask Luke about his background. “You don't want to know, trust me. Plus, to give the story any justice at all it would take much more time than we have available. It won't be long before the artillery stops.” All through this Luke had been thinking and he realized what a monstrous ass that he had made of himself over the last couple of weeks and all because of a damn little voice in his head that had always been wrong before. Something else that gave him comfort was when Madeline said that she joined because she wanted to serve Marion. Maybe things would work out for the better after all. When the artillery went quiet, Luke had his army right on the edge of the enemy camp. He could see that they had been devastated by the artillery fire and he could see that his theory of avoiding the path had been correct for he could see the hidden fortifications blocking it. The remaining enemy soldiers were starting to file out of their bunkers and were manning the field fortifications. He turned to Madeline: “Just stay near me private and trust your training and you will be fine. Trust me.” “Yes sir.” Luke looked up and down his line to make sure that everyone was in position. The enemy was finishing up getting into position to repel the expected frontal attack. Luke stood up and waved his arm, signaling his troops to begin the attack. They went in with no yelling at all. They just moved silently and quickly. The enemy didn't even spot them until Luke's troops were almost on them. Most of the enemy troops appeared to still be in a bit of shock either from the bombardment or from Luke's troops showing up behind them and all this was just fine with Luke. Just meant that he would have fewer causalities. By this time, he had stopped carrying his sword unless it was ceremonial. For battle he carried his Sig which he was able to make ammunition for and a standard army rifle as well. Luke's troops swept over the enemy with ease for they had completely surprised the enemy forces. After they had swept the area, Luke went to stand on the enemy parapet where he waited for the main part of his army. With him he had Marion's flag and he thrust the butt of the pole into the ground next to him. “General, sir. Can I ask you a question?” Luke looked over and saw that it was Madeline. He then smiled warmly. “Go ahead, Madeline.” “That flag, where did Marion get the idea from? I'm just curious.” “This was known as the flag of St. George where I came from and Marion liked it.” Luke made sure to skip over that part about this being the English flag in his universe. “Oh, just curious. Sorry for asking.” “Never be sorry for asking questions for that is how you learn Madeline. Now you should probably get back to your duty.” “Yes sir. Thank you, sir.” When the commander of the rest of the army got up to Luke; Luke just had to ask: “What took ya so long? I was beginning to wonder if you all had fallen asleep or something and I about to go and try to find me a pint.” Around him, the troops were relieved for their commanding general was back. It took the rest of the day to bury all the enemy dead, not that Luke was bothered for he was no longer in a hurry. All the steel was collected, so that it could be sold to Luke's steel mill; the money would be divided between the troops. Chapter 73. When Alice found Luke, she wasn't sure who it was for she had grown use to Luke being angry and now he was back to his old self. “Luke!” she exclaimed “What happened to you?” “I just had to be reminded what I was fighting for, that's all. Well, that and a reminder that many other people live lives that are far worse than mine. Oh, before I forget to tell you, you might have a visitor this evening at our tent. Met me a young soldier who doesn't believe that she can read because of her being a well, her.” “If she stops by, I'll fix that!” Alice said with a smile. “What's the lass's name?” “Madeline” With that Luke put his arm around Alice's shoulder and held her close. Alice was so relieved for Luke really had returned and he wasn't acting one bit. That evening, Madeline did stop by. She had been fighting with herself all afternoon as to whether she should or not and she still wasn't all that sure. She wasn't even sure of how she had got there for one minute it she was in her tent and it seemed like the next, she was asking for permission to enter the commanding general's tent. She found Luke working on paperwork while Alice was doing some weird stretching. Luke had taught Alice yoga and she found that she loved it. Luke loved it for the spectacular view. Neither of them still had uniforms on for they were both in comfortable clothes. Luke looked up when she came in: “Well, hi Madeline. Welcome. Can I get you anything?” “Ah no. Thank you” Madeline was extremely nervous. “Relax Madeline. I'm not nearly as rigid as I seem when in uniform. Time for introductions” Luke said jumping up from his seat “Madeline this is Alice. Alice this is Madeline. She's the one I telling you about” “So, you're the one who doesn't believe that women can read. Come in and take a seat for we have a lot to talk about.” For the next couple of hours, the ladies talked while Luke worked on paperwork. Once in a while Luke would chime in with his two-sense worth without even looking up from his paperwork. Finally, Luke was able to finish all of his paperwork. It was nice to be finally caught up on everything for once. He could hear that the ladies were still talking, but he had to interrupt. “Excuse me ladies but I'm going to bed. Madeline, you might want to think about going to bed to for we will be leaving in the morning.” “Seriously Luke?” whined Alice. “Seriously Luke?” Luke said in a mocking voice “Yes, seriously. I want to get the army back home before the weather gets worse and you need to get back to your hospital. Well Madeline what do you think now?” “I can't wait to learn how to read!!” Luke and Alice smiled at her response. “Madeline, make sure that you stop by the hospital once in a while and I'll help you with anything that you need.” “Oh, thank you Alice.” With that Madeline started to pack up so that she could get back to her tent. Once she had left Luke turned to Alice: “Well, what do you think?” “Time will tell. Time will tell. Now how bout we get to bed.” “Ah my thoughts exactly.” Luke said with a mischievous grin. Without warning, Luke swept Alice off her feet, threw her over his shoulder, and carried the giggling lass back to their cot. They hadn't been tangled up since that time while in York but Alice could tell that with the old Luke back and that she was going to get laid tonight and she was thrilled. He swung her around so that his hands were holding her up by grabbing her tight ass. Alice spread her legs and wrapped them around Luke's waist while she wrapped her arms around his neck. Looking into his eyes, Alice could see just how happy Luke was for his eyes were once again sky blue and they had regained their twinkle. She hadn't seen them this blue in quite some time for lately they had been stormy gray. Their lips met and Alice could have sworn that she had been hit with lightening, the feeling was so strong. Looking at Luke, she could see that he felt the same way. Suddenly the previously cool tent felt like it had been thrown in a fire and neither Luke or Alice could get their clothes off fast enough. Luke actually tripped on his pant leg and fell over, but he didn't care and he started laughing. Since he was on his back, Alice pounced for neither of them needed any foreplay tonight. Alice's previously fast movements almost stopped as she slowly impaled herself. It wasn't that she needed time to stretch her pussy out, she just loved the feeling of Luke slowly sliding up inside of her. After a minute or so, their pubic hairs finally messed together. The color contrast between Luke's dark brown hair and Alice's flaming red bush was striking. They had both kept each other trimmed up neat for it was pain in the ass to shave down there in the field and Luke never shaved down there anyway. As Alice finished settling, Luke gently pulled her head down so that they could kiss. As she did, she had ride up on Luke's cock and she could feel the veins on his cock and his heartbeat. After they shared a kiss, she moved back down until their hair mashed together again. Over and over, they repeated this and since they shared the workload, neither of them got tired very quick. Remembering something that Marion liked, Luke told Alice to spin around. Now she was in a reverse cowgirl position and Alice immediately found that she liked this position for she could feel Luke's cock rubbing on the front of her cunt and when Luke's meaty fingers found her clit, she exploded. Her body seized up and after thirty seconds, she started to shake so violently that she lost all control. Below her Luke felt like he was taking a shower for Alice was spraying like crazy. He just smiled to himself and thought, ‘Yep, I'm back baby'. He held her up so that she wouldn't fall and injure herself. In the dim light Luke could see the film of sweat that now covered Alice's body and looking into her face, Luke could also see that she was ready to go to sleep. He gently laid her down next to him without even pulling out of her. As soon as she found a comfortable spot, on Luke's arm, she was out like a light and lightly snoring. Luke grabbed a pillow and blanket off his cot. Then he wrapped his arms around her and drifted off into a very restful sleep. When Luke woke up the next morning, he was amazed at how good he felt for he hadn't slept that well in a very long time. Looking at Alice, he had to stifle a laugh for her hair was a mess and she hadn't moved since passing out the night before. Gently Luke untangled himself from her and got up. Alice didn't wake up until Luke started cooking breakfast and she was sore so Luke helped her stand up and then had to catch her when she tried to fall down. “Get dressed Alice for breakfast is almost ready, and it's a really nice day out.” Chirped Luke. This earned him a cringe from Alice. “Why do you have to be so cheerful this early in the morning?” she groaned. Just to get her going he gave her a good swat to her ass leaving a red mark and getting her to yip. After everyone had ate, the army started getting underway. They would have to march back to York for the rebellious nobles had wrecked the train station and it would be at least a week before it could be repaired. Luke did leave a strong detachment in Sheffield to help with reconstruction and to keep everyone in line. The trip back to York only took a couple of days because all the roads had now been greatly improved. Getting back to York, the city was in an uproar over the army's return and their victories over the Norman invaders and the rebellion. It seemed like every person in and around York was there to greet the army. This time Luke would march at the head of the army and with the crispness of a marine, they entered York. At the city limits though he got one hell of a surprise when he found Marion waiting on him. This time he rushed up to her and swept her off her feet earning them a standing ovation from the troops and the civilians watching. He spun around with her a couple of times and they were both laughing and then their eyes met. Marion could see that something major had happened to Luke for it seemed like the light was back on in his eyes. She had not seen that much light since before they had first taken York and it warmed her heart so much to see that it had returned. She could feel Luke relax as he buried his nose in her hair and took a deep breath. He then ran his hand along her jawline and their lips interlocked, getting them even more cheers. “I love you, Marion” he whispered in her ear as he held her tight. “I love you too Luke” Luke then changed his grip and put Marion up on his shoulders. Together they led the army into York. This wasn't what she had in mind but it worked. “Hey Marion, where's Gabriel at?” “She's not feeling too good right now.” “What?!?! Why?!?!” “Her and her kid aren't getting along right now.” “Ah” As they led the army through the city, the crowds were going wild; Marion of course waved to the crowds in a way that reminded Luke of the way homecoming queens waved to crowds in his old universe. He had to admit that Marion had seemed to make serious in roads with the population and that took a load off his mind. They walked back to the castle with Marion waving to the crowd the entire way. By the time they got back, Luke was smiling widely and he was in a very good mood. The army was getting as many cheers as Marion was and this pointed to a good future. Chapter 74. The rest of November was quiet for Marion and the gang. Gabriel managed to quickly recover from her kid beating the crap out of her, although she did admit that she couldn't wait to give birth so that she wouldn't have to go pee even couple of hours and only get dribbles each time. Over her objections, Marion put her on restricted duty so that she wouldn't be under as heavy of strain. Gabriel might have been able to fight Marion, but Luke, Alice, and Pollyanna weighed in on Marion's side and Gabriel knew when she was beat. She would be on desk duty until after she had given birth. At least she was a capable administrator in her own rite so she would still be a valuable team member. Speaking of Alice, after sleeping with Luke every night for the last couple of weeks, she found that she just couldn't sleep alone any more. On the second night after they got back, she showed up at Marion's door after everyone had gone to bed. She had been so nervous that she almost didn't come, but she had slept so bad the night before that she felt like she didn't have any choice. As she always did at this time of night, Marion answered the door nude. She figured that if someone woke her up, then the least she could do was to make them a bit uncomfortable. “Hi Alice, What's up?” “Is that invitation to move in with you and Luke still open?” “Of course, it is, dearie. Found that you just couldn't sleep alone after sleeping with Luke?” “Ya” Alice was still really nervous and she hoped that Marion would let her stay. “Well come on in. There's no need to stand out there all night.” “Marion, I really can't thank you enough for allowing me to stay with you.” Marion gave her a very warm smile. “Alice, honey, I see the looks that Luke gives you and I know what they mean for he gives me the same looks. The look of love and desire. Looks that are shared by spouses that are completely in love with each other. By the way he doesn't give Gabriel those looks. Plus, since I have Gabriel as a lover, it's only fair that Luke has himself a lover as well.” “Thank you for understanding Marion. I really can't thank you enough.” “That's alright, just don't break Luke and please let him save some energy for me.” “I would never dream of breaking him. As for him saving energy well I think the general will just have to get into better shape.” “You know Alice, I figured from the first day I saw you with Luke; the Luke was especially fond of you and I'm guessing that it was because you reminded him of someone.” Alice once again was nervous for Marion had hit it right on the head. “I think that should be a conversation that you should have with Luke for you completely correct but I swore that I wouldn't reveal what the connection is.” “No, I don't think I will for Luke is entitled to his secrets. If and when he wants to tell me, he will. Just please don't try to steal him from me.” This actually triggered Alice's usually mellow temper. “Marion, listen to me,” growled Alice “I would never dream of stealing Luke from you and you know that. After all you are one of my best friends and you are kind enough to share him with me.” The ladies nodded to each other showing that they now understood each other and with that, Alice moved in with Luke, Marion, Gabriel, and Mackenzie. Luke was having one of his insomnia attacks so he was down in his workshop. Marion explained to Alice what that meant and that they might as well go to bed. Alice was a bit uncomfortable about getting into bed with two other naked women but figured that since they were both her friends that she could trust them. To her surprise, she found that sleeping with other women wasn't as bad as she thought although she doubted that she would ever be comfortable with the idea of her making love with another woman. December started off with a bang and kept going from there. Marion had two announces one public, one private. The private announcement was that she was pregnant again. The public one was that she was interested in being ruler of England and since no other noble on the island was strong enough or foolish enough to stand in her way, none of them argued. The church though was a different story for they refused to seat someone who had willingly taken church property, had a homosexual lover, and was a woman. As usual, Marion didn't give a damn what the church thought. She gave them two options, confirm her as rightful Queen of England on Christmas day 1066 or she would take England by force and kick the church out. Speaking of taking by force, Marion's army was making rapid gains in Scotland. When Luke had got back from the South, he sent a brigade North with orders to crush all resistance with extreme prejudice. This is what they did too. The brigade that Luke sent and the one that was still there swept through Scotland like the wind. Just as in England if a noble resisted then they were removed and their possessions seized and their land was sold off to the commoners. Everyone knew though that tackling the highlanders would take much more time, but they had made a really good start. Marion was also able to open a land corridor to her lands in the far north and this enabled Luke to start laying train tracks to link these lands with the area around York. The church officials in Canterbury decided to make themselves a third option to Marion's ultimatum. They sent their best witch hunters up to York with orders to investigate Marion and the rest of her inner circle of signs of witchcraft, heresy, or homosexuality or any other sins. Of course, in their minds, she and her inner circle were already guilty so the investigation was only a formality before they had her executed. They arrived in mid-December and found that York was now a highly advanced city. The team wondered through the city for two days, just looking at the sights and what they saw, scared them shitless. There were female police officers on the streets. Paved streets. Every house had running water. Every street it seemed had a book seller on it. Jews and pagans were practicing their faith openly. The people were worse, for they didn't seem to give a fart about these high church officials and what they were doing. It wasn't until the officials tried to close down a public bath house that people got pissed, and they got pissed with the church officials. The public bath houses were mixed genders and mixed ages and had hot, cool, and cold-water pools. In addition to bathing, swimming lessons were offered for anyone wanting to learn how to swim and most citizens did take at least some lessons. The locals had quickly become addicted to stopping by the bath house after a long day working and getting the grim off before they went home. While there, they could catch up on the local gossip or check out the opposite sex. The rules for this were very simple: look but don't touch without an invitation from the person being touched. Sometimes the people would even get a massage as well. When the church tried to close it down for public debauchery, they were literally thrown out and were actually rescued by a passing female officer. She was the one that took the officials to see Marion. When they finally got into her office, they found a very attractive brunette sitting at Marion's desk. “Marion of York we presume.” “Nope, Colonel Gabriel at your service.” She said without looking up “Just have a seat and I'll be right with you.” She finished up the paperwork that she had been doing. “Now what can I do for you gentlemen.” “We are here to investigate claims of Marion of York being a witch and a homosexual. We are also looking for signs of heresy.” Gabriel leaned back in her chair and burst out laughing. She was laughing so hard that she nearly peed herself. “I can assure you that Marion of York isn't a witch for she is actually far more dangerous than that. As to her being a lesbian, I will tell you that she loves her husband more than anything. I'm the lesbian for I am Marion's lover. Actually, I'm more bisexual; it's just that I prefer women over men but I do appreciate a good cock once in a while. As far as me being pregnant well I always wanted a kid and Luke, Marion's husband, was kind enough to help with me with that dream.” “Then you are under arrest on orders from the Pope.” Again, Gabriel burst out laughing. “Do you find something funny about you being under arrest?” “Yes, I do. I think it's funny that you actually think that you could get away with it” Gabriel managed to get out between laughs. At this point, Marion walked through a side door. “What's so funny Gabriel?” Marion came over and put a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. “These church goons are here put me under arrest for being a lesbian and investigate you for being a witch.” “Oh ya. Well in that case you had better get up then.” Gabriel got up and Marion pulled her to her lips. As they were kissing, their hands started working at undoing each other's shirts as they moaning into each other's mouths. “Oh God Marion. You taste so good!” Gabriel managed to get out. This was too much for one of the churchmen and he got up to try and grab Gabriel and Marion. As soon as he put a hand on Marion, she turned, gabbed his hand and using her other hand, smashed his nose in. The blood started flowing out of his nose as he howled in pain. The remaining churchmen drew their swords and pointed them at the ladies, but the ladies were back to making out instead. As they approached Marion and Gabriel, the churchmen heard very heavy footsteps approaching. “Uh-oh, now you done it.” Marion managed to get out before going back to tongue wrestling with Gabriel. Luke stepped out from the same doorway that Marion had come out of. “What the hell is going on in here?” “We are here in the name of his holiness the Pope to arrest these two women for witchcraft and homosexuality, and to investigate the rest of her inner circle for other sins.” “These two angels? Marion, why didn't you tell me you had hired a comedy crew? I would have made snacks and sold tickets.” “Sorry Luke. Must…have…oh, ya…. slipped my…. mind.” “They are under arrest and if you try to interfere then you will be too.” “Now listen you fuck heads. You have two options and only two. First you can put your weapons on the ground, get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness from the goddess of intelligent beauty and her lover or you can all die. Your choice.” “Or the third option.” The leading churchman said. With that the group started for Marion and Gabriel. In a flash, Luke struck; he pulled out his Sig and shot all the churchmen in the knees. With that, Luke walked over to a cooler, pulled out a beer, and pulled up a seat to watch. Before he sat down, he dropped his pants so that he could beat off while watching the ladies making out. During this whole thing, they had kept making out and had even managed to get their shirts off. Gabriel had her hand in Marion's pants while Marion was sucking on one of Gabriel's sensitive nipples. Before long both of them had their pants off and Marion gently laid Gabriel out on the desk. Luke was sitting there, drinking a beer and jacking off to his wife and her lover making love. The extra icing on the cake was the suffering of the churchmen and how they had taken to reciting verses to keep distracted and hopefully call down divine intervention. Before Marion buried her face in Gabriel's sweet pussy, she looked at Luke. “I hope that you're not thinking of wasting all that juice when there is a pussy right here” she grabbed her pussy “that needs that stuff in it.” “I wouldn't dream of it sweetheart.” In reality he was planning on cumming all over the churchmen but he figured that shooting it into his wife was a far better idea. He got up and lined up with Marion's hot love hole. In one thrust he was buried deep inside of her and then he started pounding her relentlessly. Luke could tell from Gabriel's breathing and moaning that she was very close and Marion wasn't far behind her. He started driving extra deep into Marion so that he could get there as the ladies did. This pushed Marion over the edge and she took Gabriel along with her. The orgasm that Marion had was explosive and she sprayed all over Luke. This triggered him and he dumped an extra-large load deep inside his wife. Although Marion was weak-kneed, she had an idea that she just had to do. She put her hand over her pussy to keep Luke's spunk from dropping on the floor as she waddled to where she feet were straddling the lead churchman's head, forcing him to look up. When she was sure that she was in the right position, she moved her hand and cum fell from her cunt and landed in the churchman's open mouth. Marion then managed to squeeze a bit more and this landed in one of his eyes. She then bent over and forced the churchman to close his mouth and swallow. “Guards!” she called out and two guards came rushing in. “Take these bastards out of here, tie them to their horses, and send them on their way. If they resist beat them but don't kill them for, I want them to suffer. If you fuckers hurry, you might make it back to London before infection sets in, but I doubt it.” She then turned to Luke “Time to mobilize the army General for we march on London in two days.” “Yes ma'am” Luke said was he snapped to attention with his cock still standing proud. “This time I will be going with you. Gabriel you will remain here with one brigade. With you in that condition, there is no way I am risking you on a trip to London, especially at this time of year.” Looking at Luke “Well am I going to have to mobilize the army myself?” With that, Luke pulled his pants up, saluted, grabbed the rest of his beer, and sped out to start the mobilization. After all to Luke it was a moral sin to waste good beer. The guards were coming in to take the wounded churchmen out. “Don't bother dropping them off with the doc either.” “Yes ma'am” the guards said in unison. Within two days the army was in Sheffield. Seems like everyone in the army expected this to happen so their commanders had held them close to the barracks until things calmed down. Luke was actually able to get the first units on the train on that first evening. From Sheffield, the army marched swiftly to London. Once there the city opened its gates to Marion and her army and within a day, they had secured London and the surrounding area. While her army secured the area, Marion was forcing the church and the nobles that were in London to recognize her as the rightful queen of England. Just before Christmas, Gabriel arrived in London, along with Alice, Pollyanna, Matt, and Mackenzie. They had come down at Luke's invitation for he thought it would be nice to see the ultimate reward for their struggles. Luke wanted them to watch Marion be crowned Queen Marion I, Queen of England and hopefully soon, queen of Great Britain. Marion wasn't happy with Gabriel being in London but she didn't protest too much. On Christmas morning 1066, Marion was in her formal gown while Alice and Pollyanna were in their dress uniforms. Escorting them were Luke and Matt also in full dress uniforms. Gabriel was the only one in regular clothes because her dress uniform wouldn't fit at the moment. Also, there was an honor guard detachment and Marion's personal body guards. The whole group marched into Westminster abbey. The honor guards secured the building while Marion's guards stayed glued her and her inner circle. They all stood by while Marion went through the service and at the end of it was the words that Luke had been waiting to hear spoken by the archbishop of Canterbury: “I Now Pronounce You Queen Marion The First, Queen Of England. Long Live The Queen!” Based on a post by somethin fishy, for Sex Stories.

Luke's HAARP Time Warp: Part 14 Sovereigns Negotiate Dominion. Based on a post by somethin fishy, in 15 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. They rode on until they came up to a large brick building with many windows in it. Once there, Marion led the way to a stable around back where their horses could be taken care of. They were quickly let past the guards on the entrance to the hospital. Alice had insisted on having guards that were paid by the hospital; one to take care of some of the more combative patients, two to deal with people that might try to steal medical supplies, and three to keep people who might wish to do her patients harm out. Once inside both Luke and Marion removed their helmets and kept them in the crook of their left arm. As the four of them were going into the ward were Hardrada was, they came across Alice. “Hey doc” chirped Luke “How's our Norwegian guest doing?” “Not bad considering one of my nurses gave him a black eye.” “He made a move on her?” “Yep, but I think he learned his lesson. The worst thing hurt is his pride but that's his problem not mine.” Luke smiled at this as they entered. Once again, the king was amazed. This hospital was clean and bright. Wounded or sick men and women were in beds on either side of the aisle they were walking down. By now he was starting to forget all the questions that he wanted to ask Marion for he had so many. Finally, they stopped in front of a large man with a black eye. “Your majesty, may I have the pleasure to introduce to you King Hardrada of Norway. Luke and I will leave you three alone for some time. Just remember that he is under my protection and if you hurt him then you will have to deal with Dr. Alice and she is far worse to deal with then I am and I have castrated men who crossed me before.” Marion and Luke stepped away so that the two kings could talk in private. Watching, Luke whispered to Marion. “I'm going to go and get the first brigade and elements of the fourth ready to go fight those damn Scots.” She nodded and Luke turned to leave. “Oh, before I forget, what would you like for lunch, sweetheart?” “I'm thinking that I will have probably have a sandwich and a pint. Can you tell Gabriel to come and find me please for we need to discuss security while Godwinson's army is here?” Luke pulled her in for a deep kiss before he left. After Luke left, Marion felt someone come up beside her and out of the corner of her eye, she could see bright red. “Well doc, how soon can you release him?” Alice smiled at this. She was finding that she loved to be called doc. “Just a couple of days. There doesn't seem to be any infection and drainage is a minimum. Speaking of infections though; I need Luke to get me some kind of general antibiotic for we are losing too many to simple damn infections. From what I have been able to determine, most of those damn infections are staph so I have ordered all surfaces to be cleaned. Also, I'm going to need more surgical tools so that the doctors that I'm training can have enough tools. Good news though; Luke's suggestion about the smallpox vaccine appears to be working quite well and hopefully within a month or two, I will be ready to begin full scale vaccinations.” “Okay, I'll talk to Luke about your stuff and that's excellent news about the pox vaccine.” The ladies stood there for a couple of minutes while the kings finished talking. Godwinson then walked over to Marion. “He is your problem milady. After all your forces captured him, so it would only seem fair that you should get his ransom.” “Thank you, your majesty. Now may I introduce to you Dr. Alice. She is the one that runs the medical side of things here in York.” “Your majesty, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Alice said “A woman doctor? I thought Marion was joking!” Alice's face flushed with anger as she growled “Now listen here you fucking idiot. So, what if I don't have a cock swinging between my legs. The advantage of that is that I don't have to think with my balls! But I tell you this; I am the best doctor in the world right now. If these Facts anger you then that is your fucking problem and you can get the fuck out of My hospital.” The king was taken back, after all nobody talked to the king in such a manor. He was surprised to see the same anger in Marion's face as well. It was clear to him that he had crossed some kind of line. What scared him though was what he saw behind Marion. Standing in the doorway was a very angry Gabriel and an even madder Luke. Luke walked over to a fireplace and picked up one of the tools, he made sure the king and his guard were watching as he proceeded to bend the formerly straight shaft into a series of small loops with his bare hands. The king's face turned ghostly white seeing this for he had never seen someone do that. When he turned to look at Hardrada; he was met with a smile and a shrug. After all, Hardrada had already learned the hard way that you do not insult the women here. The king then very wisely apologized to Alice and to Marion. The four's tempers began to cool down after that and the king was glad to see Gabriel and Luke relax so Marion's next words surprised him. “Would you like to have lunch with us and we could begin to answer some of your questions?” “Yes, I would.” “Then come with me please.” Marion said bye to Alice who went back to her duties as Marion led the king, his guard, Gabriel, and Luke to the castle. Outside the king could see that his men were starting to come into York and they were just as amazed as he still was. It was a short ride to the castle which by this time was packed with offices for administration. Finally, they were able to get their food and sit down. They proceeded to answer many of the king's questions but when it came to where Luke was from, the king was met with silence and looks telling him that he definitely should not go a step further with those questions. The king stayed with Marion and asked questions for the next couple of hours. He was deeply impressed that she, Luke, and Gabriel were such charming host as long as he was careful of what he said. Eventually though the elephant in the room had to be addressed. Why did Marion have such a large army in the first place? “The answer to that your majesty is very simple” explained Gabriel “if Marion didn't have her army, then we would all be dead and a large number of the people of York would also be dead at the hands of Cecilia. It was either fight or die; the people fought and won.” As soon as Gabriel finished, a messenger interrupted. After Marion heard the message, she invited the king to come with them. The five of them went to the train station where a part of Marion's army was getting ready to leave to fight the Scots. The troops and their equipment caused wonder for the king and his guard. Uniforms everywhere, all the troops had the same kind of weapons, most of all was the large number of women that made up Marion's army. Marion though was watching Alice and Markus for he was deploying with the army to the lake district. She thought it was a bit funny watching Alice behave the same way that she did whenever Luke had to leave for combat missions. Chapter 66. After Marion's army left, the king went back to his. They would end up spending five days in York until he received word that the Normans had finally landed. The king left immediately and started to recall his army for most of them had left to go home and tend to their crops. Luke estimated that the king would only be able to get maybe six thousand troops by the time he got to Hastings. Before the king had left, he did ask Marion for some of her troops, but she refused. Most of her army was keeping order, or fighting the Scots, or being refit. At least that's what she told him. In reality she was readying her army for when William won the Battle of Hastings. She had done this at Luke's request and by now she had figured out at what he was angling after. He wanted her to be Queen of England and help led them to an enlightened future to hopefully avoid the pitfalls of his own history. As much as Marion hated lying to her own king, she did have to admit that Luke's path was probably the best one that she could take. Just two days after Godwinson left to confront the Normans, Luke got some very bad news from the lake district. It appeared that even he had gotten cocky in that the army that he sent up there didn't have adequate recon capabilities. While they had been tangled up with the Scottish army to their front, a force a cavalry had snuck around them. When they attacked, they had targeted the medical unit first. At first the reports were contradictory, one said that the army had been routed, another said that they had won a great victory. After spending all day in the telegraph room, Luke had the whole picture. Yes, the army had won once again, but the losses were very heavy. Almost half the army had been killed or wounded and it was only due to the talent and extreme bravery of the commander that the entire army had not been annihilated. One of the worst reports was that the entire medical unit had been wiped out. Every doctor and nurse had been killed when the enemy cavalry had surprised and overran the field hospital. Among the confirmed dead was Alice's fiancé. The commander also recommended him for the highest honors possible for he had fought the cavalry long enough for the commander to get his message of the attack and organize a response. If he hadn't done that, then the army probably would have been wiped out. Luke was deeply saddened for he knew just how much Alice and Markus loved each other. As he was leaving the room, Marion entered. She was really happy until she saw the look in Luke's eyes. “What happened.... Luke what's wrong?” He didn't say anything; he just handed her the report. “Oh my god!!” exclaimed Marion after she had finished and her hands flew to her mouth. “Yep, and now I have to tell Alice that I was a fucking dumbass and got her fiancé killed. Excuse me please darling for I want Alice to hear the news from me instead of through the grapevine and I want to do it before I go get that bottle of booze that I've been saving for a rainy day.” “Luke, I'm going with you for Alice is one of my best friends and I signed off on the forces that you send up there.” When they found Alice, she was in her hospital office and was in a really good mood. “Hey Marion, great news! Markus's priest says that he can marry us as soon as he gets back. I Can't Wait!” she squealed. Marion forced herself to smile weakly “That's good Alice.” “Something wrong Marion? I haven't seen you this quiet in a long time.” Marion tried to talk but all she did was tear up. Finally, she couldn't take it and ran out sobbing. “Luke, what happened?” Alice was now worried. Luke kneeled down in front of Alice and took her hands “Alice we just got some very bad news from the front. It seems that I got cocky and we paid for it. Almost half the army that went to the lake district has been killed or wounded. It seems that they suffered a surprise attack in the rear while they were tangled up with the Scottish army in front of them. Now I haven't got a full causality list yet but it has been confirmed Alice… Markus is dead. It seems that the medical unit was right in the way of the attack and they were wiped out. Markus has been recommended for the highest honors possible for he was able to fight off the enemy just long enough for the commander to save the rest of the army. I am so sorry Alice.” Alice was now in tears for Markus was her life. She had never really had luck with men because she was a strong-willed woman and had no intention of quitting being a doctor. She fell into Luke's arms and sobbed. He held her and cried with her for he had liked Markus tremendously even though Luke had never told him so. They then heard someone come it. It was Gabriel, Marion, and Pollyanna. Matt wasn't available at the moment, but Marion had sure that he got word as well. Marion had told them the news and they had come to help comfort their friend. Marion had also brought Luke's booze. This was some of the strong whiskey that he had made while he was working on the alcohol supply for the hospital. Pollyanna put five glasses out on Alice's desk and Marion poured everyone a drink. “I Don't Want A Fucking Drink! I Want Markus Back!” screamed Alice “Alice. Shut-up and drink” stated Pollyanna Luke raised his glass: “To Markus and all of the others that we have lost. You might be lost but you will not be forgotten.” With that, they all downed their glasses with Alice immediately demanding another which Marion poured and Alice gulped down. Marion refilled the glass again but this time Luke stopped the glass from getting to Alice's mouth. “Come on Alice. Let's all get out of here.” Luke guided them back to the castle where they ended up in Marion's chambers. Everyone by now had heard of the disaster so they all gave the five space. Back in Marion's chambers the drinking continued with the exception of Gabriel because she was pregnant. The remaining four drained Luke's supply which wasn't too big to start with, thankfully. It had been enough though for the four to get plastered. Gabriel slipped out and got Matt. Being that Pollyanna was wasted, it would take both of them to get her back into her bed. Matt simply picked Pollyanna up and put her over his shoulder while Gabriel got the doors. When she got back Luke, Marion, and Alice were passed out for which Gabriel was thankful for because she hated dealing with drunks. Luke had passed out on the coach, while Marion was in their bed, and Alice was in Luke's favorite arm chair. Gabriel went around and put covers over everyone. She then got a shower and got into bed with Marion, spooning her softly. Gabriel had to admit though that if she hadn't been pregnant then she would have been wasted too. Eventually she fell asleep. Sometime during the night, Luke was disturbed by someone playing with his cock. Between the booze, the darkness, him still being mostly asleep, and the awesome feeling; he couldn't tell who was working on his cock and Little Luke didn't care. Eventually whoever it was rose up and slowly sank down Luke's organ. It should have occurred to him that the person working his cock had seemed a little timid and had winced a little when Luke's cock first entered her but it didn't. All he knew was that his cock was in someone really, really tight and really, really hot. Luke tried to grab her hips, but she smacked his hands down. Up and down, she moved; her tight pussy had a death grip on Little Luke and Luke had to admit that it felt like he had put his cock into a furnace. After a few minutes, the pussy's grip tightened even more as Luke watched her stiffen up and start quivering. This was too much for Luke as he thrust his hips up and deposited a massive load of hot sticky cum into her tight cunt. With this, the lady got off and covered Luke up. Luke for his part passed back out. The next morning Luke's head was killing him. When Luke went to get up, he noticed that his cock was sticky like it had been inside someone. This brought back the memory of the night before for he thought that he was having a dream. Now he was curious as to who had ridden him. He figured that it wasn't Marion for she was much louder and he hadn't noticed an expanded belly on the person ridding him. He fixed his pants and got up. Marion and Gabriel were still sleeping so he was quiet. He then noticed Alice sleeping in his chair. Luke looked at her and started thinking. ‘No way it was her' he thought as he staggered into the bathroom to wash up and relieve himself. When he came out, the ladies were all getting up. At least he felt better after his cold shower, the water heater hadn't had enough sun yet to warm up. He stopped by Marion and Gabriel. “Okay I got a question for y'all. Which one of you lovely ladies rode little Luke last night?” Marion and Gabriel looked at each other. They rubbed their hands on each other's pussies. “Wasn't Marion.” Claimed Gabriel “Wasn't Gabriel.” Moaned Marion. “You sure one of us rode you last night?” “Well, someone did for I thought I remembered someone riding me last night and when I got up this morning, I was sticky.” About this time Alice got up and she was limping slightly. Gabriel and Marion, both caught it. So did Luke as soon as he looked at Alice's walk. Marion was about to say something when Luke stopped her. “Alice” he said softly “Can you come here for a minute, please?” “Can it wait? I have to pee.” “No, it can't and it will only take a moment.” She stumbled over. “Did you impale yourself last night?” she just looked confused. “He means dearie” said Marion, softy “did you have sex with him last night?” “No!” “You sure?” asked Gabriel “for your legs are telling a different story.” “Look, I'm a virgin! I know I still have my hymen because Markus saw it one day when he was eating me out and I looked at it myself with a mirror. I was going to give it to him on our wedding night! If You Don't Believe Me Then Look For Yourself!” With that, Alice dropped her pants, laid down on the bed and spread her legs wide. Luke didn't want to look but he wanted to know who had rode him and Alice was the last choice. He hoped and prayed that it wasn't her for she had been through enough already and the last thing he wanted to do was to add more for her to worry about. Marion gently pulled one side of her pussy back, while Gabriel pulled the other side back. When Luke looked, Alice's hymen was gone and she had dried cum on her pussy and in her flaming pubic hair. Marion and Gabriel saw this too. The three looked at each other and Gabriel went to the bathroom to get her small mirror. Marion was the one that got elected to break the news to Alice. “Alice, darling. It was you last night. Your hymen is gone and you have dried cum on you.” “Marion of York, you are so fucking full of shit!” Alice screamed. “Take a look for yourself.” Marion said as Gabriel handed the mirror to Alice. Alice checked herself out and when she saw that they were telling the truth, she burst into tears again. She just couldn't believe what she had done. Here they had been fighting to make men and women equal and she had just raped the man that had saved her and had given her life real meaning. She was going to run out of the room when Marion caught her and sat her down on the bed. Marion looked at Gabriel and Luke. They got the message and quietly left. “Alice” said Marion, softy. And Alice looked up. Her face was a wreck. She had tear streaks all over, she had bags under her eyes, and her eyes were red and bloodshot. “Did you know what you were doing last night?” Alice just sat there quietly for she was in a state of shock. “Alice?” asked Marion again. Now the flood gates opened for Alice. “No! I swear I didn't know! I would never do anything... I mean... Well, what I mean is...” that was as far as she got before Marion put her finger over Alice's lips and Alice started sobbing again. As Alice was crying, Marion pulled her to her and hugged her tightly until she was able to calm down a little bit. Alice for her part was expecting for Marion to have her arrested for rape. “You have nothing to fear Alice for I am not angry with you. I just wish that you had told us that you wanted to get laid so that Luke could have made you a woman correctly.” “What?? You mean that you're not mad at me for raping Luke.” “No, I'm not. I should be furious with you and have you arrested but you have been under so much strain with everything going on and then to lose the man that you love the most before you can even get married. I mean damn, I doubt that I could live with that. Considering this, I can't see myself doing anything to add to your problems, but honey I do have one request.” Alice looked at her. “Next time you want to get laid, just ask Luke. Its fine with me if you want him to show you how to love or even to give you a child. I mean he has already given Gabriel and I one, plus he is a very considerate and thorough lover. I highly doubt that you could do any better. I know that I can't.” Alice just sat there in disbelief. Marion had just given her permission to sleep with her husband and for him to knock her up, if she wanted it. This was something that secretly Alice had wanted but she had been afraid for Luke had always seemed so tough and demanding, plus he was with Marion already. She broke down in more tears, but this time they were tears of joy. She wrapped her arms around Marion tightly and held on until she had cried herself out. Once she had, Marion told her. “Come here tonight Alice.” Alice excused herself so that she could clean herself up before she started working for the day and Marion went to tell Luke about Alice. She found both Luke and Gabriel in the telegraph room. As she walked in, Gabriel told her “Looks like you get to negotiate with Scotland too. The armies clashed again only this time, your army not only completely routed theirs, but captured almost all of it, including King Malcom the third. We also got a message that…” Gabriel stopped there and looked around “We need to go somewhere completely private” So Luke took them to his office and locked the door once the three of them were inside. Once in Gabriel continued “The Battle of Hastings unfolded exactly how Luke said it would; King Godwinson is dead and his army has been routed. We won't know for a few days yet how the nobles will react though.” “So, it's starting is what you are saying. I need to decide if I want to become the Queen of England or stay a local leader.” “That is exactly what we are saying Marion and I personally recommend that you work to becoming the Queen of England for the Normans won't let you stay a local leader.” “I second that” chimed in Luke. “You will have a huge advantage in that you already know what kind of pitfalls are ahead for humanity and hopefully under your leadership, everyone will be able to avoid the worst of them, hopefully.” Marion was now starting to panic a little for in the back of her mind, she had never expected this to happen. “I need a few days to think this over.” “Of course. We do have some time before you need to decide and by waiting a little bit, it would be less suspicious anyway.” Luke said. Marion looked at him and nodded. Gabriel was getting ready to leave for she had a few things to do but Marion stopped her. “We all have one other thing to talk about.” Luke and Gabriel looked at her and waited for her to continue “I had a talk with Alice. First, she feels terrible about raping you, Luke. I mean really, really terrible. Now I kind of promised her that you would teach her how to love and you would make love to her tonight. I also kind of told her that if she wants a child that you would be her sperm donor. I hope that's okay Luke?” “Marion, seriously. I really wish that you have asked me first. How would like it if I promised you to a bunch of men.” Marion was going to protest but thought about it for a second. He was right as usual. It was her turn to burst into tears. “I'm so sorry Luke!” she whaled “I wasn't thinking. I just saw one of my best friends in pain and thought that you would help her. I'm so sorry! I truly am! Please forgive me! Please??” “I wasn't mad at you, Marion. Just please don't offer me to anyone else. You know that I was a one-woman man and it took me a while to accept Gabriel as a regular lover. Now before you ask, I will be happy to help Alice through this difficult period” “Thank you, Luke. Has anyone ever tell you that you're the greatest.” “Yep. That's been mentioned a couple of times.” Marion laughed as she swayed against Luke, and she ended up just hugging him tightly. The feeling of Luke's powerful body in her arms reminded her once again that she was the luckiest woman on Earth. She had a loving husband who supported her completely and she had loyal friends that would die to protect her. The rest of the day, everyone was doing their jobs. Luke and Alice were in constant communication with the lake district army about handling wounded and prisoners. Alice ordered a very small medical unit to leave immediately and get up to the lake district to help with wounded. Luke had sure that they would get top priority for transportation and any needed supplies. Meanwhile Marion and Gabriel had loads of civil administration duties to take care of. Finally, it was dinner time. This time Alice joined Marion, Gabriel, and Luke. This was the first time that she had done that for normally she would eat either in her chambers or in her office. Chapter 67. After dinner, Alice was extremely nervous for she had never been in bed with a man. Yes, her body had raped Luke the night before, but her brain wasn't participating. This time, her whole body and soul would be involved. Looking at Alice, Gabriel knew some emotions that she was feeling. Gabriel could remember how nervous she had been her first time. Something that Gabriel had never told anyone was that she had been engaged to be married as well. Her parents had picked a man from a neighboring village to marry her. The man was rough and crude, but had been from a prosperous family. Fortunately for Gabriel, the man had been killed by some of Richard's troops before the marriage could take place. Gabriel knew that Alice couldn't be in better hands; for Luke was very gentle and very experienced. He would make sure that Alice's first time would be one to remember. Marion had been watching as well. Luke had been her first as well and she had been so glad for that; for intercourse was something that she looked forward to unlike many of the women that she knew growing up. Luke gently picked Alice up. In his strong arms, Alice couldn't help but smile for she felt safe and loved. He carried her back into bedroom while Gabriel and Marion cleaned up after dinner. They left the chambers to go back to the office for a couple of hours so that Alice would have some privacy. They decided on the office because Marion had some paperwork to finish up anyway. Back in the bedroom, Luke carefully undressed Alice. He loved her snow-white skin and red hair. Unlike Marion and Gabriel, Alice still had her full bush. “Should I shave it for you?” “Only if you want it shave it but that is totally up to you.” “Well, what do you like?” “Maybe we can just trim it up a little bit.” Alice nodded. With that Luke spread a towel out on the bed and invited Alice to lay down on it. He went and got his scissors. It took him a few minutes but he got Alice's bush trimmed up to where it was neat. When she looked it over, she had to admit that it looked good and it actually felt much nicer. “If in the future you want to shave it off, I suggest that you get Gabriel or Marion to help you the first time.” “Okay. Thank you, Luke but I think for now I'll keep the hair and just trim it.” Luke then went back and turned on the water. When the temperature was good, he picked Alice up and took her into the shower. She giggled the entire way to the shower. They spent a decent amount of time washing each other off. The feeling of Luke's strong and rough hands running over Alice's skin made her relax completely. Softy she started humming to herself as Luke made sure that she was clean. When he was washing down her front, Alice leaned into Luke's chest and purred; she was now so content. When he finished with her, he turned off the water and got towels to dry off with. He wrapped one around Alice and another around her head to dry her hair off. Alice was really enjoying being pampered like this. After Luke had dried himself off, he went back into the bedroom with Alice following. Luke sat down on the edge of the bed and Alice sat next to him. She wrapped her delicate hands around Luke's massive bicep. After all this time with being around Luke; Alice was still amazed by the power in those arms and yet he was the gentlest person that she had ever met. Luke smiled at her as he gently put his arm around her and pulled her close. She laid her head on Luke's chest and looked up into his bright blue eyes and she started to melt at the loving look that she got. Luke started to move his head down and even though Alice was a novice, she moved her head up. Their lips met and sparks flew between them. Alice wasn't sure what to do next. Not only was she inexperienced but she had started out with very low expectations for the evening. Going in she had been sure that Luke would back out. Perhaps sensing her unease, Luke pulled away for a minute. “Just be yourself and trust your body, Alice. Let it tell you want it wants.” “Okay” She smiled up at him and resumed with their kissing. Luke started to move his hands along Alice's neck. This caused her to get goosebumps all over. When Luke's fingers reached her large, bright pink nipples, they were rock hard and Alice's body was starting to move on its own. She stretched out on the bed and moved up so that she would be completely on the bed. Luke smiled and laid down next to her in a spot that would allow him to suck on her nipples, kiss her long neck, or caress most of her body. Luke started by planting kisses on her neck and Alice hummed with content. Her humming got louder as Luke moved down her body making sure to kiss every square millimeter of her body. When Luke reached her nipples, Alice's humming became moans of pleasure as her hands found their way into Luke's hair. Alice held Luke's head tightly to her A cup tits while Luke sucked, licked, and nibbled on her tits. He switched from one tit to the other. While he would be working on one with his mouth, he would work the other with his fingers. Alice had never imagined that sex could ever feel this good as she felt like electricity was flowing from her nipples into the rest of her body. She of course knew all about the feeling of electricity for some of the training that Luke had given when he started to introduce some of his electrical devises was for the trainee to get shocked on purpose. Luke had made sure the shock was painful but nowhere near lethal. This way, people would develop a healthy respect for electricity and it always worked. Now Alice was feeling something that she had never felt before and she had no desire to end it. She could feel her body temperature rising and the amount of moisture between her legs skyrocket. “Oh Luke, don't forget about the rest of my body…. please” He chuckled at this as he began to work his way down Alice's toned body. Slowly he worked his way down and the lower he got; the shallower Alice's breathing became and the more her head thrashed around for she was getting even more excited. As he got to her pussy, Alice's mood changed. She no longer wanted him to explore, she wanted him to stay where he was. She kept him in his current position by digging her fingers into his scalp and holding tight. Luke smiled as he took a deep breath and breathed in her scent. To say it was intoxicating was an understatement for Luke could see himself easily getting addicted to it. She was actually more addicting than Marion, and Luke was completely addicted to Marion's scent. Alice smelled fresh and clean with a mild undertow of sexy musk. If Alice thought that she was warm before Luke started on her pussy, she was now flaming hot. The feeling of Luke's hot breath, plus his tongue, and his neatly trimmed mustache and beard sent her over the edge before he could really even get started on licking her inner lips. As she finished with her first Luke originated orgasm Luke just smiled and told her that they were still in the appetizer phase. Her head flopped back on the bed as she moaned. She didn't know if she could even survive the rest of the night but if she did die then she would definitely be happy. Her next orgasm slammed into her the moment Luke ran his tongue up her slit. He had started at her anus and dragged it across her skin. She felt his tongue dip into her cunt and come back out. When his tongue first went across her clit; her eyes light up with stars and then he shifted just a bit and Alice exploded. She squirted all over Luke's face. Alice of course was embarrassed but Luke was smiling. “You should be proud of yourself for not many women can do that.” Alice was sure that her checks were as red as her hair. When Luke went to move his tongue back down to her pussy, she stopped him for she had to rest. Moved be a sudden idea, Alice pushed Luke onto his back where she proceeded to do the same things to Luke that he had done to her. She really enjoyed her sudden power over Luke for she had him quivering by the time she had got down to his cock. Now she had never sucked a cock, but by listening to various other woman, Alice had a theoretical knowledge on how to do it. As she started, she heard Luke whisper: “Be gentle please. God be gentle.” And the rest of it was babble. Alice started by tracing his member with her tongue. When she got to his balls, she sucked each one of them into her mouth and massaged them with her tongue before allowing them to pop back out of her mouth. When she checked on Luke's cock, she found that is far harder and larger than it had been when she had started. She then slowly ran her tongue up the underside and watched as Luke's cock twitched and his hips thrust upwards. Since she didn't' want him to cum yet, she went back to light teasing until he settled down a bit. Then it was back to working on his cock. This time she started with the head as she swirled her tongue around it. She accidentally got some pre-cum on her tongue and quickly decided that she liked the taste even though it was salty and had a slight metallic taste. She then opened her mouth and took Luke as deep into her mouth as she could. She was able to get almost all of his cock into his mouth before she gagged. As she pulled her head up, she used her mouth to pull a slight vacuum on Luke as her tongue swirled around his cock. Since she could watch his eyes while she did this; she had seen his eyes roll back into his head. She smiled as she repeated the process slowly. Doing this, she kept him almost ready to cum but not quite there. She kept this up for almost five minutes all the while Luke's cock grew larger and harder. When Alice thought that Luke couldn't handle any more, she rolled off of him and spread her legs wide. She was ready to get laid. When Luke opened his eyes, Alice noticed that they had glazed over and instead of his usual warm look; he had lust in his eyes. This scared and excited Alice at the same time. “Come on Luke, I'm ready. Now give it to me!!” As soon as Luke could focus a bit, he moved down to Alice's feet and kissed his way up. This time he didn't stop at her pussy or her tits. When Luke reached Alice's lips, she could feel the tip of his cock rubbing on her puffy lips. Alice shifted her hips slightly and the tip of Luke's cock slipped into her. Alice then wrapped her legs over Luke's ass and dug her fingers into his back, drawing blood, as she pulled him into her. Deeper and deeper he moved, forcing Alice's tight pussy to give it room. Alice kept pulling on Luke until he bottomed out inside her. She then shifted her hips some more and she felt Luke's tip push on her cervix. This caused her some bad pain and she stopped. Luke thankfully had seen her pain and pulled back enough to where it didn't hurt anymore. Slowly he pulled his cock out until, just the tip was still inside her. He then reversed course and drove deep inside her again. If Alice thought that the orgasms that she had before were mind blowing then she had another thing coming. Slowly both of them built toward their orgasms. Alice discovered her Kegel muscles by accident and Luke's reaction encouraged her to continue. She would flex her muscles in the opposite direction that Luke was moving and this drove both of them wild with lust. Finally, Alice had enough; she wanted Luke's cum planted deep inside her so she pulled on Luke harder. He quickly got the message and he started pounding her. The biggest difference between Marion and Alice was that Alice was a quiet love maker while Marion was quite loud. It only took Luke a minute of pounding Alice's tight body for him to explode. Thermonuclear blast went off in his eyes and even the light from a candle bothered him. What happened to Alice was worse for Luke cumming had set her off. This orgasm dwarfed all the other ones that she had ever had. Her grip on Luke was so tight that he thought that she might crack a rib, not that he cared at the moment. He shot nine loads of cum deep into Alice, but she didn't feel all of them for she blacked out, about half way through. Once Luke finished, he rolled off of her and pulled her close to him. He then managed to pull the cover over their bodies before he passed out. Watching all the action from the shadows across the room were Marion and Gabriel. They each had one of their hands on the other's pussy as they watched and had already given each other a couple of pleasurable orgasms watching Luke and Alice. When Luke and Alice finished Gabriel leaned over and whispered in Marion's ear. “I think we have another for our bed for I doubt that Alice could ever be satisfied with another man ever again.” Marion nodded her agreement as she pulled Gabriel out of the room. They had set up Luke's sleeping gear in one of the outer rooms. They snuggled up in each other's arms and passed out for they didn't want to make too much noise. Chapter 68. The next morning Luke woke up to a sight that he hoped he would still remember on his death bed. In fact, as soon as he had time, he was determined to sketch it so that he couldn't forget. Alice was lying next to him with her fire red hair spread around her head like a halo of fire in the morning sun while the cover stopped just below her tits, leaving them bathed in sunlight. He quietly slipped out of bed and went bathroom. When he got back, he just couldn't bear the thought of this gorgeous creature waking up by herself, so he crawled back into bed with her and wrapped his arms around her. He lay there just thinking how lucky he was. After all he had a loving wife and a pregnant lover. He had a beautiful daughter that was healthy. He commanded the most powerful army in the world and his wife was rapidly becoming the most powerful noble in England. Now he had just spent a night with someone who was possibly the only woman on Earth that was more beautiful than his wife. Yes, he was a very lucky man and he knew it. Peeking through one of the doors was Marion and Gabriel. They watched as Luke got up and then crawled back into bed with Alice, which for her part, was still sleeping soundly. “I'm wondering if you just created a monster, darling.” “I know my husband and there is no way that he would leave me. Actually, I'm glad that he got back in bed with her. She shouldn't wake up alone. Come on Gabriel let's get out of here before we get caught spying.” They left to get a jump on the day's work. It was almost an hour later before Alice woke up. At first, she was confused but when she saw Luke looking up at her smiling, everything came back to her. She was so glad that her first time was someone who was so loving and caring as Luke. “Oh Luke, how can I ever thank you for last night? That was the most wonderful experience that I have ever had. I mean I never dreamed that it could be so good.” “Usually it's not that good, but when two people are perfectly in sync with each other than magic happens. Sometimes even Marion and I have disappointing sex. Usually something is bothering one of us. When that happens you just soldier on and try to understand the other person as best you can. It's when it repeatedly happens, that's when you have a problem. As for thanking me, just live your life so that you are happy.” “Right now, I don't know what will make me happy but I am so glad that we did that.” Alice and Luke laid they in bed for a little while and quietly talked while Luke traced Alice's curves very lightly with his fingertips. Mostly they talked about Alice's feelings. After all, her fiancé had just been killed and now she had slept with the man who had got her out of sexual servitude. Finally, Alice got up. She was sticky and had to get a shower. Since Luke needed one too, they shared a shower. As they got up, Alice noticed that Luke's cock was hard again. “Oh my. Is that from me?” Luke looked down at his cock and smiled. “Now why would you think that me seeing one of the most beautiful women in the world naked would case little Luke to stand at attention.” “You think I'm beautiful? Even with my scar, partially missing ear, and small tits?” “Honey, you give Marion a run for her money, and if I wasn't married to her, I would have a very hard time deciding on which one of you are more beautiful. As far as your scar goes; it just shows that you are a very courageous woman who isn't afraid to fight. With your small tits you won't have to worry about them becoming shapeless bags when you get older.” Alice smiled at Luke and she was sure that her checks were bright red. Moving by instinct, she went over and holding Luke's cock, took him back to the shower where she turned the water on. Once the water was warm, they got in where Alice wrapped her arms around Luke's neck. He moved his hands down to her legs to give her more support and in doing so pulled Alice's cunt right to his cock. He then hooked his elbows under Alice's knees and this opened her pussy up fully to Luke. Alice's eyes were instantly covered in lust as she reached down and guided Luke's cock into her pussy. Luke moved so that he could pin Alice against the wall. Doing this allowed him to pound her senseless and that is exactly what he did. Within minutes, Alice was reduced to a ragdoll as Luke's pounding and the steam from the water had completely overwhelmed her senses. She was now in a state of near constant orgasms as Luke continued to work her. Alice's jaw hung slack, her eyes were completely glazed over when they weren't rolled back into her head, and her tits were jiggling in sync with Luke's pounding as he got closer to his orgasm. Finally, mercifully, Luke exploded deep inside Alice although he doubted that she realized it. Gently he sat her down on a built-in bench and proceeded to clean her and himself up. Once done, he dried Alice off and laid her out in bed and covered her up. He then started getting ready for the day because he was sure that he had paperwork to do. When he left the room, Alice was still sleeping soundly. An hour later, Alice found Luke in his office. She had come to tell him that she was headed back to her hospital. Marion called out from her office: “Are you going to be staying with us tonight?” “No, I don't think so. After all I don't want to wear out my welcome.” “Alice, look here. I talked it over with Gabriel and we would be honored if you moved in with us.” “I can't do that. Not this soon after Markus.” “Okay well the invitation will remain standing if in the future you get lonely.” “Thank you, Marion.” A couple of hours later Marion got a message from Alice. “Will be releasing King Hardrada in a couple of hours.” Marion had already decided on what she wanted from the king. She didn't want money, she wanted all of his British lands. When Marion told the king what his ransom was, he exploded. He was not going to part with any of his land. “Fine then” Marion said “Guards, take this man and put him in a cell.” Looking back at Hardrada “When you finally come to your senses and turn over the land that I want, you and the remainder your army will be released. Until then you will remain in a prison cell. Also remember that the longer you wait the higher the price for your freedom for I will be charging you for housing and feeding the rest of your men.” Marion and Gabriel watched as the furious king was hauled away. “How long do you think before he comes to his senses?” asked Gabriel “Couple of days.” Chapter 69. Just as Marion had predicted, the king of Norway signed over all of his British lands to Marion after a few days and paid her outrageous price for housing and feeding his army. She had intentionally overcharged to force the king to do what she wanted him to do. After he had signed, he and the remainder of his army was given enough ships to get back to Norway. The rest Marion kept for she could use then to fairy troops and material up to her new lands. He had enough of dealing with Marion of York for she was a very dangerous shark and he for one was very slow to realize that. Negotiating with the king of Scotland was a different matter altogether. He refused to give Marion anything. For the most part he refused to even look at her. But that was okay; for Marion had a better idea. She ordered her army to continue into Scotland and conquer it. Doing that would take some serious time for she knew all about the highlanders but given the history that Luke had told her, she figured that it was better to conquer Scotland now while she had the chance. After she had decided on the course of action, she stopped even trying to negotiate with the Scottish king. She figured that once Scotland had been conquered, then she would exile the king to somewhere in Europe. Furthermore, this was the course of action that Luke supported. It was now early November and none of the English nobles had challenged William of Normandy so Marion and Luke started finalizing their plans. They would draw down the northern army to be able to send extra troops south. This army Luke would command in person because the battle that they would fight would have massive repercussions on the future. All told he would be able to take almost ten thousand soldiers south and since William hadn't really moved from his coastal fort, Luke figured that his army could be there in about two weeks or less, depending on the roads. Marion would stay in York for Luke was unwilling to let his wife take the risk of coming with the army. Gabriel had to stay behind anyway because she was starting to have a hard time moving around due to her pregnancy. She didn't mind though for she was looking forward toward being a mother. Alice however would be going. Since the surprise Scottish attack, she was short of medics and doctors She knew that in a couple of years this wouldn't have been a problem but for the time being, she just didn't have enough personal to send with Luke. She figured that by her going along that at least Luke would have at least one competent doctor. To help Luke's army move faster, he was taking Pollyanna and all of her engineers with him. He knew that many of the existing bridges wouldn't be able to support the weight of his artillery so they would have to build their own bridges across many of the rivers and streams they came to. The night before the army left however, Luke asked Gabriel to sleep somewhere else for the night. He wanted to be able to make love to his wife without interruptions. Gabriel was about to refuse but then she saw the look in Luke's eyes. It seemed like he was almost pleading with her and he looked very sad. Part of the reason was that he knew that he would be gone for a while and part of it was that he had a voice in his head telling him that he wouldn't survive this campaign and this terrified Luke. Marion knew that something was off the second that she heard that Luke had asked Gabriel to sleep somewhere else that night but she didn't argue. During their shower, Marion really noticed something was off for Luke was moving much slower and more deliberate than he usually did. He made sure to rub every millimeter of Marion's body and this caused her to melt into his arms. When she tried to mount him, in the shower, he stopped her and whispered in her ear: “What's your hurry?” After they got out of the shower, Marion's curiosity finally got the better of her. “Luke, honey. What's wrong? You never refuse me mounting you in the shower.” She saw Luke take a deep breath and squeeze his eyes shut. Finally, he spoke: “I'm absolutely terrified Marion. We are about to permanently alter the future and what if it turns out to be the wrong call. Furthermore, I got this voice in my head that keeps telling me that I won't make it through this campaign.” When he finished, he started crying. Marion was at his side in a second and she knew just how to get him to calm down. She pulled his head down until one of her nipples was in his mouth. At first, he wouldn't suckle at all, but after a while basic instincts took over. Slowly he began to suck at his wife's nipple as she cradled his head and he quietly cried. It really scared her to see her husband in such a state. Slowly Luke's hands began to roam Marion's body and his trademark feather light touch was starting to get Marion aroused. She also noticed a change in the way that Luke was sucking her nipples for he was now working them so that she would get increasing pleasure. As Luke was caressing her body, Marion's hands were roaming Luke's as best they could. She knew that Luke would be okay when he started kissing the rest of her body. As he kissed her, she continued to rub his shoulders. Somehow, she knew that tonight was not a night for animalistic fucking; tonight, it was slow and long love making. Gently she pushed Luke onto his back and she began to kiss on him. She felt one of his hands find its way into her hair where it stayed. Marion kept kissing Luke's body until he began to moan softly. This is what she was waiting for and she swung a leg over Luke's body and slowly sunk down on his cock. They didn't stay that way very long for Luke flipped them over so that he could easily kiss Marion while he thrust up into her. The pace that Luke was setting was almost maddening for Marion because she felt like she was stuck and wasn't getting any closer to cumming, but one look into Luke's eyes killed any protest that Marion was going to make. His eyes didn't convey any of the lust that they usually did while they were making love. Instead, what Marion saw was pure love. However, something else was buried in there and this scared Marion for she saw some of the sheer terror that Luke was feeling. Eventually they ended up one their sides with Marion facing away from Luke and his cock buried deep into her cunt. He was lightly flicking her clit and this drove her quickly toward her climax. Also, in this position she found that she could completely relax. Suddenly her climax hit and she wasn't ready for it. Her body seized up as it took over and she stayed tense for almost a minute before she started to shake violently and she had to admit that she had never shaken harder. As she was finishing, she felt Luke swell up and felt his hot cum flood her pussy. When he finished, he didn't even bother pulling out as he wrapped his arms around Marion and they both went to sleep. The next morning, Luke was up earlier than usual and by the time that Marion woke up, Luke was dressed for he had a couple of hours of work to do before the army could get underway. Before he left, he gave Marion a love filled kiss. On his way out, he saw Gabriel sleeping on the coach so he went over and gave her a kiss on her forehead and whispered to her: “Take care of her while I'm gone and when I don't come back, please watch over her and never let her forget me.” With that he shed a tear, turned on his heel, and was out the door. He wanted to have the army on the train by eight am, so he had just a couple of hours to get ready. Fortunately, his troops were all well trained and they had been put on alert a few days before so they were all in their barracks and sober so it didn't take that long to get them ready. At about 7:30 they started loading and Luke wasn't surprised to see Marion and Gabriel there and in uniform. What he was surprised by was that Marion had Mackenzie in her arms. At least they were able to get one last kiss in and Luke held Marion tight in his arms and buried his nose in her hair for he knew that he wouldn't be returning. He took Mackenzie and gave her a kiss as well before he bounced her up and down in his arms. Finally, it was time to go and he gave Mackenzie back to Marion. After one last kiss, he boarded the train. When Marion and Gabriel got back to the castle, they went to find Alice. She was scheduled to leave on a later train so she was still relaxing in her chambers. Marion had to talk to her urgently. When Marion came into the room, it took Alice all of two seconds to figure out that something was seriously wrong. “What's wrong, Marion?” “Can I ask a personal favor of you?” “Yes of course.” “Can you keep an extra eye on my Luke please?” Marion went on to explain what Luke was concerned with and when she finished Alice was stunned. She would have never in a million years thought that Luke would be terrified of a voice inside his own head. But then the more she thought about it the more it made sense; after all you couldn't just ignore a voice in your head like you could with other people. She gave Marion a warm smile. “And what all can I do to help keep the voices out of his head?” “Anything that you want, just don't hurt him please.” “Now Marion, you know damn well that I could never hurt Luke; plus, it goes against the Hippocratic oath.” “Thank you, Alice. Thank you so much. I can't even begin to tell you just how much this means to me.” Marion gave Alice a hug and left with Gabriel and Mackenzie. To be continued in part 15, Based on a post by somethin fishy, for Sex Stories.

And so it came to pass that Charlie Higson's epic podcast Willie Willie Harry Stee made its long awaited transformation from Podcast to Book!Yes, on October 9th, Charlie's personal history of the monarchy becomes a literary work, with deliciously witty illustrations by Jim Moir.It's a rip-roaring romp through history that takes in the Normans, Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, Hanoverians and Windsors, not to mention the infamous Blois (how can we forget them?).But hang on......how can Charlie interview himself about his own book?? Well, he can't, which is why the excellent Al Murray returns to probe the author.You can pre-order or buy the book here: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/willie-willie-harry-stee-an-epically-short-history-of-our-kings-and-queens-charlie-higson?variant=55169046708603 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The long-heralded first County Episode of Three Ravens Series 7 is finally here and is a bumper-length installment all about the historic county of Cardiganshire on the west coast of Wales!Unable to resist discussing a local saint, Eleanor begins by introducing us to Carantoc, a dragon-slaying local hero who lost a special altar, apparently. Though luckily King Arthur was about to find it for him. Despite maybe having stolen it in the first place...After that, we whip through Cardiganshire's history, including its mythical ancient king Ceredig - from whom the county gets its Welsh name of 'Ceredigion' - to its conquering by gold-hungry Romans, resistance to the Normans, and the devastation wrought upon it by Cromwell's New Model Army.Sparsely populated and extremely rural, Cardiganshire is rich with mythology, such as the drowned lands of Cantre'r Gwaelod, an astonishing number of ghost animals (including an overly-affectionate spectral pig), giants with toothache, child-stealing fairies, and the 'Beast of Bont.' Yet, there's one tale that stands head and shoulders above the others. As discussed with this week's Local Legends guest, storyteller Milly Jackdaw, this story is that of the birth of Taliesin, the legendary Dark Age Brythonic poet who has since come to define key aspects of Welsh national character.Consequently, despite this week's 'Treasure of Wales' being the Holy Grail, the chewed-up remnants of which are currently located at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, and a plethora of other legends from Devilish goings-on to portentous Corpse Candles that augur doom, what choice did Eleanor have but to tell her take on that very story?Her version, entitled "The Cauldron of Awen," is a wild and poetic ride that bridges land and sea, vast spans of time, and transformations from human to animal and back again. After she's told it, we then discuss the legend's symbolism, share some news of an exciting archaeological discovery from just over the border in England, and dig into the Three Ravens mailbag, which is bursting at the seams from a long summer of correspondence!We really hope you enjoy the episode and are already exciting to speak to you again on Thursday in our Forgotten Melodies bonus episode all about Harvest Songs, all before the full interview with Milly comes out on Saturday!The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcastProud members of the Dark Cast Network.CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE THREE RAVENS ACAST SURVEY - PLEASE DO! IT'LL HELP!!!Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Live Recorded Set from VirtualDJ Radio ClubZone

The forests of Britain and Ireland not only fuelled their indigenous populations, but also the Romans, Anglo Saxons, Vikings and Normans. Tonight, Éanna chats to biologist Jonathan Mullard, who is the author of a recently published book entitled 'Forgotten Forests: Twelve Thousand Years of British and Irish Woodlands'

The Battle of Hastings, which took place on October 14, 1066 was a pivotal moment in the invasion from across the English Channel that resulted in the conquest of Anglo-Saxon England by William, the French Duke of Normandy.Written by Wenxi Liu. In honor of Wenxi Liu, April 21, 1949 - October 30, 2023.Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production byHannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/october-2016-norman-conquest-england-1066This is a production of Origins: Current Events inHistorical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.

What do mullets, SpongeBob stick-and-pokes, and foil-wrapped sandwiches have in common? According to this week's guest, London writer Clive Martin, they're all hallmarks of a new type of food-obsessed, young urban professional that Clive calls the “defining person-type of 2025.” You know the type: people who queue up around the block for hours for a taste of the latest Instagram-viral, cartoonishly gigantic Italian sandwiches, in a neighborhood where the old school Italian sandwich shops are being displaced. Clive calls these people “The Normans,” after a North London cafe-restaurant they frequented for its loving homages to greasy-spoon staples like chippy teas and chicken fingers. But it's a subculture that transcends international borders, at least in the English speaking world: a distinctly bro-y strain of contemporary foodie culture fueled by viral images of oozing cheeseburgers, indie rock music, Anthony Bourdain hagiography, and upscale, farm-to-table recreations of working class and immigrant food traditions. The plan their weekends around new eateries, walk around wearing restaurant merch, and secretly wish they could they could quit their fintech job and start over as Carmy from The Bear. Clive is a former colleague of ours from VICE, and one of our favorite observers of contemporary culture—especially when it comes to cities and gentrification. We brought him on to discuss his article for VICE, titled “Meet the Normans,” and how food supplanted music, film, and art as the dominant mode of cultural consumption among young people. We also get into the subculture's nature as a kind of masculine reaction to other strains of millennial yuppie food culture, how both the food internet and the bro internet are reshaping our cities, and how the rising cost of living is pushing the gentrification cycle into exurban areas like Upstate New York, Margate, and Joshua Tree. Finally, we share some of our favorite, decidedly not-Norman restaurants in London, Philly, and LA that are still hanging on.Follow Clive on X @clive_mart1nRead more by Clive:“Urban sprawlers: How city folk ruined the countryside” (The Face)“Ketamine, crime, and chaos: Life in a London party slum” (VICE)Other relevant reads:“Welcome to Neo New York, where everything feels old school but isn't” by Emilie Friedlander (VICE)“We are all foodies now” by Steven Phillips-Horst (Spike Art) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theculturejournalist.substack.com/subscribe

Don't Whistle At Night welcomes Filmmakers Jenny Pond and Norman Brown Date: July 27th, 2025 EP: 14 Topic: Discussion will centre around Jenny and Norman's Research via their Team - Ramah Bigfoot, concentrating on the sightings and experiences of the various Navajo Tribes About Our Guests: Jenny Pond – Filmmaker & Producer Director/Producer of Poison Wind (2007), a documentary that exposes the deadly legacy of health hazards caused by uranium mining in the Four Corners region. She directed and co-produced it with fellow filmmaker and Dine' actor, Norman Patrick Brown. Jenny has over 15 years of professional experience in film and TV production, with credits including VFX work on the movie Flightplan (2005), starring Jodi Foster. She also served as an associate producer for MTV's Room Raiders and supervising the script for The Curse of El Chorro from Pretty Dangerous Films with Danny Trejo. Jenny is a full-time resident of Ramah, NM and works as a contract photographer for the Gallup Sun, a weekly newspaper. In 2023, she received an award from the New Mexico Press Association for her photo of an ultimate fan attending a Gallup Bengals girls softball game. She has experienced many paranormal events throughout her life and enjoys sharing those experiences on her Ramah NM Bigfoot Facebook group. She is a member of the Gallup Film Committee and is looking forward to the UFO FF in Gallup this fall with eagerness. Active on social media under handles like @RavenRanch she enjoys sharing multimedia content and glimpses from her life and work. ( Waiting for Normans bio and pic. These 2 are head of Ramah Bigfoot group

Whether or not Outdoor Voices can make a comeback after their cryptic Instagram behavior, oversized and battered tote bags, the rise of Normans aka 'soft sleeze' guys, the flex of pre-released books, wishlist items, and more.Subscribe to the newsletter: retailpod.substack.com willdefries.substack.com Shop the Sunday Scaries Scented Candles: www.vellabox.com/sundayscariesWatch all Retail Therapy episodes on YouTube: www.youtube.com/sundayscariespodcastSupport This Week's SponsorsShopify: www.shopify.com/scaries ($1/month trial!)Follow AlongRetail Therapy on Instagram: www.instagram.com/retail.podWill deFries on Twitter: www.twitter.com/willdefriesWill deFries on Instagram: www.instagram.com/willdefries Barrett Dudley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/barrettdudleyBarrett Dudley on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barrettdudleySunday Scaries on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sundayscariesSunday Scaries on Instagram: www.instagram.com/sunday.scaries

What if the rich flavors of Italian American culture could speak the stories of centuries? This episode promises a delicious exploration of Italian American heritage, as John and Pat take you on a captivating journey through the heart of Little Italy in New York City. From the humorous mishaps with Sicilian garduna to the challenges of sourcing authentic ingredients, we unravel the culinary traditions that have shaped our families and continue to influence our kitchens today.   Stepping into the past, we illuminate the vibrant and often overlooked history of Norman Sicily. Discover the legacy of Roger II, whose strategic brilliance transformed Sicily into a prosperous kingdom. We draw parallels between medieval Sicily and England, highlighting the Normans' far-reaching influence and their unique governance, which allowed for a flourishing, culturally rich society. Through fascinating stories and meticulous research, we reveal how these medieval connections still echo through time.   Finally, we delve into the enduring impact of Norman rule in Sicily and the ongoing efforts to preserve this heritage through the innovative Norman Sicily Project. Learn how a dedicated team is digitally reconstructing Norman society to safeguard this rich history for future generations. With insights from interdisciplinary studies and personal stories, we celebrate the resilience of Sicilian culture and the scholarly pursuits that continue to bring its stories to light. Join us in exploring the intricate tapestry of Sicilian identity and its lasting influence across time and continents.   WEBSITE: https://www.normansicily.org/en/resources/learn/group_one/

We appreciate you spending some time to discuss a very important topic here at the DesOrmeaux Foundation, adoption. This show is titled, Adoption and the mystery of sonship and we will be discussing St. John Paul II"s take on why adoption is the reflection of God's love. To better break this topic open Adele, Becki and Tom are joined by Jared and Brittany Normand of St. Martinville, LA. The Normans have 2 adopted sons and their inspirational story will guide us to a better understanding of why JP II considered adoption to be an act that was close to God's heart.

Metal detectorists and members of the general public have contributed hugely to our understanding of Britain's past, through the artefacts they have found hidden in the ground. Speaking to David Musgrove, Michael Lewis and Ian Richardson revisit some of the everyday discoveries that have reshaped history – from a Bronze Age cup with magical properties and a Roman cavalry helmet that would have been very hard to see out of, to a hoard of gold coins that tells us a lot about resistance to the Normans after 1066. (Ad) Michael Lewis and Ian Richardson are authors of Beneath our Feet: Everyday Discoveries Reshaping History (Thames & Hudson, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beneath-our-Feet-Discoveries-Reshaping/dp/0500027528/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've released the first two episodes of our standalone miniseries with the folks from ⁠We're Not So Different⁠⁠⁠. Get the rest of the episodes ⁠here⁠! The expedition begins to take shape. We continue to explore the fallout from Pope Urban II's call for Crusade at the Council of Clermont, as lords from across France prepare to set off. We look especially at the Normans under Bohemond of Taranto, who will play an outsized role in the campaign to come and whose conquest of Sicily offers some insight into how that campaign would be conducted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the heels of my trip with a group of Patrons to Campania, I wanted to do a show on Taurasi while it was still fresh in my mind.   Taurasi, a small (472 ha / 1,166 acres) DOCG region, is indisputably one of Italy's greatest red wines along with Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello, Chianti, Vino Nobile, and Montefalco Sagrantino. Taurasi, made of the ancient Aglianico grape, is in Campania, more specifically in hills northeast of Irpinia/Avellino and is centered around the town of Taurasi, a small town with a 10th-century castle that was rebuilt by the Normans.   Over the 17 towns within the denomination soils and altitudes range dramatically. Higher altitudes create complex, more acidic styles due to a longer growing season with great diurnal swings. Towns with more clay create extremely tannic wines, while those with sand have certain warmth and fruitiness that makes them easy to drink in their youth. There are a multitude of styles and, with soils in the region layered like a lasagna, the flavors you get from the Aglianico grape depend largely on the site on which it grows.   Aglianico is a misunderstood grape, as is Taurasi as a wine. Aglianico is a red with complex, terroir driven flavors of dark fruit, red fruit, spice, black pepper notes, and excellent acidity and tannin. Taurasi, made from a biotype of Aglianico that is particularly dark-skinned, small berried and flavorful makes exquisite wines that have the aging capability of a Barolo or Bordeaux.   The grape translates the terroir into the bottle and both where the grapes grow and who makes the wine determines the style – it's an area you could explore for ages and keep discovering new expressions of Aglianico. In fact, Taurasi is called the “Barolo of the South” for nuance and depth of flavor, and variation of its terroir. In this show I cover the extensive history of the region, with all its ups and downs, the climate, altitudes, and land and then discuss the expression of the Aglianico grape and why it makes such fascinating wines.   If you haven't had a Taurasi, get on it. Vis a vis other top wines, it is insanely affordable (top wines are less than US$100) and it is a wine that will hold your interest with every sip!   Certainly for its history and for its quality, Taurasi is one of the great wines of the world.   Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today! www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople _______________________________________________________________   This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can't go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up!     

Discussion and debate with Katie Hannon.

John and Sarah ask if Gardai have questions to answer over the Michael Gaine investigation, discuss whether commemorating Normans is appropriate, ask if John's TDS is cured, and talk about the newest Bonnie Blue copycat.

John and Sarah ask if Gardai have questions to answer over the Michael Gaine investigation, discuss whether commemorating Normans is appropriate, ask if John's TDS is cured, and talk about the newest Bonnie Blue copycat.

Earlier this week, the Government approved plans for Ireland's Norman heritage to be celebrated as part of a European-wide cultural initiative called ‘2027 European year of the Normans' to mark the group's impact on western civilisation.But, not everyone is particularly happy with the idea of celebrating Ireland's 12th century invaders.Aengus Ó Snodaigh is Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South Central and the party's spokesperson on Gaeilge, Gaeltacht and the Arts and Culture. He joins Seán to discuss.Image: BBC History

Welcome to another exciting episode of "Dishing with Stephanies Dish." In this episode, I am joined by my fellow travel enthusiast, Michael Kenney from Defined Destinations, as we dive into the world of adventurous group travel. Fresh from their trips to Croatia and Asia, they're setting their sights on a new journey to Sicily, Italy. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or a wanderlust-driven explorer, you'll discover the unique experiences that Sicily promises, from breathtaking historic cities to mesmerizing volcanoes and, of course, delectable Italian cuisine. Join Stephanie and the Michaels for a delightful conversation about the joys of traveling with a group, the thrill of meeting new people, and the authentic charm that awaits in Sicily. Whether you're considering joining their next adventure or simply living vicariously through their tales, this episode offers a captivating glimpse into the magic of defined destinations. Let the journey begin!Stephanie Hansen:Hello, everybody. Welcome to the podcast, Dishing with Stephanie's Dish. I hope you're doing great today. I am here with my friend, Michael Kenney, and Michael and I have been traveling together a couple years now. Right, Michael?Michael Kenney:Yeah. We've had, two trips under our belt. So it's, a trip to Croatia and, just recently that Cambodia Vietnam trip. So we've been we've been putting some miles down, Stephanie.Stephanie Hansen:I actually actually was somewhere last night and ran into someone from our trip, and we were comparing our bracelets from when we met the Buddhist monk because both of us still have ours on. Yes.Michael Kenney:Mine, like, just kinda fell apart.Stephanie Hansen:It was such a Oh,Michael Kenney:I woke up in the sun.Stephanie Hansen:Trip. Yes. I'm I'm gonna keep it on as long as I can. It was such a life changing trip. Asia was somewhere that I'd always wanted to go and really didn't have the confidence to do it by myself. So you gave me confidence. Going with other people gave me confidence, and we ended up having such a great time. Pretty good.Stephanie Hansen:I have had another great trip with you. We went to Croatia, and that was an awesome trip. We were on kind of like an exclusive private yacht with, Stan, our tour guide, who was probably one of the best tour guides ever.Michael Kenney:For sure.Stephanie Hansen:And you're going back there to Croatia this summer, aren't you?Michael Kenney:Yeah. Personally, I'm not. I'm gonna have somebody else. I'm a little envious because, yeah, that that trip was straight out of a dream. And, you and your, listeners, followers, they were so much fun.Stephanie Hansen:So Yeah. We did have a good time.Michael Kenney:Yeah. It was great.Stephanie Hansen:So I wanted to podcast with you because people ask me all the time about these trips and, like, how it works and what we do and, you know, like, are you, like, checking people's passports? I'm like, no. Silly. I'm not. But we have a trip coming up to Sicily, a taste of Sicily, which you have so sweetly on your your background there. That's smart. October 14 through the twenty second. And our final payments, I think, are due in June. So we're kind of in the hunt for getting everybody signed up and confirmed.And I wanted to talk with you. I've been to Italy a lot, actually, but I've never been to Sicily. So I'm excited about what that area is gonna be like and you've been. So I thought, alright. Let's just talk a little bit about this and get to know a little bit about how these trips work. So, I like to do trips with people because I like to travel with others. And people always ask me, well, are they food trips? Yes. They are food.Like, we eat food. We enjoy food. We talk about food, but it isn't, like, exclusively a food trip. We know that when you're going to some of these historic destinations that you also wanna see some of the beautiful sites. So we try to mix in some food things like special tastings, special wine events, or special dinners, but we also wanna give you some time to explore the region on your own so that you can go to the restaurants that really appeal to you. And, you know, when you're going with the group, sometimes it's not easy to go to some of these really exclusive special places because you have a larger group. Our group on a trip like this would be, what, would you say, like, less than, like, 26 probably?Michael Kenney:Yeah. It this group size will be anywhere from 20 to 30 maximum on this trip. So it's a real nice, you know, size group for sure.Stephanie Hansen:And you've been to Sicily before. When was the last time you went?Michael Kenney:I was with a group two years ago in Sicily. So I've been there three other times. So just most recently, just two years ago.Stephanie Hansen:And you and I like, I kinda gave you my short list of places. And you asked me about Sicily, and I was like, oh, well, I don't know. I've never really thought about that. And you were like, oh my gosh. It's one of your favorite places in Italy. So tell me what it is that you love about Sicily in particular.Michael Kenney:Yeah. No. That that that's a great question. You already mentioned you've been to Italy several times, and we get a lot of people that have been to Italy. And they're like, alright. I've already done that. Or maybe you haven't, you know, seen the the Colosseum and Venice and things like that. Sicily is is Italian, but it's an island in the middle of the Mediterranean.Michael Kenney:So it's just it's it's it's similar, but it's different. I think everything is elevated. Their food, their sites. I mean, the history has a whole Greek, northern the Arabs. It's a Spanish influence in Normans. They've all kinda come to this island in the middle of the the Mediterranean and put, like, their best foods, their their best everything. And it's kinda mixes and makes a Sicilian dish, which is really cool. So it's it's similar, yes, with their pastas and things like that in Mainland Europe, but it's it's a different notch.Michael Kenney:I think it's above, regular standard Italian food. It's just the flavors, the the spices, everything like that is just it's so good. And that's just the food side of it. And then, of course, I already mentioned with with the Greeks in the Spanish and the Normans, they have their own architectures that they brought, a mix of different languages. So you really feel like you're in a whole another country. It says in Italy, but the Sicilians say we're Sicilian first, then we're Italian.Stephanie Hansen:That's funny.Michael Kenney:So it's it's really so different, of an experience on that end. And I even have, a couple of friends going on this trip, and they've never been to Europe before. And they're saying, hey. We're we're gonna join you on this trip because it sounds lovely, but we've never been to Europe. We've never seen the Colosseum, things like that. Like, is this a good trip for us to take? I go, for sure it is. I mean, you don't have these, you know, the Leaning Tower Of Pisa, but once you get get to these places, you'll say, oh my gosh. I mean, a church that's, a thousand years old, or the little villages that are, you know, 500 years old and just oozing with this with charm.So you're really, having this real great Italian Sicilian experience, but maybe not knowing the sites, but it'll kinda resonate even better when you come back and tell your stories. It's just a beautiful, beautiful trip.Stephanie Hansen:And I think, you know, I've been to Rome. I've been to a lot of the little Italian islands on sailing trips with my husband. And we've been to Naples. We've been to Venice. We've been all over, really. And each of Italy has its own uniqueness, but the islands themselves are just something different because you really did get a lot of influences of people coming through and the trading that happened. And they also weren't as involved in the wars because they were sort of moving to the mainland. So you get a lot of different preservation possibilities, and the culture just held up because they weren't impacted by the wars in the same way.Michael Kenney:Exactly. And I think even early on, Sicilians were were very poor as well. So a lot of things just really, held. So they didn't, you know, knock down buildings and build new skyscrapers, things like that. It's like you're being, on the set of The Godfather, which was filmed there too, part of it at least. And, it was, like, set in time, and you're going there and just really experiencing the the feel, the taste, the smell, even you could call, like, the grit of, like, Palermo. I mean, it has this edge to it in a sense, like, this is a real living city. It sound like all spruced up to be perfect, like, on a set, but that's what makes it so so fantastic.It it's it's real. And I don't think you always get that experience that you're in in Central Rome, and they they, you know, it's all beautiful up. Again Palermo and all these cities that will visit are extremely beautiful but it has it's just a different edge to it and every group that I've ever been there with Stephanie if they've come back and said wow this is a dream. Not just the food, the sites, the experiences, the people. The people are real. They're they're fabulous. So it's it's a real real, just an amazing immersion, if you will, to Sicily.Stephanie Hansen:One of the things that people ask me about too, and I'll be honest with you. I'm not really, like, someone that you would think of as a group traveler. I like a certain amount of, alone time. I don't love to have every single thing coordinated for me. My husband, as you know, is a big adventurer and explorer. He's always the first one to do anything crazy on these trips. But it having a group is it's so nice when it's a smaller group like this because you do get to meet new people. You do get to create a community amongst your travelers.And I'll tell you, my friend Laurie Bargini that went on our Asia trip with us, she was very she's a big traveler too, and she was like, I don't know about this group thing. I was like, just give it a try. Like, Asia's a good one to test it out because it's probably a destination you wouldn't go alone. And she signed up right away for Sicily. She was like, I loved the group elements because when I wanted to, I had a group of friends and it was fun and we could hang out together and do fun things, but also when I wanted to be alone, I could do that too. It she thought it added a whole another layer to the travel experience than you just get either with you and your spouse or you and your friends because you have this whole other dynamic of people that for the most part is pretty great.Michael Kenney:Yeah. I know. And I and that's great. And Laurie was great. I'm glad she signed up because on the flight back from Asia, she sat next to me on the flight, and that's a seventeen hour flight. And if she wants to go back, then that that that's great.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. It's good. Well, you know she talked to you the whole time probably.Michael Kenney:No. I tried to again, maybe it's like the group element. You know, have time on, time off. So I'm glad that was brought up. And I've been doing group tours for twenty eight years now, which I I I can't believe. And I I first started getting into tourism because I wanted to see sites. I'm like, I know I can't pay for it, so I need to be a tour guide and and going from that. I didn't realize the whole experience and having shared experiences with others was gonna be my highlight.And to this day, that's my favorite part is going to meet people that I've never met before and going having these shared experiences with. And and sometimes, you know, you build friends for a lifetime off of that.Michael Kinney:I think especially our last group too, we we really, built that with several of the the travelers, which is great. So and I so if you're hesitant, like, well, I'd like to this trip sounds great or any of our trips, but I am kind of worried about that. We really try to balance all our tours out. It's it's it's imperative that we have that balance of, some of the group time to have these, shared experiences to leisure time so that you can go and have your own adventures. And that is so crucial to all of our trips. That's why our hotels, and we can talk about that later, are centrally located. So once we go out and do, say, our city tour, our our our food tour in Palermo and walking around, you'll have, like, the remainder of the day to go explore on your own or some of those new friends that you met. Maybe you can go out and have a glass of wine with them.But again, it's all about that balance. And we each and every itinerary that we put together, we really work on making sure we have that balance in in the trips itself. Because I think that is the success of it. So we don't pack the days all day long on, like, seeing this, this, and this. We give you the nice highlights, and we'll have some other fun inclusions. But again, each place that we go to centrally located hotels, we have that free time too. So you can do your own thing or jump on with a group that you've met and have cocktails, Aperol spritzes in the main, Piazza later on. So it it's so fun, but it it really comes back.You register for a trip, but you don't know you're gonna meet some great people. And at at the end of the trip, it's typically these, these people and these, shared experiences come back, and that's where the meaning of the the trip comes in. It's so it's it's so much fun to see them build together.Stephanie Hansen:On each of the trips that I've done with you, we've had solo travelersMichael Kenney:Mhmm.Stephanie Hansen:Which I think people are like, oh, you know, I don't know. I don't have a partner to go with or my friend can't go. And that to me has also been super fun, like the solo travelers and the friends that they've made. And, like, one of the gals I saw from our Asia trip, I saw our friend Annie last night, and she was a solo traveler. Ended up pairing up with Laurie in a room and sharing, actually, actually, which a lot of solo travelers don't wanna share. I get that. But in this case, they both did, and they are like fast friends.Michael Kenney:That I mean, that's that's so much fun to see that. First off, if, you know, we all have it like your maybe your husband or wife or friend they don't want to go but you're like interested in this trip. We get that on all of our trips and we specifically specifically have, several single rooms set aside for those, adventure traveler seekers to have that. So you can pick your own room and go as a single or maybe you want us to to pair you up. We can do that too and get you in contact with another solo traveler like lorian annie did and that typically works out really well too but it's it's I think the like minded people looking for adventures you'll never feel like you're by yourself on any of our trips So, like, oh, I'm a third wheel. Never ever ever. And sometimes that's the best way to travel because you don't have to make sure your traveling partner is having a great time. You only can worry about yourself.Hey. I'm gonna have a great time. And, you know, all of our trip travelers that I've I've ever heard from, they've had a great time going solo, and they meet these like minded people. And, again, all of a sudden, they have friends for a lifetime, like, you know, Lori and Annie did. So if you're you're even thinking about it, like, I'm solo and I'm a little skeptical about going by myself, give us a call. Send us an email. We we can get you your own, room, single, room. They are filling up quick, though.We have a few left, or we can pair you up with somebody too to share that single supplement. But, again, you'll never feel like a third wheel with any of our tours. And this, in addition, just works really, really well for single travelers, and you'll meet some probably good friends on it.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. And, also, like, ladies, some of you I know, like, getting coming out of relationships or divorce, you wanna do something unique. I have someone in my family who are shall remain nameless, who's gonna be joining us, who wanted to get back to Europe, but she's just not in a relationship status that would work for that as the way she thought it was gonna be. So I was like, come with us. Like, we're gonna have a ball. There's men. There's women. You know, my husband has come on some trips, but others, he hasn't.And Mhmm. It's just there's a great mix of people.Michael Kenney:Yeah. No. It it it it's great. Now this isn't a singles trip, but maybe you can find Giuseppe at the local cafe. You never know. So you never know. So anyway, yeah, it it works great for whatever status you are in life, single, you know, whatever. It these really, really work really nice.And sometimes, like, my brother came, and we shared a room on our the last trip, and he just wanted to kind of have a experience and get away from, you know, what's going on in life over here and just do a reset. And he came back and said, I'm really recharged. And he's kinda like going into he's retired, and he wants to do something else in his, you know, second part of his life. And he he's going after something right now because he he was able to kinda just disconnect Yeah. And then just take it all in and then kinda come back and, like, let's go. So regardless from relationships to job hunting or whatever, sometimes these trips are great. Even if you go solo, that could even be better.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. Just to get a reset.Can you give us, like, without, like, going into all the detail, like, a high level, not day by day, but just, like, what are the towns we're gonna visit? What are because we're gonna be in, I think, three different areas.Michael Kenney:Yeah. Correct. So if you if you go on our, at definedestinations.com and look at, taste of Sicily Twenty Twenty Five, you can find the day by day, itinerary on that, and you'll get to be able to see through it. But again, it reads like a brochure, and you go through each item. And everything that we mentioned on that, it's, it is included. But the neat thing is we go from the North to the South and then all the way over to the, the East side of the island. So you're really having a great feel for the entire island itself. And, we have three nights in Palermo, and then we have one night in Agrigento, which is at the very southern on the beach, our hotel's right on the beach.You can walk right down there. And even October mid October is a great time to go too because the temperatures are, like, mid seventies, so it's super comfortable. And the water temperature is still pretty nice if you want to jump in. And then we have three nights in Siracoosa. So we we have these, like, kind of, hub and spoke places that we we do our adventures from the but we always come back to our centrally located place. So, anyway, we'll we'll find the Palermo. We have a connection. If you do our included flights, there's no, direct flights from from Minneapolis into Sicily.So we have a connection, on that.Stephanie Hansen:And let me just touch on that because some people want to work with the travel agent to have all of the flight things arranged for them, and that is an option with you. But you also do have options where people can meet you at the destination. So, like, for me, we have a lot of miles that we're always trying to burn up. Yeah. So for us, we book our own airfare so that we can use our miles, and then we sometimes add a few days on at the end, or we might even go to a different destination. With your group travel plans, both of those options are available to people.Michael Kenney:A %. I'm glad you asked that too because, yes, there's people that have miles or if they only wanna stay exclusively with Delta or United or whatever, that's fine. Our trips truly begin and end at at the hotels. With that, we do offer an included group package you can jump on, but the whole group will not be on that flight for sure. It's just an option to do that. And my my team can also, get you, flights separate from that too if you wanted to come early like you said, Stephanie, or stay light. Hey. I wanna go see the Colosseum on this trip.Great. My team can put a pre tour, post tour package together if you want to do that. Or even if you don't want any of our help, that's fine. You can just book our land only. You'll be able to see our group flight numbers on there too so you can kinda coordinate that. But the great thing is that both, airports, in Palermo we fly into, and then we fly out of Catania. They're close to both, towns, so you can easily take an Uber. So it's really pretty easy to get to and from, and that's where the, the the the tour start from.So if you're hesitant, hey. I need to book the group air. Don't worry about that. You don't have to do that by any means. We're happy to help you, on all the other aspects too to to get the airfare, with that. So, yep, we fly into Palermo. We'll settle into our our our three, our centrally located hotel, which is fabulous. Again, remind me that we need to touch on the the hotels too a little bit.Stephanie Hansen:Yep.Michael Kenney:But it's right in the center. We'll do a food tour of one of the local markets. Again, like you mentioned, maybe we have some guests on the trip that could care less about food or wine tastings. It's just a a piece of of our trip. So even if you're, a modest food lover or you only like cornflakes, there's gonna be some fun things to do on this as well. And we find that, you learn a lot about the culture through the food. Yeah. That's the reason we we do part of that too.So it'll be fun regardless. You're going through the markets. You're learning about the foods. Things like that. We go to, the the Cathedral Of Monreali, which, hey. We're seeing another church. We typically don't always do that, but this is really specific. This church is beautiful.It's got, it's it's a massive church built in the twelfth century, and they're famous for all its mosaics. The whole interior, the churches, all these fine mosaics they did almost a thousand years ago. It's unreal. So it's beautiful that we'll be doing that. We'll go to Cefalu, a little, seaside village, which is outside of Palermo a little ways. Maybe you've seen White Lotus. Part of that was filmed there or all parts of the, that, season two was filmed in Sicily. So we'll have a lot of White Lotus moments, as well on that, which which will be a lot of fun.And then from there, we'll be driving after our three nights in, in Palermo. We'll be heading south, crossing the entire, island itself. Absolutely beautiful. Even our coach rides, which aren't a lot, that they're just stunning. And and enjoying the countryside is absolutely beautiful. And we'll be going to that's where Agrigento is, and it feels like you're being stuck in Greece. Like, wow. There's all these Greek ruins, you know, two, three thousand years old.It's like, this is unbelievable. They have some of the better Greek ruins even outside of Athens, which is amazing. So walking through Agrigento, experiencing that, seeing that during the sunset, it's it's it's magical. I use that word a lot, but I think the whole trip really is. And then we we we settle into our hotel right on the beach, which is lovely. And then from there, we'll be going over to Siracusa, which is one of my favorite places ever. My first time I went to Sicily, we didn't go there. And I went back and I said, how do we skip that the first time? Siracoosa is, it's unbelievable.And you've agreed too. We we're staying right in they called it Ortega. That's like the old city of Siracusa. And we're staying right inside the city wall. So our bus will drop our private bus for our group will drop us off, and then we have to walk about ten minutes to our hotel, which is on a small little alleyway. And we'll talk about that later on. But it's a great location that we'll be doing, having different experiences, seeing all the the ruins, walking around at night. It's just beautiful.And from there, we'll be out we'll also be going to see Mount Etna, which is still an active volcano. We'll be on the sides of it. It's unbelievable. All of a sudden, you feel like you're being transported onto the moon. You see the vents and things like that. It's beautiful. And they grow some amazing wines there too on the slopes of it, and we'll be tasting some of those.Stephanie Hansen:That's so cool.Michael Kenney:Yeah. It's it's it's it really is pretty cool, because of that that rich soil just offers great Sicilian wines and the dry and the the elevation. So it it culminates to be really, really good. So, work on your Sicilian, reds. They're they're quite good.Stephanie Hansen:It will be exciting. Yeah.Michael Kenney:No. It it it's great. So I mean, it's it's seven, nights, a nine day trip, in Sicily. You'll have a real good flavor of the city, of all the areas that we visit. So it's it's quite nice. And if you go on the, the website, you'll see all the the inclusions as well. So we include mostly everything that we've talked about. There's really, we don't include all the meals because we want some experiences, for yourself too to go out and go, hey.Michael Kenney:We're gonna go to this little restaurant or whatever. Mhmm. And we have a local guide with us the entire time that will really help, talk about the history, and, you know, what's going on with the people itself, but then just pointing out great restaurants and other little experiences you can doStephanie Hansen:during the free And that's I love that because when we go to some of these places, like, I think I told you my husband is, he's kind of an you know, he's in venture. He always wants to do his own thing. So if we land in a place, he's like, okay. We're gonna take off. We're gonna go do this. We're gonna do that. And, you know, we try to balance, like, doing the group things with also him having his best life and doing some unique, food experiences just on our own. So every everybody gets a little bit of everything.It's a real delightful mix. You've been to Sicily. Now I think this will be, you said, your third time, fourth time?Michael Kenney:Fourth time.Stephanie Hansen:I'm so impressed that you're coming.Michael Kenney:Yeah. I'd well, I can't miss with your groups too. I can't go on all our trips, but this is definitely one I I, notched away because I think, part of me still is in Sicily. There's there's just something about it, and you can't you know, I've been to other parts of Italy plenty of times, and I feel like I'm an Italian, but, there's just something with Sicily. Maybe I meant I meant the grit. I've talked about that. It feels like a real city, real sites, real food, just from the the different markets, the fish markets is just everything seems really authentic.Stephanie Hansen:I love it.Michael Kenney:That's what I really, really love, and I think the guests do too. I'm I'm just envisioning myself walking and through Palermo with my last group, and there was, like, there was music being played in the streets, and people are sitting down and having glasses of wine. There was no festival going on. It was just this this zest for life thatStephanie Hansen:Yeah. The Italians just in general, they stay up late. They eat late. So they have, like, a happy hour kind of at, like, six to seven, and then they go home and get ready to go out for the dinner time in a lot of cases. So they spend a lot of time outdoors, and they like to do it when it's not in the blazing hot sun. So things really there's a great nightlife. People are, out and about into all hours of the evening, which is fun. So I'm just super excited.So if people wanna join us, you said I mean, I know we've got some rooms booked already. Yeah. So are there some rooms left if people wanna book, and what is the timeline that they should be doing that, and how do they do it?Michael Kenney:Yeah. That's a great question. So I said we have about we can handle maximum of 30 people. So we have about seven rooms up, so about 14 people. So if someone calls and say, well, will this be booked up by next week? It probably won't be, but I always tell people, go ahead, put your deposit down, hold the seat on the trip itself. And you just have to go to definedestinations.com. You can book everything right then then and there. It's super simple process.You just put your your information in. You don't need a valid passport right now to to enter that in. But you just go ahead and you fill that out, put your deposit down, at least then you'll you'll have a, a seat held for you. Then you can work on if you wanna get your own air fryer or if you wanna stay earlier, you know, stay after later on the trip itself. You you can do that all right there as well. So it's pretty simple.Stephanie Hansen:And then once you're booked and we know who's coming, we usually try to have a call to kinda give everybody the particulars of that trip. Sometimes depending on our time frame, we try to get together in person. I wasn't able for the last one because I had so many things coming, and I'm not sure what'll happen with this one because I've got the cookbook coming out, in September. But one way or another, we will see each other's faces, and we will get on that plane, and we will arrive together and have a blast. So I'm looking forward to it, and we've got other trips planned. I know we're trying to book another Croatia trip possibly for the following year for the fall and something in the spring. So if you guys have any destinations you wanna check out with me, let me know. I'm always looking for new places to go. You just went to the Galapagos. It sounded like it was amazing.Michael Kenney:Yeah. It that that was, fabulous. I was just doing a site inspection because we're looking about having groups go to the Galapagos and the Amazon, and it it was it was unreal. I loved it. Completely different experience from going to, to going to Sicily. Well, that's great. There's so many experiences to have on our on the world, and we only have so much time to be able to do those. So you gotta kinda hit that hierarchy of, you know, what's what's important.For anybody that's just thinking about it or if this is the first time you've ever even heard of Sicily, please take a look at this because it is really a magical trip, and we have so many fun inclusions. Our hotel locations are in the city center. I wanted to mention that, not, just because we're on tiny little streets. So you mentioned, like, the the nightlife. It's we're not on a bustling street where all the cars are going by. It's like you feel like you're a local. You'll go out the door, and there's mama Rosita across the street, you know, cutting herStephanie Hansen:Yeah. Sitting outside. Yes.Michael Kenney:That's the experience we want, not just on this trip, all of our trips. We want you to feel like you're kind of a, a local for even three nights when we're there, so you'll know where the the nearest bakery is and, the restaurants. And I think you'll have that on this trip. I it's it's reallyStephanie Hansen:I love it.Michael Kenney:Something else with all our hotels. You'll absolutely love that. We know exactly where to stay, and sometimes that's overwhelming when you're looking at doing a trip in your own, like, where should I go? What should I where should I stay? Like, it's overwhelming. We want this to be just book the trip. We're gonna be taking care of all the highlights for you.Stephanie Hansen:Pack your bags and come along. Yes.Michael Kenney:Exactly. So that's that's what's really important to us. And IStephanie Hansen:think I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be awesome. I'm gonna release this podcast, not this Friday, but next Friday. So k. Between now and then, you guys, I hope you get your seats booked, and I hope to see you on this amazing trip. Thanks, Michael.Michael Kenney:Wonderful. Thanks, Michael.Stephanie Hansen:It was awesome. It's defined destinations. You can find them at defineddestinations.com. Taste of Italy is right on the front page. Click that, and you can see all the itinerary of the whole trip. And we're gonna have a great time.Michael Kenney:Taste of Sicily.Stephanie Hansen:Yes. The tasteMichael Kenney:of Sicily.Stephanie Hansen:Oh, what did I call it? What did I say? Taste ofMichael Kenney:Italy. We have one of those too. Oh, okay. The Sicily one.Stephanie Hansen:Taste of Sicily specifically. Yes. And then if you like Italy, you can go back because there are a lot of places to go back to. Amalfi Coast is great, but it's different. And, like, I there I've been to a lot of different places in Italy, and they're all a little bit different. And I like them all for different reasons. So I'm really excited to explore Sicily.Michael Kenney:Yep. It's gonna be great. Well, thanks so much for the time.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. We'll talk soon.Michael Kenney:Yep.Stephanie Hansen:Bye. Bye bye.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to another exciting episode of "Dishing with Stephanies Dish." In this episode, I am joined by my fellow travel enthusiast, Michael Kenney from Defined Destinations, as we dive into the world of adventurous group travel. Fresh from their trips to Croatia and Asia, they're setting their sights on a new journey to Sicily, Italy. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or a wanderlust-driven explorer, you'll discover the unique experiences that Sicily promises, from breathtaking historic cities to mesmerizing volcanoes and, of course, delectable Italian cuisine. Join Stephanie and the Michaels for a delightful conversation about the joys of traveling with a group, the thrill of meeting new people, and the authentic charm that awaits in Sicily. Whether you're considering joining their next adventure or simply living vicariously through their tales, this episode offers a captivating glimpse into the magic of defined destinations. Let the journey begin!Stephanie Hansen:Hello, everybody. Welcome to the podcast, Dishing with Stephanie's Dish. I hope you're doing great today. I am here with my friend, Michael Kenney, and Michael and I have been traveling together a couple years now. Right, Michael?Michael Kenney:Yeah. We've had, two trips under our belt. So it's, a trip to Croatia and, just recently that Cambodia Vietnam trip. So we've been we've been putting some miles down, Stephanie.Stephanie Hansen:I actually actually was somewhere last night and ran into someone from our trip, and we were comparing our bracelets from when we met the Buddhist monk because both of us still have ours on. Yes.Michael Kenney:Mine, like, just kinda fell apart.Stephanie Hansen:It was such a Oh,Michael Kenney:I woke up in the sun.Stephanie Hansen:Trip. Yes. I'm I'm gonna keep it on as long as I can. It was such a life changing trip. Asia was somewhere that I'd always wanted to go and really didn't have the confidence to do it by myself. So you gave me confidence. Going with other people gave me confidence, and we ended up having such a great time. Pretty good.Stephanie Hansen:I have had another great trip with you. We went to Croatia, and that was an awesome trip. We were on kind of like an exclusive private yacht with, Stan, our tour guide, who was probably one of the best tour guides ever.Michael Kenney:For sure.Stephanie Hansen:And you're going back there to Croatia this summer, aren't you?Michael Kenney:Yeah. Personally, I'm not. I'm gonna have somebody else. I'm a little envious because, yeah, that that trip was straight out of a dream. And, you and your, listeners, followers, they were so much fun.Stephanie Hansen:So Yeah. We did have a good time.Michael Kenney:Yeah. It was great.Stephanie Hansen:So I wanted to podcast with you because people ask me all the time about these trips and, like, how it works and what we do and, you know, like, are you, like, checking people's passports? I'm like, no. Silly. I'm not. But we have a trip coming up to Sicily, a taste of Sicily, which you have so sweetly on your your background there. That's smart. October 14 through the twenty second. And our final payments, I think, are due in June. So we're kind of in the hunt for getting everybody signed up and confirmed.And I wanted to talk with you. I've been to Italy a lot, actually, but I've never been to Sicily. So I'm excited about what that area is gonna be like and you've been. So I thought, alright. Let's just talk a little bit about this and get to know a little bit about how these trips work. So, I like to do trips with people because I like to travel with others. And people always ask me, well, are they food trips? Yes. They are food.Like, we eat food. We enjoy food. We talk about food, but it isn't, like, exclusively a food trip. We know that when you're going to some of these historic destinations that you also wanna see some of the beautiful sites. So we try to mix in some food things like special tastings, special wine events, or special dinners, but we also wanna give you some time to explore the region on your own so that you can go to the restaurants that really appeal to you. And, you know, when you're going with the group, sometimes it's not easy to go to some of these really exclusive special places because you have a larger group. Our group on a trip like this would be, what, would you say, like, less than, like, 26 probably?Michael Kenney:Yeah. It this group size will be anywhere from 20 to 30 maximum on this trip. So it's a real nice, you know, size group for sure.Stephanie Hansen:And you've been to Sicily before. When was the last time you went?Michael Kenney:I was with a group two years ago in Sicily. So I've been there three other times. So just most recently, just two years ago.Stephanie Hansen:And you and I like, I kinda gave you my short list of places. And you asked me about Sicily, and I was like, oh, well, I don't know. I've never really thought about that. And you were like, oh my gosh. It's one of your favorite places in Italy. So tell me what it is that you love about Sicily in particular.Michael Kenney:Yeah. No. That that that's a great question. You already mentioned you've been to Italy several times, and we get a lot of people that have been to Italy. And they're like, alright. I've already done that. Or maybe you haven't, you know, seen the the Colosseum and Venice and things like that. Sicily is is Italian, but it's an island in the middle of the Mediterranean.Michael Kenney:So it's just it's it's it's similar, but it's different. I think everything is elevated. Their food, their sites. I mean, the history has a whole Greek, northern the Arabs. It's a Spanish influence in Normans. They've all kinda come to this island in the middle of the the Mediterranean and put, like, their best foods, their their best everything. And it's kinda mixes and makes a Sicilian dish, which is really cool. So it's it's similar, yes, with their pastas and things like that in Mainland Europe, but it's it's a different notch.Michael Kenney:I think it's above, regular standard Italian food. It's just the flavors, the the spices, everything like that is just it's so good. And that's just the food side of it. And then, of course, I already mentioned with with the Greeks in the Spanish and the Normans, they have their own architectures that they brought, a mix of different languages. So you really feel like you're in a whole another country. It says in Italy, but the Sicilians say we're Sicilian first, then we're Italian.Stephanie Hansen:That's funny.Michael Kenney:So it's it's really so different, of an experience on that end. And I even have, a couple of friends going on this trip, and they've never been to Europe before. And they're saying, hey. We're we're gonna join you on this trip because it sounds lovely, but we've never been to Europe. We've never seen the Colosseum, things like that. Like, is this a good trip for us to take? I go, for sure it is. I mean, you don't have these, you know, the Leaning Tower Of Pisa, but once you get get to these places, you'll say, oh my gosh. I mean, a church that's, a thousand years old, or the little villages that are, you know, 500 years old and just oozing with this with charm.So you're really, having this real great Italian Sicilian experience, but maybe not knowing the sites, but it'll kinda resonate even better when you come back and tell your stories. It's just a beautiful, beautiful trip.Stephanie Hansen:And I think, you know, I've been to Rome. I've been to a lot of the little Italian islands on sailing trips with my husband. And we've been to Naples. We've been to Venice. We've been all over, really. And each of Italy has its own uniqueness, but the islands themselves are just something different because you really did get a lot of influences of people coming through and the trading that happened. And they also weren't as involved in the wars because they were sort of moving to the mainland. So you get a lot of different preservation possibilities, and the culture just held up because they weren't impacted by the wars in the same way.Michael Kenney:Exactly. And I think even early on, Sicilians were were very poor as well. So a lot of things just really, held. So they didn't, you know, knock down buildings and build new skyscrapers, things like that. It's like you're being, on the set of The Godfather, which was filmed there too, part of it at least. And, it was, like, set in time, and you're going there and just really experiencing the the feel, the taste, the smell, even you could call, like, the grit of, like, Palermo. I mean, it has this edge to it in a sense, like, this is a real living city. It sound like all spruced up to be perfect, like, on a set, but that's what makes it so so fantastic.It it's it's real. And I don't think you always get that experience that you're in in Central Rome, and they they, you know, it's all beautiful up. Again Palermo and all these cities that will visit are extremely beautiful but it has it's just a different edge to it and every group that I've ever been there with Stephanie if they've come back and said wow this is a dream. Not just the food, the sites, the experiences, the people. The people are real. They're they're fabulous. So it's it's a real real, just an amazing immersion, if you will, to Sicily.Stephanie Hansen:One of the things that people ask me about too, and I'll be honest with you. I'm not really, like, someone that you would think of as a group traveler. I like a certain amount of, alone time. I don't love to have every single thing coordinated for me. My husband, as you know, is a big adventurer and explorer. He's always the first one to do anything crazy on these trips. But it having a group is it's so nice when it's a smaller group like this because you do get to meet new people. You do get to create a community amongst your travelers.And I'll tell you, my friend Laurie Bargini that went on our Asia trip with us, she was very she's a big traveler too, and she was like, I don't know about this group thing. I was like, just give it a try. Like, Asia's a good one to test it out because it's probably a destination you wouldn't go alone. And she signed up right away for Sicily. She was like, I loved the group elements because when I wanted to, I had a group of friends and it was fun and we could hang out together and do fun things, but also when I wanted to be alone, I could do that too. It she thought it added a whole another layer to the travel experience than you just get either with you and your spouse or you and your friends because you have this whole other dynamic of people that for the most part is pretty great.Michael Kenney:Yeah. I know. And I and that's great. And Laurie was great. I'm glad she signed up because on the flight back from Asia, she sat next to me on the flight, and that's a seventeen hour flight. And if she wants to go back, then that that that's great.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. It's good. Well, you know she talked to you the whole time probably.Michael Kenney:No. I tried to again, maybe it's like the group element. You know, have time on, time off. So I'm glad that was brought up. And I've been doing group tours for twenty eight years now, which I I I can't believe. And I I first started getting into tourism because I wanted to see sites. I'm like, I know I can't pay for it, so I need to be a tour guide and and going from that. I didn't realize the whole experience and having shared experiences with others was gonna be my highlight.And to this day, that's my favorite part is going to meet people that I've never met before and going having these shared experiences with. And and sometimes, you know, you build friends for a lifetime off of that.Michael Kinney:I think especially our last group too, we we really, built that with several of the the travelers, which is great. So and I so if you're hesitant, like, well, I'd like to this trip sounds great or any of our trips, but I am kind of worried about that. We really try to balance all our tours out. It's it's it's imperative that we have that balance of, some of the group time to have these, shared experiences to leisure time so that you can go and have your own adventures. And that is so crucial to all of our trips. That's why our hotels, and we can talk about that later, are centrally located. So once we go out and do, say, our city tour, our our our food tour in Palermo and walking around, you'll have, like, the remainder of the day to go explore on your own or some of those new friends that you met. Maybe you can go out and have a glass of wine with them.But again, it's all about that balance. And we each and every itinerary that we put together, we really work on making sure we have that balance in in the trips itself. Because I think that is the success of it. So we don't pack the days all day long on, like, seeing this, this, and this. We give you the nice highlights, and we'll have some other fun inclusions. But again, each place that we go to centrally located hotels, we have that free time too. So you can do your own thing or jump on with a group that you've met and have cocktails, Aperol spritzes in the main, Piazza later on. So it it's so fun, but it it really comes back.You register for a trip, but you don't know you're gonna meet some great people. And at at the end of the trip, it's typically these, these people and these, shared experiences come back, and that's where the meaning of the the trip comes in. It's so it's it's so much fun to see them build together.Stephanie Hansen:On each of the trips that I've done with you, we've had solo travelersMichael Kenney:Mhmm.Stephanie Hansen:Which I think people are like, oh, you know, I don't know. I don't have a partner to go with or my friend can't go. And that to me has also been super fun, like the solo travelers and the friends that they've made. And, like, one of the gals I saw from our Asia trip, I saw our friend Annie last night, and she was a solo traveler. Ended up pairing up with Laurie in a room and sharing, actually, actually, which a lot of solo travelers don't wanna share. I get that. But in this case, they both did, and they are like fast friends.Michael Kenney:That I mean, that's that's so much fun to see that. First off, if, you know, we all have it like your maybe your husband or wife or friend they don't want to go but you're like interested in this trip. We get that on all of our trips and we specifically specifically have, several single rooms set aside for those, adventure traveler seekers to have that. So you can pick your own room and go as a single or maybe you want us to to pair you up. We can do that too and get you in contact with another solo traveler like lorian annie did and that typically works out really well too but it's it's I think the like minded people looking for adventures you'll never feel like you're by yourself on any of our trips So, like, oh, I'm a third wheel. Never ever ever. And sometimes that's the best way to travel because you don't have to make sure your traveling partner is having a great time. You only can worry about yourself.Hey. I'm gonna have a great time. And, you know, all of our trip travelers that I've I've ever heard from, they've had a great time going solo, and they meet these like minded people. And, again, all of a sudden, they have friends for a lifetime, like, you know, Lori and Annie did. So if you're you're even thinking about it, like, I'm solo and I'm a little skeptical about going by myself, give us a call. Send us an email. We we can get you your own, room, single, room. They are filling up quick, though.We have a few left, or we can pair you up with somebody too to share that single supplement. But, again, you'll never feel like a third wheel with any of our tours. And this, in addition, just works really, really well for single travelers, and you'll meet some probably good friends on it.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. And, also, like, ladies, some of you I know, like, getting coming out of relationships or divorce, you wanna do something unique. I have someone in my family who are shall remain nameless, who's gonna be joining us, who wanted to get back to Europe, but she's just not in a relationship status that would work for that as the way she thought it was gonna be. So I was like, come with us. Like, we're gonna have a ball. There's men. There's women. You know, my husband has come on some trips, but others, he hasn't.And Mhmm. It's just there's a great mix of people.Michael Kenney:Yeah. No. It it it it's great. Now this isn't a singles trip, but maybe you can find Giuseppe at the local cafe. You never know. So you never know. So anyway, yeah, it it works great for whatever status you are in life, single, you know, whatever. It these really, really work really nice.And sometimes, like, my brother came, and we shared a room on our the last trip, and he just wanted to kind of have a experience and get away from, you know, what's going on in life over here and just do a reset. And he came back and said, I'm really recharged. And he's kinda like going into he's retired, and he wants to do something else in his, you know, second part of his life. And he he's going after something right now because he he was able to kinda just disconnect Yeah. And then just take it all in and then kinda come back and, like, let's go. So regardless from relationships to job hunting or whatever, sometimes these trips are great. Even if you go solo, that could even be better.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. Just to get a reset.Can you give us, like, without, like, going into all the detail, like, a high level, not day by day, but just, like, what are the towns we're gonna visit? What are because we're gonna be in, I think, three different areas.Michael Kenney:Yeah. Correct. So if you if you go on our, at definedestinations.com and look at, taste of Sicily Twenty Twenty Five, you can find the day by day, itinerary on that, and you'll get to be able to see through it. But again, it reads like a brochure, and you go through each item. And everything that we mentioned on that, it's, it is included. But the neat thing is we go from the North to the South and then all the way over to the, the East side of the island. So you're really having a great feel for the entire island itself. And, we have three nights in Palermo, and then we have one night in Agrigento, which is at the very southern on the beach, our hotel's right on the beach.You can walk right down there. And even October mid October is a great time to go too because the temperatures are, like, mid seventies, so it's super comfortable. And the water temperature is still pretty nice if you want to jump in. And then we have three nights in Siracoosa. So we we have these, like, kind of, hub and spoke places that we we do our adventures from the but we always come back to our centrally located place. So, anyway, we'll we'll find the Palermo. We have a connection. If you do our included flights, there's no, direct flights from from Minneapolis into Sicily.So we have a connection, on that.Stephanie Hansen:And let me just touch on that because some people want to work with the travel agent to have all of the flight things arranged for them, and that is an option with you. But you also do have options where people can meet you at the destination. So, like, for me, we have a lot of miles that we're always trying to burn up. Yeah. So for us, we book our own airfare so that we can use our miles, and then we sometimes add a few days on at the end, or we might even go to a different destination. With your group travel plans, both of those options are available to people.Michael Kenney:A %. I'm glad you asked that too because, yes, there's people that have miles or if they only wanna stay exclusively with Delta or United or whatever, that's fine. Our trips truly begin and end at at the hotels. With that, we do offer an included group package you can jump on, but the whole group will not be on that flight for sure. It's just an option to do that. And my my team can also, get you, flights separate from that too if you wanted to come early like you said, Stephanie, or stay light. Hey. I wanna go see the Colosseum on this trip.Great. My team can put a pre tour, post tour package together if you want to do that. Or even if you don't want any of our help, that's fine. You can just book our land only. You'll be able to see our group flight numbers on there too so you can kinda coordinate that. But the great thing is that both, airports, in Palermo we fly into, and then we fly out of Catania. They're close to both, towns, so you can easily take an Uber. So it's really pretty easy to get to and from, and that's where the, the the the tour start from.So if you're hesitant, hey. I need to book the group air. Don't worry about that. You don't have to do that by any means. We're happy to help you, on all the other aspects too to to get the airfare, with that. So, yep, we fly into Palermo. We'll settle into our our our three, our centrally located hotel, which is fabulous. Again, remind me that we need to touch on the the hotels too a little bit.Stephanie Hansen:Yep.Michael Kenney:But it's right in the center. We'll do a food tour of one of the local markets. Again, like you mentioned, maybe we have some guests on the trip that could care less about food or wine tastings. It's just a a piece of of our trip. So even if you're, a modest food lover or you only like cornflakes, there's gonna be some fun things to do on this as well. And we find that, you learn a lot about the culture through the food. Yeah. That's the reason we we do part of that too.So it'll be fun regardless. You're going through the markets. You're learning about the foods. Things like that. We go to, the the Cathedral Of Monreali, which, hey. We're seeing another church. We typically don't always do that, but this is really specific. This church is beautiful.It's got, it's it's a massive church built in the twelfth century, and they're famous for all its mosaics. The whole interior, the churches, all these fine mosaics they did almost a thousand years ago. It's unreal. So it's beautiful that we'll be doing that. We'll go to Cefalu, a little, seaside village, which is outside of Palermo a little ways. Maybe you've seen White Lotus. Part of that was filmed there or all parts of the, that, season two was filmed in Sicily. So we'll have a lot of White Lotus moments, as well on that, which which will be a lot of fun.And then from there, we'll be driving after our three nights in, in Palermo. We'll be heading south, crossing the entire, island itself. Absolutely beautiful. Even our coach rides, which aren't a lot, that they're just stunning. And and enjoying the countryside is absolutely beautiful. And we'll be going to that's where Agrigento is, and it feels like you're being stuck in Greece. Like, wow. There's all these Greek ruins, you know, two, three thousand years old.It's like, this is unbelievable. They have some of the better Greek ruins even outside of Athens, which is amazing. So walking through Agrigento, experiencing that, seeing that during the sunset, it's it's it's magical. I use that word a lot, but I think the whole trip really is. And then we we we settle into our hotel right on the beach, which is lovely. And then from there, we'll be going over to Siracusa, which is one of my favorite places ever. My first time I went to Sicily, we didn't go there. And I went back and I said, how do we skip that the first time? Siracoosa is, it's unbelievable.And you've agreed too. We we're staying right in they called it Ortega. That's like the old city of Siracusa. And we're staying right inside the city wall. So our bus will drop our private bus for our group will drop us off, and then we have to walk about ten minutes to our hotel, which is on a small little alleyway. And we'll talk about that later on. But it's a great location that we'll be doing, having different experiences, seeing all the the ruins, walking around at night. It's just beautiful.And from there, we'll be out we'll also be going to see Mount Etna, which is still an active volcano. We'll be on the sides of it. It's unbelievable. All of a sudden, you feel like you're being transported onto the moon. You see the vents and things like that. It's beautiful. And they grow some amazing wines there too on the slopes of it, and we'll be tasting some of those.Stephanie Hansen:That's so cool.Michael Kenney:Yeah. It's it's it's it really is pretty cool, because of that that rich soil just offers great Sicilian wines and the dry and the the elevation. So it it culminates to be really, really good. So, work on your Sicilian, reds. They're they're quite good.Stephanie Hansen:It will be exciting. Yeah.Michael Kenney:No. It it it's great. So I mean, it's it's seven, nights, a nine day trip, in Sicily. You'll have a real good flavor of the city, of all the areas that we visit. So it's it's quite nice. And if you go on the, the website, you'll see all the the inclusions as well. So we include mostly everything that we've talked about. There's really, we don't include all the meals because we want some experiences, for yourself too to go out and go, hey.Michael Kenney:We're gonna go to this little restaurant or whatever. Mhmm. And we have a local guide with us the entire time that will really help, talk about the history, and, you know, what's going on with the people itself, but then just pointing out great restaurants and other little experiences you can doStephanie Hansen:during the free And that's I love that because when we go to some of these places, like, I think I told you my husband is, he's kind of an you know, he's in venture. He always wants to do his own thing. So if we land in a place, he's like, okay. We're gonna take off. We're gonna go do this. We're gonna do that. And, you know, we try to balance, like, doing the group things with also him having his best life and doing some unique, food experiences just on our own. So every everybody gets a little bit of everything.It's a real delightful mix. You've been to Sicily. Now I think this will be, you said, your third time, fourth time?Michael Kenney:Fourth time.Stephanie Hansen:I'm so impressed that you're coming.Michael Kenney:Yeah. I'd well, I can't miss with your groups too. I can't go on all our trips, but this is definitely one I I, notched away because I think, part of me still is in Sicily. There's there's just something about it, and you can't you know, I've been to other parts of Italy plenty of times, and I feel like I'm an Italian, but, there's just something with Sicily. Maybe I meant I meant the grit. I've talked about that. It feels like a real city, real sites, real food, just from the the different markets, the fish markets is just everything seems really authentic.Stephanie Hansen:I love it.Michael Kenney:That's what I really, really love, and I think the guests do too. I'm I'm just envisioning myself walking and through Palermo with my last group, and there was, like, there was music being played in the streets, and people are sitting down and having glasses of wine. There was no festival going on. It was just this this zest for life thatStephanie Hansen:Yeah. The Italians just in general, they stay up late. They eat late. So they have, like, a happy hour kind of at, like, six to seven, and then they go home and get ready to go out for the dinner time in a lot of cases. So they spend a lot of time outdoors, and they like to do it when it's not in the blazing hot sun. So things really there's a great nightlife. People are, out and about into all hours of the evening, which is fun. So I'm just super excited.So if people wanna join us, you said I mean, I know we've got some rooms booked already. Yeah. So are there some rooms left if people wanna book, and what is the timeline that they should be doing that, and how do they do it?Michael Kenney:Yeah. That's a great question. So I said we have about we can handle maximum of 30 people. So we have about seven rooms up, so about 14 people. So if someone calls and say, well, will this be booked up by next week? It probably won't be, but I always tell people, go ahead, put your deposit down, hold the seat on the trip itself. And you just have to go to definedestinations.com. You can book everything right then then and there. It's super simple process.You just put your your information in. You don't need a valid passport right now to to enter that in. But you just go ahead and you fill that out, put your deposit down, at least then you'll you'll have a, a seat held for you. Then you can work on if you wanna get your own air fryer or if you wanna stay earlier, you know, stay after later on the trip itself. You you can do that all right there as well. So it's pretty simple.Stephanie Hansen:And then once you're booked and we know who's coming, we usually try to have a call to kinda give everybody the particulars of that trip. Sometimes depending on our time frame, we try to get together in person. I wasn't able for the last one because I had so many things coming, and I'm not sure what'll happen with this one because I've got the cookbook coming out, in September. But one way or another, we will see each other's faces, and we will get on that plane, and we will arrive together and have a blast. So I'm looking forward to it, and we've got other trips planned. I know we're trying to book another Croatia trip possibly for the following year for the fall and something in the spring. So if you guys have any destinations you wanna check out with me, let me know. I'm always looking for new places to go. You just went to the Galapagos. It sounded like it was amazing.Michael Kenney:Yeah. It that that was, fabulous. I was just doing a site inspection because we're looking about having groups go to the Galapagos and the Amazon, and it it was it was unreal. I loved it. Completely different experience from going to, to going to Sicily. Well, that's great. There's so many experiences to have on our on the world, and we only have so much time to be able to do those. So you gotta kinda hit that hierarchy of, you know, what's what's important.For anybody that's just thinking about it or if this is the first time you've ever even heard of Sicily, please take a look at this because it is really a magical trip, and we have so many fun inclusions. Our hotel locations are in the city center. I wanted to mention that, not, just because we're on tiny little streets. So you mentioned, like, the the nightlife. It's we're not on a bustling street where all the cars are going by. It's like you feel like you're a local. You'll go out the door, and there's mama Rosita across the street, you know, cutting herStephanie Hansen:Yeah. Sitting outside. Yes.Michael Kenney:That's the experience we want, not just on this trip, all of our trips. We want you to feel like you're kind of a, a local for even three nights when we're there, so you'll know where the the nearest bakery is and, the restaurants. And I think you'll have that on this trip. I it's it's reallyStephanie Hansen:I love it.Michael Kenney:Something else with all our hotels. You'll absolutely love that. We know exactly where to stay, and sometimes that's overwhelming when you're looking at doing a trip in your own, like, where should I go? What should I where should I stay? Like, it's overwhelming. We want this to be just book the trip. We're gonna be taking care of all the highlights for you.Stephanie Hansen:Pack your bags and come along. Yes.Michael Kenney:Exactly. So that's that's what's really important to us. And IStephanie Hansen:think I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be awesome. I'm gonna release this podcast, not this Friday, but next Friday. So k. Between now and then, you guys, I hope you get your seats booked, and I hope to see you on this amazing trip. Thanks, Michael.Michael Kenney:Wonderful. Thanks, Michael.Stephanie Hansen:It was awesome. It's defined destinations. You can find them at defineddestinations.com. Taste of Italy is right on the front page. Click that, and you can see all the itinerary of the whole trip. And we're gonna have a great time.Michael Kenney:Taste of Sicily.Stephanie Hansen:Yes. The tasteMichael Kenney:of Sicily.Stephanie Hansen:Oh, what did I call it? What did I say? Taste ofMichael Kenney:Italy. We have one of those too. Oh, okay. The Sicily one.Stephanie Hansen:Taste of Sicily specifically. Yes. And then if you like Italy, you can go back because there are a lot of places to go back to. Amalfi Coast is great, but it's different. And, like, I there I've been to a lot of different places in Italy, and they're all a little bit different. And I like them all for different reasons. So I'm really excited to explore Sicily.Michael Kenney:Yep. It's gonna be great. Well, thanks so much for the time.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. We'll talk soon.Michael Kenney:Yep.Stephanie Hansen:Bye. Bye bye.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Matilda of Flanders is the formidable consort of William the Conqueror, yet she is relatively unknown in the story of the 1066 conquest of England.    Chief Historian Tracy Borman makes her pitch for the pivotal role Matilda played as a champion for female sovereignty, and for her contribution to arguably the most successful dynasty in medieval Europe, the Normans.     Read more about Matilda of Flanders, William the Conqueror at the building of the Tower of London. 

Born into a world of treachery, violence and death, William of Normandy defied all expectations, forging a legacy that lasts to this day. Born out of wedlock and dismissed as an upstart, he was originally known as William the Bastard. Inheriting the Duchy of Normandy at just eight years old, William was faced with betrayal, bloodshed, and anarchy. From the restless Normans, who expanded across Europe as mercenaries and horsemen, to the growing threat of Anjou, the early years of his reign were blighted by power struggles. Following the brutal murder of his guardians, and with Normandy on the brink of collapse, William was forced to survive in a world without loyalty, where ambition was the ultimate currency. Meanwhile, across the Channel, the English throne was in turmoil, as the sons of Æthelred the Unready fought for survival and power… Join Tom and Dominic as they trace William's rise from a vulnerable child to a formidable young duke, setting the stage for the ultimate confrontation: his claim to the English crown. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support us on Patreon from as little as £1 per month: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast Today's guest is Edoardo Albert. Edoardo is a British writer of Italian and Sri Lankan descent. He writes about Britain in the early medieval period (between the Romans leaving and the Normans arriving), the 40th millennium in the Warhammer universe, and lots of other things besides. He has written several novels and also his fair share of non-fiction, so there is a lot for us to talk about.Welcome to RPS, Edoardo!https://edoardoalbert.com/Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X https://twitter.com/rock_swords

A very exciting, fun, positive, instructional, inspiring Video podcast interview with Bret Michael's bass player Stormin' Norman Voss on the Charron Zone Music Business podcast with Tim Charron . FOLLOW NORMAN at https://www.facebook.com/norman.voss.50 Norman and Tim talk about: Performing with Bret Michaels The rock band Poison Relationship building in the music business How to be a successful guitar player or bass player KISS, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, 80 Rock bands, Don Felder , Journey , Lou Reed, Marketing and social media in the music business Normans advice to all musicians

Following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the Anglo-Saxon populace mounted several resistance efforts against William the Conqueror's rule. These uprisings were driven by widespread resentment towards the oppressive methods employed by Norman authorities and the displacement of Anglo-Saxon landholders. In 1067, Eadric 'The Wild' led one of the earliest rebellions in Herefordshire, collaborating with Welsh princes to raid Norman positions. The most significant insurrection occurred between 1069 and 1070 in Northern England, where local leaders, including Edgar Atheling, allied with Danish forces to challenge Norman control. William responded with the 'Harrying of the North,' a brutal campaign that devastated the region and quelled resistance. Another notable figure, Hereward the Wake, spearheaded guerrilla warfare from the Isle of Ely in East Anglia around 1070-1071, symbolising the enduring Anglo-Saxon defiance. Despite these efforts, the superior military organisation and harsh reprisals of the Normans eventually subdued the uprisings, leading to the consolidation of Norman authority over England.

SHOW 79 Special guest host (Jeremy Hirsch) joins Rob to talk about music, movies and ringo Just call Jeremy "JEREMY 2 : Electric Bugaloo" ********* We start the show with a brand new stripped down single "NOBODY'S GOT ME" from Jesse Daniel Edwards from his upcoming self-titled album MUSIC NEWS - Ringo's hate for Pizza, Nirvana Reunite, the Grammys, KISS, and Rob reveals his favorite actress MUSIC DOCUMENTARY : NORMAN's RARE GUITARS - Jeremy and Rob discuss this great new(ish) documentary which is currently on Netflix. NEW MUSIC BIOGRAPHIES - Mike Campbell / Peter Wolf ********* KNOW GOOD MUSIC can be found on Podbean (host site), Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Iheart Radio, Pandora, YouTube (link below) and almost anywhere you listen to podcasts. Links to more sources at Link Tree - www.linktr.ee/knowgoodmusic  Help support our Podcast by purchasing some cool merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/knowgoodmusic Visit our YouTube Channel where you can see video segments from all of our interviews.  Just search "know good music" TURN OFF THE TV - TURN UP THE MUSIC!

Joel was such a great guest. He has great stories about his dad, who was the only agent to receive an Emmy award, and Normans gallery of star clients, Natalie Wood, Kim Novak, and many more. Joel talks about his own interactions with so many old Hollywood greats. Joel truly was and is mega FAB!!  There is so much we didn't get to talk about so Joel will make a return visit.   Thanks so much to Joel, and mostly thanks to all that listen. I so appreciate you all, Grace xo You can get Joels wonderful book on amazon, and anywhere else books are sold.  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Joel-Brokaw/author/B0DM918WFQ?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=5ea333c4-4e66-4dd2-912f-823a7e258873 You can Contact me at    truestoriesoftinseltown@gmail.com   you can listen to podcast  www.truestoriesoftinseltown.com https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-stories-of-tinseltown/id136374488 https://open.spotify.com/show/6iTSF8pIrVTbZ8QqNidVUy?  You can also listen on google play, YouTube, Amazon, I heart radio and anywhere podcasts are played. You can also IM me on my TSOTT Facebook page. I sometimes don't go on for a while, but will try be better at checking messages and posting. Best to email me.. www.facebook.com/truestoriesoftinseltown    

There was a time when Britain ruled much of the world. But long before that, the opposite was true, when outside forces invaded and colonized the British Isles as their own. The Romans were first, then the Normans, and between these two time periods, the Norse. The last of these three came from Scandinavia in the late 8th and early 9th Centuries with the intent of setting up permanent shop, giving rise to a unique Viking state known as Jórvík, better known in English as York. Find out how they did it in this week's episode! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/historylovescompany/support

The King of Killer Wales rides again! The Second branch of the tale of Gruffydd ap Llewellyn pits our army of idiots against a deluge of dark aged danger!* Waling Mid Walians, lethal Irish Vikings and very Nasty Normans are all set to topple the Last King of Wales from his cheese of toast throne! Will they succeed? Or will the Last Action King of Wales side step them with a surprisingly Saxon alliance with an absolute Svein of a Godwin! Join the Silly History Boys for a Wales of a time! Please do rate and review and why not tell a friend or a neighbour who you one day seek to supplant as the greatest Kingdom in all Britain! Enjoy this rip roaring Norman stomping romp through some little known history? Buy us a Ko-Fi and keep the show going! TIDY! The Glory of old Rome belong to Farya Faraji for his track the Sons of Mars. Dioch to Puremusic Dioch to Tuttkile And of course to ZapSplat for scrums and scrapping noises! And big sweaty cutch for Time Travelling musicologists Jonny and Vicky at Sounds of Time!  Tom Jones turns his chair round for Lord fast Fingers for the Silly History Boys show theme! And big up to Dan Danny Bradley of Daniel Bradley Music  A Chippy lane black card for Jez Hewitt's incredible Epic Version of Sosban Fach!         *alright early medieval 

The Normans introduced the system of writs to English law. Soon the Normans found that controversies arose over the interpretations of writs.??They, therefore, introduced courts of equity, also known as Chancery courts, named after the king's chancellor. Learn more about these influential decisions in today???s podcast! Center for Civic Education

Ireland has been known as the land of saints and scholars and once was the farthest reach of the known world. But it's also home to one of the densest selections of castles in Europe thanks to the bloody invaders, the Normans.Matt Lewis visits the immense fortress that is Trim castle to learn about how castles in Ireland were built as instruments of conquest and colonisation, to crush and contain the people's of the Emerald Isle.Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Matt Lewis's TV documentaries on Castles in Ireland will be available soon on History Hit, his series Castles That Made Britain is available to watch now.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL' https://historyhit.com/subscriptionYou can take part in our listener survey here: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK

The Normans' impact on Scotland was disproportionately large compared to their genetic contribution. They were the "cool kids" and native magnates from all over Scotland were eager to adapt their ideas and ways. In addition, they founded several major clans. Join me to examine their military and political contributions. At the end I'll highlight SOME of the clans that came from this dynamic group. Scottish Clans Website (the new one) Scottish Clans YouTube Channel My Sponsor: USA Kilts

The roots of the Norman Conquest of 1066 can be traced all the way back to 1016 – when England was hit by an earlier foreign invasion. This time, the assault came from Denmark and the forces of Cnut. In the first episode of our new series on 1066, Marc Morris talks to David Musgrove about how the events of the early 11th century set the scene for the Norman invasion half a century later. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Perhaps a foreigner knows more about their adopted land than the locals, because a foreigner feels more acutely the particularities of a new environment. By Xiaolu Guo. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

I can scarce believe that I've made 200 episodes of this show, but here we are! To celebrate, here is a quiz about language where all the questions were set by YOU, the beautiful brainy listeners. Play along with me - there's a score sheet you can use over at theallusionist.org/200, plus the episode's transcript and links to more information about some of the topics. If you want to help me celebrate this podcast making it to 200 episodes, recommend it to someone! Word of mouth/virtual mouth is the best way for a podcast to find new listeners, especially a little independent podcast like this one with no budget for billboard advertising.  If you do want to chip in to my future billboard ad fund, go to theallusionist.org/donate and become a member of the Allusioverse. You get regular livestreams with me and my collection of reference books, inside scoops into the making of this show, watchalong parties eg the new season of Taskmaster which stars my brother Andy, and the company of your fellow Allusionauts in our delightful Discord community.  This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, with music and editorial assistance from Martin Austwick of palebirdmusic.com. Find @allusionistshow on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, YouTube etc. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you want me to talk about your product or thing on the show, sponsor an episode: contact Multitude at multitude.productions/ads. This episode is sponsored by: • Constant Wonder, the podcast that helps you find the wonder in nature (inc human). Listen in the usual places you find podcasts.• Rocket Money, the personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions and monitors your spending. Go to rocketmoney.com/allusionist to save money and lower your outgoings.• Home Chef, meal kits that fit your needs. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering Allusionist listeners eighteen free meals, plus free shipping on your first box, and free dessert for life, at HomeChef.com/allusionist.• Squarespace, your one-stop shop for building and running your online empire/new home for your cryptic puzzle that takes months to solve. Go to squarespace.com/allusionist for a free 2-week trial, and get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain with the code allusionist.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ask any British school child for a significant date in history, and they'll likely offer 1066 - the year of William the Conqueror's Norman invasion of England. But William was just one prominent Norman figure, and 1066 was a single chapter in a much larger story. Settling in northern France in the early 10th century, the Normans were a formidable, cunning, bold and ruthless force, who moulded Medieval Europe, and left a lasting legacy across the British Isles. But where else did the Normans establish their dominance? Who were William's compatriots, and how did they re-shape Britain? And did the Normans ever truly disappear? This is a Short History Of….The Normans. A Noiser Production, written by Nicola Rayner. With thanks to Professor Levi Roach, author of Empires of the Normans. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You'll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you're on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Say Norman Conquests; think 1066 and William the Conqueror. But the massive success of the English conquest often overshadows the several other conquests across Europe which the Normans executed very successfully. Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Levi Roach to consider how the Normans fared in 11th century Italy, how the papacy forced a rethink of war strategy and how stories of religious conflict are often used to gain territory and power. Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and edited by Ella Blaxill. The producers are Joseph Knight and Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Don't miss Dr. Eleanor Janega's forthcoming series on the Normans on the History Hit TV channel. Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL': https://historyhit.com/subscriptionYou can take part in our listener survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK

Rollo was a Viking leader who became the first ruler of Normandy in the early 10th century. His descendants, the Normans, later conquered England and southern Italy, leaving a lasting legacy on European history. So how did a Viking outlaw became a respected Frankish Jarl and founder of a conquering dynasty? In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega meets Mathias Dilys, cultural interpreter at Château de Falaise in Normandy, to find out why canny political manoeuvres are often as important as military prowess.Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and edited by Ella Blaxill. The producers are Joseph Knight and Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Don't miss Dr. Eleanor Janega's forthcoming series on the Normans on the History Hit TV channel. Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL': https://historyhit.com/subscriptionYou can take part in our listener survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK