Home

If “come back with a bigger army” was a person, it would be Agnes Randolf Dunbar aka Black Agnes, the countess of March and Dunbar. During the second war of Scottish independence she fought off the English army for FIVE entire months⁠
⁠
And she was a fucking troll about it and it brings me SO MUCH JOY. You can listen to the full episode wherever you get your pods but let me give you the cliff notes ⁠
⁠
🏰 Agnes was born to a verrrry influential Scottish family in or around 1312. Around this time Scotland was fighting for their lives in the first war of Scottish Independence against Edward II of England ⁠
⁠
🏰 Fun fact: Edward I of England was called Hammer of the Scotts because of how brutal he was in his journey to conquer Scotland. Actually, I’m not sure who that fact is fun *for*...⁠
⁠
🏰 By the late 1330’s Agnes is married and the lady of Dunbar castle, an incredibly strategic fortress. And when her husband, Patrick Dunbar, went off to fight she was left in charge of. ⁠
⁠
🏰 So it was around this time that this dude named William Montagu was like “oh, they left a girl in charge of one of the most strategic castles in Scotland? This will be so easy. We’ll be done in time for tea”. The seige lasted 5 months and was the biggest embarassment of this man’s career. And to that, we say GOOD. ⁠

💅🏼 Sorry to this man
⁠
Agnes spent the next 5 months outsmarting him, using his own tricks against him and just handing the English their own ass until they finally just gave up. Agnes became such a figure of fright that it may have even earned her the nickname Black Agnes. ⁠
⁠
#womenshistory #historypodcast ...

Can you IMAGINE Parliament getting involved in your love life? 🌹 Welcome to Mary Tudor`s world in 1553.⁠
⁠
In November 1553, Parliament officially petitioned the newly crowned Mary I regarding her marriage. Begging her PLEASE JUST CHOOSE SOMEONE ENGLISH. They even chose 2 eligible bachelors. ⁠
⁠
SURPRISE! THEY WERE BOTH HER COUSINS. Because Tudor England.⁠
⁠
🌹 Bachelor #1: Cardinal Reginald Pole. We`ve met Reggie before in our Margaret Pole series! He was living in exile, had serious Tudor family drama, and was... a cardinal? ⁠
⁠
ummm... a cardinal? Yeah, don`t think about it too hard. ⁠
⁠
🌹 Bachelor #2: Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon. Mary`s first cousin once removed, who spent approximately 15 years imprisoned for having too much damn Plantagenet blood.⁠
⁠
Edward loved to party and, honestly, was just happy to be out of jail.⁠
He also had a pretty cool mom named Gertrude! We`ve got a Katy`s Corner Patreon episode about them. (Link in bio 💕)⁠
⁠
🌹 But neither bachelor was doing it for Mary. She wanted a Spanish alliance and wouldn`t you know it? Her former fiancé (and first cousin), Charles V, had a single son!⁠
⁠
Philip of Spain has entered the chat. Many would argue that this was a horrible mistake since his wars lead to England losing Calais (their last European holdings), but DID Y`ALL KNOW SHE WAS QUEEN OF SPAIN?⁠
⁠
WHO GETS YOUR ROSE? 🌹 Reggie, Edward, or Philip?⁠
Listen to Mary I Part 3, the bloody finale, wherever you get your podcasts! 🥂⁠ ...

The audacity is really audacity-ing today. ⁠
Who did we miss? What`s your favorite "No you don`t" of history? ...

40 years ago today, Oct 22, 1986, the Koop report was released which frankly discussed AIDS and safe sex during the AIDS epidemic.⁠
⁠
📜 The first reported case of AIDS in America was in 1981. But president Ronald Reagan refused to discuss the disease since it primarily affected the gay community. And that made his conservative base feel icky. ⁠
⁠
📜 Until his friend, Rock Hudson, died. Then he was like hmm... now that this has affected my life, maybe we should look into it. ⁠
⁠
📜 At the time, his Surgeon General was C. Everett Koop. Koop was a conservative who morally opposed homosexuality. Reagan tasked Koop with writing a report on his findings of how AIDS is spread and what we can do to prevent that spread.⁠
⁠
📜 Everyone assumed the the conservative Koop would write a report that just said "Gay people, bad. Sex before marriage, bad. Go to church". ⁠
⁠
📜 Instead, Koop surprised everyone by working hard to look at the issue from all points of view and consider what was actually in the public`s best interest. And his report reflected that. ⁠
⁠
📜 On October 22, 1986 (5 years into the AIDS epidemic) his 36-page report was released. It frankly discussed sex and needle sharing. It was objective, honest and stressed the importance of sex education in the school system. ⁠
⁠
📜 He even had the "Understanding AIDS" pamphlet sent to every house in America. ⁠
⁠
📜 Not everyone loved this honest approach, including garbage person and woman hater, Phyllis Schlafly. Her and her crew believed the only sex ed anyone needed was abstinence. ⁠
⁠
📜 Anyway, here`s Schlafly being hit in the face with a pie. ⁠
⁠
📜 Before Koop`s report it was a common belief that AIDS could be spread through saliva. Tho controversial to many, this pamphlet did a great job at educating the masses and probably helped save lives. ⁠
⁠
⁠ ...

On October 16, 1793, Marie Antoinette lost her head during the French Revolution. Was the monarchy a mess? Absolutely. Did Marie deserve everything that happened to her? Ehhh, we`re not so sure.⁠
⁠
👑 Born to the formidable Empress Maria Theresa, Marie wasn`t even supposed to marry into French royalty. But when her older sister contracted smallpox, 14-year-old Marie was next in line. And honey, she was NOT prepared.⁠
⁠
👑 Her marriage to the future Louis XVI wasn`t exactly a fairy tale. Louis showed little interest in his young wife, leaving Marie lonely and isolated.⁠
⁠
👑 Meanwhile, France was in crisis. Ordinary people struggled to afford bread while the royal family lived in extraordinary luxury. Not exactly great optics.⁠
⁠
👑 And speaking of bread... Marie`s most famous quote, "Let them eat cake"? SHE NEVER SAID THAT. The story appeared in Rousseau`s Confessions years before the French Revolution, when Marie was still a child.⁠
⁠
👑 But the rumor stuck. Because apparently, blaming a woman for everything is a timeless tradition. 💅⁠
⁠
👑 In January 1793, Louis XVI was executed. Just nine months later, Marie followed him to the guillotine at age 37.⁠
⁠
Was Marie Antoinette a perfect queen? Absolutely not. But her real story is a lot more complicated than the spoiled, cake-eating villain of popular imagination. We`ve covered Marie Antoinette on Queens Podcast! Find her episodes wherever you listen.⁠
⁠
#MarieAntoinette #FrenchHistory ...

🏴‍☠️ PIRATE QUEENS, BABY! 🏴‍☠️⁠
⁠
Anne Bonny and Mary Read were two of the most notorious women of the Golden Age of Piracy. They dressed in men`s clothing, sailed the Caribbean, fought alongside pirates, and allegedly had some VERY complicated romantic lives. 👀⁠
⁠
And who better to help us untangle the history, myths, and general pirate fuckery than Greg Jenner, host of the BBC`s You`re Dead to Me?!⁠
⁠
We`re talking scandal, sword fights, questionable men, and one of the most savage alleged breakup lines in history.⁠
⁠
Swipe for a little taste of the chaos. 💖⁠
⁠
🎧 Our episode on Anne Bonny & Mary Read featuring @greg_jenner⁠
is OUT NOW wherever you get your podcasts! ...