What Created the Voynich Manuscript Story? | Boring History

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Well alrighty, my tired little 
ones. 

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Somewhere inside, Yale, 
University's benica rare book 

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and manuscript Library, a small 
handwritten book sits behind 

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climate, controlled glass. 
It is roughly the size of a 

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thick paperback novel its Pages,
the color of old cream and it 

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has been quietly resisting every
attempt at understanding for the

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better part of 600 years. 
Tonight, you're going to spend 

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some unhurried time with it and 
understand the story of the 

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Voynich manuscript, so get cozy 
and snug. 

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The full we begin as I always 
like to mention as a reminder 

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for new people here. 
Following us. 

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So you always have access to the
best sleep aid will do wonders 

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for you. 
Let us know how you're doing 

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today down below in the comments
and what time it is for you. 

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Now dim the lights, slow your 
breathing, while you sink into 

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that comfy bed and let's begin. 
Imagine picking up a book. 

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You have never seen before the 
cover is worn and supple the 

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kind of surface that carries the
accumulated softness of many 

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Hands Across many years. 
The spine curve slightly the way

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old books curve when they have 
been opened and closed more 

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times than anyone thought to 
count you turn it over. 

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There is no title on the front, 
there is no author's. 

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Name on the back, there is 
nothing on the outside at all to

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tell you what you are holding, 
which is already unusual and 

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already interesting in the 
specific way. 

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That a locked box without a key 
is interesting, when you find it

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on a table. 
So you open it. 

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The first thing you notice is 
the smell old. 

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Vellum. 
Has a particular sense. 

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Something between dried Autumn 
Leaves and the interior of a 

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wooden chest that has been 
sitting in a cool undisturbed 

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room for a very long time. 
It is not an unpleasant smell, 

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it is the smell of age, which is
a different thing entirely from 

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the smell of Decay. 
Something here is endured 

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genuinely and stubbornly 
endured, and you can sense that 

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before you have even looked at a
single word. 

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Before your eyes have focused on
a single mark on a single page. 

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Then you look at the words. 
They are written in Browning in 

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a neat and flowing hand, and 
they arrange themselves across 

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the page with the ease and 
confidence of language that 

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knows where it is going. 
There are letters or at least 

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shapes that function as letters.
There are spaces between groups 

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of those shapes. 
The same way words have spaces 

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between the water to be 
sentences and paragraphs, a 

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general settled sense, that 
someone sat down of very long 

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time ago. 
With something genuinely 

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important to say and said it 
Authority and without apparent 

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hurry across page after page of 
carefully ruled vellum. 

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The problem is that not one of 
these letters. 

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Matches any alphabet you have 
ever seen, not Latin, not Greek,

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not Arabic not Hebrew. 
Not any of the hundreds of 

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historical scripts that 
Specialists carry in their 

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heads, alongside the more 
ordinary contents of daily life?

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Characters are their own 
invention entirely looping and 

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deliberate consistent across 
every single page, precise 

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without being stiff unhurried, 
without being loose. 

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They look like language the way 
of very convincing dream. 

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Looks like reality familiar 
enough in structure to see more 

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most legible strange enough in 
substance to stay permanently 

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Out Of Reach, you flip forward 
through the pages. 

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Hoping that context will 
gradually produce, meaning it 

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does not produce meaning what it
produces instead are the 

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illustrations The Voynich 
manuscript is not simply a text.

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It is a heavily Illustrated 
document and the illustrations 

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are in their own quiet way. 
As remarkable as the script 

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accompanying them. 
The first large section of the 

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book is devoted to plants dozens
and dozens of plants rendered 

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with genuine care and Botanical,
attention roots, and stems, and 

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leaves and sometimes what appear
to be seed pods or flowers drawn

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by a hand, that clearly 
understood something about 

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depicting living things. 
The proportions are observed, 

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the structural details are 
specific The Roots, reach 

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downward with purpose. 
Someone was depicting something 

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they had looked at carefully or 
at least something they had 

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imagined looking at carefully, 
which turns out to be a 

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meaningfully different thing. 
The problem and this is where 

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the politely strange tips over 
into the genuinely unsettling, 

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is that these plants do not 
exist. 

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Not one of the major Botanical 
species Illustrated in. 

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The voic manuscript has been 
convincingly matched to any 

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plant that grows or has grown in
the natural world. 

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Some of the illustrations are 
closed, you can squint at a page

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and think yes. 
That is almost certainly related

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to Something in the mint family 
or possibly the carrot family 

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and then the root system begins.
And the root system is wrong in 

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a way that feels deliberate 
rather than accidental the route

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spiral in a rangements that no 
root has ever made in recorded 

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botany. 
The leaf branching follows 

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patterns that real leaves. 
Do not follow not because the 

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artist lacked skill, but because
the artist appears to have been 

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depicting a plant from a world 
that runs on nearly the same 

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rules as ours. 
But With small and specific 

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differences that were introduced
on purpose. 

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They are plants from somewhere 
else, somewhere. 

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Not too far away but 
definitively not here. 

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There are also what appear to be
cosmological or astronomical? 

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Diagrams, large circular designs
concentric Rings. 

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Radial markings along the outer 
edges. 

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What might be symbols for 
celestial bodies? 

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What might be a schematic? 
Representation of a cosmological

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system? 
Known curriculum has ever 

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taught. 
These diagrams have an 

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instructional quality, they look
like figures from a scientific 

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text intended to illustrate to 
system. 

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The reader is expected to study 
and apply They are organized 

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with the seriousness of someone 
who considers the information in

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them in important and wants it 
to be correctly. 

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Understood. 
And then in a section that 

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researchers have taken to 
calling the balcony illogical 

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section, which is simply the 
formal scholarly term for the 

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bathing section. 
There are small human figures, 

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they appear to be women. 
They are depicted with without 

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clothing which sounds alarming. 
But carries approximately the 

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same erotic atmosphere as a 
diagram of Municipal Plumbing, 

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which is to say not at all. 
They floating pools connected by

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tubing. 
They stand in circular tubs. 

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They are carried Along by what 
might be water or might be 

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something conceptually adjacent 
to water. 

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They have the calm undisturbed 
expressions of people who are 

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completely at ease and entirely 
unbothered by the fact that 

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sixth centuries of Scholars. 
Will eventually spend 

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considerable professional time 
staring at them and failing to 

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understand what they are doing. 
Good for them, honestly. 

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The manuscript is approximately 
240 pages long though. 

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There are gaps where Pages 
appear to have gone missing at 

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some point in its Long Journey 
Through Time. 

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The pages that remain of Vellum 
made from animal skin. 

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Almost certainly calf. 
Vellum prepared. 

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Carefully has a slight 
translucent. 

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See a quality of refined 
thinness and deviant manuscripts

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Pages, carry this quality. 
Someone knew what good Vellum 

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felt like and made sure they 
were working with it. 

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The text is organized into 
distinct sections each with its 

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own visual character. 
The Botanical section with those

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remarkable invented plants, the 
cosmological section with its 

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concentric diagrams. 
The Bounty logical section with 

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its contented bathing figures, 
then a section sometimes called 

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the pharmaceutical section, 
which contains drawings of small

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containers and vessels alongside
what appear to be selected 

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portions of plant material as if
someone were cataloging 

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ingredients with care. 
And finally, a section of dense 

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text alone paragraph after 
paragraph uninterrupted, by 

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illustration, with small 
decorative star, shapes marked 

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in the margins, at regular 
intervals, like, careful, 

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notation in a document, where 
someone needed to locate certain

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passages quickly. 
A list of what, no one has been 

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able to establish. 
What strikes, almost every 

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person who looks at this book 
carefully even before they have 

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any knowledge of its history or 
the efforts made to understand, 

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it is the sense of genuine 
purpose, IT projects, this is 

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not a decorative book. 
There is no gold leaf along the 

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margins. 
There is no elaborate 

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illuminated Capital at the start
of each section of the kind that

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monastic. 
Scribes used to turn the 

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beginning of a chapter into a 
small piece of art. 

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The illustrations are careful 
but functional. 

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The writing is even and 
businesslike, whoever made this 

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book was not trying to impress 
anyone with its appearance. 

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They were trying to transmit 
something, whether that's 

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something is real information 
encoded in an unknown system or 

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a brilliant and elaborate 
performance of information is 

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the question that has occupied 
more professional and amateur 

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attention than almost any other 
unresolved puzzle in the history

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of writing. 
Linguists have devoted careers 

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to it. 
Cryptographers have applied 

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wartime intelligence methods to 
it computer scientists have, run

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machine learning models on it. 
Historians have traced every 

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lead through archives across a 
dozen European countries. 

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None of them have cracked it. 
All of them found it interesting

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enough to keep going. 
There is also something worth 

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noting about the scale of the 
thing. 240 pages. 

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From edge to edge is not a 
casual production. 

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It is not a weekend project or a
brief experiment. 

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It is months of work, possibly 
longer it. 

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Implies a commitment to the task
and a sustained sense of purpose

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that you can feel even before 
you can explain it. whoever sat 

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down to make this book sat down 
with the intention of finishing 

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it and they did fit which is 
more than can be said for most 

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ambitious projects undertaken by
most human beings across any 

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period of History The writing is
also notably beautiful. 

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In the specific way that 
purposeful writing is beautiful,

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rather than the way decorative 
writing is beautiful. 

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There is no flourish for its own
sake, no curling terminal stroke

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performed purely to demonstrate 
skill, the characters move 

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across the page the way an 
experienced crafts person moves 

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through their work with economy 
and Direction and a complete 

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absence of the kind of visible 
effort. 

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That marks, someone still 
learning what they are doing. 

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Someone made this. 
Someone cared enough about it to

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make it well. 
You however, are under no 

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obligation to crack anything 
tonight, your own here to look. 

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Right. 
At its most fundamental is a 

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technology for storing sound. 
You take the noise, a human 

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mouth makes and you find a mark 
for it. 

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And then you put the mark on a 
surface, that will Outlast the 

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noise and suddenly the sound can
travel across distances that 

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voices, cannot cover and, 
through stretches of time that 

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voices cannot survive. 
That is the whole Arrangement, 

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every writing system in human 
history, from cuneiform marks 

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pressed into Sumerian clay, 
tablets to the letters, your 

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eyes are moving across right now
is an attempt to do this same 

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essential thing in a slightly 
different way. 

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The Voynich script appears to 
understand this Arrangement, it 

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behaves like a writing system 
from the outside. 

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It has the Rhythm and the 
regularity of a writing system 

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linguists and cryptographers who
have spent substantial portions 

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00:10:51,700 --> 00:10:54,800
of serious careers examining it 
arrived at a consistent early 

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conclusion, which is that what 
whatever this script is? 

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It is not random Something is 
operating underneath it? 

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00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,300
There are structures. 
There are patterns there are 

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what look very much like 
grammatical regularities running

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consistently across all 240 
Pages, as if rules exist and are

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being followed. 
Even though those rules have not

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been shared with us, this 
observation is either thrilling 

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or maddening, depending on what 
you are hoping to find. 

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When you sat down with the 
manuscript, the alphabet, as 

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best. 
As researchers have been able to

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catalog, it contain somewhere 
between 20 and 30 distinct 

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characters depending on which 
scholar you consult and how they

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handle certain variants. 
That might be separate letters 

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or might be contextual forms of 
the same letter. 

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The kind of variation that 
appears in many historical 

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scripts without causing 
confusion for fluent readers. 20

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to 30 characters is a modest 
number on the smallest side, 

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compared to many writing systems
which might suggest a language 

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with a limited range of distinct
sounds or a highly efficient in 

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coding method or any number of 
other things that remain open 

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questions. 
The characters themselves around

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it and fluid, they would not 
fight to train hand. 

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Writing them. 
If you were to take a pen and 

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00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,900
attempt to copy a page of the 
script would feel natural the 

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00:12:08,900 --> 00:12:11,500
shapes fit, the motion of a 
hand, moving across a smooth 

233
00:12:11,500 --> 00:12:14,300
surface in the way that world 
developed writing systems. 

234
00:12:14,300 --> 00:12:17,500
Always do as though, they were 
arrived at through refinement, 

235
00:12:17,500 --> 00:12:20,600
over time, rather than invented 
all at once on a single 

236
00:12:20,608 --> 00:12:24,100
occasion. 
They feel practiced as if 

237
00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:26,600
whoever made them had been 
making them for long enough that

238
00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,100
the hand no longer thinks 
consciously about the shapes. 

239
00:12:29,100 --> 00:12:32,800
It simply moves. 
One of the most striking 

240
00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,900
qualities of the text visible 
immediately on any page is the 

241
00:12:35,900 --> 00:12:39,200
near total absence of 
Corrections medieval manuscripts

242
00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:41,900
were corrected monks and 
scriptoria made errors and 

243
00:12:41,900 --> 00:12:45,000
scratch them out or wrote over 
them, or added marginal notes. 

244
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,100
Indicating something had been 
caught and addressed. 

245
00:12:47,100 --> 00:12:49,800
The Voynich manuscript has 
almost none of this. 

246
00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,500
The text moves across its Pages,
cleanly, without the visible, 

247
00:12:53,500 --> 00:12:56,400
hesitations and repairs that 
Mark every other manuscript of 

248
00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:57,900
comparable length from the 
period. 

249
00:12:57,900 --> 00:13:00,700
The Scribe, the never made 
errors which would be 

250
00:13:00,700 --> 00:13:04,200
extraordinary by any standard of
human performance or worked from

251
00:13:04,208 --> 00:13:07,600
a rough draft that no longer 
survives, which would itself be 

252
00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,900
significant and interesting or 
was producing texts through some

253
00:13:10,900 --> 00:13:13,700
method that did not involve the 
ordinary compositional 

254
00:13:13,700 --> 00:13:15,400
uncertainty of original 
composition. 

255
00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:18,700
Each of these possibilities 
points in a different direction,

256
00:13:18,700 --> 00:13:21,400
none of them points clearly 
toward an answer. 

257
00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:25,100
This is, as you may be noticing 
a recurring theme throughout the

258
00:13:25,100 --> 00:13:27,500
evening. 
A researcher at Keele University

259
00:13:27,500 --> 00:13:30,900
named Gordon, rug spent 
considerable time in the early 

260
00:13:30,900 --> 00:13:34,700
2000s analyzing the statistical 
properties of the Voynich, 

261
00:13:34,700 --> 00:13:38,500
texist with the specific goal of
understanding, whether those 

262
00:13:38,500 --> 00:13:41,700
properties were consistent with 
a natural human language or with

263
00:13:41,700 --> 00:13:45,100
something constructed to 
resemble one, what he found was 

264
00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:47,800
that word lengths and letter 
frequencies across the 

265
00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:50,100
manuscript? 
Follow patterns, broadly 

266
00:13:50,100 --> 00:13:53,000
similar, To those found in 
natural languages but with 

267
00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,900
anomalies that do not appear in 
natural languages as reliably or

268
00:13:56,900 --> 00:13:59,100
as consistently as they appear 
in the Voynich. 

269
00:13:59,100 --> 00:14:02,600
Text certain word, forms appear 
with high frequency throughout 

270
00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,600
others appear, only once or 
twice across all the pages. 

271
00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,000
The relationship between word 
frequency and word length, 

272
00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:13,100
follow something close to what 
linguists call Zips law, a 

273
00:14:13,100 --> 00:14:16,300
mathematical regularity found in
virtually, all natural languages

274
00:14:16,300 --> 00:14:19,900
describing how the most common 
words in any language tend to be

275
00:14:19,900 --> 00:14:23,300
very common and the rarest 
words, very rare with a 

276
00:14:23,300 --> 00:14:24,800
predictable, curve across the 
middle. 

277
00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:28,500
The Voynich text follows 
something like this law, but not

278
00:14:28,500 --> 00:14:32,000
quite exactly close enough to 
suggest underlying structure. 

279
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,000
Not close enough to confirm. 
That the structure is the 

280
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:36,800
structure of natural human 
language. 

281
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,900
Specifically, there is something
else that researchers notice 

282
00:14:39,900 --> 00:14:42,800
about the text something that 
takes a moment longer to 

283
00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,500
articulate, but that feel 
significant once you have 

284
00:14:45,508 --> 00:14:48,600
identified it. 
The vocabulary appears to shift 

285
00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,400
meaningfully across sections, 
certain word forms that appear 

286
00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:55,100
frequently in the Botanical 
section do not appear frequently

287
00:14:55,100 --> 00:14:59,100
in the cosmological section. 
The dense final text section has

288
00:14:59,100 --> 00:15:02,600
clusters of word forms that are 
relatively uncommon elsewhere in

289
00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:04,400
the book. 
This is the pattern. 

290
00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:06,800
You encounter in a real 
reference work where the 

291
00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,600
terminology appropriate to one 
subject differs from the 

292
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:11,200
terminology appropriate to 
another. 

293
00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,800
The way, a book about medicine 
uses different language than a 

294
00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,600
book about astronomy, even when 
both are written in the same 

295
00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:21,500
script, This topical vocabulary 
clustering, could mean the 

296
00:15:21,500 --> 00:15:25,400
Voynich text is a real organized
reference document with actual 

297
00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:29,000
subject-specific terminology 
waiting to be understood along 

298
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,400
with everything else. 
It could equally mean that 

299
00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:33,600
whoever created it understood 
reference books. 

300
00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,400
Well, enough to build this kind 
of topical variation into a 

301
00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:39,800
fabrication because it is 
exactly the quality that makes a

302
00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,100
false document convincing to 
educated readers. 

303
00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:45,600
These two explanations look 
completely identical from the 

304
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,300
outside, you cannot separate 
them without reading. 

305
00:15:48,300 --> 00:15:51,600
The text and reading the text is
precisely, the thing. 

306
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,100
No one has managed to do. 
One further quality of the 

307
00:15:55,100 --> 00:15:57,600
script that is attracted. 
Consistent attention from 

308
00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,300
information. 
Theorists is its entropy which 

309
00:16:00,300 --> 00:16:02,900
refers in this context to the 
information density of the 

310
00:16:02,900 --> 00:16:06,700
character sequence, a measure of
how much unpredictable variation

311
00:16:06,700 --> 00:16:08,500
exists from one character to the
next. 

312
00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,800
Natural language has a 
characteristic entropy range. 

313
00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:16,700
Very repetitive text has lower 
entropy affectively random text 

314
00:16:16,700 --> 00:16:20,500
has higher entropy natural 
language sits between them in a 

315
00:16:20,500 --> 00:16:22,900
Range that is fairly consistent 
across different languages. 

316
00:16:22,900 --> 00:16:26,200
The text tends to sit at the 
lower end of the natural 

317
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,200
language range meaning, it is 
slightly more repetitive than 

318
00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,400
most natural languages. 
This might mean the underlying 

319
00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,100
language has fewer distinct 
sounds than most human 

320
00:16:35,100 --> 00:16:37,700
languages. 
It might mean the encoding 

321
00:16:37,700 --> 00:16:39,500
method introduced controlled 
repetition. 

322
00:16:39,500 --> 00:16:42,900
As a structural feature it might
mean something else entirely 

323
00:16:42,900 --> 00:16:44,400
that has not yet been 
identified. 

324
00:16:45,500 --> 00:16:48,500
What it does not mean according 
to the most careful researchers 

325
00:16:48,500 --> 00:16:52,200
who have examined this question 
specifically is that the text is

326
00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:57,100
Pure Noise, whatever it contains
it is not random, something was 

327
00:16:57,100 --> 00:17:00,300
placed there with deliberate 
intention by someone who 

328
00:17:00,300 --> 00:17:03,300
understood how structure works. 
And that's something has been 

329
00:17:03,300 --> 00:17:06,000
waiting for another mine to 
recognize it for a very long 

330
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,099
time. 
The waiting has been 

331
00:17:08,099 --> 00:17:12,500
extraordinarily patient. 600 
years of patients is by any 

332
00:17:12,500 --> 00:17:15,700
standard you care to apply quite
a remarkable amount. 

333
00:17:15,700 --> 00:17:19,099
There is one additional quality 
of the voiced text that does not

334
00:17:19,099 --> 00:17:20,900
fit neatly into any of the 
Frameworks. 

335
00:17:20,900 --> 00:17:24,300
Researchers have tried to apply 
to it and that quality is its 

336
00:17:24,300 --> 00:17:26,900
range. 
Real languages have words that 

337
00:17:26,900 --> 00:17:28,800
appear in many different lengths
and shapes. 

338
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,900
They have short common particles
medium-length common nouns 

339
00:17:32,900 --> 00:17:34,700
longer. 
Specialized terms. 

340
00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:38,700
The voic text has its own 
distribution of word links, and 

341
00:17:38,700 --> 00:17:41,300
while this distribution roughly 
resembles, those found in 

342
00:17:41,300 --> 00:17:43,600
natural languages, there are now
owners to it. 

343
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,200
A sense that the vocabulary is 
operating within a tighter range

344
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,100
of forms than most natural 
languages, allow themselves, 

345
00:17:50,100 --> 00:17:54,100
whether this narrow is a feature
of the underlying language, a 

346
00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:57,100
consequence of the encoding 
method or an artifact of the 

347
00:17:57,100 --> 00:18:00,200
relatively limited Corpus size 
researchers have not yet agreed.

348
00:18:00,900 --> 00:18:04,500
What they do agree on returning 
to the one shared conclusion 

349
00:18:04,500 --> 00:18:07,800
that has survived every 
challenge, is that the text was 

350
00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,100
not produced carelessly. 
It was not scribbled, it was not

351
00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:13,500
improvised. 
It was written by someone who 

352
00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:16,500
had a clear model in mind. 
Whether that model was a natural

353
00:18:16,500 --> 00:18:19,900
language, a philosophical 
language and encoded reference 

354
00:18:19,900 --> 00:18:22,200
system or something else. 
Entirely that none of the 

355
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,000
current Frameworks adequately 
describe, Before anyone can 

356
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,000
argue productively about what 
the Voynich manuscript contains,

357
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,400
there is a more fundamental 
question to settle first which 

358
00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:34,100
is how old the thing actually 
is. 

359
00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,100
People argued about this without
rigorous tools for a long time, 

360
00:18:38,100 --> 00:18:42,100
relying on careful, observation 
and learned comparison and 

361
00:18:42,100 --> 00:18:44,300
careful of observation. 
Combined with learned comparison

362
00:18:44,300 --> 00:18:47,500
turns out to produce a wide 
range of confident answers. 

363
00:18:47,500 --> 00:18:50,700
That do not all agree with one 
another which is inconvenient 

364
00:18:50,700 --> 00:18:54,200
but not surprising. 
For most of the 20th century, 

365
00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,900
the dating rested on Paleo 
graphic and could logical 

366
00:18:56,900 --> 00:19:00,000
analysis paleography, A 
specialists in historical 

367
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,400
handwriting people who have 
trained themselves to recognize 

368
00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,900
the period characteristics of 
letter forms and scribble 

369
00:19:06,900 --> 00:19:10,600
conventions across centuries of 
European manuscript production. 

370
00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:15,100
To look at a page of handwriting
and say, with calibrated 

371
00:19:15,100 --> 00:19:18,600
confidence, that this was 
produced around 1420 in Central.

372
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,500
Europe is a real and hard one 
skill. 

373
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,000
Code, ecologists, study the 
physical construction of books, 

374
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,100
the preparation of materials, 
and the methods by which 

375
00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:31,100
manuscripts were assembled, from
loose sheets into bound objects.

376
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:34,900
Both groups looked at the 
Voynich manuscript and placed it

377
00:19:34,900 --> 00:19:38,100
with reasonable confidence in 
the early to Middle 15th 

378
00:19:38,100 --> 00:19:40,600
century. 
The character of The Script. 

379
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,000
Quality and preparation of the 
Vellum. 

380
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,200
The conventions of the page, 
layout, the style of the 

381
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,600
illustrations. 
All of these pointed towards 

382
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,700
Central Europe Somewhere In the 
period roughly between 1400 and 

383
00:19:51,700 --> 00:19:54,300
1460. 
The problem was that these 

384
00:19:54,300 --> 00:19:56,900
assessments. 
However, learned and carefully 

385
00:19:56,900 --> 00:20:00,700
reasoned were ultimately 
arguments from resemblance, the 

386
00:20:00,700 --> 00:20:03,600
manuscript looked like something
from a particular time and place

387
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,500
that is not the same as being 
from that time and place. 

388
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,900
Skilled forgers have been 
preparing aged development and 

389
00:20:09,900 --> 00:20:13,100
imitating historical scripts for
as long as a marketing existed 

390
00:20:13,100 --> 00:20:16,500
for old manuscripts, and that 
market has existed for a very 

391
00:20:16,500 --> 00:20:18,800
long time. 
The possibility that the 

392
00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,000
manuscript was an elaborate 
later fabrication. 

393
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,300
Sat alongside every other open 
question quietly and 

394
00:20:24,300 --> 00:20:27,300
persistently like a small pebble
in a shoe that you keep 

395
00:20:27,300 --> 00:20:29,100
forgetting about until you take 
a step. 

396
00:20:29,900 --> 00:20:33,100
Then radiocarbon dating became 
precise enough to settle the 

397
00:20:33,100 --> 00:20:35,900
question of the physical 
material in 2009. 

398
00:20:35,900 --> 00:20:39,100
Researchers from the University 
of Arizona, took small samples 

399
00:20:39,100 --> 00:20:42,400
from four separate locations, 
within the manuscript Vellum, 

400
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,300
and subjected them to 
accelerate. 

401
00:20:44,300 --> 00:20:47,500
A mass spectrometry, a technique
that measures the ratio of 

402
00:20:47,500 --> 00:20:50,100
carbon Isotopes. 
Inorganic material to determine 

403
00:20:50,100 --> 00:20:52,000
when the organism from which the
material was. 

404
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,600
Derived was alive. 
The results were published in 

405
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:58,800
2011, the Vellum, the analysis 
confirmed with a high degree of 

406
00:20:58,808 --> 00:21:01,500
statistical. 
Confidence came from animals, 

407
00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:04,700
that lived and died between 1404
and 1438. 

408
00:21:05,500 --> 00:21:08,100
The range reflects the natural 
variation inherent in 

409
00:21:08,100 --> 00:21:12,000
radiocarbon analysis that the 
center of that range sits firmly

410
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,800
in the early 15th century and 
the outer boundaries of the 

411
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,800
range. 
Do not come close to any era in 

412
00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,100
which modern fabrication for a 
20th century audience would be 

413
00:21:20,100 --> 00:21:23,300
Applause motive. 
No one working in the 20th 

414
00:21:23,300 --> 00:21:25,900
century was using Vellum 
produced from cars that grazed 

415
00:21:25,900 --> 00:21:28,800
during the reign of Henry, the 
5th of England, the physical 

416
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,300
material of the manuscript is 
genuinely medieval. 

417
00:21:31,300 --> 00:21:34,500
This was significant. 
It did not answer the main 

418
00:21:34,500 --> 00:21:37,900
question, but it removed one 
large category of explanation 

419
00:21:37,900 --> 00:21:41,400
from serious consideration. 
And let's subsequent discussions

420
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,600
proceed on firmer footing, the 
inks required separate 

421
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,300
investigation. 
The firm called macron 

422
00:21:47,300 --> 00:21:50,600
Associates, which specializes in
the microscopic materials 

423
00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:54,100
analysis of historical objects 
and which sounds like exactly 

424
00:21:54,100 --> 00:21:56,700
the kind of organization that 
would eventually end up 

425
00:21:56,708 --> 00:21:59,900
examining the Voynich 
manuscript, studied the inks in 

426
00:21:59,908 --> 00:22:03,700
the 1990s, their analysis found 
them consistent with medieval 

427
00:22:03,700 --> 00:22:06,500
preparation methods carbon-based
and iron. 

428
00:22:06,500 --> 00:22:10,300
Goal-based compounds of the 
kinds routinely used in European

429
00:22:10,300 --> 00:22:12,200
manuscript production. 
During the period. 

430
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,100
The Vellum dates suggest No 
modern synthetic compounds 

431
00:22:16,100 --> 00:22:19,300
appeared in the samples. 
No materials were identified. 

432
00:22:19,300 --> 00:22:21,400
That would indicate later 
alteration or addition to the 

433
00:22:21,408 --> 00:22:23,800
text itself. 
The pigments used in the 

434
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:25,500
illustrations. 
Offered another layer of 

435
00:22:25,500 --> 00:22:29,100
physical evidence, they appear 
in several sections of the 

436
00:22:29,100 --> 00:22:31,400
manuscript to have been applied 
after the ink. 

437
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,800
Text was already dry on the page
indicating that the writing and 

438
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:36,900
the coloring were not completed 
in the same session. 

439
00:22:37,700 --> 00:22:41,400
Someone wrote first allowed the 
ink to set and then returned to 

440
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,800
add color. 
The pigments are modest and 

441
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,900
consistent with a 15th century 
European working palette, muted.

442
00:22:47,900 --> 00:22:51,600
Blue green, in portions of the 
Botanical section A brownish red

443
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,100
elsewhere, a restrained yellow 
in certain cosmological 

444
00:22:55,100 --> 00:22:57,800
diagrams. 
None of these colors is 

445
00:22:57,800 --> 00:22:59,800
extravagant or unusual for the 
period. 

446
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,900
The coloring was applied with 
practical intent rather than 

447
00:23:02,900 --> 00:23:06,000
decorative ambition which is 
consistent with everything else 

448
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,200
about the book. 
Yale University is boneka rare 

449
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,900
book and manuscript library has 
been the manuscripts 

450
00:23:11,900 --> 00:23:16,100
institutional home since 1969. 
And it is a worthy home by any 

451
00:23:16,100 --> 00:23:18,200
measure. 
The bennets is one of the great 

452
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,600
repositories for rare books and 
manuscripts in the world. 

453
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,400
Housed in a building on Yale 
central campus whose exterior 

454
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,000
walls are constructed from 
translucent marble panels. 

455
00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,400
Thin enough to filter natural 
light into the reading room in a

456
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,800
way that makes the space feel 
perpetually and softly 

457
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:35,600
illuminated from within. 
As if the building itself 

458
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,800
understands that the things kept
inside it, deserve a gentle 

459
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,300
quality of light, the library 
maintains its collections under 

460
00:23:42,300 --> 00:23:45,700
carefully, managed environmental
conditions temperature, and 

461
00:23:45,700 --> 00:23:48,800
humidity held within ranges that
conservators regard with the 

462
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,600
protective attention. 
Most people reserved for things,

463
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,000
they care about very much. 
The manuscript lives there under

464
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,500
the catalog. 
Designation Ms. 4808. 

465
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,700
This is a name of notable 
understatement for one of the 

466
00:24:01,700 --> 00:24:05,100
most discussed unsolved, puzzles
in the history of human writing 

467
00:24:05,100 --> 00:24:08,300
but library's organized their 
Holdings according to systems 

468
00:24:08,300 --> 00:24:11,200
rather than drama and their 
system serve them. 

469
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,700
Well in 2004 the Bennett 
produced high, resolution 

470
00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:17,800
digital scams of the entire 
manuscript and made them 

471
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,100
available first to researchers 
and eventually to anyone with an

472
00:24:21,100 --> 00:24:23,000
internet connection and an 
interest. 

473
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,100
The quality of these scans is 
extraordinary at high 

474
00:24:27,100 --> 00:24:30,500
magnification, you can examine 
the slight variations in pain 

475
00:24:30,500 --> 00:24:32,200
pressure within individual 
letter. 

476
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,300
Strokes the places where the 
pain moved quickly and the ink 

477
00:24:35,300 --> 00:24:38,000
thinned the place where it 
paused and the ink pooled 

478
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,600
slightly before. 
Moving on, you can see the hand 

479
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,700
behind the hand, the specific 
physical person, who sat 

480
00:24:43,700 --> 00:24:46,900
somewhere in early 15th century,
Europe, and wrote These pages 

481
00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:50,500
with consistency and apparent 
confidence, the structure of the

482
00:24:50,500 --> 00:24:52,600
book itself. 
Provides one further layer of 

483
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:56,100
evidence, the manuscript is 
organized into wires which are 

484
00:24:56,108 --> 00:24:58,700
groups of folded. 
Sheets forming the basic 

485
00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:00,700
structural units of a bound 
manuscript. 

486
00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:04,800
It has 17 choirs and they are 
not all assembled the same way, 

487
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,800
some follow standard conventions
for the period, others deviated 

488
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,400
in ways that Scholars have noted
and debated without reaching 

489
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,400
consensus. several choirs 
contain gaps where pages are 

490
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,900
apps and interruptions in the 
sequence of content that pick up

491
00:25:18,900 --> 00:25:22,200
again at an unknown distance 
later, Whether those missing 

492
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,400
pages were removed, deliberately
fell away through ordinary 

493
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,400
physical deterioration across 
the centuries, or were simply 

494
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,100
never filled in. 
When the manuscript was 

495
00:25:30,100 --> 00:25:32,800
assembled is a question. 
The object as not answered 

496
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,400
directly. 
The gaps might be accidental, 

497
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,300
they might carry significant, 
they maintain the same perfectly

498
00:25:39,300 --> 00:25:42,700
calibrated quality as everything
else about this document, which 

499
00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:46,200
is that they provide just enough
information to sustain interest 

500
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,300
and not quite enough to support 
a conclusion. 

501
00:25:49,500 --> 00:25:52,600
What the physical evidence 
assembled carefully and 

502
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,000
considered together, establishes
Beyond reasonable. 

503
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:59,100
Dispute is a sequence of events 
in the early Decades of the 15th

504
00:25:59,100 --> 00:26:02,200
century somewhere in Central 
Europe, someone obtained, a 

505
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:03,900
quantity of high-quality car 
Vellum. 

506
00:26:03,900 --> 00:26:07,800
They ruled its Pages they wrote 
across it with steady hands and 

507
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,700
period appropriate inks, they 
added pigment to the 

508
00:26:10,708 --> 00:26:13,800
illustrations in a second pass 
after the ink dried, they 

509
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,400
organized the pages into wires 
and had them bound. 

510
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:21,000
And then this small careful 
purposeful object into the world

511
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,800
and began the very long journey 
that would eventually carry it 

512
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:28,400
to a shelf in New Haven, where 
it sits tonight as closed. 

513
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,200
And as present as it is always 
been What? 

514
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,800
The physical evidence does not. 
Tell us what? 

515
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,900
No, physical analysis is likely 
to tell us his wife. 

516
00:26:37,700 --> 00:26:41,800
Why this system of writing, why 
these impossible plants, why the

517
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,200
bathing figures? 
Why a book of this length? 

518
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:46,900
And this organization was 
produced at all, by someone 

519
00:26:46,900 --> 00:26:50,200
working with this level of care 
in a notation system, they 

520
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:51,700
apparently never explained to 
anyone. 

521
00:26:51,700 --> 00:26:54,100
The why is the thing that keeps 
people up at night? 

522
00:26:54,100 --> 00:26:57,900
You at least are making a more 
productive Choice, The Binding 

523
00:26:57,900 --> 00:27:00,000
that holds the quietest together
as a later replacement. 

524
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,500
Meaning the original binding did
not survive. 

525
00:27:02,500 --> 00:27:05,600
This is common in Old 
manuscripts, binding. 

526
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,300
Take the most physical stress of
any part of a book and they wear

527
00:27:09,300 --> 00:27:10,500
out before the pages. 
Do. 

528
00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:14,100
The current binding was added at
some point after the manuscript 

529
00:27:14,100 --> 00:27:17,200
medieval creation and it holds 
the pages in The order. 

530
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,200
They have been in for centuries.
An order that may or may not be 

531
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,600
the order in which they were 
originally intended to be read 

532
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:26,400
objects, Do not, sit still 
across centuries, they travel 

533
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,500
between hands cross-borders 
arrive in libraries and depart 

534
00:27:30,500 --> 00:27:33,800
from them get given as gifts and
sold as commercial assets and 

535
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:37,300
left in Wills to heirs who find 
them confusing and donate them 

536
00:27:37,300 --> 00:27:39,900
to institutions better equipped 
to care for the properly. 

537
00:27:39,900 --> 00:27:43,300
The Voynich manuscript has done 
all of these things across a 

538
00:27:43,300 --> 00:27:45,800
span of time that covers the 
full distance from the Italian 

539
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,800
Renaissance to the present day 
and tracing its route. 

540
00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,700
From whoever first made it to 
the climate control shelf where 

541
00:27:51,700 --> 00:27:55,100
it now rests requires following 
a trail of surviving letters. 

542
00:27:55,100 --> 00:27:59,200
Institutional records faded 
inscription is examined under 

543
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,800
ultraviolet light and a few 
carefully placed educated 

544
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,200
guesses. 
The oldest film documentary 

545
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,900
evidence of the manuscripts. 
Existence is a letter written in

546
00:28:07,900 --> 00:28:11,200
1666. 
It was composed by a bohemian. 

547
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,100
Physician named Johannes Marcus 
Marcy addressed to adjust to its

548
00:28:15,100 --> 00:28:17,000
scholar in Rome named athanasius
Kershaw. 

549
00:28:17,700 --> 00:28:20,900
Marcy was elderly when he wrote 
it he described himself in the 

550
00:28:20,908 --> 00:28:23,600
letter as a man at the very end 
of his intellectual faculty, 

551
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:27,000
which is disarmingly candid 
opening for a letter to one of 

552
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:28,700
the most celebrated scholars in 
Europe. 

553
00:28:28,700 --> 00:28:31,800
He was sending Church of the 
manuscript itself along with the

554
00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:35,100
letter hoping that kircher might
have accomplished what Marcy and

555
00:28:35,100 --> 00:28:38,300
every owner before him had to 
do, which was to make the book 

556
00:28:38,300 --> 00:28:41,700
intelligible. 
Athanasius kircher was a 

557
00:28:41,700 --> 00:28:44,300
sensible person to approach with
this particular hope. 

558
00:28:44,300 --> 00:28:47,600
He was one of the most famous 
and broadly learned Scholars of 

559
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,700
the 17th century. 
The Jesuit priest who had 

560
00:28:50,700 --> 00:28:54,000
published substantial, works on 
topics ranging, from Egyptian 

561
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:58,500
Antiquities to music theory to 
the geology of volcanoes to 

562
00:28:58,500 --> 00:29:02,400
Chinese language and culture. 
His reputation rested 

563
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,100
substantially on a claimed 
ability to read things that 

564
00:29:05,100 --> 00:29:08,800
other Scholars could not read. 
His progress on Egyptian 

565
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,500
hieroglyphics was celebrated 
across the Leonard world of his 

566
00:29:11,500 --> 00:29:13,600
era, though. 
Later generations of 

567
00:29:13,608 --> 00:29:16,900
egyptologist would evaluate his 
translations with considerably 

568
00:29:16,900 --> 00:29:19,700
more skepticism than his 
contemporaries extended. 

569
00:29:19,700 --> 00:29:22,900
His willingness to attempt 
difficult and unusual problems 

570
00:29:22,900 --> 00:29:26,600
was genuine and his network of 
Correspondence included, curious

571
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:29,700
people from across Europe, who 
regularly sent him, strange 

572
00:29:29,700 --> 00:29:32,100
objects, and strange texts and 
asked for his opinion. 

573
00:29:33,100 --> 00:29:35,700
Marcy's letter mentioned a 
tradition he had received from 

574
00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:39,000
an early owner of the manuscript
the tributing it to the Holy 

575
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,400
Roman Emperor. 
Rudolph, the second who had 

576
00:29:41,408 --> 00:29:46,100
reportedly paid. 600 gold 
ducketts for it. 600 ducketts 

577
00:29:46,100 --> 00:29:50,000
was a meaningful sum not merely 
expensive, but conspicuously 

578
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,700
expensive. 
The kind of price that signals 

579
00:29:52,700 --> 00:29:54,700
the buyer believe. 
They were acquiring something of

580
00:29:54,700 --> 00:29:57,800
extraordinary significance, 
whether that significant was 

581
00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,700
historical, scientific or simply
the significance of genuine, 

582
00:30:01,700 --> 00:30:04,500
scarcity. 
And genuine mystery is not 

583
00:30:04,500 --> 00:30:06,700
recorded in any surviving 
source. 

584
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:09,400
Rudolph. 
The second who held the Imperial

585
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:13,800
title and ruled from his court 
in Prague between 1576 and 1612 

586
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,900
was one of the stranger figures 
ever to occupy that particular 

587
00:30:16,900 --> 00:30:19,800
office. 
He was withdrawn, prone to 

588
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,800
prolonged Melancholy and often 
Paralyzed by the administrative 

589
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,200
obligations of Empire, but his 
interest in the contents of his 

590
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,400
personal collections was 
passionate and sustained across 

591
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,800
his whole reign. 
He filled rooms in Prague castle

592
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:36,000
with paintings. 
Mechanical Devices, natural 

593
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,400
specimens, instruments of 
mathematical and astronomical 

594
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:43,700
measurement and manuscripts from
many parts of the world and many

595
00:30:43,700 --> 00:30:47,200
centuries of History. 
His court in Prague, became one 

596
00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,700
of the great cabinets of 
curiosity in European history. 

597
00:30:50,500 --> 00:30:53,400
The kind of environment where an
unusual book with an unreadable 

598
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,700
script would have found an owner
who appreciated it on exactly 

599
00:30:56,700 --> 00:30:59,900
those terms. 
Rudolph, apparently received the

600
00:30:59,900 --> 00:31:02,300
manuscript along with an 
attribution, claiming it had 

601
00:31:02,300 --> 00:31:05,100
been written by Roger Bacon, the
13th century, English 

602
00:31:05,100 --> 00:31:08,300
philosopher, and Friar who had a
persistent posthumous reputation

603
00:31:08,300 --> 00:31:11,900
for having understood things 
that ordinary scholarly methods 

604
00:31:11,900 --> 00:31:14,400
could not account for. 
Attributing a mysterious 

605
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,100
manuscript of bacon was an 
effective way to elevate its 

606
00:31:17,100 --> 00:31:18,300
apparent. 
Significance. 

607
00:31:19,100 --> 00:31:22,000
And whether Rudolph accepted 
this attribution, out of genuine

608
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,500
belief or out of the 
collector's, useful habit of 

609
00:31:24,508 --> 00:31:27,500
extending generous, benefit of 
the doubt to a compelling story.

610
00:31:27,500 --> 00:31:29,700
The Record does not settle 
definitively. 

611
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,900
Before Rudolph, the documentary 
Trail disappears, The 

612
00:31:33,900 --> 00:31:36,700
radiocarbon Dating places. 
The Vellum firmly in the early 

613
00:31:36,700 --> 00:31:40,900
Decades of the 15th century, 
creating a gap of roughly 150 

614
00:31:40,900 --> 00:31:43,600
years during which the 
manuscripts location, and the 

615
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:45,700
identities of its owners are 
simply unknown. 

616
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:49,500
After Rudolf, the chain become 
partially traceable. 

617
00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:52,400
Again, the manuscript appears to
have passed to a man named 

618
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:57,500
Jacobus, horse in the Rudolph's,
personal physician, and operated

619
00:31:57,500 --> 00:32:00,200
a substantial distilling 
Enterprise producing herbal 

620
00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,400
preparations, a background that 
makes him an interesting figure 

621
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:05,800
to have possessed and apparently
Botanical manuscript. 

622
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:09,100
His name was found written 
inside the manuscript in script 

623
00:32:09,100 --> 00:32:12,000
that had faded to near 
invisibility and was recovered 

624
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,700
only under ultraviolet light. 
Finding that name was itself. 

625
00:32:15,700 --> 00:32:18,700
A small piece of careful, 
detective work and finding it 

626
00:32:18,700 --> 00:32:21,100
mattered because it placed 
another figure in the 

627
00:32:21,100 --> 00:32:24,100
manuscripts chain and helped 
anchor certain phases of its 

628
00:32:24,100 --> 00:32:26,500
travels. 
From Tepper, neck the manuscript

629
00:32:26,500 --> 00:32:28,800
pass to an alchemist and 
collector in Prague named 

630
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:32,800
Georges who spent years studying
it without success and 

631
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:34,900
eventually wrote to coach her 
asking for guidance. 

632
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,900
He described the manuscript in 
terms that convey genuine 

633
00:32:38,900 --> 00:32:42,500
Fascination and genuine 
weariness the tone of someone 

634
00:32:42,500 --> 00:32:46,000
who has been puzzling over the 
same unanswerable question for 

635
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:47,900
much longer than they initially 
intended. 

636
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:52,800
Curtis response to bearish, if 
he sent one has not survived or 

637
00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:54,600
was not the kind of response 
that helped. 

638
00:32:55,700 --> 00:32:58,800
After bearish died, the 
manuscript went to Marcy and 

639
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:03,200
from Marcy to kircher along with
the 1666 letter after kircher, 

640
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:06,200
it entered the collections of 
the collegial Romano in Rome, 

641
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,100
the Jesuit college, where 
kercher had spent his career. 

642
00:33:09,100 --> 00:33:12,100
And there it remained through 
the succeeding centuries, while 

643
00:33:12,100 --> 00:33:14,400
the history of Europe, 
reorganized itself around it. 

644
00:33:15,300 --> 00:33:19,300
The suppression of the Jesuit 
order in 1773 the restoration of

645
00:33:19,300 --> 00:33:22,900
the order in 1840, the political
transformation of Italian 

646
00:33:22,900 --> 00:33:26,200
unification, all of these 
upheavals came and went without 

647
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,100
placing the small handwritten 
book from his institutional 

648
00:33:29,100 --> 00:33:33,900
shelter and then in 1912 a 
Polish Lithuanian, Bookseller 

649
00:33:33,900 --> 00:33:36,800
with a history of finding 
remarkable, things arrived at 

650
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:39,100
Jesuit. 
Villa in the Hills of Rome and 

651
00:33:39,100 --> 00:33:41,900
reached in to a box, it is worth
pausing here. 

652
00:33:41,900 --> 00:33:44,600
Before we follow him, inside to 
note, how many different kinds 

653
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:46,800
of puzzle people, this 
manuscript collected across 

654
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,500
those five centuries. 
Marcy's letter to kercher 

655
00:33:50,500 --> 00:33:53,500
mentions that various Scholars, 
had already attempted to read 

656
00:33:53,500 --> 00:33:56,300
the manuscript before it reached
him and that all of them had 

657
00:33:56,300 --> 00:33:59,500
abandoned the effort, bearish in
his own letter to Kershaw, 

658
00:33:59,500 --> 00:34:02,600
describe the manuscript as 
taking up a large part of his 

659
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,100
mental life while yielding 
nothing in return. 

660
00:34:05,900 --> 00:34:08,699
Rudolf if the tradition is 
accurate, paid the price of a 

661
00:34:08,699 --> 00:34:11,500
minor estate for it and then 
apparently showed it to people 

662
00:34:11,507 --> 00:34:13,300
without being able to explain 
what it was. 

663
00:34:13,300 --> 00:34:16,900
This is a consistent pattern. 
The manuscript comes to. 

664
00:34:16,900 --> 00:34:20,800
Someone intelligent that person 
recognizes immediately that it 

665
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:24,000
is significant. 
They commit real time and real 

666
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,600
attention to it. 
They fail to understand it. 

667
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,699
They passed it on either 
deliberately or by dying and 

668
00:34:29,699 --> 00:34:33,199
having their estate dispersed. 
There is a gentleness to this 

669
00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:35,500
pattern. 
None of these owners lost their 

670
00:34:35,500 --> 00:34:38,600
dignity to the manuscript. 
None of them appears to have 

671
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,600
been driven to destructive. 
Frustration, they simply looked 

672
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,900
at it engaged with it. 
Honestly did not understand it 

673
00:34:44,900 --> 00:34:48,800
and moved on or moved away. 
The manuscript took nothing from

674
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:52,100
the accept time and in exchange,
it gave them the specific 

675
00:34:52,100 --> 00:34:54,699
pleasure of spending time. 
With a very interesting thing, 

676
00:34:54,699 --> 00:34:58,800
there are worse Arrangements. 
Wilfred voinich was the kind of 

677
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:01,600
person who makes other people 
Alert in the best possible way. 

678
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,600
The kind of presence that 
suggests someone has survived 

679
00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:06,700
things. 
You have not and emerge from 

680
00:35:06,700 --> 00:35:09,200
them with the particular shops, 
that is not aggression. 

681
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:13,600
That is unmistakably attention. 
He was polish Lithuanian by 

682
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:16,800
birth and his early life had 
followed a trajectory that would

683
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:19,400
have ended the Ambitions of most
people well before middle age. 

684
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,500
He was involved in Polish 
revolutionary politics in the 

685
00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:26,600
1880s arrested by the Russian 
imperial authorities and sent to

686
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,900
Siberia where he spent time in 
forced Exile. 

687
00:35:29,900 --> 00:35:32,900
Developing the kind of patience 
that either breaks a person 

688
00:35:32,900 --> 00:35:36,000
entirely or teaches them. 
Something Irreplaceable, he 

689
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,900
escaped from Siberia. 
He made his way of eventually to

690
00:35:38,900 --> 00:35:41,700
London, which in the late. 
Victorian period was a city 

691
00:35:41,700 --> 00:35:45,000
hospital to people who needed to
reinvent themselves if they had 

692
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,100
the Constitution, and the 
intelligence to do it well and 

693
00:35:48,100 --> 00:35:50,500
he reinvented himself as a 
dealer in rare books. 

694
00:35:50,500 --> 00:35:54,200
This is not a trivial thing to 
become dealing in rare books. 

695
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:57,000
At a serious level requires, 
genuine learning alongside 

696
00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,800
commercial instinct. 
You need to know what you're 

697
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:01,400
looking at. 
When you hold an old manuscript,

698
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:04,300
which means knowing something 
about the history of the period 

699
00:36:04,300 --> 00:36:07,900
that might have produced it, the
materials of its production, the

700
00:36:07,900 --> 00:36:11,300
conventions of its script, the 
context that shape what people 

701
00:36:11,300 --> 00:36:15,000
were writing about and why 
Voynich developed, all of these 

702
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:18,300
competences and added to them. 
And I for exceptional material, 

703
00:36:18,300 --> 00:36:21,500
the kind of judgment that 
operates faster than conscious 

704
00:36:21,500 --> 00:36:23,800
analysis. 
In people who have spent enough 

705
00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:26,900
years handling old objects, he 
traveled frequently through 

706
00:36:26,900 --> 00:36:29,900
Europe visiting private 
Collections and institutional, 

707
00:36:29,900 --> 00:36:32,000
libraries, that were 
periodically willing to sell 

708
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,000
Holdings to Reliable buyers with
the funds to pay for them 

709
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,100
properly. 
In 1912, he travelled to the 

710
00:36:38,100 --> 00:36:41,600
Villa Mondragon in the album 
Hill southeast of Rome near the 

711
00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,600
town of frascati. 
The Jesuits maintained this 

712
00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,600
Villa as a college and Retreat 
and they were in the quiet 

713
00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:50,000
process of raising money by 
selling portions of their 

714
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,000
manuscript collection to trusted
dealers. 

715
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:55,500
The Villa was the kind of place 
that makes a steer philosophy. 

716
00:36:55,500 --> 00:36:59,100
Feel both, very appropriate and 
completely impossible to sustain

717
00:36:59,100 --> 00:37:02,700
for more than a few minutes. 
Long terrorist Gardens falling 

718
00:37:02,700 --> 00:37:06,400
away down the hillside views 
toward the Roman plane on clear 

719
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,000
days. 
Architecture of the substantial 

720
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,700
assured kind that belongs to 
institutions with centuries of 

721
00:37:12,700 --> 00:37:16,700
continuous presence behind them.
Voynich arrived and examined. 

722
00:37:16,700 --> 00:37:19,800
What was on offer among the 
books and manuscripts set aside 

723
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:22,500
for possible sale. 
He found one that appeared to 

724
00:37:22,500 --> 00:37:24,700
have sat undisturbed for a 
considerable period. 

725
00:37:24,700 --> 00:37:28,900
He opened it He encountered the 
text and illustrations, you've 

726
00:37:28,900 --> 00:37:32,100
been spending this evening with.
He was a man who could navigate 

727
00:37:32,100 --> 00:37:35,100
several languages with ease and 
who had handled thousands of 

728
00:37:35,100 --> 00:37:38,200
historical manuscripts in his 
professional career and he could

729
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:41,400
not read a word of it. 
He bought it without a parent, 

730
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:45,200
hesitation the exact price. 
He paid was not recorded in any 

731
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:47,900
document that has survived which
is one of the smaller 

732
00:37:47,900 --> 00:37:50,900
frustrations attached to this 
object and its history and which

733
00:37:50,900 --> 00:37:52,700
would be intensely interesting 
to know. 

734
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:57,100
What is completely clear is that
he recognized immediately that 

735
00:37:57,100 --> 00:37:59,900
the manuscript was exceptional. 
And that from the point of 

736
00:37:59,900 --> 00:38:02,600
purchase forward, he committed 
himself to establishing what it 

737
00:38:02,608 --> 00:38:06,000
was his theory aligned with the 
attribution that had apparently 

738
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,300
accompanied the manuscript. 
Since at least the time of 

739
00:38:08,300 --> 00:38:11,000
Rudolph the second, which was 
that the book had been written 

740
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,700
by Roger Bacon. 
Voynich, pursued this 

741
00:38:13,708 --> 00:38:16,300
conviction. 
With the focused energy, he 

742
00:38:16,300 --> 00:38:18,900
appears to have applied to 
problems that genuinely engaged 

743
00:38:18,900 --> 00:38:21,500
him. 
He circulated photographs of the

744
00:38:21,500 --> 00:38:23,800
manuscript to Scholars across 
Europe and America. 

745
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:28,600
He engaged paleography linguists
and specialists in medieval 

746
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:31,600
science. 
He corresponded extensively and 

747
00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:34,100
persistently with anyone who 
might be positioned to confirm 

748
00:38:34,100 --> 00:38:36,900
the attribution or provide 
compelling alternatives. 

749
00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:40,300
The results were varied 
sometimes, encouraging, and 

750
00:38:40,300 --> 00:38:43,400
ultimately inconclusive. 
Some Scholars fail. 

751
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,000
The bacon Theory, plausible, 
others, founded. 

752
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,900
Unconvincing for reasons they 
were willing to articulate at 

753
00:38:48,900 --> 00:38:52,000
length, none of them could read 
the text, which meant none of 

754
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:54,700
them could evaluate the theory 
on the base of the thing that 

755
00:38:54,700 --> 00:38:57,700
would actually settle it, which 
was the content of the book 

756
00:38:57,700 --> 00:39:01,700
itself. 
His wife Ethel was herself, a 

757
00:39:01,700 --> 00:39:04,100
figure of considerable and quite
separate interests. 

758
00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:07,700
She was a novelist whose book 
published in 1897 under the 

759
00:39:07,700 --> 00:39:09,600
title. 
The gadfly had a literary 

760
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,300
afterlife. 
That neither She nor anyone else

761
00:39:12,300 --> 00:39:15,100
could have anticipated. 
When it first appeared, the 

762
00:39:15,100 --> 00:39:18,700
novel found a moderate audience 
in English, it then found in 

763
00:39:18,700 --> 00:39:22,400
China during the Republican era 
and the decades that followed an

764
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,400
enormous audience that made it. 
One of the most beloved foreign 

765
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:26,800
novels in Chinese literary 
culture. 

766
00:39:27,700 --> 00:39:31,000
Millions of Chinese readers felt
deeply about Ethel voyage's 

767
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:33,900
characters at a time when her 
name had largely faded from 

768
00:39:33,900 --> 00:39:38,000
English-speaking awareness, She 
outlived Wilfred by more than 30

769
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:41,000
years maintained possession of 
the manuscript after his death 

770
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,700
in 1930 and eventually sold it 
to a New York dealer named Hans 

771
00:39:44,700 --> 00:39:47,700
Krause. 
Spent years looking for a 

772
00:39:47,700 --> 00:39:50,300
private buyer willing to pay 
what the manuscript was worth 

773
00:39:50,300 --> 00:39:53,700
and eventually concluded. 
This was not a realistic project

774
00:39:53,700 --> 00:39:57,400
after which he donated the 
manuscript to Yale University in

775
00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:01,600
1969. 
Yale accepted it, cataloged it 

776
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:05,700
as ms-48 and how stood in the 
boneka library where it has 

777
00:40:05,708 --> 00:40:08,600
remained since in conditions, 
considerably more stable than 

778
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,200
anything at experience in the 
previous five, centuries. 

779
00:40:12,500 --> 00:40:15,100
Wilfried it died. 
Still believe in the manuscript 

780
00:40:15,100 --> 00:40:18,000
was Roger, Bacon's, work and 
still unable to demonstrate it. 

781
00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,400
He had found the thing. 
He had given it the name it 

782
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,700
carries today the name by which 
it appears in every article and 

783
00:40:24,700 --> 00:40:26,800
documentary and late-night 
internet search. 

784
00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:30,100
He had spent a significant 
portion of the last years of a 

785
00:40:30,100 --> 00:40:33,500
life that had already included, 
Siberian, Exile, and escape, and

786
00:40:33,500 --> 00:40:36,100
reinvention. 
And genuine professional success

787
00:40:36,100 --> 00:40:38,500
in trying to make one small book
speak. 

788
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,200
It did not speak to him. 
The manuscript is patient with 

789
00:40:42,208 --> 00:40:44,800
him as it had been with everyone
before him and everyone after 

790
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:49,600
kept its own counsel entirely. 
The story of the manuscript 

791
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:53,000
between voices purchase and 
Yale's, acquisition is not 

792
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:54,400
without its own quiet. 
Drama. 

793
00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:59,000
During the year's that Voynich 
was seeking a decipherment, he 

794
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,300
showed the manuscript to a 
number of people, he considered 

795
00:41:01,300 --> 00:41:04,900
capable of helping, and a number
of those people became genuinely

796
00:41:04,900 --> 00:41:07,700
absorbed by it. 
The manuscript had a quality 

797
00:41:07,700 --> 00:41:11,100
that it still has, which is that
looking at its seriously for 

798
00:41:11,100 --> 00:41:13,500
more than a few minutes, makes 
it very hard to put down. 

799
00:41:14,300 --> 00:41:17,800
Not because it offers a rewards,
but because it seems perpetually

800
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:21,000
on the verge of offering them 
several people who examined it, 

801
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:24,300
at the invitation reported the 
same experience that every 

802
00:41:24,300 --> 00:41:27,700
serious research has since has 
described which is the feeling 

803
00:41:27,700 --> 00:41:29,000
that you are very close to 
something. 

804
00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:33,000
That the structure you can see 
is almost familiar enough that 

805
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,700
the next page or the next 
section or the next analytical 

806
00:41:35,700 --> 00:41:38,300
approach might be the one that 
makes the whole thing resolved. 

807
00:41:38,300 --> 00:41:41,400
This feeling does not diminish 
with prolonged exposure. 

808
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:45,600
If anything, it strengthens the 
manuscript is extraordinarily 

809
00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:48,600
good at generating. 
It after Voynich is death in 

810
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:52,000
1930, is a state held the 
manuscript for several years. 

811
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:56,500
While the question of what to do
with it was settled And nil who 

812
00:41:56,500 --> 00:41:59,400
had been voyages, assistant 
cared for the book until it was 

813
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,600
eventually sold and she 
corresponded with researchers 

814
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,900
and curious people throughout 
that period serving as a kind of

815
00:42:05,900 --> 00:42:08,900
informal curator of something 
that had no obvious 

816
00:42:08,900 --> 00:42:11,700
institutional. 
Home, the 20th century took, 

817
00:42:11,700 --> 00:42:14,200
codebreaking more seriously than
any previous Century. 

818
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:17,900
Had for reasons that required no
academic justification. 

819
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:22,800
Two world wars had made clear in
terms that translated directly 

820
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,800
into lives and territory, and 
the political shape of the world

821
00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:29,300
that the ability to read 
messages and enemy believed to a

822
00:42:29,300 --> 00:42:31,700
private could change the 
outcomes of military campaigns. 

823
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,500
The people who did this, work 
was serious, and accomplished 

824
00:42:35,500 --> 00:42:39,300
Minds trained specifically to 
locate pattern within a parent 

825
00:42:39,300 --> 00:42:42,300
Randomness and extract meaning 
from sequences that were 

826
00:42:42,300 --> 00:42:45,800
designed to look meaningless. 
Several of these people turn 

827
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:48,600
their full professional 
attention to the Voynich, 

828
00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:51,700
manuscript of various points in 
their careers and their efforts 

829
00:42:51,700 --> 00:42:53,600
form. 
One of the stranger footnotes in

830
00:42:53,608 --> 00:42:56,100
the history of 20th century 
intelligence work. 

831
00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:00,100
William Friedman was the most 
celebrated American crypto, 

832
00:43:00,100 --> 00:43:01,800
analyst of the first half of the
century. 

833
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:04,700
He had built the foundations of 
American Military cryptography. 

834
00:43:04,700 --> 00:43:07,100
During the first world war 
organized. 

835
00:43:07,100 --> 00:43:10,300
The analytical operations that 
contributed to Allied signals 

836
00:43:10,300 --> 00:43:12,700
intelligence advantages in the 
Second World War. 

837
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:16,700
And laid conceptual groundwork 
for the organization that would 

838
00:43:16,700 --> 00:43:19,100
eventually become the National 
Security Agency. 

839
00:43:19,900 --> 00:43:21,800
He received a distinguished 
service medal. 

840
00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,900
He was regarded with genuine. 
Admiration by people who 

841
00:43:24,900 --> 00:43:26,800
understood what his work at 
accomplished. 

842
00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:30,000
He was also in the quieter 
intervals, between historical, 

843
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:33,400
crises, genuinely and 
persistently fascinated by the 

844
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:37,000
Voynich manuscript. 
Beginning in the late 1940s, 

845
00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:40,800
Freedman assembled and informal 
group of colleagues and applied.

846
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:43,600
The formal analytical methods, 
he had developed across a career

847
00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:46,000
in military crypto analysis to 
the voyage techs. 

848
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,000
He was drawn particularly to a 
theory that the manuscript might

849
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,700
represent what philosophers of 
the Renaissance called a 

850
00:43:51,700 --> 00:43:55,300
philosophical language a 
constructed notation system 

851
00:43:55,300 --> 00:43:59,700
designed to represent Concepts 
directly rather than to encode 

852
00:43:59,700 --> 00:44:03,300
the sounds of a spoken natural 
language The appeal of this 

853
00:44:03,308 --> 00:44:06,000
theory was that it offered a 
possible explanation for the 

854
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:09,300
statistical anomalies in the 
text that were hard to account 

855
00:44:09,300 --> 00:44:10,800
for. 
If you assumed you were looking 

856
00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:14,700
at an encoded natural language, 
A philosophical language built 

857
00:44:14,700 --> 00:44:17,200
on a different organizing logic 
might naturally produce. 

858
00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:21,000
Exactly those anomalies as a 
consequence of its structure 

859
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:23,200
Friedman. 
Believed he found evidence 

860
00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:24,800
consistent with this 
interpretation. 

861
00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:28,300
He was never able to produce a 
decipherment that he found 

862
00:44:28,300 --> 00:44:31,900
convincing enough to push fully 
his working notes which became 

863
00:44:31,900 --> 00:44:34,900
accessible through National 
Security Agency archives decades

864
00:44:34,900 --> 00:44:37,600
after his death show a 
formidable and careful 

865
00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:41,000
intelligence working patiently 
on a problem that did not 

866
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:44,500
respond to the methods that had 
served it on every previous 

867
00:44:44,500 --> 00:44:47,200
problem. 
The National Security, Agency 

868
00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:50,400
itself, produced an internal 
assessment of the manuscript. 

869
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:53,900
A document that remained 
classified for years before its 

870
00:44:53,900 --> 00:44:57,900
declassification and public 
release in the 1970s. 

871
00:44:58,700 --> 00:45:01,600
The assessment concluded that 
the manuscript represented an 

872
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:05,100
unsolved, cryptologic problem of
historical significance, read 

873
00:45:05,100 --> 00:45:07,300
carefully. 
This is a remarkable statement 

874
00:45:07,300 --> 00:45:10,900
from a remarkable source The 
organization offering that 

875
00:45:10,900 --> 00:45:14,600
assessment was by the time it 
offered it arguably the most 

876
00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:17,800
resource-rich and analytically 
capable signals intelligence 

877
00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:21,800
organization in human history. 
The fact that they classified 

878
00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:25,500
the problem as unsolved rather 
than solved is worth sitting 

879
00:45:25,500 --> 00:45:29,300
with, for a moment, Gordon rug a
researcher at Keeler university,

880
00:45:29,300 --> 00:45:31,700
in England approached the 
manuscript from a different 

881
00:45:31,700 --> 00:45:35,800
direction in the early 2000s. 
Rather than attempting to decode

882
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:38,900
the text, he set out to test, 
whether the text could have been

883
00:45:38,900 --> 00:45:42,100
generated artificially using 
tools available in the early 

884
00:45:42,100 --> 00:45:45,300
15th century. 
His Focus was a device called a 

885
00:45:45,308 --> 00:45:48,600
cardan grill, a card with 
rectangular cutout windows. 

886
00:45:48,600 --> 00:45:52,200
That when placed over a prepared
table of syllables and moved in 

887
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:55,600
a systematic sequence, selects 
character combinations that can 

888
00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:58,500
be transcribed to produce 
sequences resembling word like 

889
00:45:58,500 --> 00:46:01,800
structures. 
Rug demonstrated that a grilled 

890
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:04,700
method could generate text with 
statistical properties. 

891
00:46:04,700 --> 00:46:07,100
Meaningfully. 
Similar to those of the Voynich 

892
00:46:07,100 --> 00:46:10,700
manuscript in a matter of weeks.
He characterized his result 

893
00:46:10,700 --> 00:46:13,900
carefully describing it as a 
demonstration of feasibility 

894
00:46:13,900 --> 00:46:16,200
rather than a proof of 
fabrication. 

895
00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:20,500
The distinction is important. 
Showing that a hoax was possible

896
00:46:20,500 --> 00:46:22,500
is not the same as showing that 
a hoax occurred. 

897
00:46:22,500 --> 00:46:25,700
His worker established that the 
bar for this kind of fabrication

898
00:46:25,700 --> 00:46:29,000
was achievable with period 
appropriate tools, which had 

899
00:46:29,008 --> 00:46:32,700
previously been less clear than 
it perhaps should have been The 

900
00:46:32,700 --> 00:46:35,100
more recent decades, 
computational Linguistics. 

901
00:46:35,100 --> 00:46:37,200
And machine learning have 
brought new categories of 

902
00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:39,100
analytical capability to the 
problem. 

903
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,800
Statistical models trained on 
large collections of historical 

904
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:46,200
texts have been tested against 
the Voynich script in attempts 

905
00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:48,900
to identify structural 
similarities to known language 

906
00:46:48,900 --> 00:46:51,600
families. 
The results have been varied, 

907
00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:55,800
genuinely interesting and 
persistently inconclusive the 

908
00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:58,400
team at the University of 
Alberta applied information 

909
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:02,700
theoretic methods in 2013 and 
concluded that the text 

910
00:47:02,700 --> 00:47:05,700
properties were more consistent 
with natural language than with 

911
00:47:05,700 --> 00:47:09,000
artificial construction. 
While acknowledging the evidence

912
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:10,700
was insufficient to close the 
question. 

913
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:15,500
Separate analysis published in 
2019, using different methods. 

914
00:47:15,500 --> 00:47:19,600
Concluded, the opposite in 2018,
a researcher announced, the text

915
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:23,000
was a form of Hebrew written 
without vowels and with letters 

916
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:26,000
rearranged according to a 
systematic rule, the 

917
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:29,500
announcement was widely covered.
Other researchers, examined, the

918
00:47:29,500 --> 00:47:32,700
proposed translation and found 
they did not produce coherent 

919
00:47:32,700 --> 00:47:35,300
Hebrew and the coverage 
gradually subsided. 

920
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:38,700
Each of these approaches 
produces genuine insight into 

921
00:47:38,700 --> 00:47:43,100
the structure of the manuscript.
The text is an extraordinary 

922
00:47:43,100 --> 00:47:45,100
generator of interesting 
research questions. 

923
00:47:46,300 --> 00:47:48,500
Is considerably less 
accommodating when it comes to 

924
00:47:48,500 --> 00:47:52,700
satisfying research conclusions.
What each successive generation 

925
00:47:52,700 --> 00:47:56,500
of researchers notices and what 
no method has fully explained is

926
00:47:56,500 --> 00:47:59,100
the combination of qualities. 
That makes the manuscript feel 

927
00:47:59,100 --> 00:48:02,400
simultaneously close to 
comprehension and permanently 

928
00:48:02,400 --> 00:48:05,600
Out Of Reach. 
The text is too consistent to be

929
00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:08,100
random. 
The vocabulary clustering is too

930
00:48:08,100 --> 00:48:11,600
purposeful to be accidental. 
The organization into distinct 

931
00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:13,600
sections is two systematic to 
have happened. 

932
00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:17,400
Without intention, something was
built here by someone who 

933
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:20,300
understood what building it 
required, and the knowledge of 

934
00:48:20,300 --> 00:48:23,400
what they build left, the world 
with them completely and without

935
00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:27,200
a surviving copy anywhere. 
There is one more thing worth 

936
00:48:27,200 --> 00:48:30,000
noting about the history of a 
temps to decode the manuscript, 

937
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:33,500
which is how many of the people 
who worked on it returned to it.

938
00:48:33,500 --> 00:48:36,900
Repeatedly over the course of 
years or decades Friedman, was 

939
00:48:36,900 --> 00:48:38,900
not done with it. 
After his first study group, 

940
00:48:38,900 --> 00:48:42,300
disbanded he came back 
researchers, who published 

941
00:48:42,300 --> 00:48:45,000
inconclusive results came back 
with new methods. 

942
00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:49,000
The pattern of return is itself,
a kind of evidence evidence, not

943
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:51,600
about the manuscripts content, 
but about its character as an 

944
00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:55,800
object, it retains attention, 
it's sustained interest, it 

945
00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:58,900
gives back just enough with the 
examination to make, putting it 

946
00:48:58,900 --> 00:49:01,100
down. 
Permanently feel like a mistake.

947
00:49:01,100 --> 00:49:05,200
That quality what ever produces?
It has kept the manuscript in 

948
00:49:05,200 --> 00:49:08,000
active study for over a century 
of organized, scholarly 

949
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:10,500
attention. 
Which is in the history of 

950
00:49:10,500 --> 00:49:12,800
unsolved problems. 
Quite a good run. 

951
00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:16,900
The manuscript Waits with the 
Equanimity of something that has

952
00:49:16,900 --> 00:49:19,300
been waiting long enough to 
develop a kind of ease about it.

953
00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:23,600
Elizabeth Friedman, Williams 
wife was her self. 

954
00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:25,900
One of the most accomplished 
cryptanalysts of the 20th 

955
00:49:25,900 --> 00:49:29,300
century, a person who cracked 
rumrunner codes, during 

956
00:49:29,300 --> 00:49:32,800
prohibition, and Nazi spy 
network communications, during 

957
00:49:32,800 --> 00:49:36,100
the second World War. 
Her work was classified for 

958
00:49:36,100 --> 00:49:40,300
decades and her contributions 
were long under acknowledged in 

959
00:49:40,300 --> 00:49:42,400
ways that have since been 
partially corrected. 

960
00:49:43,400 --> 00:49:45,800
She too looked at the Voynich 
manuscript and found it 

961
00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:49,100
interesting and intractable and 
her combination of rigorous 

962
00:49:49,100 --> 00:49:52,200
training and extraordinary, 
intuition did not produce a 

963
00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:54,200
breakthrough any more than her 
husband's did. 

964
00:49:54,900 --> 00:49:57,200
This is not a small thing to say
about a problem. 

965
00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:00,700
When two people of that quality 
working independently and 

966
00:50:00,700 --> 00:50:03,800
together cannot find a way in 
the problem is genuinely 

967
00:50:03,800 --> 00:50:06,400
difficult. 
It is not a problem that would 

968
00:50:06,400 --> 00:50:09,300
yield to Casual effort or clever
guessing or the simple 

969
00:50:09,300 --> 00:50:13,100
application of standard methods.
It requires something that has 

970
00:50:13,100 --> 00:50:14,800
not yet. 
Been invented, all the 

971
00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:17,900
rediscovery of something that 
was once known and is now in 

972
00:50:17,900 --> 00:50:20,800
entirely gone. 
More recent work has included 

973
00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:24,100
the application of neural 
network language models trained 

974
00:50:24,100 --> 00:50:27,200
on large collections of 
historical texts submitted to 

975
00:50:27,200 --> 00:50:30,100
the task of identifying. 
Whether the Voynich Tech spares 

976
00:50:30,100 --> 00:50:32,800
closer, structural similarity, 
to any known language family, 

977
00:50:33,900 --> 00:50:37,100
These models are extraordinarily
sensitive to patterns that human

978
00:50:37,100 --> 00:50:40,100
analysts might miss and they 
have found things that are 

979
00:50:40,100 --> 00:50:42,000
genuinely suggestive, but 
nothing conclusive. 

980
00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:44,700
The most careful researchers 
working with these tools 

981
00:50:44,700 --> 00:50:46,600
described their results as 
narrowing. 

982
00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:49,900
The field of possibilities 
rather than identifying an 

983
00:50:49,900 --> 00:50:52,600
answer, which is Meaningful 
progress that still leaves. 

984
00:50:52,600 --> 00:50:57,400
The fundamental question open. 
By this point in the evening you

985
00:50:57,400 --> 00:50:59,800
have probably arrived at a 
particular kind of tiredness. 

986
00:50:59,800 --> 00:51:03,200
Not the Restless variety 
produced by too many unresolved 

987
00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:07,100
demands but the good settled in 
us that follows a long journey 

988
00:51:07,100 --> 00:51:10,500
through unfamiliar territory, 
the feeling of having covered 

989
00:51:10,500 --> 00:51:12,200
real distance without rushing 
anything. 

990
00:51:13,500 --> 00:51:17,000
The manuscript reliably produces
this feeling in people who spent

991
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:20,500
time with its seriously. 
It is a very long walk with no 

992
00:51:20,500 --> 00:51:23,400
destination at the far end, 
which sounds like a criticism 

993
00:51:23,400 --> 00:51:26,900
but is not not at the right out.
When the room is warm, and there

994
00:51:26,900 --> 00:51:28,600
is no way you need to arrive 
until morning. 

995
00:51:29,700 --> 00:51:33,200
Let us settle then into what the
accumulated weight of 5 

996
00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:36,300
centuries of puzzlement actually
suggests about what this 

997
00:51:36,300 --> 00:51:40,100
manuscript might be the theories
divided into two broad camps 

998
00:51:40,100 --> 00:51:43,000
before subdividing in ways that 
keep academic conversations 

999
00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:46,500
reliably alive. 
The first Camp holds that the 

1000
00:51:46,500 --> 00:51:49,900
manuscript contains real 
information that it was created 

1001
00:51:49,900 --> 00:51:52,300
to communicate something 
meaningful to a reader who 

1002
00:51:52,308 --> 00:51:55,700
possessed the necessary key. 
The second holds that it is in 

1003
00:51:55,700 --> 00:51:59,100
some fundamental sense of 
fabrication constructed to 

1004
00:51:59,100 --> 00:52:02,300
produce the appearance of 
meaningful communication without

1005
00:52:02,300 --> 00:52:06,300
actually containing any Within 
each Camp, the positions 

1006
00:52:06,300 --> 00:52:09,400
fragment further and between the
camps there is a respectful and 

1007
00:52:09,400 --> 00:52:12,100
unresolved ongoing conversation 
that shows. 

1008
00:52:12,100 --> 00:52:15,900
No signs of concluding. 
Within the genuine document 

1009
00:52:15,900 --> 00:52:19,300
Camp, the most durable and 
consistently Revisited theory is

1010
00:52:19,300 --> 00:52:22,000
that the manuscript is a medical
or herbal reference work? 

1011
00:52:22,000 --> 00:52:25,300
The Botanical illustrations even
accounting for their imaginary 

1012
00:52:25,300 --> 00:52:29,100
Flora follow the organizational 
Convention of European herbals 

1013
00:52:29,100 --> 00:52:32,500
from the period books that used 
plant illustrations, alongside 

1014
00:52:32,500 --> 00:52:35,200
descriptive text, covering 
medicinal properties, 

1015
00:52:35,200 --> 00:52:38,700
preparation methods, and the 
astrological, and Elemental 

1016
00:52:38,700 --> 00:52:41,600
association's that medieval and 
early modern medical thinking, 

1017
00:52:41,600 --> 00:52:43,300
considered therapeutically 
relevant. 

1018
00:52:44,100 --> 00:52:47,100
The section with the bathing 
figures corresponds to bail 

1019
00:52:47,100 --> 00:52:49,400
theology. 
The therapeutic use of mineral 

1020
00:52:49,400 --> 00:52:52,800
baths which was a legitimate and
widely practiced treatment 

1021
00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:55,900
during this period and one that 
generated its own dedicated 

1022
00:52:55,900 --> 00:52:59,300
literature. 
The dense final section with its

1023
00:52:59,300 --> 00:53:03,200
marginal star markers could be a
catalog of Remedies or compound 

1024
00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:05,600
preparations, organized for 
practical retrieval. 

1025
00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:09,100
This Theory accounts, well, for 
the organizational logic of the 

1026
00:53:09,108 --> 00:53:12,600
manuscript it explains why the 
book has distinct sections with 

1027
00:53:12,600 --> 00:53:16,200
distinct visual vocabularies. 
Why the overall character of the

1028
00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:19,800
work is practical rather than 
decorative by the illustration 

1029
00:53:19,800 --> 00:53:22,800
of appear to serve the text 
rather than exists independently

1030
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:25,400
of it. 
It's difficulty is the Botanical

1031
00:53:25,400 --> 00:53:28,600
illustrations themselves. 
Even the most inaccurate, 

1032
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:30,800
herbals from this period, 
depicted plants with some 

1033
00:53:30,800 --> 00:53:32,900
recognizable connection to 
actual species. 

1034
00:53:32,900 --> 00:53:36,200
The systematic impossibility of 
the voic plants. 

1035
00:53:36,200 --> 00:53:39,300
The consistent way, each one 
fails to correspond to anything 

1036
00:53:39,300 --> 00:53:42,400
in the known natural world is 
harder to explain as a 

1037
00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:45,900
accumulated era or artistic 
simplification than assuming 

1038
00:53:45,900 --> 00:53:49,000
that was intended. 
A related Theory, places the 

1039
00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:51,800
manuscript in an alchemical 
tradition rather than a strictly

1040
00:53:51,800 --> 00:53:54,500
medical one helico writing from 
the 15th. 

1041
00:53:54,500 --> 00:53:57,300
Through 17th century was 
routinely obscured by design 

1042
00:53:57,300 --> 00:54:00,400
using symbolic injury and 
deliberately indirect language 

1043
00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:03,500
to Vail its contents from 
unauthorized readers, while 

1044
00:54:03,500 --> 00:54:05,900
remaining accessible to those 
who knew the vocabulary. 

1045
00:54:06,700 --> 00:54:09,500
The Impossible plants might be 
philosophical symbols rather 

1046
00:54:09,500 --> 00:54:13,200
than Botanical observations 
coded through natural imagery in

1047
00:54:13,200 --> 00:54:16,100
the way, alchemical texts, 
regularly, coded their meanings 

1048
00:54:16,100 --> 00:54:19,400
through Visual metaphor The 
bathing figures might represent 

1049
00:54:19,400 --> 00:54:22,200
the purification and 
transformation stages of an 

1050
00:54:22,200 --> 00:54:26,100
alchemical process stages in a 
system rather than depictions of

1051
00:54:26,100 --> 00:54:29,000
actual bathing. 
This Theory draws on genuine 

1052
00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:31,300
historical practices and has 
real coherence. 

1053
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:35,000
Its limitation is the same 
limitation that constrains every

1054
00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:38,300
theory about this manuscript, 
which is that without being able

1055
00:54:38,300 --> 00:54:40,800
to read the text. 
It is not possible to confirm 

1056
00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:43,200
whether the images and the words
are doing what the theory 

1057
00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:45,700
proposes. 
They are doing the theory, fits 

1058
00:54:45,700 --> 00:54:48,100
the evidence of available but 
the available evidence was 

1059
00:54:48,100 --> 00:54:50,200
designed. 
If it was designed at all to fit

1060
00:54:50,200 --> 00:54:54,600
a very wide range of theories. 
The constructed language theory,

1061
00:54:54,600 --> 00:54:57,000
has attracted serious and 
sustained attention across 

1062
00:54:57,000 --> 00:55:00,200
several decades. 
It is grounded in a genuine 

1063
00:55:00,200 --> 00:55:03,500
intellectual tradition. 
During the Renaissance into the 

1064
00:55:03,500 --> 00:55:07,000
early, modern period significant
philosophical effort, went into 

1065
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:10,300
the project of Designing, what 
thinkers of the time called a 

1066
00:55:10,308 --> 00:55:13,100
universal language. 
A notation system that would 

1067
00:55:13,100 --> 00:55:16,700
represent ideas directly by 
passing the ambiguous and 

1068
00:55:16,700 --> 00:55:19,000
contingents of any particular 
natural language. 

1069
00:55:19,900 --> 00:55:22,300
France's bacon. 
Theorized about such a system 

1070
00:55:22,300 --> 00:55:25,800
John Wilkins built one and 
published it in the 17th 

1071
00:55:25,800 --> 00:55:27,800
century. 
A complete philosophical 

1072
00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:29,800
language with its own vocabulary
and grammar. 

1073
00:55:30,600 --> 00:55:33,000
Gottfried leibnitz spent 
portions of his career on 

1074
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:35,700
related projects. 
If someone in the early Decades 

1075
00:55:35,700 --> 00:55:38,600
of the 15th century had 
independently attempted a 

1076
00:55:38,600 --> 00:55:40,800
precursor to these better 
documented later efforts, 

1077
00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:44,400
working out of a traditional, we
no longer have direct access to 

1078
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:48,200
the result might exhibit exactly
the statistical properties. 

1079
00:55:48,200 --> 00:55:50,700
That make the Voynich. 
Text hard to classify as either 

1080
00:55:50,700 --> 00:55:52,700
natural language or conventional
Cypher. 

1081
00:55:53,400 --> 00:55:56,800
Then there is the Hope's this 
word carries a slightly 

1082
00:55:56,800 --> 00:56:00,100
pejorative weight in most 
contexts as if fabrication was 

1083
00:56:00,100 --> 00:56:03,100
simply a lesser thing than 
genuine content, but the 

1084
00:56:03,100 --> 00:56:05,700
craftsmanship implied by The 
hoax Theory applied to this 

1085
00:56:05,700 --> 00:56:08,200
specific object is honestly 
impressive. 

1086
00:56:08,900 --> 00:56:11,400
Someone producing a false 
document capable of resisting 

1087
00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:14,100
serious. 
Analytical scrutiny from some of

1088
00:56:14,108 --> 00:56:17,300
the most skilled cryptanalysts 
of the 20th century while 

1089
00:56:17,300 --> 00:56:18,800
working in the early 15th 
century. 

1090
00:56:18,800 --> 00:56:21,800
Without any knowledge that such 
analysts would eventually exist 

1091
00:56:21,800 --> 00:56:25,100
would have been doing something 
that required real intelligence.

1092
00:56:25,100 --> 00:56:28,200
And genuine technical 
sophistication, Gordon rugs, 

1093
00:56:28,200 --> 00:56:30,900
Kardon grilled demonstration 
established that a production 

1094
00:56:30,900 --> 00:56:32,900
method was feasible, with period
tools. 

1095
00:56:32,900 --> 00:56:37,300
What it did not address was 
motive, 600 ducketts from 

1096
00:56:37,300 --> 00:56:39,600
rudolf's. 
Treasury is one possible motive,

1097
00:56:39,600 --> 00:56:42,400
but it requires the manuscript 
to have been fabricated 

1098
00:56:42,400 --> 00:56:45,200
specifically for sale to Rudolf,
or someone in his collecting 

1099
00:56:45,200 --> 00:56:48,800
Network which implies a level of
advanced planning that pushes 

1100
00:56:48,800 --> 00:56:51,500
the scenario in specific and 
increasingly constrained 

1101
00:56:51,500 --> 00:56:54,800
directions. 
Private motive, a philosophical 

1102
00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:57,200
experiment. 
An elaborate personal project 

1103
00:56:57,200 --> 00:57:01,100
undertaken for reasons that had 
meaning only to its creator is 

1104
00:57:01,100 --> 00:57:04,000
equally possible and equally 
Beyond verification. 

1105
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:07,700
What sits most uncomfortably 
with the hoax theory is the 

1106
00:57:07,700 --> 00:57:09,800
sheer scale and quality of the 
effort. 

1107
00:57:10,700 --> 00:57:13,700
The manuscript is long and 
meticulous and internally 

1108
00:57:13,700 --> 00:57:18,600
consistent across 240 Pages. 
Producing it using any known 

1109
00:57:18,600 --> 00:57:21,700
method would have required 
months of sustained and focused 

1110
00:57:21,700 --> 00:57:25,100
work, that kind of commitment, 
usually implies that someone has

1111
00:57:25,100 --> 00:57:27,400
something they need to say the 
conviction. 

1112
00:57:27,400 --> 00:57:29,800
Deep enough to justify the 
investment of time. 

1113
00:57:30,600 --> 00:57:33,300
People who feel that strongly 
about a project tend to fill it 

1114
00:57:33,300 --> 00:57:36,300
with actual content. 
There is also the question of 

1115
00:57:36,300 --> 00:57:39,000
audience. 
A hoax needs a Target. 

1116
00:57:39,900 --> 00:57:43,000
If the manuscript was made to 
see Rudolph it needed to be 

1117
00:57:43,000 --> 00:57:46,000
convincing enough to pass 
scrutiny from the scholars and 

1118
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:48,400
advisors at one of the most 
intellectually sophisticated 

1119
00:57:48,400 --> 00:57:51,900
courts in Europe. 
If it was made to deceive 

1120
00:57:51,900 --> 00:57:55,000
bearish or Marseille kercher, it
needed to sustain interest 

1121
00:57:55,000 --> 00:57:58,200
across years of examination by 
men who are not easily fooled. 

1122
00:57:58,900 --> 00:58:01,400
Any of these targets would have 
required the fabrication to be 

1123
00:58:01,400 --> 00:58:04,100
very, very good. 
And the manuscript is, whatever 

1124
00:58:04,100 --> 00:58:05,500
else. 
It is very, very good. 

1125
00:58:05,500 --> 00:58:08,800
And here, as in every other 
direction from which you 

1126
00:58:08,800 --> 00:58:11,400
approach, this question, you 
arrive at the place where the 

1127
00:58:11,400 --> 00:58:15,100
manuscript lives, which is the 
place where certainty yields to 

1128
00:58:15,100 --> 00:58:18,100
possibility and possibility 
yields to the honest 

1129
00:58:18,100 --> 00:58:20,600
acknowledgment that you simply 
do not know. 

1130
00:58:21,600 --> 00:58:24,300
That acknowledgment reached 
honestly after following the 

1131
00:58:24,300 --> 00:58:27,100
evidence, as far as it goes, is 
not a failure. 

1132
00:58:27,100 --> 00:58:31,000
It is the accurate thing. 
The bay necklace Library will be

1133
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:43,600
there tomorrow. 
Ms. 40884 floating with 

1134
00:58:43,600 --> 00:58:46,300
undisturbed expression in their 
mysterious pools. 

1135
00:58:46,300 --> 00:58:49,700
It's unknown script moving 
across the pages in The even 

1136
00:58:49,700 --> 00:58:52,400
confident, hand of someone who 
knew precisely, what they were 

1137
00:58:52,400 --> 00:58:56,100
writing, whatever that was the 
radiocarbon clocks stopped in 

1138
00:58:56,100 --> 00:58:58,500
the early 15th century somewhere
in Central Europe. 

1139
00:58:58,500 --> 00:59:02,900
In a room that no longer exists.
At a table where a person. 

1140
00:59:02,900 --> 00:59:06,600
Now, 600 years gone sat down 
with a rule sheet of Vellum and 

1141
00:59:06,600 --> 00:59:09,100
a pen and began. 
They wrote for what must have 

1142
00:59:09,100 --> 00:59:11,700
been a long time. 
They returned to add color to 

1143
00:59:11,700 --> 00:59:14,000
the illustrations. 
When the Inca dried, they 

1144
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:17,600
organized the pages and had them
bound and then the book entered 

1145
00:59:17,600 --> 00:59:20,800
the world and the world carried,
it forward, through Rudolph's, 

1146
00:59:20,800 --> 00:59:24,300
Prague and barrages frustrated, 
library and Marcy's elderly, 

1147
00:59:24,300 --> 00:59:26,400
hands, and coaches Jesuit 
shelves. 

1148
00:59:26,400 --> 00:59:29,800
And a villa in the Hills above 
Rome and a dealer's shop in 

1149
00:59:29,800 --> 00:59:33,400
London and the quiet reading 
rooms of Yale, where it sits 

1150
00:59:33,400 --> 00:59:36,500
tonight as closed. 
And as present as it is, always 

1151
00:59:36,500 --> 00:59:39,700
been, This object has outlasted 
the Empire that may have 

1152
00:59:39,708 --> 00:59:42,100
purchased it. 
If it is outlasted the college 

1153
00:59:42,100 --> 00:59:44,000
where it spent two centuries on 
Disturbed. 

1154
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:47,200
It has outlasted the Bookseller 
who founded on a shelf in the 

1155
00:59:47,200 --> 00:59:50,600
Hills about Roam and gave it the
name, the whole world now uses, 

1156
00:59:51,500 --> 00:59:55,300
It has outlasted two World Wars,
The Invention of computing, the 

1157
00:59:55,300 --> 00:59:58,300
development of machine learning,
and the application of the most 

1158
00:59:58,300 --> 01:00:01,000
sophisticated, analytical 
methods, that human civilization

1159
01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:04,700
has so far produced. 
It has been examined by some of 

1160
01:00:04,700 --> 01:00:08,400
the sharpest and most dedicated 
minds of the past Century and it

1161
01:00:08,400 --> 01:00:12,000
is kept its secret from all of 
them, not through inertness, but

1162
01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:13,500
through a Kind of Perfect 
calibration. 

1163
01:00:14,400 --> 01:00:17,100
Close enough to understanding 
that every new method seems 

1164
01:00:17,100 --> 01:00:19,700
promising. 
Far enough away that every new 

1165
01:00:19,708 --> 01:00:23,300
method Falls just short whether 
someone built that quality into 

1166
01:00:23,300 --> 01:00:26,200
it deliberately or whether it 
arrived at that position through

1167
01:00:26,200 --> 01:00:28,900
the compounded, accident of 
history and survival and the 

1168
01:00:28,900 --> 01:00:31,300
current limits of human 
knowledge is itself. 

1169
01:00:31,300 --> 01:00:34,200
An open question. 
Both possibilities are 

1170
01:00:34,200 --> 01:00:37,300
interesting in different ways. 
What is not in question? 

1171
01:00:37,300 --> 01:00:40,800
Is that it is a human object 
made by human hands, with human 

1172
01:00:40,800 --> 01:00:45,400
Tools, in human time in a 
specific room on a specific day 

1173
01:00:45,400 --> 01:00:47,900
in a city, somewhere in the 
early 15th century. 

1174
01:00:48,800 --> 01:00:52,200
Someone ruled those pages, 
someone dipped a pen and wrote 

1175
01:00:52,200 --> 01:00:55,400
the first character of the first
word of the first line, with 

1176
01:00:55,400 --> 01:00:57,700
whatever purpose, They Carried, 
whatever it was. 

1177
01:00:58,500 --> 01:01:02,100
That person is as far from you. 
Now, as the light of a star, you

1178
01:01:02,100 --> 01:01:05,500
have never learned the name of 
But they left something that 

1179
01:01:05,500 --> 01:01:09,500
came all the way here to tonight
to this room to the comfortable 

1180
01:01:09,500 --> 01:01:12,600
edge of your sleep. 
You have traveled along way 

1181
01:01:12,600 --> 01:01:15,300
through these Pages. 
You followed a small book 

1182
01:01:15,300 --> 01:01:18,100
through Botanical sections 
filled with impossible, plants 

1183
01:01:18,100 --> 01:01:21,300
through the statistical, 
paradoxes of an alphabet that 

1184
01:01:21,300 --> 01:01:24,300
behaves like language without 
yielding its meaning through 

1185
01:01:24,300 --> 01:01:27,400
radiocarbon Laboratories and 
gesture at Villas and the 

1186
01:01:27,400 --> 01:01:30,100
careful working papers of the 
greatest cryptanalysts of the 

1187
01:01:30,100 --> 01:01:32,300
20th century. 
You have sat with the 

1188
01:01:32,300 --> 01:01:34,700
uncertainty, honestly, and 
followed it with without needing

1189
01:01:34,700 --> 01:01:36,500
it to become something other 
than what it is. 

1190
01:01:36,500 --> 01:01:40,600
That is enough for tonight. 
The page turns quiet. 

1191
01:01:40,600 --> 01:01:44,300
Now the ink goes still, the 
boneka library will be there in 

1192
01:01:44,300 --> 01:01:47,600
the morning and the manuscript 
with it and the Mystery patient 

1193
01:01:47,600 --> 01:01:50,500
inside the manuscript. 
And the early 15th century 

1194
01:01:50,500 --> 01:01:54,400
sitting inside the mystery has 
still and warm and unreachable 

1195
01:01:54,400 --> 01:01:58,000
as the center of a very old 
dream that someone else began 

1196
01:01:58,000 --> 01:02:01,400
and no one has yet finished. 
You already know the only 

1197
01:02:01,400 --> 01:02:04,700
language that matters right now.
Your body has been fluent in it 

1198
01:02:04,700 --> 01:02:08,000
since before you had words for 
anything, it requires, no, 

1199
01:02:08,000 --> 01:02:10,500
decipherment, it requires no 
key. 

1200
01:02:10,500 --> 01:02:14,300
Just let it carry you. 
There is a detail about the 

1201
01:02:14,300 --> 01:02:16,800
manuscript that is easy to 
overlook when you're focused on 

1202
01:02:16,800 --> 01:02:18,000
the questions. 
It raises. 

1203
01:02:18,000 --> 01:02:22,100
And that detail is this whoever 
made it worked for a very long 

1204
01:02:22,100 --> 01:02:24,700
time to make something they 
clearly believed was worth 

1205
01:02:24,700 --> 01:02:28,100
making. 600 years later. 
That belief has been Vindicated 

1206
01:02:28,100 --> 01:02:30,000
in ways. 
They could not have anticipated.

1207
01:02:31,100 --> 01:02:34,200
The manuscript is consulted by 
Scholars on every continent. 

1208
01:02:34,200 --> 01:02:38,200
It has been the subject of 
peer-reviewed research in fields

1209
01:02:38,200 --> 01:02:42,000
ranging from computational 
Linguistics to art history to 

1210
01:02:42,000 --> 01:02:45,100
Materials Science. 
It has been digitized and made 

1211
01:02:45,100 --> 01:02:47,200
freely available to anyone who 
wants to look at it. 

1212
01:02:47,200 --> 01:02:50,800
It has generated more genuine 
intellectual effort per page 

1213
01:02:50,800 --> 01:02:54,000
than almost any other manuscript
in any library in the world, 

1214
01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:58,000
whatever purpose it was made 
for, it has become over the 

1215
01:02:58,000 --> 01:03:00,900
centuries, a different kind of 
object than it started. 

1216
01:03:00,900 --> 01:03:04,500
As It has become a gathering 
point for human curiosity. 

1217
01:03:05,300 --> 01:03:07,700
A shared puzzle. 
That connects everyone who has 

1218
01:03:07,700 --> 01:03:11,100
ever spent an evening with it 
from Georg barish and his Prague

1219
01:03:11,100 --> 01:03:13,800
study to William Friedman at his
government desk to the 

1220
01:03:13,800 --> 01:03:17,300
researcher somewhere tonight who
was running one more analysis on

1221
01:03:17,300 --> 01:03:20,600
the character frequencies and 
trying again to find the 

1222
01:03:20,600 --> 01:03:21,800
pattern. 
That unlocks everything. 

1223
01:03:21,800 --> 01:03:24,000
Your part of that long chain now
too. 

1224
01:03:24,000 --> 01:03:27,300
Simply by having spent this 
evening here, you have not sold.

1225
01:03:27,300 --> 01:03:31,000
It neither has anyone else? 
But you have looked at it 

1226
01:03:31,000 --> 01:03:33,800
honestly followed it strange 
path through history with 

1227
01:03:33,800 --> 01:03:37,200
genuine attention and sat with 
the mystery without demanding, 

1228
01:03:37,200 --> 01:03:39,100
that it be something other than 
what it is. 

1229
01:03:39,100 --> 01:03:41,800
That is its own kind of 
understanding. 

1230
01:03:43,100 --> 01:03:46,000
The page turns quiet. 
Now the ink goes still. 

1231
01:03:46,900 --> 01:03:49,300
The Banneker Library will be 
there in the morning and the 

1232
01:03:49,300 --> 01:03:52,200
manuscript with it and the 
Mystery patient inside the 

1233
01:03:52,200 --> 01:03:55,400
manuscript and the early 15th 
century sitting inside the 

1234
01:03:55,400 --> 01:03:58,800
mystery as still and warm and 
unreachable as the center of a 

1235
01:03:58,808 --> 01:04:02,300
very old dream that someone else
began and no one has yet 

1236
01:04:02,300 --> 01:04:04,200
finished. 
You already know the only 

1237
01:04:04,200 --> 01:04:07,500
language that matters right now.
Your body has been fluent in it 

1238
01:04:07,500 --> 01:04:10,500
since before you had words for 
anything, it requires, no 

1239
01:04:10,500 --> 01:04:14,200
discipline, it requires, no key.
Just let it carry you. 

1240
01:04:14,200 --> 01:04:17,500
That is your story for tonight 
to my tired, little archivists. 

1241
01:04:17,500 --> 01:04:20,400
If this corner of the universe, 
we have built together is the 

1242
01:04:20,400 --> 01:04:22,900
kind of place that puts you 
peaceful out before the credits 

1243
01:04:22,900 --> 01:04:25,200
roll. 
The kindest thing you can do is 

1244
01:04:25,200 --> 01:04:27,800
hit subscribe. 
So the next mystery is already 

1245
01:04:27,800 --> 01:04:36,700
here waiting when you wake up. 
you live in a time when survival

1246
01:04:36,700 --> 01:04:40,200
itself, followed the rhythm of 
the seasons and winter was not 

1247
01:04:40,200 --> 01:04:44,400
simply cold, it was a test of 
everything, your community had 

1248
01:04:44,400 --> 01:04:49,300
prepared for stored away and 
hoped would last the medieval 

1249
01:04:49,300 --> 01:04:53,500
winter stretched on for months. 
And during those long dark 

1250
01:04:53,500 --> 01:04:58,300
weeks, ordinary life thinned to 
its barest threads, while you 

1251
01:04:58,300 --> 01:05:00,900
and your neighbors, waited for 
the world to thaw. 

1252
01:05:01,800 --> 01:05:04,200
This is the story of how you 
made it through. 

1253
01:05:05,200 --> 01:05:10,400
The first hard Frost arrives in 
late October and you feel it 

1254
01:05:10,400 --> 01:05:13,800
before you see it. 
A particular bite in the air. 

1255
01:05:13,800 --> 01:05:17,500
That makes your breath visible 
and turns the mud in the 

1256
01:05:17,500 --> 01:05:19,900
courtyard. 
Rock hard overnight. 

1257
01:05:21,100 --> 01:05:23,200
You wake to find the vegetable 
garden. 

1258
01:05:23,200 --> 01:05:28,000
Transformed the bean plants 
blackened and wilted their 

1259
01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:30,400
leaves hanging like scraps of 
wet cloth. 

1260
01:05:31,500 --> 01:05:35,000
Pumpkins that look so robust 
yesterday now sport soft spots 

1261
01:05:35,000 --> 01:05:37,000
that will spread and rock within
days. 

1262
01:05:37,000 --> 01:05:40,100
This Frost is Nature's 
announcement that the abundance 

1263
01:05:40,100 --> 01:05:43,300
season has a fishy ended and 
you'd better have everything 

1264
01:05:43,300 --> 01:05:46,500
ready because there won't be any
second chance is the village 

1265
01:05:46,500 --> 01:05:50,800
transforms almost immediately. 
Where children ran freely 

1266
01:05:50,800 --> 01:05:54,700
through Fields just weeks ago. 
Adults now move with purpose. 

1267
01:05:54,700 --> 01:05:58,500
Carrying the last of the root 
vegetables in woven baskets. 

1268
01:05:59,300 --> 01:06:02,900
You join your neighbors in the 
final Harvest, pulling turnips 

1269
01:06:02,900 --> 01:06:06,900
and parsnips from the ground. 
Their odd shapes caked in cold 

1270
01:06:06,900 --> 01:06:11,600
Earth, the crumbles differently 
now harder, and less forgiving. 

1271
01:06:12,700 --> 01:06:16,500
Every carrot matters, every 
onion gets counted. 

1272
01:06:17,500 --> 01:06:19,600
You've lived through enough 
Winters to know that the 

1273
01:06:19,600 --> 01:06:23,500
difference between plenty and 
hunger can come down to a single

1274
01:06:23,500 --> 01:06:28,000
bushel of grain or one more 
wheel of cheese tucked into the 

1275
01:06:28,000 --> 01:06:31,100
storage cellar. 
The narrowing happens gradually.

1276
01:06:31,100 --> 01:06:34,100
Then all at once. 
Forests. 

1277
01:06:34,100 --> 01:06:38,100
That seems so generous in Autumn
offering mushrooms nuts. 

1278
01:06:38,100 --> 01:06:41,800
And the occasional rabbit 
becomes a start collection of 

1279
01:06:41,800 --> 01:06:44,500
bare branches. 
The stream where you caught 

1280
01:06:44,500 --> 01:06:46,100
fishing. 
Summer, gross, sluggish and 

1281
01:06:46,100 --> 01:06:48,700
cold. 
The fish retreating to deeper 

1282
01:06:48,700 --> 01:06:50,500
pools where their nearly 
impossible to reach. 

1283
01:06:51,400 --> 01:06:54,200
Foraging that reliable 
supplement to your diet, 

1284
01:06:54,200 --> 01:06:58,200
essentially stops. 
The berries along gone, the 

1285
01:06:58,200 --> 01:07:02,000
edible greens of died back, even
the bark and roots that might 

1286
01:07:02,000 --> 01:07:06,000
sustain you in true desperation 
a harder access when the ground 

1287
01:07:06,000 --> 01:07:10,000
freezes solid. 
You watch the landscape contract

1288
01:07:10,000 --> 01:07:12,800
around you. 
The common fields where Wheaton 

1289
01:07:12,800 --> 01:07:17,500
Rye grew, licensed and empty 
hosting only crows that pick 

1290
01:07:17,500 --> 01:07:21,600
through the remnant stalks. 
The pastures were sheep, grazed 

1291
01:07:21,600 --> 01:07:25,800
turn brown then gray offering 
almost nothing nutritious. 

1292
01:07:27,300 --> 01:07:31,400
Your world which felt expansive 
in summer, now consists 

1293
01:07:31,400 --> 01:07:35,300
primarily of your cottage, the 
courtyard, the route to The 

1294
01:07:35,308 --> 01:07:38,000
Village Church and perhaps the 
manor house. 

1295
01:07:38,000 --> 01:07:40,400
If you owe labor there, 
everything else becomes 

1296
01:07:40,400 --> 01:07:44,300
difficult to reach uncomfortable
to visit or simply not worth the

1297
01:07:44,300 --> 01:07:47,200
effort when the cold seeps 
through your clothing and the 

1298
01:07:47,200 --> 01:07:51,000
daylight disappears. 
So early the reduction in 

1299
01:07:51,000 --> 01:07:52,900
daylight itself. 
Feels oppressive. 

1300
01:07:52,900 --> 01:07:57,100
You rise in darkness. 
Now fumbling to rekindle the 

1301
01:07:57,100 --> 01:08:01,100
fire from last night's Embers. 
By the time you've completed the

1302
01:08:01,100 --> 01:08:04,400
morning, tasks, feeding animals,
breaking ice on the water 

1303
01:08:04,400 --> 01:08:06,400
bucket. 
Checking the food stores. 

1304
01:08:06,400 --> 01:08:09,100
The sun has barely climbed above
the horizon. 

1305
01:08:10,000 --> 01:08:14,800
It hangs their weak and watery. 
Casting Long Shadows that never 

1306
01:08:14,800 --> 01:08:16,899
quite disappear. 
Before dusk arrives. 

1307
01:08:18,000 --> 01:08:20,200
You might get six hours of 
genuine daylight. 

1308
01:08:20,200 --> 01:08:23,800
If you're lucky and those hours 
must accommodate all outdoor 

1309
01:08:23,800 --> 01:08:28,000
work all travel, and all tasks 
that require seeing clearly. 

1310
01:08:31,000 --> 01:08:33,800
The funny thing about this 
narrowing is how your priority 

1311
01:08:33,800 --> 01:08:35,600
shift without you quite 
noticing. 

1312
01:08:36,500 --> 01:08:40,500
In summer, you worry about weeds
choking the garden about whether

1313
01:08:40,500 --> 01:08:44,100
the wheat would ripen properly, 
and about a dozen small concerns

1314
01:08:44,100 --> 01:08:46,800
that seemed important. 
Now, you worry about three 

1315
01:08:46,800 --> 01:08:49,899
things, staying warm having 
enough to eat and not getting 

1316
01:08:49,899 --> 01:08:52,600
sick. 
Everything else becomes optional

1317
01:08:52,600 --> 01:08:55,399
negotiable or simply abandoned 
until spring. 

1318
01:08:56,500 --> 01:08:59,100
That decorative project you 
started on the cottage wall 

1319
01:08:59,100 --> 01:09:01,800
forgotten. 
The plan to build a better 

1320
01:09:01,800 --> 01:09:07,200
Chicken Coop, postpone d. 
Your world reduces to survival 

1321
01:09:07,200 --> 01:09:09,500
fundamentals. 
And there's something almost 

1322
01:09:09,500 --> 01:09:12,700
clarifying about it. 
Even if you'd never choose it 

1323
01:09:12,700 --> 01:09:16,000
voluntarily, you notice the 
animals sense. 

1324
01:09:16,000 --> 01:09:19,500
This change, too. the chickens 
huddled together, more tightly, 

1325
01:09:19,500 --> 01:09:23,000
their usual, squabbling 
diminished, The cows 

1326
01:09:23,000 --> 01:09:26,500
differently, a lower more 
plaintiff sound that seems to 

1327
01:09:26,508 --> 01:09:28,300
ask when green grass will 
return. 

1328
01:09:29,399 --> 01:09:32,700
Even the village dogs, move less
frantically, conserving energy 

1329
01:09:32,700 --> 01:09:36,200
and staying close to the fires, 
they know in whatever way 

1330
01:09:36,200 --> 01:09:38,600
animals. 
Know these things that the easy 

1331
01:09:38,600 --> 01:09:43,399
season has ended Your own body 
responds to the narrowing, you 

1332
01:09:43,399 --> 01:09:46,600
feel hungrier more often your 
stomach wanting to build 

1333
01:09:46,600 --> 01:09:49,200
reserves against the cold, you 
sleep longer. 

1334
01:09:49,200 --> 01:09:53,000
When you can recognizing that 
unconsciousness is warmer than 

1335
01:09:53,008 --> 01:09:56,100
wakefulness and uses, less 
precious energy. 

1336
01:09:56,900 --> 01:09:57,900
Your hands. 
Develop. 

1337
01:09:57,900 --> 01:10:00,900
Calluses in new places from the 
different work of winter. 

1338
01:10:00,900 --> 01:10:05,700
Splitting wood, hauling water 
repairing tools by the fire. 

1339
01:10:06,700 --> 01:10:10,200
The summer, calluses earned from
hoeing and harvesting fade and 

1340
01:10:10,200 --> 01:10:13,300
smooth becoming irrelevant until
spring. 

1341
01:10:14,300 --> 01:10:18,300
The social World Narrows too. 
Visiting neighbors become 

1342
01:10:18,300 --> 01:10:21,500
something you do only when 
necessary not casually. 

1343
01:10:22,300 --> 01:10:24,500
The paths between Cottages grow 
muddy. 

1344
01:10:24,500 --> 01:10:28,400
Then Frozen in uneven ruts that 
make walking treacherous. 

1345
01:10:29,400 --> 01:10:31,700
That friend who lives, just 
beyond the next Village. 

1346
01:10:32,600 --> 01:10:34,600
You probably won't see her until
March. 

1347
01:10:35,400 --> 01:10:38,100
The traveling Merchants who 
brought news and goods through 

1348
01:10:38,100 --> 01:10:42,200
summer gone entirely and with 
them goes your connection to the

1349
01:10:42,208 --> 01:10:46,300
wider World, your Universe 
consists now of perhaps 30 

1350
01:10:46,300 --> 01:10:49,300
people, you see regularly and 
even though those encounters 

1351
01:10:49,300 --> 01:10:53,100
happen less frequently and more 
briefly with everyone, eager to 

1352
01:10:53,100 --> 01:10:57,200
return to their own fires. 
But here's the strange comfort 

1353
01:10:57,200 --> 01:11:00,000
in this narrowing, it makes 
things simpler. 

1354
01:11:01,100 --> 01:11:03,500
You're not wondering what to do 
with your time or making 

1355
01:11:03,500 --> 01:11:06,600
complicated plans, the schedule 
writes itself. 

1356
01:11:07,500 --> 01:11:12,300
Keep the fire burning make the 
food last protect the livestock 

1357
01:11:12,300 --> 01:11:15,800
repair, what breaks prey 
regularly. 

1358
01:11:16,700 --> 01:11:20,000
The reduction of options removes
a certain kind of stress, even 

1359
01:11:20,000 --> 01:11:24,200
as it introduces others, you 
know, exactly what matters and 

1360
01:11:24,200 --> 01:11:26,900
anything that doesn't contribute
to making it through, winter can

1361
01:11:26,900 --> 01:11:29,900
wait. 
You stand at your cottage door, 

1362
01:11:29,900 --> 01:11:32,800
one, early November evening, 
watching the last Light fade 

1363
01:11:32,800 --> 01:11:37,300
from the sky, a cold orange glow
that promises. 

1364
01:11:37,300 --> 01:11:41,600
Nothing but more cold to come. 
The world has contracted to 

1365
01:11:41,600 --> 01:11:46,600
this, your family, your animals,
your stores of food and fuel and

1366
01:11:46,600 --> 01:11:50,700
the long, wait for spring, the 
narrowing is complete the 

1367
01:11:50,700 --> 01:11:54,600
storage Cellar, smells of Earth 
apples and the particular 

1368
01:11:54,600 --> 01:11:58,200
mustiness that comes from root 
vegetables packed in sand. 

1369
01:11:59,200 --> 01:12:02,800
You descend the ladder carefully
holding a Tallow candle that 

1370
01:12:02,800 --> 01:12:05,300
throws flickering Shadows on the
stone walls. 

1371
01:12:05,300 --> 01:12:08,900
This underground room. 
Barely tall enough to stand in 

1372
01:12:08,900 --> 01:12:12,600
contains the entire mathematical
equation of your winter 

1373
01:12:12,600 --> 01:12:17,100
survival, laid out in barrels 
sacks and carefully stacked 

1374
01:12:17,100 --> 01:12:19,900
piles. 
You count the supplies regularly

1375
01:12:19,900 --> 01:12:24,400
because the numbers matter more 
than almost anything else. 12 

1376
01:12:24,400 --> 01:12:26,100
wheels of cheese wrapped in 
cloth. 

1377
01:12:26,100 --> 01:12:30,200
Each one representing a week of 
milk production from your cow. 

1378
01:12:31,000 --> 01:12:36,400
20, bushels of grain stored in 
wooden bins wheat, Rye, barley 

1379
01:12:36,400 --> 01:12:39,400
and oats mixed. 
According to what the Harvest 

1380
01:12:39,400 --> 01:12:42,200
yielded. 
The wheat, you'll save for 

1381
01:12:42,200 --> 01:12:45,700
special occasions for bread, 
that tastes almost good. 

1382
01:12:46,700 --> 01:12:51,100
The Rye forms your staple dark, 
and dense and reliable. 

1383
01:12:52,000 --> 01:12:55,900
The Barley goes into porridge 
and soup stretching further than

1384
01:12:55,900 --> 01:12:57,900
you'd think possible when you 
add enough water. 

1385
01:12:57,900 --> 01:13:01,100
Yeah, so for the animals mostly 
though, you'll eat them yourself

1386
01:13:01,100 --> 01:13:04,700
when stalls run lower, Apple's 
present their own challenge, 

1387
01:13:04,700 --> 01:13:07,800
you've laid them out carefully. 
Not touching each other, 

1388
01:13:07,800 --> 01:13:10,900
checking daily for any that 
shows, signs of rot. 

1389
01:13:12,000 --> 01:13:14,200
One Bad Apple really does spoil 
the barrel. 

1390
01:13:14,200 --> 01:13:16,900
The folk was doing is absolutely
accurate. 

1391
01:13:16,900 --> 01:13:21,100
So your vigilant You've already 
pulled three that showed soft 

1392
01:13:21,100 --> 01:13:24,600
spots, cutting away the damaged 
portions and cooking them 

1393
01:13:24,600 --> 01:13:27,700
immediately into a compote 
sweetened with a pressure 

1394
01:13:27,700 --> 01:13:31,600
spoonful of honey. 
The Good Apples. 200 of them 

1395
01:13:31,600 --> 01:13:34,600
should last until February if 
you're careful and lucky. 

1396
01:13:35,600 --> 01:13:40,100
The turnips and parsnips sit 
packed in boxes of sand, the 

1397
01:13:40,100 --> 01:13:41,500
technique, your grandmother 
taught you. 

1398
01:13:42,300 --> 01:13:45,200
Sand keeps them from drying out 
while preventing them from 

1399
01:13:45,200 --> 01:13:48,300
touching each other and 
spreading any Decay, you've got 

1400
01:13:48,308 --> 01:13:52,000
perhaps 60 pounds of turnips 
which sounds like a lot Until 

1401
01:13:52,000 --> 01:13:54,900
you realize that is less than 1 
pound per day for a winter 

1402
01:13:54,900 --> 01:13:57,900
lasting. 
Four months the parsnips sweeter

1403
01:13:57,900 --> 01:14:01,400
and more prized number fewer, 
maybe 30 pounds, total. 

1404
01:14:02,400 --> 01:14:05,800
Your rationale, those carefully 
saving them for days when morale

1405
01:14:05,800 --> 01:14:09,700
needs boosting. 
Onions, hang in braided strings 

1406
01:14:09,700 --> 01:14:13,100
from the seller Rafters their 
papery skins rustling. 

1407
01:14:13,100 --> 01:14:18,100
When you brush passed, you can't
407 onions, some large, some 

1408
01:14:18,100 --> 01:14:23,200
disappointingly small Garlic. 
Hangs, similarly, 23 heads, that

1409
01:14:23,200 --> 01:14:26,400
must flavor all the soups and 
stews between now and spring. 

1410
01:14:27,200 --> 01:14:30,100
The Cabbage fermented in a 
barrel with salt. 

1411
01:14:30,100 --> 01:14:35,000
Bubbles quietly in the corner. 
That sauerkraut represents both 

1412
01:14:35,000 --> 01:14:37,400
preservation genius and acquired
taste. 

1413
01:14:38,100 --> 01:14:41,200
You've never met anyone who 
loves it, but everyone eats it, 

1414
01:14:41,200 --> 01:14:44,400
because fermented cabbage, keeps
when fresh cabbage rocks and you

1415
01:14:44,400 --> 01:14:48,500
need the sustenance. 
The beans dried and stored in 

1416
01:14:48,500 --> 01:14:49,700
clay pots. 
Sealed with wax. 

1417
01:14:49,700 --> 01:14:52,300
Represent protein, you can't get
elsewhere. 

1418
01:14:52,300 --> 01:14:56,000
Once fresh meat Runs Out. 
You've got perhaps 20 pounds of 

1419
01:14:56,000 --> 01:15:00,100
various beans favors lentils and
chickpeas from the manners. 

1420
01:15:00,100 --> 01:15:03,700
Better soil, 20 pounds of dried 
beans can make many pots of 

1421
01:15:03,700 --> 01:15:05,500
soup. 
But only if you use them wisely,

1422
01:15:05,500 --> 01:15:09,100
combining them with grain and 
whatever else stretches the 

1423
01:15:09,100 --> 01:15:12,800
meal. 
Nuts occupy, one precious basket

1424
01:15:12,800 --> 01:15:17,000
hazelnuts and walnuts gathered 
from the forest edges before the

1425
01:15:17,000 --> 01:15:20,600
squirrels could claim them all. 
You've got maybe 10 pounds total

1426
01:15:20,600 --> 01:15:23,100
and you've already decided, 
these will be treats, not 

1427
01:15:23,100 --> 01:15:26,200
Staples. 
A handful of nuts, makes a dark 

1428
01:15:26,200 --> 01:15:28,200
January after noon, feel less 
bleak. 

1429
01:15:29,000 --> 01:15:30,400
But you can't build meals around
them. 

1430
01:15:30,400 --> 01:15:33,600
The Salted meat hangs in the 
coolest corner. 

1431
01:15:34,500 --> 01:15:38,800
Two Pig horns from the Autumn 
slaughter, their flesh dense and

1432
01:15:38,800 --> 01:15:42,000
brown coated in coarse salt 
crystals. 

1433
01:15:43,200 --> 01:15:46,800
You'll shave portions from these
throughout winter, the salt 

1434
01:15:46,800 --> 01:15:50,300
preserving the meat, but also 
making every dish, incredibly 

1435
01:15:50,300 --> 01:15:52,300
salty, until you learn to soak 
the Peace's. 

1436
01:15:52,300 --> 01:15:56,800
First, there's also one wheel of
bacon, the fat prize nearly as 

1437
01:15:56,800 --> 01:16:00,300
much as the meat because fat 
means calories and calories mean

1438
01:16:00,300 --> 01:16:02,400
warmth and warmth means of 
survival. 

1439
01:16:03,300 --> 01:16:08,300
Herbs, hang dried in bundles 
Sage, thyme Rosemary and the 

1440
01:16:08,300 --> 01:16:10,800
precious bay leaves you traded 
for at Market. 

1441
01:16:11,800 --> 01:16:15,000
These don't provide nutrition. 
Exactly, but they make the 

1442
01:16:15,000 --> 01:16:18,200
difference between food that 
sustains you and food, you can 

1443
01:16:18,200 --> 01:16:20,600
actually Bear to eat five months
running. 

1444
01:16:22,000 --> 01:16:25,400
When every meal is porridge or 
bean soup or turnip stew, the 

1445
01:16:25,400 --> 01:16:27,700
herbs are what prevent complete 
despair. 

1446
01:16:28,600 --> 01:16:31,200
You keep a mental calculation 
running constantly. 

1447
01:16:31,200 --> 01:16:35,300
How many people are eating? 
How much per day and how many 

1448
01:16:35,300 --> 01:16:40,200
days until spring, Your family 
of four yourself, your spouse. 

1449
01:16:40,200 --> 01:16:44,100
And two children needs perhaps 
eight pounds of food daily to 

1450
01:16:44,100 --> 01:16:47,700
stay healthy. 
That's roughly 250 pounds per 

1451
01:16:47,700 --> 01:16:51,300
month which means 1,000 pounds 
for a four month of Winter. 

1452
01:16:51,300 --> 01:16:54,300
The number seems impossibly 
large until you remember that 

1453
01:16:54,300 --> 01:16:57,800
much of that weight is water 
content in fresh vegetables and 

1454
01:16:57,800 --> 01:17:00,500
you're working mostly with dried
and concentrated stores. 

1455
01:17:00,500 --> 01:17:04,900
Now, the math shifts constantly,
If you Slaughter the older 

1456
01:17:04,900 --> 01:17:08,900
chicken, that's several days of 
meat but also several fewer eggs

1457
01:17:08,900 --> 01:17:11,200
come spring if you eat more 
grain. 

1458
01:17:11,200 --> 01:17:12,900
Now you'll have less for 
planting. 

1459
01:17:12,900 --> 01:17:16,500
If you open another cheese 
wheel, that's one less of 

1460
01:17:16,500 --> 01:17:20,000
protein later. 
Every decision creates ripples 

1461
01:17:20,000 --> 01:17:23,800
through the Winter's equation. 
The funny part about storage is 

1462
01:17:23,800 --> 01:17:25,500
that you can't just lock 
everything away. 

1463
01:17:25,500 --> 01:17:29,000
And forget about it, the 
supplies require constant 

1464
01:17:29,000 --> 01:17:31,400
attention. 
The apples need checking for 

1465
01:17:31,400 --> 01:17:33,900
wrote. 
The Grain needs to stay dry, 

1466
01:17:33,900 --> 01:17:36,500
which means monitoring for leaks
in the cellar roof. 

1467
01:17:36,500 --> 01:17:40,000
The cheese needs to Turning 
occasionally, the onion 

1468
01:17:40,000 --> 01:17:42,700
sometimes Sprout and you have to
remove the green shoots. 

1469
01:17:42,700 --> 01:17:44,400
Before the sap, the bulbs 
nutrition. 

1470
01:17:44,400 --> 01:17:47,900
The stored food is less like a 
bank account and more like a 

1471
01:17:47,908 --> 01:17:51,600
garden that grows backward, 
slowly diminishing, despite your

1472
01:17:51,600 --> 01:17:55,700
best efforts to slow the loss. 
You all so store fuel though, 

1473
01:17:55,700 --> 01:17:59,300
that's kept above ground. 
The woodpile stand gets the 

1474
01:17:59,300 --> 01:18:02,500
Cottages, north wall. 
You've estimated three chords of

1475
01:18:02,500 --> 01:18:05,200
split wood, which should be 
enough if the winter isn't too 

1476
01:18:05,200 --> 01:18:07,500
harsh. 
And if you supplement with Pete 

1477
01:18:07,500 --> 01:18:12,800
from the bog, the Pete Burns 
slowly and slowly Less Pleasant 

1478
01:18:12,800 --> 01:18:17,100
than wood, but more abundant. 
You've cut, perhaps 200 blocks 

1479
01:18:17,100 --> 01:18:20,400
of Pete stacked now in a 
separate pile, covered with old 

1480
01:18:20,400 --> 01:18:23,900
that to keep them dry. 
Some foods require active 

1481
01:18:23,900 --> 01:18:28,000
monitoring the dried fish bought
at the automarket from traveling

1482
01:18:28,000 --> 01:18:30,600
merchants in the main room where
you can watch it. 

1483
01:18:31,300 --> 01:18:34,400
Fist draws Vermin and Vermin in 
your food stores. 

1484
01:18:34,400 --> 01:18:37,600
Can mean disaster. 
You've already killed two mice 

1485
01:18:37,600 --> 01:18:40,300
that showed interest snapping, 
their necks and simple. 

1486
01:18:40,300 --> 01:18:43,900
Traps, baited with grain, you 
can't afford compassion for 

1487
01:18:43,900 --> 01:18:47,300
rodents and winter a beer in the
barrel, by the door, represents 

1488
01:18:47,300 --> 01:18:51,000
both calories and safety. 
The Brewing process makes the 

1489
01:18:51,000 --> 01:18:54,600
water safer to drink and the 
alcohol content mild as it is 

1490
01:18:54,608 --> 01:18:57,700
provides warmth and makes hard 
days slightly softer. 

1491
01:18:57,700 --> 01:19:01,400
You've got about 20 gallons, 
which sounds generous until you 

1492
01:19:01,400 --> 01:19:04,600
remember that everyone drinks it
daily, including the children, 

1493
01:19:04,600 --> 01:19:07,600
because the alternative is water
that might make you sick. 

1494
01:19:08,700 --> 01:19:12,000
You climb back up the ladder, 
the candle burning low. 

1495
01:19:12,000 --> 01:19:16,600
The seller inventory is complete
enough to survive if nothing 

1496
01:19:16,600 --> 01:19:18,900
goes wrong. 
Not enough to feel comfortable. 

1497
01:19:19,900 --> 01:19:22,300
This is the position every 
household in the village. 

1498
01:19:22,300 --> 01:19:25,900
Occupies balanced on the knife 
edge between adequate and 

1499
01:19:25,900 --> 01:19:30,200
insufficient hoping that luck 
Providence and careful rationing

1500
01:19:30,200 --> 01:19:32,000
will carry everyone through to 
April. 

1501
01:19:32,800 --> 01:19:35,800
Back in the cottage. 
You mark the date on a stick by 

1502
01:19:35,800 --> 01:19:38,900
the door notches representing 
each week of winter. 

1503
01:19:38,900 --> 01:19:44,900
Four months equals roughly 17 
weeks which is 119 days, which 

1504
01:19:44,900 --> 01:19:48,400
is 19 separate acts of making 
the food stretched. 

1505
01:19:48,400 --> 01:19:52,400
Just a little further. the 
mathematics of survival is 

1506
01:19:52,400 --> 01:19:56,100
simple in concept, but 
exhausting in practice, the 

1507
01:19:56,100 --> 01:19:58,700
first month of winter, you don't
feel truly hungry. 

1508
01:19:58,700 --> 01:20:02,600
The Harvest is recent enough 
that meals still carry variety 

1509
01:20:02,600 --> 01:20:06,200
and satisfaction. you eat 
porridge sweetened with dried 

1510
01:20:06,200 --> 01:20:10,800
fruit soups thick, with beans 
and turnips and bread that 

1511
01:20:10,800 --> 01:20:15,800
actually Rises properly, because
the grain is fresh, Your stomach

1512
01:20:15,800 --> 01:20:19,400
feels full after meals, you 
might even have seconds on 

1513
01:20:19,400 --> 01:20:23,200
special occasions. 
By the second month, deep 

1514
01:20:23,200 --> 01:20:26,300
January, when the snow lies 
thick and the wind cuts through 

1515
01:20:26,300 --> 01:20:30,100
every Gap in the cottage walls, 
hunger becomes a familiar 

1516
01:20:30,100 --> 01:20:35,000
companion. 
Not starvation, not yet, but a 

1517
01:20:35,000 --> 01:20:37,700
persistent hollowness that never
quite goes away. 

1518
01:20:39,300 --> 01:20:42,700
You eat your morning porridge 
and two hours later your stomach

1519
01:20:42,700 --> 01:20:46,000
rumbles, as if you haven't eaten
at all, the meals of grown 

1520
01:20:46,000 --> 01:20:49,600
smaller without anyone quite 
admitting it, the soup gets more

1521
01:20:49,600 --> 01:20:52,300
water, added the bread. 
Slices are cut thinner. 

1522
01:20:52,300 --> 01:20:54,700
The cheese portions shrinked 
slivers. 

1523
01:20:55,800 --> 01:20:59,100
You develop a new relationship 
with food in summer. 

1524
01:20:59,100 --> 01:21:02,700
Eating was sometimes 
pleasurable, sometimes routine, 

1525
01:21:02,700 --> 01:21:04,800
and occasionally, even 
indulgent. 

1526
01:21:05,700 --> 01:21:10,000
Winter eating is pure function. 
You can consume food to generate

1527
01:21:10,000 --> 01:21:14,600
warmth to maintain strength for 
necessary, work and acquire the 

1528
01:21:14,600 --> 01:21:18,700
noring sensation in your belly. 
Taste become secondary. 

1529
01:21:19,600 --> 01:21:22,700
You eat boiled turnips without 
complaint because turnips are 

1530
01:21:22,700 --> 01:21:26,200
what you have and being alive to
complain about turnips is better

1531
01:21:26,200 --> 01:21:30,600
than the alternative. 
The children's hunger, bothers 

1532
01:21:30,600 --> 01:21:33,200
you. 
Most your youngest barely. 

1533
01:21:33,200 --> 01:21:37,000
Six asks, when dinner is ready, 
approximately 90 times each day?

1534
01:21:38,200 --> 01:21:41,500
You've explained that meals come
at set times that asking, 

1535
01:21:41,500 --> 01:21:44,700
doesn't make food appear, that 
everyone is hungry and that 

1536
01:21:44,700 --> 01:21:48,100
everyone must wait but the 
child's developing brain doesn't

1537
01:21:48,100 --> 01:21:52,100
really grasp these Concepts and 
the constant requests where on 

1538
01:21:52,100 --> 01:21:56,800
your patients like water wearing
on Stone. you notice your own 

1539
01:21:56,800 --> 01:22:00,900
body changing, the soft padding,
you carried from Somers abundant

1540
01:22:00,900 --> 01:22:05,800
gradually disappears, your ribs 
become more prominent, your face

1541
01:22:05,800 --> 01:22:10,200
grows, angular Your spouse looks
similarly lean the winter 

1542
01:22:10,200 --> 01:22:11,700
sharpening. 
Everyone's features. 

1543
01:22:12,600 --> 01:22:15,400
This is normal. 
You tell yourself everyone 

1544
01:22:15,400 --> 01:22:18,500
thinned in Winter. 
The fat will return in spring 

1545
01:22:18,500 --> 01:22:21,100
and summer. 
But you also know that too, much

1546
01:22:21,108 --> 01:22:25,000
thinness leads to weakness and 
weakness leads to illness and 

1547
01:22:25,000 --> 01:22:28,200
illness in winter is dangerous. 
The meals. 

1548
01:22:28,200 --> 01:22:32,300
Follow a grinding repetition. 
Breakfast is almost always 

1549
01:22:32,300 --> 01:22:36,600
porridge oats or barley, boiled 
with water sometimes with a bit 

1550
01:22:36,608 --> 01:22:39,100
of salt. 
Occasionally with a precious 

1551
01:22:39,100 --> 01:22:42,700
spoonful of Honey on Sunday 
mornings. the porridge fills 

1552
01:22:42,700 --> 01:22:46,300
your stomach with warm bulk, but
the warmth and fullness fade 

1553
01:22:46,300 --> 01:22:50,900
quickly Midday brings bread, if 
you're lucky or more porridge, 

1554
01:22:50,900 --> 01:22:54,700
if grain must be conserved, the 
bread is dense and dark made 

1555
01:22:54,700 --> 01:22:57,500
from Rye flour that produces 
loaves require in serious 

1556
01:22:57,500 --> 01:22:59,900
chewing. 
You eat it with scraping of 

1557
01:22:59,908 --> 01:23:02,200
butter, when butter is available
or plain. 

1558
01:23:02,200 --> 01:23:04,900
When its not. 
Even evening meals, vary 

1559
01:23:04,900 --> 01:23:09,100
slightly more vegetable soups 
Bean, stews and occasionally, a 

1560
01:23:09,100 --> 01:23:11,200
bit of The Salted pork to flavor
the pot. 

1561
01:23:12,000 --> 01:23:14,800
You've become an expert at 
making soup from almost nothing.

1562
01:23:15,600 --> 01:23:20,500
water turnips and onion some 
dried herbs and maybe a carrot, 

1563
01:23:20,500 --> 01:23:24,200
if you're feeling extravagant 
The resulting liquid is thin and

1564
01:23:24,200 --> 01:23:28,500
barely flavored but it's Hot and
Hot Food creates the illusion of

1565
01:23:28,500 --> 01:23:32,800
satisfaction better than cold 
food does. you find yourself 

1566
01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:36,700
thinking about food constantly, 
While feeding the animals, you 

1567
01:23:36,700 --> 01:23:39,800
imagine roast chicken. 
While repairing tools by the 

1568
01:23:39,800 --> 01:23:42,600
fire, you remember, summer 
berries with an almost painful, 

1569
01:23:42,600 --> 01:23:47,400
vividness the memory of fresh 
bread warm from baking Hans you.

1570
01:23:47,400 --> 01:23:50,600
So does the recollection of peas
eaten straight from the Pod. 

1571
01:23:50,600 --> 01:23:54,200
Sweet and crisp, and green a 
color. 

1572
01:23:54,200 --> 01:23:58,400
You have not seen in months. 
The funny thing about sustained 

1573
01:23:58,400 --> 01:24:02,900
hunger is how it reshapes, your 
priorities arguments, that would

1574
01:24:02,900 --> 01:24:06,800
have seemed important in summer 
who should do which chore whose 

1575
01:24:06,800 --> 01:24:09,000
turn it is? 
For the better seat by the fire 

1576
01:24:09,000 --> 01:24:12,200
evaporate. 
Everyone's too tired to fight. 

1577
01:24:12,200 --> 01:24:15,400
Much anger requires energy. 
You can't spare. 

1578
01:24:16,800 --> 01:24:20,300
Instead, a kind of quiet, 
patient, settles over the 

1579
01:24:20,300 --> 01:24:23,400
household, you wait for spring 
the way you, wait for a 

1580
01:24:23,408 --> 01:24:27,300
toothache to fade, knowing that 
endurance is the only strategy 

1581
01:24:27,300 --> 01:24:30,700
that works. 
You all so developed tricks to 

1582
01:24:30,700 --> 01:24:35,000
manage the hunger drinking water
helps temporarily filling your 

1583
01:24:35,000 --> 01:24:38,900
stomach with weightless Bolt. 
Staying busy distracts the Mind 

1584
01:24:38,900 --> 01:24:42,500
from its preoccupation with 
food, going to bed, early means 

1585
01:24:42,500 --> 01:24:44,400
fewer waking hours to feel 
hungry. 

1586
01:24:44,400 --> 01:24:47,400
You've noticed that the worst 
hunger hits in late afternoon 

1587
01:24:47,400 --> 01:24:51,300
that peculiar time when the day 
small breakfast and smaller 

1588
01:24:51,300 --> 01:24:53,600
lunch of Thoroughly worn off and
dinner. 

1589
01:24:53,600 --> 01:24:57,800
Still lies hours away. 
During that time, you try to do 

1590
01:24:57,800 --> 01:25:02,500
engaging work, mending clothes, 
carving, Wooden Spoons, anything

1591
01:25:02,500 --> 01:25:04,600
that occupies both hands and 
mind. 

1592
01:25:05,400 --> 01:25:08,700
The church provides both comfort
and complication around hunger. 

1593
01:25:09,300 --> 01:25:12,900
The priest reminds everyone that
fasting is Holy that Christ 

1594
01:25:12,900 --> 01:25:16,200
himself fasted and that 
restraint and eating brings one 

1595
01:25:16,200 --> 01:25:19,700
closer to God. 
This theology is convenient for 

1596
01:25:19,708 --> 01:25:22,400
people who are hungry. 
Anyway, offering spiritual 

1597
01:25:22,400 --> 01:25:26,900
meaning to physical deprivation.
But it's also genuinely helpful 

1598
01:25:26,900 --> 01:25:30,200
believing that hunger serves a 
higher purpose, makes it 

1599
01:25:30,200 --> 01:25:33,600
slightly easier to endure. 
You're not just suffering 

1600
01:25:33,600 --> 01:25:37,400
randomly, your participating in 
a sacred tradition of 

1601
01:25:37,400 --> 01:25:40,900
self-denial. 
Of course, you've also noticed 

1602
01:25:40,900 --> 01:25:44,300
that the priest himself doesn't 
look particularly thin and the 

1603
01:25:44,300 --> 01:25:46,000
manor house residents still 
appear. 

1604
01:25:46,000 --> 01:25:49,600
Well, fed the Theology of. 
Holy hunger seems to apply more 

1605
01:25:49,600 --> 01:25:52,600
strictly to peasants and to 
those collecting ties. 

1606
01:25:53,600 --> 01:25:56,200
You don't voice this 
observational allowed but you 

1607
01:25:56,200 --> 01:26:00,100
think it sometimes while noring 
on your thin slice of bread and 

1608
01:26:00,100 --> 01:26:04,000
watching Smoke Rise From the man
as kitchen, the livestock face 

1609
01:26:04,000 --> 01:26:07,800
their own version of hunger, the
cowgirls gaunt despite the hey 

1610
01:26:07,800 --> 01:26:11,600
you've stored the chickens egg 
production slows and then stops 

1611
01:26:11,600 --> 01:26:13,800
entirely. 
They simply don't have the 

1612
01:26:13,800 --> 01:26:16,300
nutrition to both stay alive and
produce eggs. 

1613
01:26:16,300 --> 01:26:19,700
You understand this completely 
in Winter survival. 

1614
01:26:19,700 --> 01:26:23,200
Trump's reproduction for every 
species, the horse at the manner

1615
01:26:23,200 --> 01:26:26,800
you hear has developed a 
concerning cough, likely from 

1616
01:26:26,800 --> 01:26:30,500
the combination of cold and 
sufficient feed irrational 

1617
01:26:30,500 --> 01:26:32,800
carefully. 
But you also know the ration is 

1618
01:26:32,800 --> 01:26:37,500
insufficient truly adequate diet
would require more food than you

1619
01:26:37,500 --> 01:26:40,800
stored, more than you could 
possibly Store and More Than 

1620
01:26:40,800 --> 01:26:44,200
grows in your Fields. 
Even in good years, medieval 

1621
01:26:44,200 --> 01:26:46,200
agriculture, produces enough to 
survive. 

1622
01:26:46,200 --> 01:26:50,700
Not enough to thrive entire 
system operates on a deficit 

1623
01:26:50,700 --> 01:26:53,700
that winter makes obvious. 
Everyone goes hungry. 

1624
01:26:53,700 --> 01:26:57,900
The only question is how hungry 
and whether that hunger will 

1625
01:26:57,900 --> 01:27:00,900
lead to something worse? 
Sometimes you do the math, you 

1626
01:27:00,900 --> 01:27:04,600
wish you didn't know how to do 
your family needs roughly 2000 

1627
01:27:04,600 --> 01:27:08,200
calories per person per day to 
maintain weight and health. 

1628
01:27:08,200 --> 01:27:12,800
That's 8,000 calories, total but
your stalls stretched across 

1629
01:27:12,800 --> 01:27:17,300
four months, provide, maybe 1500
calories per person daily The 

1630
01:27:17,300 --> 01:27:21,700
deficit is 3,000 calories per 
day, which your bodies make up 

1631
01:27:21,700 --> 01:27:24,600
by burning stored fat. 
And when that's depleted 

1632
01:27:24,600 --> 01:27:29,200
eventually muscles This is why 
everyone emerges from Winter 

1633
01:27:29,200 --> 01:27:32,800
thin and weak. 
This is why spring work feels so

1634
01:27:32,800 --> 01:27:36,100
much harder than Autumn work. 
You're running on depleted, 

1635
01:27:36,100 --> 01:27:39,700
reserves, trying to plant and 
ten new crops while your body 

1636
01:27:39,700 --> 01:27:42,500
desperately needs what those 
crops will eventually produce. 

1637
01:27:43,600 --> 01:27:46,200
The hunger creates a particular 
kind of weariness. 

1638
01:27:46,200 --> 01:27:49,100
It's not just physical tiredness
though. 

1639
01:27:49,100 --> 01:27:52,400
There's plenty of that. 
It's a mental exhaustion from 

1640
01:27:52,400 --> 01:27:56,700
constantly thinking about food. 
Constantly calculating portions 

1641
01:27:56,700 --> 01:27:59,900
and constantly reassuring 
children that yes, there will be

1642
01:27:59,900 --> 01:28:02,300
dinner, no you can't have more 
now. 

1643
01:28:02,300 --> 01:28:06,400
And yes, we're all hungry. 
That's just how winter is. 

1644
01:28:07,600 --> 01:28:11,400
By late February with stores, 
genuinely running low and spring

1645
01:28:11,400 --> 01:28:14,800
still weeks away. 
The hunger shark and the 

1646
01:28:14,800 --> 01:28:16,800
porridge becomes thinner, the 
bread. 

1647
01:28:16,800 --> 01:28:20,200
Slice is a transparent. 
The soup is laughingly. 

1648
01:28:20,200 --> 01:28:23,800
Watery You eat things, you 
wouldn't have considered food in

1649
01:28:23,800 --> 01:28:28,300
Autumn bark tea, leather, boiled
until it yield some minimal 

1650
01:28:28,300 --> 01:28:30,700
nutrition. 
And the green shoots of 

1651
01:28:30,700 --> 01:28:32,700
sprouting grain. 
That should be safe for 

1652
01:28:32,700 --> 01:28:35,400
planting. 
But the stomach overrules 

1653
01:28:35,400 --> 01:28:40,500
wisdom, yes, somehow most 
families, make it through the 

1654
01:28:40,500 --> 01:28:44,600
hunger hurts weakens and 
depresses, but it doesn't quite 

1655
01:28:44,600 --> 01:28:46,600
kill. 
Not in normal Winters. 

1656
01:28:46,600 --> 01:28:50,200
You survived by accepting a 
level of discomfort that would 

1657
01:28:50,200 --> 01:28:52,500
seem intolerable. 
If you didn't know, it was 

1658
01:28:52,500 --> 01:28:55,900
temporary. 
Spring will come food, will grow

1659
01:28:55,900 --> 01:29:00,500
hunger, will fade this knowledge
sustains, you almost as much as 

1660
01:29:00,500 --> 01:29:04,200
the inadequate portions do. 
The cottage fire never goes out 

1661
01:29:04,200 --> 01:29:08,000
completely from November through
March but it also never provides

1662
01:29:08,000 --> 01:29:11,200
quite enough Heat. 
You've become an expert at the 

1663
01:29:11,208 --> 01:29:15,300
dance of fire management, adding
wood to boost warmth, letting it

1664
01:29:15,300 --> 01:29:19,200
die down to Khols, to conserve 
Fuel and banking it at night, 

1665
01:29:19,200 --> 01:29:21,800
with ashes to preserve Embers 
until morning. 

1666
01:29:23,300 --> 01:29:26,500
Fire is the heart of the house 
in Winter and your life 

1667
01:29:26,500 --> 01:29:31,900
literally revolves around it. 
Even so your always cold. 

1668
01:29:32,800 --> 01:29:36,200
Not dramatically dangerously 
cold, like you'd be outside but 

1669
01:29:36,200 --> 01:29:42,100
persistently, annoyingly cold. 
The kind of cold that seeps into

1670
01:29:42,100 --> 01:29:45,400
your bones and never quite 
leaves that makes your fingers 

1671
01:29:45,400 --> 01:29:47,600
stiff and your nose constantly 
numb. 

1672
01:29:47,600 --> 01:29:50,200
The fire heats the air 
immediately around it. 

1673
01:29:51,000 --> 01:29:53,600
Perhaps a radius of six feet 
where you can actually feel 

1674
01:29:53,600 --> 01:29:55,600
warm. 
Beyond that. 

1675
01:29:55,600 --> 01:29:57,600
The cottage temperature drops 
precipitously. 

1676
01:29:57,600 --> 01:30:00,600
The corners are barely warmer 
than outside. 

1677
01:30:01,600 --> 01:30:04,600
The Loft where you sleep might 
be five degrees warmer than the 

1678
01:30:04,600 --> 01:30:07,600
night air, but that still means 
it's well below freezing on the 

1679
01:30:07,600 --> 01:30:11,900
coldest nights, you wear layers,
constantly your linen, under 

1680
01:30:11,900 --> 01:30:16,100
clothes, worn until they're soft
and dingy a wool tunic over that

1681
01:30:16,100 --> 01:30:19,600
a second will layer. 
If you have one, a cloak wrapped

1682
01:30:19,600 --> 01:30:22,600
around your shoulders, wool 
stockings that never quite dry 

1683
01:30:22,600 --> 01:30:25,100
completely because there's 
nowhere properly warm to dry 

1684
01:30:25,100 --> 01:30:27,500
them. 
Shoes, stuffed with straw for 

1685
01:30:27,500 --> 01:30:31,600
insulation, even dressed this 
way, you feel the cold probing 

1686
01:30:31,600 --> 01:30:35,800
for weaknesses a gap between 
sleeve and glove the collar that

1687
01:30:35,800 --> 01:30:38,800
doesn't quite close. 
The inevitable drafts that find 

1688
01:30:38,800 --> 01:30:40,400
every crack in the cottage 
walls. 

1689
01:30:41,300 --> 01:30:44,300
The cottage itself is built to 
retain heat as much as medieval 

1690
01:30:44,300 --> 01:30:47,100
construction allows, but thats 
not very much. 

1691
01:30:47,100 --> 01:30:51,800
The walls are wattle and daub 
woven branches, plus with a 

1692
01:30:51,800 --> 01:30:55,000
mixture of mud, straw, and 
animal dung. 

1693
01:30:55,700 --> 01:30:59,200
When new and well-maintained, 
this provides decent insulation,

1694
01:30:59,200 --> 01:31:04,800
but cracks develop the daub 
dries and crumbles gaps appear 

1695
01:31:04,800 --> 01:31:06,800
around the window shutters and 
the door frame. 

1696
01:31:06,800 --> 01:31:10,400
You stuff these gaps with moss 
Rags or anything that might 

1697
01:31:10,400 --> 01:31:13,100
block the wind but the wind 
finds new Roots. 

1698
01:31:13,100 --> 01:31:17,000
Cold air is patient and 
persistent and your cottage is 

1699
01:31:17,000 --> 01:31:20,800
full of opportunities. 
The floor is packed Earth, which

1700
01:31:20,800 --> 01:31:22,600
means cold radiates Up From 
Below. 

1701
01:31:22,600 --> 01:31:26,000
You've scattered straw to 
provide a minimal barrier, but 

1702
01:31:26,000 --> 01:31:28,500
the straw gets damp and 
compressed and loses, its 

1703
01:31:28,500 --> 01:31:32,200
insulating value. 
Your feet are always cold at 

1704
01:31:32,200 --> 01:31:33,900
night. 
You sleep with wraps Stones 

1705
01:31:33,900 --> 01:31:37,200
heated by the fire. 
They provide warmth for perhaps 

1706
01:31:37,200 --> 01:31:39,700
an hour before. 
Becoming just lumpy obstacles 

1707
01:31:39,700 --> 01:31:42,000
that make finding a comfortable 
position difficult. 

1708
01:31:43,200 --> 01:31:46,700
Morning is the worst time you 
wake in the dark, your breath 

1709
01:31:46,700 --> 01:31:51,100
visible even inside the cottage.
Fire has died to Bear Embers. 

1710
01:31:51,100 --> 01:31:53,800
The water in the bucket has 
frozen solid. 

1711
01:31:54,700 --> 01:31:57,600
The simple Act of getting out 
from under the blankets requires

1712
01:31:57,600 --> 01:32:01,200
genuine courage, because your 
leaving their only warm space 

1713
01:32:01,200 --> 01:32:05,300
that exists. 
You force yourself up wrap a 

1714
01:32:05,300 --> 01:32:08,700
cloak around your night clothes 
and hurried to the fire to cope,

1715
01:32:08,700 --> 01:32:12,800
sit back to life. 
Getting the fire restarted is 

1716
01:32:12,800 --> 01:32:15,500
critical. 
You kneel by The Hearth 

1717
01:32:15,500 --> 01:32:19,000
carefully pushing aside the 
Ashes to find the living coals 

1718
01:32:19,000 --> 01:32:21,200
beneath. 
You add dry kindling. 

1719
01:32:21,900 --> 01:32:24,900
Precious splinters of wood kept 
in a box by the fire 

1720
01:32:24,900 --> 01:32:29,400
specifically for this purpose, 
you blow gently and if you're 

1721
01:32:29,400 --> 01:32:32,300
lucky and skilled and the wood 
is dry enough small Flames 

1722
01:32:32,300 --> 01:32:34,700
appear. 
You add larger sticks, then 

1723
01:32:34,700 --> 01:32:38,400
split logs and gradually warmth 
returns to your personal 

1724
01:32:38,400 --> 01:32:41,800
universe. 
The rest of the family wakes to 

1725
01:32:41,800 --> 01:32:45,300
this warmth emerging from 
blankets only after the fire is 

1726
01:32:45,300 --> 01:32:49,700
clearly established, Everyone 
huddles near it, putting off the

1727
01:32:49,700 --> 01:32:53,400
necessary ventures in to the 
Cottages, cold regions, the 

1728
01:32:53,400 --> 01:32:55,900
morning tasks, require leaving 
the fires warmth. 

1729
01:32:56,600 --> 01:32:59,700
Getting dressed in The Frigid 
Loft visiting, the outdoor 

1730
01:32:59,700 --> 01:33:03,500
latrine way of backside freezes 
fetching more wood from the pile

1731
01:33:03,500 --> 01:33:06,200
outside and breaking ice on the 
animals water. 

1732
01:33:06,200 --> 01:33:10,200
The animals suffer, their own 
cold torments, the chickens 

1733
01:33:10,200 --> 01:33:13,200
huddling in their Coop, which is
barely warmer than outside, but 

1734
01:33:13,200 --> 01:33:16,600
at least blocks the wind You've 
stuffed the walls with extra 

1735
01:33:16,600 --> 01:33:20,800
straw, but the birds still look 
miserable fluffed up to twice 

1736
01:33:20,800 --> 01:33:23,200
their normal size. 
Moving as little as possible. 

1737
01:33:24,000 --> 01:33:27,200
The cow in her small barn, 
breathes out clouds of steam, 

1738
01:33:27,200 --> 01:33:29,800
you can see her ribs more 
prominently. 

1739
01:33:29,800 --> 01:33:33,700
Now the winter diet and cold 
burning through her Reserves. 

1740
01:33:34,300 --> 01:33:37,800
When you milk her on the days, 
when she still produces any 

1741
01:33:37,800 --> 01:33:41,100
milk, your fingers go numb 
within minutes. 

1742
01:33:42,100 --> 01:33:44,700
Washing in winter is a 
theoretical concept. 

1743
01:33:45,500 --> 01:33:48,300
You might heat a small pot of 
water and wipe your face and 

1744
01:33:48,300 --> 01:33:53,100
hands when they're truly grimy. 
Bathing Unthinkable. 

1745
01:33:53,100 --> 01:33:56,700
The entire Village goes unwashed
from November to April. 

1746
01:33:56,700 --> 01:34:00,400
You'll smell like it. 
The odor of unwashed human 

1747
01:34:00,400 --> 01:34:04,100
bodies stale would smoke and 
damp wall become so ubiquitous 

1748
01:34:04,100 --> 01:34:08,400
that you stop noticing it. 
Only in spring when people 

1749
01:34:08,400 --> 01:34:11,100
finally bathe and change into 
cleaner clothes. 

1750
01:34:11,100 --> 01:34:15,000
Do you realize how ranked 
everyone became the cold? 

1751
01:34:15,000 --> 01:34:16,800
Affect everything beyond your 
body? 

1752
01:34:17,600 --> 01:34:21,300
Tools become harder to use the 
wooden handles feel harsh and 

1753
01:34:21,300 --> 01:34:25,200
rigid and metal components Frost
over and numb your hands. 

1754
01:34:26,100 --> 01:34:29,800
Cloth gross different resistant.
Leather harnesses becoming 

1755
01:34:29,800 --> 01:34:34,100
flexible and prone to cracking. 
Simple tasks that took minutes 

1756
01:34:34,100 --> 01:34:36,600
and summer. 
Require much longer in Winter 

1757
01:34:36,600 --> 01:34:39,800
because your cold stiffened 
fingers, fumble and your body 

1758
01:34:39,800 --> 01:34:42,900
moves slower Trying to conserve 
Heat. 

1759
01:34:43,700 --> 01:34:48,100
You develop a new appreciation 
for the sun on rare winter days 

1760
01:34:48,100 --> 01:34:53,000
when it actually shines even 
weekly you stop, whatever you're

1761
01:34:53,000 --> 01:34:56,900
doing to stand in its light. 
The warmth is minimal but 

1762
01:34:56,900 --> 01:35:01,200
psychologically powerful, you 
turn your face upward, closing, 

1763
01:35:01,200 --> 01:35:04,300
your eyes absorbing the palest 
suggestion of heat. 

1764
01:35:05,300 --> 01:35:09,200
These moments feel sacred gifts 
from a sky, that usually offers 

1765
01:35:09,200 --> 01:35:11,100
only gray clouds and colder 
winds. 

1766
01:35:11,900 --> 01:35:16,300
The wind itself is an enemy when
it blows, which is often the 

1767
01:35:16,300 --> 01:35:20,800
cold intensifies dramatically. 
the wind finds every Gap in your

1768
01:35:20,800 --> 01:35:24,500
clothing, every crack in the 
cottage and every weakness in 

1769
01:35:24,500 --> 01:35:29,900
your defense is Wind-driven cold
feels personal, aggressive and 

1770
01:35:29,900 --> 01:35:32,300
hostile. 
You've learned to read the 

1771
01:35:32,300 --> 01:35:34,800
winds, moods, the steady 
Northern wind. 

1772
01:35:34,800 --> 01:35:37,900
That brings weeks of freezing 
temperatures, the variable 

1773
01:35:37,900 --> 01:35:41,800
Eastern win that often precedes.
Snow and the occasional West and

1774
01:35:41,800 --> 01:35:43,400
wind that might hint at warmer 
air. 

1775
01:35:43,400 --> 01:35:46,800
But usually just brings rain. 
That makes everything worse. 

1776
01:35:47,700 --> 01:35:51,900
Snow provides mixed blessings 
deep snow insulate someone 

1777
01:35:51,900 --> 01:35:55,300
creating a barrier between the 
frozen ground and the air. 

1778
01:35:56,000 --> 01:36:00,500
But it also traps you makes work
harder and introduces dampness. 

1779
01:36:00,500 --> 01:36:02,000
That's nearly impossible to 
escape. 

1780
01:36:02,000 --> 01:36:06,100
Everything gets wet, your shoes,
your cloak and the Hem of your 

1781
01:36:06,108 --> 01:36:09,900
tunic and wet clothing. 
Loses all insulating value, 

1782
01:36:09,900 --> 01:36:11,800
while actually drawing heat from
your body. 

1783
01:36:12,600 --> 01:36:14,700
You've learned to brush snow 
off, immediately, and 

1784
01:36:14,700 --> 01:36:17,000
frantically before it can melt 
and soak in. 

1785
01:36:17,000 --> 01:36:18,800
But you're not always 
successful. 

1786
01:36:19,600 --> 01:36:22,100
The children handle the cold 
differently than adults. 

1787
01:36:22,100 --> 01:36:26,000
They seem more resilient in some
ways still finding engines to 

1788
01:36:26,000 --> 01:36:27,500
play. 
Even when everyone else is 

1789
01:36:27,500 --> 01:36:31,100
listlessly conserving warmth. 
But they also complain more 

1790
01:36:31,100 --> 01:36:34,900
their developing Minds less 
capable of the stoic endurance. 

1791
01:36:34,900 --> 01:36:38,200
Adults of learned. 
Your youngest cries sometimes 

1792
01:36:38,200 --> 01:36:40,800
from cold feet. 
And there's nothing much you can

1793
01:36:40,800 --> 01:36:42,500
do. 
Except hold the child clothes 

1794
01:36:42,500 --> 01:36:46,900
and share body heat, which helps
them while making you colder. 

1795
01:36:48,400 --> 01:36:50,400
Nighttime is its own special 
challenge. 

1796
01:36:51,500 --> 01:36:55,800
Fire gets Bank down to conserve 
would The cottage temperature 

1797
01:36:55,800 --> 01:36:58,900
drops, steadily Through The Dark
Hours, you sleep in your 

1798
01:36:58,900 --> 01:37:03,200
clothes, underworld blankets and
sheepskins often with the whole 

1799
01:37:03,200 --> 01:37:05,500
family clustered together for 
shared warmth. 

1800
01:37:06,200 --> 01:37:10,200
Despite these measures, you wake
frequently, two cold to sleep, 

1801
01:37:10,200 --> 01:37:13,900
soundly shifting positions to 
find warmth that doesn't quite 

1802
01:37:13,900 --> 01:37:17,900
exist. 
The funny thing about a 

1803
01:37:17,900 --> 01:37:22,100
persistent cold is how it 
becomes normalized in October a 

1804
01:37:22,100 --> 01:37:25,300
40 degree day would have made 
you bundle up and complain by 

1805
01:37:25,300 --> 01:37:28,400
February of 40 degree. 
Day feels practically tropical 

1806
01:37:28,400 --> 01:37:31,500
and you might even open the 
shutters briefly to enjoy the 

1807
01:37:31,500 --> 01:37:35,100
warmth. 
Your standards are just Comfort 

1808
01:37:35,100 --> 01:37:39,000
becomes relative not actively 
freezing counts as a win. 

1809
01:37:39,800 --> 01:37:43,600
You also learn that different 
kinds of cold exist dry. 

1810
01:37:43,600 --> 01:37:45,800
Cold is easier to endure the 
damp cold. 

1811
01:37:46,600 --> 01:37:49,400
Still cold is manageable 
compared to windy cold. 

1812
01:37:49,400 --> 01:37:53,200
The coldest nights are actually 
the clear ones when heat 

1813
01:37:53,200 --> 01:37:55,700
radiates freely into the 
cloudless sky. 

1814
01:37:56,700 --> 01:37:58,900
Overcast, Knights, hold warmth 
better. 

1815
01:37:58,900 --> 01:38:03,200
You become a connoisseur of 
colds, varieties able to predict

1816
01:38:03,200 --> 01:38:05,800
from the evening conditions. 
How brutal the night will be 

1817
01:38:06,700 --> 01:38:11,000
Cold makes you tired your body, 
burned, extra calories, just 

1818
01:38:11,000 --> 01:38:14,400
maintaining core temperature, 
which compounds the fatigue from

1819
01:38:14,400 --> 01:38:17,700
insufficient food. 
Like evening, your ready for bed

1820
01:38:17,700 --> 01:38:21,300
embarrassingly early desperate 
to escape into sleep where you 

1821
01:38:21,300 --> 01:38:23,100
don't have to actively manage 
being cold. 

1822
01:38:24,100 --> 01:38:25,700
Sleep is warmer than 
wakefulness. 

1823
01:38:25,700 --> 01:38:28,500
Unconsciousness Kinder than 
awareness. 

1824
01:38:28,500 --> 01:38:31,700
It, you endure. 
The cold doesn't defeat you 

1825
01:38:31,700 --> 01:38:33,900
because you simply don't have 
the option of defeat. 

1826
01:38:33,900 --> 01:38:37,300
There's no, where warmer to go. 
This is life. 

1827
01:38:37,300 --> 01:38:40,600
This is winter, and you've 
survived it before, and you'll 

1828
01:38:40,600 --> 01:38:44,800
survive it again. 
The cold is miserable but not 

1829
01:38:44,800 --> 01:38:47,900
fatal. 
Uncomfortable, but not 

1830
01:38:47,900 --> 01:38:50,400
insurmountable. 
You persevere. 

1831
01:38:50,400 --> 01:38:52,500
Because perseverance is the only
choice. 

1832
01:38:54,200 --> 01:38:57,300
The coughing starts in late 
January and your heart sinks. 

1833
01:38:57,300 --> 01:38:59,500
When you hear it, your eldest 
child. 

1834
01:38:59,500 --> 01:39:03,600
Usually, robust wakes with a 
harsh dry cough that Echoes In 

1835
01:39:03,600 --> 01:39:05,000
The Cottages. 
Close Quarters. 

1836
01:39:05,700 --> 01:39:09,800
You've heard this sound before. 
You know where it can lead in 

1837
01:39:09,800 --> 01:39:11,900
summer. 
A coffee is inconvenient in 

1838
01:39:11,900 --> 01:39:13,900
winter. 
It's potentially deadly. 

1839
01:39:14,900 --> 01:39:18,200
You try the remedies. 
You know honey mixed with warm 

1840
01:39:18,200 --> 01:39:21,800
water, helps soothe the throat. 
Teammate from dry time. 

1841
01:39:21,800 --> 01:39:25,200
Might ease the chest tightness, 
you boil water and have the 

1842
01:39:25,200 --> 01:39:28,300
child, breathe, the steam, which
provides temporary relief. 

1843
01:39:29,900 --> 01:39:33,600
But the cough persists. 
And within two days, the child 

1844
01:39:33,600 --> 01:39:37,100
develops a fever. 
He placed your hand on that too,

1845
01:39:37,100 --> 01:39:40,200
hot forehead and make rapid 
calculations about what you can 

1846
01:39:40,200 --> 01:39:43,900
afford to do. 
The Village has no doctor the 

1847
01:39:43,900 --> 01:39:47,100
nearest physician lives in the 
market Town, two hours away, 

1848
01:39:47,100 --> 01:39:50,100
even in good weather, and his 
Services cost more than your 

1849
01:39:50,100 --> 01:39:54,800
likely to earn in a year. 
You have access to Elsa the 

1850
01:39:54,800 --> 01:39:57,900
village wise woman, who knows 
herbs and charms and has 

1851
01:39:57,900 --> 01:40:01,600
accumulated 60 years of 
experience watching people sick 

1852
01:40:01,600 --> 01:40:05,300
and sometimes recover, you 
bundle the child in blankets and

1853
01:40:05,300 --> 01:40:07,600
carry them through the snow to 
Elsa's Cottage. 

1854
01:40:08,300 --> 01:40:11,300
Elsa examines the child with 
practiced efficiency. 

1855
01:40:11,300 --> 01:40:15,900
Checking the tongue feeling the 
lymph nodes and listening to the

1856
01:40:15,900 --> 01:40:19,000
chest by placing her ear 
directly against the ribs. 

1857
01:40:19,800 --> 01:40:23,400
She pronounces it a lung fever. 
Not yet fully developed, but 

1858
01:40:23,400 --> 01:40:27,000
threatening She provides you 
with a pouch of dried Mullin 

1859
01:40:27,000 --> 01:40:30,800
leaves for tea instructions, to 
keep the child warm and hydrated

1860
01:40:30,800 --> 01:40:33,300
and a charm to wear around the 
neck. 

1861
01:40:34,300 --> 01:40:37,900
The charm is probably useless 
but you'll use it anyway because

1862
01:40:37,900 --> 01:40:41,800
doing something, anything feels 
better than helpless watching. 

1863
01:40:43,100 --> 01:40:45,100
Back home. 
You begin the vigil. 

1864
01:40:45,800 --> 01:40:49,000
The child lies near the fire 
occupying, the warmest spot. 

1865
01:40:49,800 --> 01:40:53,900
You brew the Marlene tea. 
Coke spoonfuls past cracked lips

1866
01:40:53,900 --> 01:40:58,400
and wait. 
Fever produces stranger effects 

1867
01:40:58,400 --> 01:41:03,400
rambling, speech. 
Glassy eyes alternating chills 

1868
01:41:03,400 --> 01:41:07,900
and sweats your child talks to 
people who aren't their mistakes

1869
01:41:07,900 --> 01:41:10,400
you for someone else. 
Seems not to know where they 

1870
01:41:10,400 --> 01:41:12,400
are. 
This is terrifying. 

1871
01:41:12,400 --> 01:41:16,200
But also oddly normal. 
Fever transforms Consciousness 

1872
01:41:16,200 --> 01:41:20,000
in predictable ways. 
Fever breaks on the fourth day, 

1873
01:41:20,000 --> 01:41:24,000
you wake to find the child's 
sleeping naturally rather than 

1874
01:41:24,000 --> 01:41:28,200
in that Restless fever State. 
The forehead, finally cool to 

1875
01:41:28,200 --> 01:41:31,100
your touch The relief is 
overwhelming. 

1876
01:41:31,100 --> 01:41:34,300
You sit beside the sleeping 
child and cry. 

1877
01:41:34,300 --> 01:41:38,000
Quietly, releasing tension, you 
didn't fully acknowledge you 

1878
01:41:38,000 --> 01:41:41,400
were carrying. 
The child will recover. the 

1879
01:41:41,408 --> 01:41:45,400
cough will linger for weeks, but
recovery is now the trajectory 

1880
01:41:46,200 --> 01:41:50,100
You've dodged catastrophe this 
time but not every family is 

1881
01:41:50,100 --> 01:41:52,900
equally lucky. 
You hear that Thomas, the 

1882
01:41:52,900 --> 01:41:54,900
blacksmith's. 
Youngest son has died of the 

1883
01:41:54,900 --> 01:41:58,100
winter flux. 
The boy was only three and the 

1884
01:41:58,100 --> 01:42:02,000
flux took him in two days of 
violent, diarrhea that drained 

1885
01:42:02,000 --> 01:42:04,100
all moisture and life from his 
small body. 

1886
01:42:05,400 --> 01:42:09,700
The mother is inconsolable. 
Father is grimly silent. 

1887
01:42:10,900 --> 01:42:14,000
The Village. 
Attends the small funeral a 

1888
01:42:14,000 --> 01:42:15,700
Frozen whole in The Frozen 
Ground. 

1889
01:42:16,700 --> 01:42:19,100
And everyone understands that 
this is simply what happened. 

1890
01:42:19,100 --> 01:42:21,500
Some children. 
Don't survive winter. 

1891
01:42:21,500 --> 01:42:25,700
The ratio is heartbreaking, but 
consistent, the illnesses have 

1892
01:42:25,700 --> 01:42:28,300
patterns. 
You've learned to recognize lung

1893
01:42:28,300 --> 01:42:30,400
fever's, cluster in the coldest 
months. 

1894
01:42:30,400 --> 01:42:33,600
Striking people, whose 
resistance is lowered by hunger 

1895
01:42:33,600 --> 01:42:36,600
and cold and damp. 
The winter flux appear 

1896
01:42:36,600 --> 01:42:40,100
sporadically, especially in 
Cottages, where food is spoiled 

1897
01:42:40,100 --> 01:42:42,100
or water has become 
contaminated. 

1898
01:42:43,200 --> 01:42:45,000
Chill blames affect nearly 
everyone. 

1899
01:42:45,800 --> 01:42:48,700
Painful, swelling and cracking 
of fingers and toes from 

1900
01:42:48,700 --> 01:42:52,200
repeated, cold exposure. 
Your own hands are covered in 

1901
01:42:52,200 --> 01:42:54,600
the characteristic red itching 
bumps. 

1902
01:42:55,400 --> 01:42:59,200
Tooth problems worsen in Winter 
you've got a molar that's been 

1903
01:42:59,200 --> 01:43:02,200
troubling you for months. 
And the cold makes it ache 

1904
01:43:02,200 --> 01:43:04,800
constantly. 
There's nothing to do about it 

1905
01:43:04,800 --> 01:43:08,300
except chew on the other side 
and hope it doesn't obsess and 

1906
01:43:08,300 --> 01:43:12,400
abscessed tooth can kill you. 
You've seen it happen but having

1907
01:43:12,400 --> 01:43:14,500
it pulled is also risky and 
painful. 

1908
01:43:14,500 --> 01:43:17,300
And leaves you unable to chew 
properly for weaks. 

1909
01:43:17,300 --> 01:43:21,300
You live with the AK and pray, 
it doesn't worse and the old 

1910
01:43:21,308 --> 01:43:24,500
people suffer. 
Most visibly aching joints 

1911
01:43:24,500 --> 01:43:28,500
stiffen further in the coal old 
injuries announced themselves 

1912
01:43:28,500 --> 01:43:31,500
with renewed pain. 
The Widow Margaret. 

1913
01:43:31,500 --> 01:43:34,600
Who survived 70 Winters moves. 
Now. 

1914
01:43:34,600 --> 01:43:37,800
Like every step hurts, which it 
probably does. 

1915
01:43:37,800 --> 01:43:40,800
The hands are twisted with joint
swelling. 

1916
01:43:40,800 --> 01:43:45,200
Barely functional yet. 
She persists still managing to 

1917
01:43:45,200 --> 01:43:49,000
card wool and tell stories to 
children still contributing what

1918
01:43:49,000 --> 01:43:54,000
she can. you admire her stubborn
survival, even as you fear 

1919
01:43:54,000 --> 01:43:57,700
becoming equally diminished, if 
you're fortunate enough to grow 

1920
01:43:57,700 --> 01:44:02,300
old, Mental illness, presents 
its own challenges. 

1921
01:44:02,300 --> 01:44:05,700
Your neighbor Edmund has what 
people call melancholy? 

1922
01:44:06,200 --> 01:44:08,700
He sits for hours staring at 
nothing. 

1923
01:44:08,700 --> 01:44:14,600
Barely speaking eating only, 
when forced winter deepens his 

1924
01:44:14,600 --> 01:44:19,400
symptoms, the lack of light, the
isolation, and the grinding, 

1925
01:44:19,400 --> 01:44:22,800
sameness of each day, seemed to 
drive him further into his dark 

1926
01:44:22,800 --> 01:44:26,300
internal world. 
His family tries to engage him 

1927
01:44:26,300 --> 01:44:29,600
but nothing reaches through. 
You've heard the priest say 

1928
01:44:29,600 --> 01:44:33,000
Edmund is being tested by God, 
which might be true but doesn't 

1929
01:44:33,000 --> 01:44:36,900
help Edmond functioned the funny
thing is that despite all these 

1930
01:44:36,900 --> 01:44:41,400
illnesses, most people survive, 
The human body is remarkably 

1931
01:44:41,400 --> 01:44:44,800
resilient. 
You get sick, you recover, you 

1932
01:44:44,800 --> 01:44:47,400
get sick again and you recover a
game. 

1933
01:44:49,200 --> 01:44:52,700
That repeats throughout winter, 
only the very young, the very 

1934
01:44:52,700 --> 01:44:54,800
old and the very unlucky 
actually die. 

1935
01:44:55,500 --> 01:44:59,400
Everyone else endures 
accumulates minor damage and 

1936
01:44:59,400 --> 01:45:01,900
limps into spring battered, but 
alive. 

1937
01:45:02,800 --> 01:45:05,000
You've also developed a 
philosophy about illness that 

1938
01:45:05,000 --> 01:45:08,200
helps you cope? 
Getting sick is not a moral 

1939
01:45:08,200 --> 01:45:10,000
failure. 
It doesn't mean you've done 

1940
01:45:10,008 --> 01:45:12,400
something wrong or been 
insufficiently faithful. 

1941
01:45:12,400 --> 01:45:16,200
It simply what bodies do when 
stress by cold and hunger and 

1942
01:45:16,200 --> 01:45:19,000
crowding. 
The church teaching suggests 

1943
01:45:19,000 --> 01:45:22,300
otherwise that illness is 
punishment for sin but you've 

1944
01:45:22,300 --> 01:45:25,200
noticed that the most Pious 
people get just as sick as 

1945
01:45:25,200 --> 01:45:28,100
everyone else. 
Germs though you don't have that

1946
01:45:28,100 --> 01:45:30,800
word for them. 
Don't care about your spiritual 

1947
01:45:30,800 --> 01:45:35,200
State prevention is almost 
impossible you all live too 

1948
01:45:35,200 --> 01:45:38,100
close together. 
Share too much and lack any 

1949
01:45:38,100 --> 01:45:39,900
understanding of disease 
transmission. 

1950
01:45:41,100 --> 01:45:42,800
When one family member gets 
sick. 

1951
01:45:43,500 --> 01:45:46,200
Everyone is exposed the 
Cottages. 

1952
01:45:46,200 --> 01:45:48,600
Single room means isolation, is 
impossible. 

1953
01:45:49,400 --> 01:45:51,800
You breathe. 
The same are eat from the same 

1954
01:45:51,800 --> 01:45:56,400
pot and sleep within Arms Reach.
Illness spreads because it has 

1955
01:45:56,400 --> 01:46:00,000
no where else to go? 
You do what you can you try to 

1956
01:46:00,000 --> 01:46:03,400
keep things clean though, with 
limited water and no 

1957
01:46:03,400 --> 01:46:05,500
understanding of why Clinton is 
matters. 

1958
01:46:05,500 --> 01:46:10,000
Your efforts are inconsistent 
you feed people as well as your 

1959
01:46:10,000 --> 01:46:13,300
stores allowing nutrition 
supports recovery. 

1960
01:46:14,000 --> 01:46:16,100
You keep the sick, warm and 
rested. 

1961
01:46:16,900 --> 01:46:21,100
Beyond that, you pray and hope 
and wait for the illness to run.

1962
01:46:21,100 --> 01:46:26,700
Its course some illnesses you 
fear especially The pox where 

1963
01:46:26,700 --> 01:46:29,900
the chicken or small can sweep 
through the village, killing 

1964
01:46:29,900 --> 01:46:33,300
children and terrifying numbers.
You've been lucky so far. 

1965
01:46:33,300 --> 01:46:36,200
No major outbreak this winter, 
but the fear persists. 

1966
01:46:37,100 --> 01:46:39,900
The coughing sickness that makes
people waste away over months. 

1967
01:46:39,900 --> 01:46:43,000
Eventually coughing blood is 
another Terror. 

1968
01:46:43,000 --> 01:46:47,300
It appears sporadically and 
kills reliably, you know, three 

1969
01:46:47,300 --> 01:46:50,500
people in the village who have 
it, and you have the knot from 

1970
01:46:50,500 --> 01:46:52,400
cruelty, but from Desperate 
self-preservation. 

1971
01:46:54,000 --> 01:46:57,400
Spring will bring its own 
illnesses, the diseases that 

1972
01:46:57,400 --> 01:47:00,700
come with thorong and warming 
and increased contact with 

1973
01:47:00,700 --> 01:47:03,100
others. 
But spring illnesses, feel 

1974
01:47:03,100 --> 01:47:06,300
different. 
Your body is better fed, warmer 

1975
01:47:06,300 --> 01:47:09,200
and stronger. 
You have more resources to fight

1976
01:47:09,200 --> 01:47:11,300
disease when the world is green 
and growing. 

1977
01:47:12,300 --> 01:47:14,700
Winter illness, feels 
particularly dangerous because 

1978
01:47:14,700 --> 01:47:18,200
you're already operating at a 
deficit, there's no margin for 

1979
01:47:18,200 --> 01:47:21,600
error when your cold and hungry 
and your body is burning 

1980
01:47:21,600 --> 01:47:23,500
reserves, just to maintain 
temperature. 

1981
01:47:24,600 --> 01:47:27,800
By late February, almost 
everyone in the village Bears 

1982
01:47:27,800 --> 01:47:31,000
illness marks. 
Children have lingering, coughs,

1983
01:47:31,000 --> 01:47:34,000
the adults, move with the 
stiffness of poorly healed 

1984
01:47:34,000 --> 01:47:37,000
injuries and chronic pains old 
scars. 

1985
01:47:37,000 --> 01:47:40,500
Ache new afflictions announced 
themselves yet. 

1986
01:47:40,500 --> 01:47:45,400
Life continues you work, despite
being sick, you care for others,

1987
01:47:45,400 --> 01:47:50,500
despite needing care yourself. 
This is simply how Winter works.

1988
01:47:51,500 --> 01:47:55,100
The child who had lung fever is 
mostly recovered now though, 

1989
01:47:55,100 --> 01:47:57,200
still weak and prone to coughing
fits. 

1990
01:47:58,000 --> 01:48:00,200
Your grateful beyond words for 
this recovery. 

1991
01:48:01,000 --> 01:48:04,200
You fulfill your promises to God
made during the fever's Peak 

1992
01:48:04,200 --> 01:48:08,400
extra prayers. 
A donation of precious grain to 

1993
01:48:08,400 --> 01:48:12,000
the church and A Renewed 
commitment to Holy Behavior. 

1994
01:48:13,000 --> 01:48:16,100
Whether the prayers helped or 
the child's Constitution was 

1995
01:48:16,100 --> 01:48:18,300
simply strong enough, you'll 
never know. 

1996
01:48:19,400 --> 01:48:22,200
But the child lives and that's 
what matters. 

1997
01:48:23,400 --> 01:48:27,200
The cows name is best. 
And she's probably worth more 

1998
01:48:27,200 --> 01:48:29,200
than everything else. 
You own combined. 

1999
01:48:30,300 --> 01:48:33,700
In Winter caring for her becomes
a central preoccupation. 

2000
01:48:34,600 --> 01:48:36,700
A task. 
Requiring daily attention and 

2001
01:48:36,700 --> 01:48:41,200
constant worry. 
Best provides milk and from milk

2002
01:48:41,200 --> 01:48:44,000
comes butter and cheese. 
She provides calves. 

2003
01:48:44,000 --> 01:48:47,900
That can be sold or raised. 
Eventually, she'll provide meat 

2004
01:48:47,900 --> 01:48:50,500
and hide though. 
You try not to think about that 

2005
01:48:50,500 --> 01:48:53,100
while looking into her large 
patient eyes. 

2006
01:48:54,200 --> 01:48:56,900
Best lives in a small structure 
attached to your cottage. 

2007
01:48:57,800 --> 01:48:59,400
Barely tall enough for her to 
stand. 

2008
01:48:59,400 --> 01:49:03,300
Certainly not spacious, but 
warmer than being fully exposed 

2009
01:49:03,300 --> 01:49:06,400
to the elements. 
You've stuffed every Gap with 

2010
01:49:06,400 --> 01:49:10,900
straw and dung to block drafts. 
Cows body heat actually helps, 

2011
01:49:10,900 --> 01:49:14,600
warm the cottage through the 
shared wall, a mutual benefit, 

2012
01:49:14,600 --> 01:49:17,600
or arrangement. 
Her breathing constant, and 

2013
01:49:17,600 --> 01:49:19,700
rhythmic is audible from your 
sleeping area. 

2014
01:49:20,600 --> 01:49:23,200
You've grown accustomed to the 
sound and find it almost 

2015
01:49:23,200 --> 01:49:25,900
comforting. 
Feeding her is the challenge 

2016
01:49:25,900 --> 01:49:30,500
your harvested in summer. 
Dried it properly and stored in 

2017
01:49:30,500 --> 01:49:33,400
the barns, Loft. 
The calculated, you'd need 

2018
01:49:33,400 --> 01:49:37,000
roughly 40 pounds of hay per day
to keep best healthy through 

2019
01:49:37,000 --> 01:49:39,000
winter. 
That's over four. 

2020
01:49:39,000 --> 01:49:40,900
Tons of hay for a four-month 
winter. 

2021
01:49:40,900 --> 01:49:43,000
You didn't Harvest quite that 
much. 

2022
01:49:43,000 --> 01:49:45,700
So, your supplementing with 
straw, which has less 

2023
01:49:45,700 --> 01:49:47,700
nutritional value, but provides 
bulk. 

2024
01:49:48,400 --> 01:49:51,400
Best is losing weight. 
Despite your efforts, her ribs 

2025
01:49:51,400 --> 01:49:55,000
are visible, her hip bones 
prominent This is normal. 

2026
01:49:55,000 --> 01:49:59,300
You tell yourself everyone. 
Thins in Winter cattle included.

2027
01:50:00,300 --> 01:50:02,700
The morning and evening, 
feedings create structure for 

2028
01:50:02,700 --> 01:50:06,100
your day. 
You climb into the Loft, Fork 

2029
01:50:06,100 --> 01:50:09,500
down enough hay to fill bess's, 
manger and watch her, eat with 

2030
01:50:09,500 --> 01:50:12,400
the methodical patients of 
ruminants everywhere. 

2031
01:50:13,300 --> 01:50:16,200
She chews thoroughly her jaw 
moving in that side-to-side 

2032
01:50:16,200 --> 01:50:18,100
motion and you can almost see 
her. 

2033
01:50:18,100 --> 01:50:21,100
Extracting every possible 
nutrient from the dried grass. 

2034
01:50:21,900 --> 01:50:25,400
Nothing is wasted in winter. 
Water is almost as challenging 

2035
01:50:25,400 --> 01:50:28,300
as food. 
The stream freezes solid by 

2036
01:50:28,300 --> 01:50:30,700
December. 
So your hauling water from the 

2037
01:50:30,708 --> 01:50:34,300
village well, breaking ice to 
reach it and carrying heavy 

2038
01:50:34,300 --> 01:50:39,400
buckets through snow and cold. 
Best needs perhaps 10 gal daily,

2039
01:50:39,400 --> 01:50:42,100
which is multiple trips with 
buckets. 

2040
01:50:42,100 --> 01:50:43,900
That feel heavy aged time. 
You lift them. 

2041
01:50:43,900 --> 01:50:46,900
You've developed impressive 
shoulder strength from this, 

2042
01:50:46,900 --> 01:50:50,200
winter task alone. 
The chickens required different 

2043
01:50:50,200 --> 01:50:53,500
attention. 
Six, hens live in a small Coupe,

2044
01:50:53,500 --> 01:50:56,500
you built against the Cottages. 
South Wall, they've stopped 

2045
01:50:56,500 --> 01:50:59,000
laying entirely their body's 
can't support. 

2046
01:50:59,000 --> 01:51:01,000
Egg production while trying to 
stay alive. 

2047
01:51:01,800 --> 01:51:05,200
You feed them grain which feels 
almost criminal when grain is so

2048
01:51:05,200 --> 01:51:07,200
precious. 
The chickens that die of 

2049
01:51:07,200 --> 01:51:10,600
starvation, provide only one 
meal while chickens that survive

2050
01:51:10,600 --> 01:51:13,700
will lay eggs again. 
Come spring, the math favors, 

2051
01:51:13,700 --> 01:51:17,600
keeping them alive, despite the 
cost You've noticed the chickens

2052
01:51:17,600 --> 01:51:20,900
have developed a pecking order, 
and its most literal sense. 

2053
01:51:21,700 --> 01:51:25,000
The largest hen dominates. 
The best roosting spot with the 

2054
01:51:25,000 --> 01:51:27,000
others arranged in descending 
hierarchy. 

2055
01:51:28,400 --> 01:51:31,400
He's smallest chicken. 
A scraggly thing that you 

2056
01:51:31,400 --> 01:51:34,200
probably should have cold in. 
Autumn huddles at the edge and 

2057
01:51:34,200 --> 01:51:37,600
gets packed frequently. 
You feel sympathy for this 

2058
01:51:37,600 --> 01:51:41,400
Underdog but don't intervene 
chickens run their own society 

2059
01:51:41,400 --> 01:51:44,500
and you've got nothing human 
problems without mediating 

2060
01:51:44,500 --> 01:51:47,700
poultry disputes. 
The pig was slaughtered in 

2061
01:51:47,700 --> 01:51:50,600
November which was both relief 
and loss. 

2062
01:51:51,300 --> 01:51:54,800
You missed the pigs cheerful 
grunting presents, but you don't

2063
01:51:54,800 --> 01:51:57,300
miss the anxiety of keeping it 
fed through winter. 

2064
01:51:58,200 --> 01:51:59,900
Pigs. 
Eat astonishing a mounts. 

2065
01:51:59,900 --> 01:52:03,700
And the payoff only comes at 
Slaughter, you and three 

2066
01:52:03,700 --> 01:52:06,400
neighbors combined resources to 
keep four pigs. 

2067
01:52:06,400 --> 01:52:10,500
Slaughtering them, one by one 
and dividing the meat. your 

2068
01:52:10,500 --> 01:52:14,100
share hangs in the cell now 
Salted and slowly being 

2069
01:52:14,100 --> 01:52:17,900
consumed. 
The manner keeps horses and you 

2070
01:52:17,900 --> 01:52:22,200
hear their suffering horses are 
expensive, high maintenance 

2071
01:52:22,200 --> 01:52:25,200
animals, that justify their 
costs through work capacity, 

2072
01:52:25,200 --> 01:52:28,000
plowing hauling and 
transportation. 

2073
01:52:29,300 --> 01:52:34,200
But horses need grain to work, 
effectively and grain is scarce.

2074
01:52:34,800 --> 01:52:38,000
The man is horses are getting 
thin and one already died. 

2075
01:52:38,000 --> 01:52:41,900
Reportedly from a combination of
cold and insufficient feed. 

2076
01:52:41,900 --> 01:52:45,900
The Lord is unhappy about this, 
which means everyone who works 

2077
01:52:45,900 --> 01:52:49,000
for him is anxious about his 
displeasure you've developed 

2078
01:52:49,000 --> 01:52:52,500
rituals around Animal Care each 
morning you greet Best. 

2079
01:52:52,500 --> 01:52:55,900
Buy name, run your hand along 
her flank and check for any 

2080
01:52:55,900 --> 01:53:00,000
signs of illness or injury. 
You talk to her while milking a 

2081
01:53:00,000 --> 01:53:02,700
one-sided conversation. 
That probably means nothing to 

2082
01:53:02,700 --> 01:53:04,900
the cow, but helps you feel less
alone. 

2083
01:53:06,500 --> 01:53:10,300
The chickens get similar 
treatment, a greeting, a check 

2084
01:53:10,300 --> 01:53:12,800
of their condition and words 
that create connection. 

2085
01:53:12,800 --> 01:53:17,000
Even if understanding is absent,
The animals depend on, you 

2086
01:53:17,000 --> 01:53:19,800
completely. 
And this responsibility weighs 

2087
01:53:19,800 --> 01:53:22,700
heavily. 
Unlike humans, who can forage 

2088
01:53:22,700 --> 01:53:26,000
migrate or adapt your life 
Stocker trapped by 

2089
01:53:26,008 --> 01:53:29,700
domestication. 
Exist in these small spaces. 

2090
01:53:29,700 --> 01:53:32,800
Eating what you provide 
surviving only through your 

2091
01:53:32,800 --> 01:53:35,600
care. 
If you fail them, forget to 

2092
01:53:35,608 --> 01:53:38,400
water them fail to feed them 
neglect. 

2093
01:53:38,400 --> 01:53:41,500
A notice illness. 
They die and their death 

2094
01:53:41,500 --> 01:53:43,800
diminishes your family survival 
chances. 

2095
01:53:43,800 --> 01:53:48,300
The pressure is constant But 
animals also provide comfort. 

2096
01:53:49,300 --> 01:53:53,300
Bess is warm presence. 
A patient acceptance of care and

2097
01:53:53,300 --> 01:53:55,600
her simple needs that can 
actually be met. 

2098
01:53:56,300 --> 01:54:00,000
These things are grounding. 
The chickens small movements and

2099
01:54:00,008 --> 01:54:03,400
soft cluckin sounds. 
Create Pleasant background 

2100
01:54:03,400 --> 01:54:07,000
noise, even caring for 
livestock, you'll eventually eat

2101
01:54:07,000 --> 01:54:10,600
creates a relationship. 
These animals are Partners in 

2102
01:54:10,600 --> 01:54:13,600
survival, not just resources to 
exploit. 

2103
01:54:14,700 --> 01:54:17,400
You've noticed your children 
form attachments, despite 

2104
01:54:17,400 --> 01:54:20,100
knowing better. 
Your youngest is named the 

2105
01:54:20,100 --> 01:54:22,200
smallest chicken pit and 
worries. 

2106
01:54:22,200 --> 01:54:25,700
Constantly about her. 
You've explained that pip is not

2107
01:54:25,700 --> 01:54:29,500
a pet that chicken server 
function and that attachment to 

2108
01:54:29,500 --> 01:54:33,500
livestock is in practical. 
But the child loves pit anyway, 

2109
01:54:33,500 --> 01:54:36,200
you can't quite bring yourself 
to forbid. 

2110
01:54:36,200 --> 01:54:39,900
It Maybe caring about small, 
things helps develop care about 

2111
01:54:39,900 --> 01:54:43,200
larger things, maybe 
compassionate or chickens. 

2112
01:54:43,200 --> 01:54:44,800
Teachers, compassion, toward 
humans. 

2113
01:54:44,800 --> 01:54:48,900
The barn work is physically 
demanding mucking out. 

2114
01:54:48,900 --> 01:54:51,500
Bestest stalling. 
Fresh straw, repairing the roof 

2115
01:54:51,500 --> 01:54:55,600
with snow damage threatens These
tasks require strength. 

2116
01:54:55,600 --> 01:54:58,900
You're not sure you have But you
do them anyway, because they 

2117
01:54:58,900 --> 01:55:01,500
must be done. 
The animals can't wait for you 

2118
01:55:01,508 --> 01:55:03,900
to feel stronger or less tired 
or better fed. 

2119
01:55:04,500 --> 01:55:06,700
Their needs are immediate and 
non-negotiable. 

2120
01:55:06,700 --> 01:55:10,000
Winter also means Veterinary 
challenges, you're unprepared 

2121
01:55:10,000 --> 01:55:13,400
for when best develops a cough, 
you're terrified. 

2122
01:55:14,300 --> 01:55:15,800
Sick. 
Cow is disaster. 

2123
01:55:15,800 --> 01:55:20,000
Incarnate you consult Elsa, who 
provides an herbal poultice to 

2124
01:55:20,000 --> 01:55:22,600
apply to bess's chest and 
instructions for steam 

2125
01:55:22,600 --> 01:55:25,400
treatments? 
you boil water in the barn, 

2126
01:55:25,400 --> 01:55:28,700
trying to get best to breathe 
the vapors, which she finds 

2127
01:55:28,700 --> 01:55:33,700
confusing and resists But the 
Cog improves and your grateful, 

2128
01:55:33,700 --> 01:55:37,200
for Elsa's knowledge, grateful 
for luck and grateful that 

2129
01:55:37,200 --> 01:55:41,200
disaster was averted this time. 
The bargain with animals is 

2130
01:55:41,200 --> 01:55:45,200
ancient and complicated you 
provide food, shelter and 

2131
01:55:45,200 --> 01:55:48,700
protection. 
They provide labor products and 

2132
01:55:48,700 --> 01:55:52,400
eventually their bodies neither 
party chose this Arrangement it 

2133
01:55:52,400 --> 01:55:57,400
emerged over centuries of mutual
adaptation But it works mostly 

2134
01:55:57,400 --> 01:56:00,900
the animals in your care are 
better fed and safer than their 

2135
01:56:00,900 --> 01:56:03,700
wild cousins. 
Even in harsh Winters, and your 

2136
01:56:03,700 --> 01:56:05,800
better fed and safer because of 
what they provide. 

2137
01:56:06,600 --> 01:56:09,300
By late February, you're 
counting days until pasture 

2138
01:56:09,300 --> 01:56:12,300
grass, returns best will be so 
relieved. 

2139
01:56:12,300 --> 01:56:15,500
To leave her, small barn and 
Grace freely The chickens will 

2140
01:56:15,500 --> 01:56:17,900
range, the yard, finding 
insects, and greens. 

2141
01:56:18,600 --> 01:56:21,800
The whole burden of keeping 
animals fed will ease as nature 

2142
01:56:21,800 --> 01:56:25,000
as humans productivity. 
But that still weeks away. 

2143
01:56:25,000 --> 01:56:29,400
And in the meantime, You Haul, 
hay break ice and maintain the 

2144
01:56:29,400 --> 01:56:33,200
constant vigilance. 
That livestock require Sometimes

2145
01:56:33,200 --> 01:56:36,100
you wonder what life would be 
like without animals to 10. 

2146
01:56:37,100 --> 01:56:42,500
Simpler, certainly less worry, 
less work, less constraint, but 

2147
01:56:42,500 --> 01:56:45,500
also poorer hungrier and more 
vulnerable. 

2148
01:56:45,500 --> 01:56:49,800
The animals are burden and 
blessing combined and you're 

2149
01:56:49,800 --> 01:56:51,400
bound to them as surely as their
Bounty. 

2150
01:56:51,400 --> 01:56:55,200
You all of you trying to survive
together until the world warms 

2151
01:56:55,200 --> 01:56:57,400
again. 
Winter. 

2152
01:56:57,400 --> 01:57:02,100
Work is different from Summer 
work. in summer tasks, have 

2153
01:57:02,100 --> 01:57:07,000
urgently Planting must happen at
the right time harvesting. 

2154
01:57:07,000 --> 01:57:09,600
Can't wait. 
And he must be cut before. 

2155
01:57:09,600 --> 01:57:14,000
Rain comes winter work is more 
about maintenance and survival. 

2156
01:57:15,000 --> 01:57:18,200
Tusks that don't transform 
anything but keep everything 

2157
01:57:18,200 --> 01:57:22,300
from falling apart. 
You work consistently but not 

2158
01:57:22,300 --> 01:57:25,900
frantically conserving energy 
for the long duration, rather 

2159
01:57:25,900 --> 01:57:28,100
than sprinting towards specific 
goals. 

2160
01:57:29,100 --> 01:57:32,200
Mourning begins with fire 
management, which you've 

2161
01:57:32,200 --> 01:57:35,400
elevated to an art form. 
You've learned exactly how much 

2162
01:57:35,400 --> 01:57:39,600
kindling creates flame without 
waste and precisely when to add 

2163
01:57:39,600 --> 01:57:43,300
larger pieces and the optimal 
balance between heat output and 

2164
01:57:43,300 --> 01:57:47,200
fuel conservation. 
The fire is never just burning. 

2165
01:57:47,900 --> 01:57:51,700
It's being actively managed 
constantly adjusted and treated,

2166
01:57:51,700 --> 01:57:54,600
as the critical resource it, is 
this task alone. 

2167
01:57:54,600 --> 01:57:59,000
Consumes perhaps an hour of 
focused attention daily Water. 

2168
01:57:59,000 --> 01:58:01,000
Hauling is your second essential
work. 

2169
01:58:01,000 --> 01:58:05,200
The well is 60 yards from your 
cottage, and you make this trip 

2170
01:58:05,200 --> 01:58:09,500
a minimum of four times daily 
twice for the household twice 

2171
01:58:09,500 --> 01:58:12,800
for the animals. 
Each trip requires breaking ice,

2172
01:58:12,800 --> 01:58:17,100
lowering the bucket, hauling it 
up, hand over hand and then 

2173
01:58:17,100 --> 01:58:19,000
carrying the sloshing weight 
back home. 

2174
01:58:19,900 --> 01:58:24,100
Your shoulders, ache perpetually
from this work in Spring, you'll

2175
01:58:24,100 --> 01:58:26,300
collect rainwater and use the 
stream. 

2176
01:58:26,300 --> 01:58:30,100
But winter offers no such 
convenient cooking. 

2177
01:58:30,100 --> 01:58:34,600
Takes longer in Winter the food 
requires more preparation, dried

2178
01:58:34,600 --> 01:58:38,200
beans, need soaking overnight 
grain, needs grinding and 

2179
01:58:38,200 --> 01:58:39,600
vegetables. 
Need careful. 

2180
01:58:39,600 --> 01:58:43,600
Checking for wrote and cutting 
away of damaged portions, the 

2181
01:58:43,600 --> 01:58:46,700
fire must be fed continuously 
while cooking which means 

2182
01:58:46,700 --> 01:58:49,200
interrupting food preparation to
add wood. 

2183
01:58:50,100 --> 01:58:52,900
A meal that might take 30 
minutes to prepare in summer. 

2184
01:58:52,900 --> 01:58:55,900
Can consume two hours of a 
winter afternoon. 

2185
01:58:55,900 --> 01:59:00,200
You plan meals days in advance 
soaking beans while making 

2186
01:59:00,200 --> 01:59:02,900
today's soup and grinding 
tomorrow's flower while 

2187
01:59:02,900 --> 01:59:06,900
tonight's porridge simmers 
Textile work fills the gaps. 

2188
01:59:07,400 --> 01:59:11,500
You card will constantly taking 
the raw Tangled fleece and 

2189
01:59:11,508 --> 01:59:14,200
combing it into a lined fiber 
suitable for spinning. 

2190
01:59:15,100 --> 01:59:19,200
Your daughter spins these fibers
into yarn on a drop spindle the 

2191
01:59:19,200 --> 01:59:23,200
weight twirling as she pulls and
twists transforming chaos into 

2192
01:59:23,200 --> 01:59:26,600
order through patient 
repetition. you knit when your 

2193
01:59:26,600 --> 01:59:30,100
hands aren't needed elsewhere 
socks mostly because socks with 

2194
01:59:30,100 --> 01:59:33,300
through and everyone needs socks
and you can knit while also 

2195
01:59:33,300 --> 01:59:38,200
watching children or tending 
fire Mending is endless every 

2196
01:59:38,200 --> 01:59:40,600
piece of clothing, requires 
constant repair. 

2197
01:59:42,000 --> 01:59:44,600
The tunic develops, a tear that 
must be stitched. 

2198
01:59:45,500 --> 01:59:49,400
The cloaks hair, unravels and 
needs reinforcing. socks, 

2199
01:59:49,400 --> 01:59:53,300
develop holes, that must be 
darned before they enlarge You 

2200
01:59:53,300 --> 01:59:58,000
patch patches mend previous men 
and accept that nothing will be 

2201
01:59:58,000 --> 02:00:00,700
beautiful, but everything must 
be functional. 

2202
02:00:00,700 --> 02:00:03,800
You needle moves through wool 
and linen in the firelight 

2203
02:00:03,800 --> 02:00:07,400
creating small repairs that 
force all larger Replacements, 

2204
02:00:07,400 --> 02:00:10,400
you can't afford. 
Tool maintenance, occupies the 

2205
02:00:10,400 --> 02:00:14,400
men's time, your spouse 
sharpens, the plow blade, oils 

2206
02:00:14,400 --> 02:00:18,200
leather harnesses and carves new
handles for tools that broke 

2207
02:00:18,200 --> 02:00:21,800
during Autumn's hard work. 
He checks the cottage structure,

2208
02:00:21,800 --> 02:00:26,000
identifying places, where door 
was crumbled, where the thatch 

2209
02:00:26,000 --> 02:00:28,300
roof is thinned and where 
repairs will be needed. 

2210
02:00:28,300 --> 02:00:31,100
Come spring, You can't do these 
repairs. 

2211
02:00:31,100 --> 02:00:35,600
Now is to cold the materials of 
Frozen, but he makes lists plans

2212
02:00:35,600 --> 02:00:37,200
and prepares as much as 
possible. 

2213
02:00:37,200 --> 02:00:41,400
Woodcutting never truly ends, 
you thought three chords would 

2214
02:00:41,400 --> 02:00:44,500
suffice but your burning through
it faster than calculated. 

2215
02:00:45,300 --> 02:00:48,400
So whenever the permits and 
energy exists, someone is out 

2216
02:00:48,400 --> 02:00:51,200
cutting more. 
Filling dead trees, hauling 

2217
02:00:51,200 --> 02:00:54,100
branches and splitting 
everything into burnable pieces.

2218
02:00:54,100 --> 02:00:58,900
Each log split is one more hour 
of warmth secured the pile. 

2219
02:00:58,900 --> 02:01:03,000
Grows disconcertingly slowly, 
despite constant effort, The 

2220
02:01:03,008 --> 02:01:05,500
funny thing about winter work is
how much of it is about 

2221
02:01:05,500 --> 02:01:08,600
preventing bad things rather 
than creating good things. 

2222
02:01:09,400 --> 02:01:12,400
You're not building or growing 
or improving your keeping, the 

2223
02:01:12,400 --> 02:01:16,600
fire from dying, keeping the 
water from freezing, keeping the

2224
02:01:16,600 --> 02:01:19,900
animals from starving, keeping 
the cottage from collapsing. 

2225
02:01:19,900 --> 02:01:23,500
And keeping everyone from 
getting sick or too cold, or too

2226
02:01:23,500 --> 02:01:26,300
hungry. 
Success means nothing. 

2227
02:01:26,300 --> 02:01:29,500
Terrible happens. 
There's no Harvest to celebrate 

2228
02:01:29,500 --> 02:01:31,400
know. 
Finished product to admire 

2229
02:01:31,400 --> 02:01:35,400
success is invisible. 
It's the absence of catastrophe.

2230
02:01:36,600 --> 02:01:40,100
Children work matters too. 
Your eldest holds kindling 

2231
02:01:40,100 --> 02:01:42,300
Stacks would and helps with 
animal care. 

2232
02:01:43,000 --> 02:01:47,000
The youngest still too small for
heavy work cards, wool and 

2233
02:01:47,000 --> 02:01:49,500
watches the fire while you're 
occupied elsewhere. 

2234
02:01:49,500 --> 02:01:53,800
Even small, children, contribute
collecting useful scraps, 

2235
02:01:53,800 --> 02:01:57,300
running messages between 
Cottages, keeping themselves, 

2236
02:01:57,300 --> 02:02:00,300
reasonably clean and out of 
serious danger. 

2237
02:02:00,300 --> 02:02:03,100
No, one is too young to work in 
a medieval winter. 

2238
02:02:03,100 --> 02:02:06,400
Leisure is not a concept that 
applies to your social class. 

2239
02:02:06,400 --> 02:02:10,200
Some work is communal. 
When the village Wells, wrote 

2240
02:02:10,200 --> 02:02:13,400
breaks, everyone contributes 
labor to its repair because 

2241
02:02:13,400 --> 02:02:17,300
everyone needs the well, when 
old William's Ruth, partially 

2242
02:02:17,300 --> 02:02:20,700
collapses under Snow White, 
neighbors arrived with materials

2243
02:02:20,700 --> 02:02:22,400
and effort to patch it before he
freezes. 

2244
02:02:23,500 --> 02:02:27,000
This cooperation is partly 
altruism but mostly enlightened 

2245
02:02:27,000 --> 02:02:30,200
self-interest. 
You help others knowing you'll 

2246
02:02:30,200 --> 02:02:33,700
need similar help of Venturi. 
The Village survived through 

2247
02:02:33,700 --> 02:02:37,000
mutual dependence. 
The church requires work too. 

2248
02:02:37,000 --> 02:02:41,000
You owe labor to the parish. 
Helping maintain the church 

2249
02:02:41,000 --> 02:02:44,900
building clearing snow from the 
path and keeping the priest 

2250
02:02:44,900 --> 02:02:47,700
Cottage habitable. 
This labor is officially 

2251
02:02:47,700 --> 02:02:49,700
voluntary but practically 
mandatory. 

2252
02:02:49,700 --> 02:02:54,200
The church is both a spiritual 
center and a social necessity 

2253
02:02:54,200 --> 02:02:58,200
and maintaining it benefits. 
Everyone plus refusing. 

2254
02:02:58,200 --> 02:03:01,000
A priest request seems unwise 
when he controls access to 

2255
02:03:01,000 --> 02:03:04,500
sacraments you, genuinely 
believe you need The manner 

2256
02:03:04,500 --> 02:03:08,000
demands its portion, even in 
Winter, you owe the Lord certain

2257
02:03:08,000 --> 02:03:11,000
Services would be delivered to 
the manor house. 

2258
02:03:11,000 --> 02:03:15,300
Repairs must be completed on the
Lord's property when snow blocks

2259
02:03:15,300 --> 02:03:19,700
roads, peasant, clear them. 
Your labor is not entirely or 

2260
02:03:19,700 --> 02:03:23,300
own a portion belongs to those 
in the feudal hierarchy. 

2261
02:03:24,300 --> 02:03:27,600
You fulfill these obligations 
with without enthusiasm, but 

2262
02:03:27,600 --> 02:03:31,700
without open resentment either. 
Resistance is pointless and 

2263
02:03:31,700 --> 02:03:34,100
dangerous. 
You've developed efficiently 

2264
02:03:34,100 --> 02:03:37,000
tricks. 
When hauling water, you can buy 

2265
02:03:37,000 --> 02:03:41,300
trips, get well, water for the 
household while also filling the

2266
02:03:41,300 --> 02:03:44,500
animals bucket. 
When tending, a fire you all. 

2267
02:03:44,500 --> 02:03:48,200
So warm food and heat water for 
washing, when carding wool, you 

2268
02:03:48,200 --> 02:03:52,000
will watch the children and keep
conversation going multi-tasking

2269
02:03:52,000 --> 02:03:54,900
isn't optional. 
You simply can't afford to do 

2270
02:03:54,900 --> 02:03:58,100
only one thing at a time when 
every minute of warmth and light

2271
02:03:58,100 --> 02:04:02,300
is precious, The work produces a
particular kind of tiredness. 

2272
02:04:02,300 --> 02:04:05,700
Not the good exhaustion of hard 
physical labor, that builds 

2273
02:04:05,700 --> 02:04:09,400
things, but a grinding weariness
from constant, small efforts 

2274
02:04:09,400 --> 02:04:13,600
that maintained the status quo, 
you're not too tired to work but

2275
02:04:13,600 --> 02:04:15,300
you're too tired to enjoy 
working. 

2276
02:04:16,100 --> 02:04:18,600
The tasks blur together into 
repetitive. 

2277
02:04:18,600 --> 02:04:23,300
Sameness wake fire water feed 
cook. 

2278
02:04:23,300 --> 02:04:28,500
Mend tend sleep. 
Repeat daily until spring. 

2279
02:04:29,400 --> 02:04:33,800
Yet work or provides purpose. 
On days when cold and hunger and

2280
02:04:33,800 --> 02:04:37,100
bored and make you question 
everything, having clear tasks 

2281
02:04:37,100 --> 02:04:39,700
helps. 
You can't control the weather or

2282
02:04:39,700 --> 02:04:42,800
make food appear or heal the 
sick but you can carve this 

2283
02:04:42,800 --> 02:04:44,900
wall. 
Mend this sock and split this 

2284
02:04:44,908 --> 02:04:48,300
wood. smaller accomplishments 
matter, when large ones are 

2285
02:04:48,308 --> 02:04:52,400
Impossible by late winter, your 
tired in ways that sleep doesn't

2286
02:04:52,400 --> 02:04:57,000
fix your body aches from 
repetitive motion, the spinning 

2287
02:04:57,000 --> 02:05:01,600
hand cramps, your water, hauling
shoulders protests and Your fire

2288
02:05:01,600 --> 02:05:03,700
tending back is perpetually 
sore. 

2289
02:05:04,500 --> 02:05:07,700
But you're also proud in a quiet
way of your competence. 

2290
02:05:07,700 --> 02:05:10,600
You know how to do difficult 
things under difficult 

2291
02:05:10,600 --> 02:05:13,300
conditions. 
Winter hasn't defeated. 

2292
02:05:13,300 --> 02:05:17,000
You the work continues and 
continuing as itself. 

2293
02:05:17,000 --> 02:05:20,400
A victory, the path to your 
nearest neighbors Cottage. 

2294
02:05:20,400 --> 02:05:23,700
So obvious in summer has 
disappeared beneath snow and 

2295
02:05:23,700 --> 02:05:27,700
ice, you could reach them. 
It's only 50 yards, but the 

2296
02:05:27,708 --> 02:05:30,100
effort required makes casual 
visits rare. 

2297
02:05:30,900 --> 02:05:33,500
You see smoke from their chimney
and know they're alive. 

2298
02:05:33,500 --> 02:05:38,100
And that's enough most days. 
Social world has contracted to 

2299
02:05:38,100 --> 02:05:41,200
the people who share your 
cottage plus weekly Church 

2300
02:05:41,200 --> 02:05:44,200
attendance plus occasional 
necessity driven encounters. 

2301
02:05:45,100 --> 02:05:47,800
Church on Sunday becomes the 
week's major social event. 

2302
02:05:47,800 --> 02:05:50,500
Everyone capable of walking the 
distance. 

2303
02:05:50,500 --> 02:05:54,300
Attends, not just for Spiritual 
reasons but because humans need 

2304
02:05:54,300 --> 02:05:58,000
human contact, the service is in
Latin, which you don't 

2305
02:05:58,000 --> 02:06:00,300
understand, but that's almost 
beside the point. 

2306
02:06:01,100 --> 02:06:03,700
What matters is being in the 
same space with other people 

2307
02:06:03,700 --> 02:06:07,600
seeing faces beside your 
families and hearing voices, 

2308
02:06:07,600 --> 02:06:09,400
beyond the constant Loop of the 
same. 

2309
02:06:09,400 --> 02:06:13,200
Few people saying the same thing
you gather outside after the 

2310
02:06:13,200 --> 02:06:18,100
service stamping cold feet and 
exchanging information who sick 

2311
02:06:18,100 --> 02:06:22,200
who died, whose running low on 
food, and who heard news from 

2312
02:06:22,200 --> 02:06:24,400
Travelers before the roads 
became impossible. 

2313
02:06:25,300 --> 02:06:29,100
The social updates take perhaps 
15 minutes and then everyone 

2314
02:06:29,100 --> 02:06:31,500
hurries home before the cold 
becomes unbearable. 

2315
02:06:32,600 --> 02:06:36,400
But those 15 minutes feed you 
almost as much as food does. 

2316
02:06:37,100 --> 02:06:39,700
You're reminded that you're part
of something larger than your 

2317
02:06:39,700 --> 02:06:43,000
individual struggle. 
The isolation affects everyone 

2318
02:06:43,000 --> 02:06:45,800
differently. 
Your spouse grows quieter and 

2319
02:06:45,800 --> 02:06:49,300
more internal speaking mainly in
Practical sentences, about 

2320
02:06:49,300 --> 02:06:51,600
immediate needs your eldest 
child. 

2321
02:06:51,600 --> 02:06:54,000
Normally, talkative has fewer 
topics. 

2322
02:06:54,000 --> 02:06:57,700
Now that life is narrowed to 
survival Basics, your youngest 

2323
02:06:57,700 --> 02:07:00,900
babbles continuously feeling 
silenced with whatever 

2324
02:07:00,900 --> 02:07:03,500
observations occur. 
And while normally, this might 

2325
02:07:03,500 --> 02:07:07,600
annoy you in Winter, your 
grateful for the noise, you 

2326
02:07:07,600 --> 02:07:10,100
missed things. 
You didn't realize you valued 

2327
02:07:10,100 --> 02:07:13,800
the traveling Peddler who came 
through in summer bringing news 

2328
02:07:13,800 --> 02:07:17,100
and goods and stories from 
distant places you miss him 

2329
02:07:17,100 --> 02:07:20,000
deeply. 
The seasonal laborers who helped

2330
02:07:20,000 --> 02:07:23,200
with Harvest their different 
acts and jokes, and ways of 

2331
02:07:23,200 --> 02:07:26,300
doing things, they're gone to 
wherever such people go. 

2332
02:07:26,300 --> 02:07:28,900
And the village is poorer for 
their absence. 

2333
02:07:28,900 --> 02:07:32,100
Even the simple variety of 
seeing different people in the 

2334
02:07:32,100 --> 02:07:36,200
fields on the parrots. 
Going about their lives provided

2335
02:07:36,200 --> 02:07:38,400
stimulation. 
That's now unavailable. 

2336
02:07:39,600 --> 02:07:42,300
The manor, house residents are 
visible occasionally at church 

2337
02:07:42,300 --> 02:07:45,500
or riding past your cottage but 
they inhabit a different 

2338
02:07:45,500 --> 02:07:48,500
reality. 
They have more food, warmer 

2339
02:07:48,500 --> 02:07:51,400
rooms and better clothing. 
They suffer winter too. 

2340
02:07:51,400 --> 02:07:54,600
But differently the gap between 
your life and theirs. 

2341
02:07:54,600 --> 02:07:58,400
Always present becomes more 
obvious in winter when everyone 

2342
02:07:58,400 --> 02:08:02,300
circumstances are exposed. 
You don't exactly resent them. 

2343
02:08:02,300 --> 02:08:05,600
The social order feels to 
establish to question, 

2344
02:08:05,600 --> 02:08:09,700
seriously, but you notice the 
difference and file it away. 

2345
02:08:11,300 --> 02:08:13,300
Loneliness, settles over the 
cottage. 

2346
02:08:13,300 --> 02:08:16,800
Like another layer of cold. 
You'll never physically alone. 

2347
02:08:16,800 --> 02:08:20,900
Your family is always press and 
you can still feel lonely in 

2348
02:08:20,900 --> 02:08:23,500
their presents. 
They can't understand your 

2349
02:08:23,500 --> 02:08:26,100
particular thoughts and feelings
any better than you can 

2350
02:08:26,100 --> 02:08:29,100
understand theirs. 
And the same faces day after 

2351
02:08:29,100 --> 02:08:32,500
day, create a strange isolation,
even in constant company. 

2352
02:08:33,900 --> 02:08:36,200
You develop strategies against 
the loneliness. 

2353
02:08:37,000 --> 02:08:39,700
Telling stories helps your 
account Tales. 

2354
02:08:39,700 --> 02:08:42,500
Your grandmother told you making
them last longer by adding 

2355
02:08:42,500 --> 02:08:45,700
details. 
Your spouse contributes stories 

2356
02:08:45,700 --> 02:08:48,600
from their childhood, the 
children request the same 

2357
02:08:48,600 --> 02:08:52,700
favorites repeatedly new obliged
because familiar stories Comfort

2358
02:08:52,700 --> 02:08:55,300
everyone. 
The act of Storytelling creates 

2359
02:08:55,300 --> 02:08:58,400
connection even when the stories
themselves are older known 

2360
02:08:58,400 --> 02:09:03,000
singing helps too. 
You know, perhaps 20 songs work 

2361
02:09:03,000 --> 02:09:07,000
songs, religious hymns and 
ballads about ancient Heroes. 

2362
02:09:07,000 --> 02:09:10,600
You sing while working teaching 
versus to the children, 

2363
02:09:10,600 --> 02:09:15,200
occasionally creating Harmony 
when energy permits The songs 

2364
02:09:15,200 --> 02:09:18,200
aren't beautiful, your family 
has no particular musical 

2365
02:09:18,200 --> 02:09:21,700
talent, but they fill the 
cottage with sound that isn't 

2366
02:09:21,700 --> 02:09:27,100
wind or fire or coughing. 
The funny thing about isolation 

2367
02:09:27,100 --> 02:09:29,700
is how it makes you value, even 
difficult people more. 

2368
02:09:30,600 --> 02:09:33,700
Your neighbor Edmond who annoyed
You In Summer with his constant 

2369
02:09:33,700 --> 02:09:36,100
complaining. 
Now, seems almost dear in his 

2370
02:09:36,100 --> 02:09:38,900
consistency. 
At least, he's someone different

2371
02:09:38,900 --> 02:09:42,000
to talk to at least his 
complaints are different from 

2372
02:09:42,000 --> 02:09:44,900
your own. 
Variety in human contact 

2373
02:09:44,900 --> 02:09:47,200
matters. 
Enormously when variety is 

2374
02:09:47,200 --> 02:09:50,100
scarce. 
You also become more tolerant of

2375
02:09:50,100 --> 02:09:53,400
family quirks. 
Your spouse is habit of humming 

2376
02:09:53,400 --> 02:09:56,400
tuna while working, which used 
to drive you mad. 

2377
02:09:56,400 --> 02:09:59,900
Now, sounds almost Pleasant your
child's tendency to ask 

2378
02:09:59,900 --> 02:10:03,200
repetitive questions becomes 
Charming rather than annoying. 

2379
02:10:03,900 --> 02:10:07,200
When you only have four people 
to talk to for months, you learn

2380
02:10:07,200 --> 02:10:10,700
to find Value in their Auditors 
rather than being irritated by 

2381
02:10:10,700 --> 02:10:13,500
them. 
Letters aren't an option. 

2382
02:10:13,500 --> 02:10:18,100
You can't write, and even if you
could winter male, service 

2383
02:10:18,100 --> 02:10:20,200
doesn't exist for people at your
social level. 

2384
02:10:21,000 --> 02:10:24,800
Whatever news reaches, you comes
orally through the few people 

2385
02:10:24,800 --> 02:10:28,100
who still travel. 
The priest sometimes shares 

2386
02:10:28,100 --> 02:10:31,700
information from his Bishop. 
Occasionally, someone will have 

2387
02:10:31,700 --> 02:10:34,800
talked to someone who heard 
something from somewhere the 

2388
02:10:34,800 --> 02:10:39,100
information is third hand 
unreliable and precious anyway 

2389
02:10:39,100 --> 02:10:41,700
because it connects you to the 
larger world. 

2390
02:10:42,700 --> 02:10:46,700
You fantasize about spring 
social opportunities, the Easter

2391
02:10:46,700 --> 02:10:49,700
celebration, which will bring 
extra church services and 

2392
02:10:49,700 --> 02:10:52,700
communal feasting. 
The spring fair, if you can 

2393
02:10:52,700 --> 02:10:55,900
spare coins to attend is where 
merchants and entertainers 

2394
02:10:55,900 --> 02:10:59,200
gather, the simple ability to 
visit neighbors, casually 

2395
02:10:59,200 --> 02:11:03,400
dropping by to borrow tools or 
share news or just talk because 

2396
02:11:03,400 --> 02:11:06,600
conversation is Pleasant rather 
than because something is 

2397
02:11:06,600 --> 02:11:10,300
urgently needed. 
The isolation affects your 

2398
02:11:10,300 --> 02:11:13,700
thinking. 
With limited external input you 

2399
02:11:13,700 --> 02:11:15,800
cycle through the same thoughts 
repeatedly. 

2400
02:11:16,500 --> 02:11:19,400
You worry about the same 
problems, food stores, Health 

2401
02:11:19,400 --> 02:11:23,400
cold because these are the 
problems present and there 

2402
02:11:23,400 --> 02:11:28,000
aren't new ones to distract you.
Your mind lacking stimulation 

2403
02:11:28,000 --> 02:11:31,200
creates its own and not always 
helpfully. 

2404
02:11:32,000 --> 02:11:34,500
You find yourself having 
imaginary conversations with 

2405
02:11:34,500 --> 02:11:37,800
absent people rehearsing 
arguments that will never happen

2406
02:11:37,800 --> 02:11:40,300
and planning scenarios that 
won't occur. 

2407
02:11:41,300 --> 02:11:43,700
The children suffer their own 
isolation. 

2408
02:11:44,700 --> 02:11:48,800
In summer, they played with 
neighbor children daily running 

2409
02:11:48,800 --> 02:11:51,900
between Cottages, creating 
elaborate games. 

2410
02:11:51,900 --> 02:11:56,100
Now, their confined to your 
cottage with only each other and

2411
02:11:56,100 --> 02:12:01,300
occasional parental attention. 
Fight more wine, more and see 

2412
02:12:01,300 --> 02:12:04,100
more emotionally fragile. 
You try to be patient 

2413
02:12:04,100 --> 02:12:07,900
understanding that they're 
experiencing real deprivation, 

2414
02:12:07,900 --> 02:12:09,700
even if they can't articulate 
it. 

2415
02:12:10,400 --> 02:12:15,000
They need friends their age very
activities and space to run. 

2416
02:12:15,700 --> 02:12:18,500
They have none of these things. 
You've also noticed, how 

2417
02:12:18,500 --> 02:12:22,700
isolation affects dreams, your 
sleeping mind processes, The 

2418
02:12:22,700 --> 02:12:25,300
Limited input of winter life 
into strange scenarios. 

2419
02:12:26,200 --> 02:12:30,500
You dream repeatedly about 
summer about food about warmth 

2420
02:12:30,500 --> 02:12:32,600
and about people you haven't 
seen in months. 

2421
02:12:33,700 --> 02:12:38,300
The dreams of vivid and detailed
your mind elaborating scenarios.

2422
02:12:38,300 --> 02:12:42,400
It can't experience awake. 
You wake sometimes disappointed 

2423
02:12:42,400 --> 02:12:45,200
to return to the gray reality of
Winter Cottage life. 

2424
02:12:46,200 --> 02:12:50,300
But isolation also creates 
intimacy, your family knows each

2425
02:12:50,300 --> 02:12:53,300
other profoundly. 
Now you recognize every 

2426
02:12:53,300 --> 02:12:57,800
expression on every face can 
predict responses and understand

2427
02:12:57,800 --> 02:12:59,400
moods with minimal 
communication. 

2428
02:13:00,500 --> 02:13:02,600
This depth of knowledge has 
value. 

2429
02:13:02,600 --> 02:13:06,200
These are the people who will 
care for you if you sicken will 

2430
02:13:06,200 --> 02:13:09,000
share their portion if you're 
hungrier and will mourn. 

2431
02:13:09,000 --> 02:13:12,700
If you die the bonds formed 
through winter isolation are 

2432
02:13:12,700 --> 02:13:14,400
strong because they are tested 
daily. 

2433
02:13:15,200 --> 02:13:17,500
By late February your 
desperately ready for the 

2434
02:13:17,500 --> 02:13:20,400
isolation to end? 
You want new faces, new 

2435
02:13:20,400 --> 02:13:24,500
conversations and knew anything.
The same nameless has worn you 

2436
02:13:24,500 --> 02:13:26,000
down more than you want to 
admit. 

2437
02:13:27,000 --> 02:13:29,400
But you also recognize that 
you've survived together. 

2438
02:13:29,400 --> 02:13:33,700
That isolation hasn't destroyed 
your family and that the bonds 

2439
02:13:33,700 --> 02:13:36,700
formed or strengthened through 
winter hardship, have their own 

2440
02:13:36,700 --> 02:13:41,500
value. spring will bring welcome
variety but winter taught you 

2441
02:13:41,500 --> 02:13:47,000
who your true companions are the
church bell rings at dawn midday

2442
02:13:47,000 --> 02:13:50,200
and dusk. 
It sound carrying across the 

2443
02:13:50,200 --> 02:13:54,700
Frozen landscape and marking 
time in a season when days blend

2444
02:13:54,700 --> 02:13:59,100
indistinguishable. 
You Orient your day around these

2445
02:13:59,100 --> 02:14:01,900
bells using them to structure 
time. 

2446
02:14:01,900 --> 02:14:03,900
That would otherwise feel 
formless and endless. 

2447
02:14:04,600 --> 02:14:06,800
The morning Bell means wake and 
tend the fire. 

2448
02:14:06,800 --> 02:14:10,700
The midday Bell means pause for 
prayer and perhaps a small meal.

2449
02:14:10,700 --> 02:14:13,700
The evening, Bell means begin 
preparing for night. 

2450
02:14:13,700 --> 02:14:17,200
The bells are practical 
timekeepers, but there are so 

2451
02:14:17,200 --> 02:14:19,400
reminders that your part of 
something larger than your 

2452
02:14:19,400 --> 02:14:23,900
individual survival, your faith 
deepens in Winter or perhaps it 

2453
02:14:23,900 --> 02:14:27,400
just becomes more visible. 
When your cold and hungry and 

2454
02:14:27,400 --> 02:14:30,900
isolated prayer offers comfort, 
that nothing physical can 

2455
02:14:30,900 --> 02:14:34,000
provide. 
You pray for spring to come for 

2456
02:14:34,000 --> 02:14:37,900
health, to persist for food to 
last and for protection from 

2457
02:14:37,900 --> 02:14:41,400
catastrophe. 
You pray for specific, intention

2458
02:14:41,400 --> 02:14:45,600
your sick child, the struggling 
neighbor, and the village as a 

2459
02:14:45,600 --> 02:14:48,100
whole. 
And you pray, generally 

2460
02:14:48,100 --> 02:14:51,900
repetitively using the familiar 
Latin phrases you've memorized 

2461
02:14:51,900 --> 02:14:53,400
with without quite understanding
them. 

2462
02:14:54,500 --> 02:14:57,600
A paternoster comes easily. 
Now, words flowing 

2463
02:14:57,600 --> 02:15:00,700
automatically, while your mind 
wanders or focuses on the 

2464
02:15:00,700 --> 02:15:03,000
prayers meaning whichever seems 
needed. 

2465
02:15:03,900 --> 02:15:05,600
Give us this day. 
Our daily bread. 

2466
02:15:05,600 --> 02:15:08,200
Resonates powerfully when bread 
is scarce. 

2467
02:15:08,900 --> 02:15:12,500
Deliver Us from Evil feels 
urgent, when Winter's dangers 

2468
02:15:12,500 --> 02:15:15,100
press close. 
The prayers, ancient words, 

2469
02:15:15,100 --> 02:15:17,900
connect you to centuries of 
other Christians who prayed the 

2470
02:15:17,900 --> 02:15:20,900
same phrases through their own 
Winters, their own struggles. 

2471
02:15:21,900 --> 02:15:24,600
Sunday mass provides weekly 
structure and reassurance. 

2472
02:15:25,600 --> 02:15:29,200
Service follows the same pattern
every week, the same Latin 

2473
02:15:29,200 --> 02:15:31,200
liturgy. 
The same progression through 

2474
02:15:31,200 --> 02:15:32,900
prayer and scripture and 
Eucharist. 

2475
02:15:33,800 --> 02:15:35,900
This predictability is deeply 
comforting. 

2476
02:15:36,900 --> 02:15:41,500
So much of winter is uncertain. 
Will the food last will illness?

2477
02:15:41,500 --> 02:15:46,100
Strike will the roof? 
Hold But masses, reliably, the 

2478
02:15:46,100 --> 02:15:48,500
same. 
The priest voice in tones 

2479
02:15:48,500 --> 02:15:52,700
familiar patterns, unil, Stan 
and respond at the expected 

2480
02:15:52,700 --> 02:15:55,400
moments. 
The ritual and folds you in its 

2481
02:15:55,400 --> 02:15:59,100
ancient certainty. 
The Eucharist itself becomes 

2482
02:15:59,100 --> 02:16:02,700
more meaningful in winter when 
you're hungry, most of the time 

2483
02:16:02,700 --> 02:16:05,200
receiving even the tiny way for 
the represents. 

2484
02:16:05,200 --> 02:16:08,400
Christ's body feels like 
significant nourishment. 

2485
02:16:09,200 --> 02:16:12,500
You know, it's spiritually, not 
physically sustaining, but the 

2486
02:16:12,500 --> 02:16:15,500
distinction blurs when you're 
desperate for both kinds of 

2487
02:16:15,500 --> 02:16:18,800
sustenance, you approach 
communion with genuine. 

2488
02:16:18,800 --> 02:16:23,200
Reverence tongue extended to 
receive the blessing, you've 

2489
02:16:23,200 --> 02:16:24,900
also developed private 
devotional. 

2490
02:16:24,900 --> 02:16:29,000
Practices each morning after the
fire is established, you pray 

2491
02:16:29,000 --> 02:16:32,600
briefly, nothing formal. 
Just speaking to God, as you 

2492
02:16:32,600 --> 02:16:36,700
might to a trusted friend, you 
share your worries, express your

2493
02:16:36,700 --> 02:16:40,200
gratitude for survival so far 
and ask for strength to 

2494
02:16:40,200 --> 02:16:42,799
continue. 
These morning conversations 

2495
02:16:42,799 --> 02:16:45,500
anchor. 
You providing a moment of 

2496
02:16:45,500 --> 02:16:49,200
spiritual connection before the 
days, physical demands over 

2497
02:16:49,200 --> 02:16:52,299
everything. 
The Saints matter more in 

2498
02:16:52,299 --> 02:16:55,100
winter, too. 
You pray to Santa Anthony when 

2499
02:16:55,100 --> 02:16:58,600
you've lost something important,
You invoke Saint Agatha against 

2500
02:16:58,600 --> 02:17:01,200
illness. 
You ask some Christopher for 

2501
02:17:01,200 --> 02:17:03,900
protection during the red 
necessary Journeys through 

2502
02:17:03,900 --> 02:17:07,299
dangerous weather. 
The Saints are specific helpers 

2503
02:17:07,299 --> 02:17:11,000
specialists in particular 
problems and you call on them, 

2504
02:17:11,000 --> 02:17:14,299
shamelessly, throwing every, 
spiritual resource of the 

2505
02:17:14,308 --> 02:17:17,400
challenges you face. 
Funny thing is that you 

2506
02:17:17,400 --> 02:17:21,200
genuinely believe all these 
Works, your faith is not cynical

2507
02:17:21,200 --> 02:17:23,799
calculation but sincere 
conviction that God hears 

2508
02:17:23,799 --> 02:17:26,799
prayers and Saints and to seed 
and religious practice matters. 

2509
02:17:27,799 --> 02:17:31,100
When your child recovered from 
lung fever, your tributed. 

2510
02:17:31,100 --> 02:17:34,900
It to God's mercy and your 
prayers as much as to Elsa's 

2511
02:17:34,900 --> 02:17:37,100
herbs. 
The two explanations don't 

2512
02:17:37,100 --> 02:17:40,400
contradict. 
God works through herbs and 

2513
02:17:40,400 --> 02:17:44,000
healers, everything is 
ultimately divine intervention 

2514
02:17:44,000 --> 02:17:45,400
if you're inclined to see it 
that way. 

2515
02:17:47,200 --> 02:17:49,600
Routine extends Beyond religious
practice. 

2516
02:17:50,400 --> 02:17:53,900
You've created secular rituals 
that structure time and provide 

2517
02:17:53,900 --> 02:17:57,200
psychological Comfort. 
Every morning you check the 

2518
02:17:57,200 --> 02:18:00,400
weather through the shutters 
noting wind direction and Sky 

2519
02:18:00,400 --> 02:18:03,500
color. 
Every evening you Bank, the fire

2520
02:18:03,500 --> 02:18:08,100
using the exact same technique. 
Midday, you pause to eat 

2521
02:18:08,100 --> 02:18:11,799
whatever constitutes lunch, sit 
in the same spot, following the 

2522
02:18:11,799 --> 02:18:15,900
same pattern, these routines 
create islands of predictability

2523
02:18:15,900 --> 02:18:19,100
in Winter's chaos. 
Children to routines, help them 

2524
02:18:19,100 --> 02:18:22,000
cope your eldest knows that 
after morning tasks. 

2525
02:18:22,000 --> 02:18:25,400
There's a period for learning. 
He teach basic prayers simple 

2526
02:18:25,400 --> 02:18:27,100
counting and maybe a few 
letters. 

2527
02:18:27,100 --> 02:18:30,700
If like permits, your youngest 
knows that before bed their 

2528
02:18:30,700 --> 02:18:35,100
story time, these patterns, give
them security assurance that 

2529
02:18:35,100 --> 02:18:38,600
even in Winter's narrowed World,
some things, remain constant and

2530
02:18:38,600 --> 02:18:41,900
reliable. 
You mark times passage through 

2531
02:18:41,900 --> 02:18:45,500
various methods, not just on a 
stick record each week. 

2532
02:18:45,500 --> 02:18:50,100
Survived you track Saints. 
Feast days celebrating minor 

2533
02:18:50,100 --> 02:18:52,400
holidays that break Winters 
monotony. 

2534
02:18:53,799 --> 02:18:56,900
Sand, Blaze day in early 
February, brings a brief church 

2535
02:18:56,900 --> 02:19:01,000
service and blessed candles. 
Candlemas in February marks 

2536
02:19:01,000 --> 02:19:04,299
Winters theoretical midpoint 
though, your skeptical that 

2537
02:19:04,299 --> 02:19:07,700
you're really halfway through? 
Still the occasion. 

2538
02:19:07,700 --> 02:19:11,600
Provides reason for a small 
celebration, lent arrives in 

2539
02:19:11,600 --> 02:19:14,799
late winter and its demands feel
almost redundant. 

2540
02:19:15,700 --> 02:19:18,600
You're already fasting in 
voluntarily the food. 

2541
02:19:18,600 --> 02:19:22,000
Simply isn't sufficient, but you
take on additional small 

2542
02:19:22,000 --> 02:19:24,600
penances. 
Anyway, giving up the occasional

2543
02:19:24,600 --> 02:19:28,400
luxuries, you still have access 
to Your spouse abandoned the 

2544
02:19:28,400 --> 02:19:32,400
weak beer for water during Lent.
You forgo honey in entirely 

2545
02:19:32,400 --> 02:19:34,299
though. 
You barely have any honey left. 

2546
02:19:34,299 --> 02:19:39,299
Anyway, The sacrifices are tiny.
But intentional offering up 

2547
02:19:39,299 --> 02:19:41,400
Winter's suffering as spiritual 
practice. 

2548
02:19:42,600 --> 02:19:45,700
The Easter promise keeps you 
going, you know, that Easter 

2549
02:19:45,700 --> 02:19:49,600
comes in Spring that the 
liturgical calendar March is 

2550
02:19:49,600 --> 02:19:53,100
toward resurrection and renewal 
just as the natural calendar, 

2551
02:19:53,100 --> 02:19:55,000
March is toward warmth and 
growth. 

2552
02:19:55,800 --> 02:19:59,700
Easter represents transformation
death giving way to life, 

2553
02:19:59,700 --> 02:20:02,800
Darkness to light and winter to 
Spring. 

2554
02:20:03,700 --> 02:20:07,100
The theological meaning, and the
agricultural meaning aligned 

2555
02:20:07,100 --> 02:20:09,200
perfectly you're waiting for 
Resurrection. 

2556
02:20:09,200 --> 02:20:14,900
In every sense, Prayer helps 
manage fear, when the wind howls

2557
02:20:14,900 --> 02:20:18,300
particularly viciously. 
You pray, when food stores. 

2558
02:20:18,300 --> 02:20:23,200
Look dangerously low, you pray, 
when a child coughs in the 

2559
02:20:23,200 --> 02:20:26,700
night, you pray prayer. 
Doesn't eliminate the dangers, 

2560
02:20:26,700 --> 02:20:30,300
but it provides a sense of doing
something when physical action 

2561
02:20:30,300 --> 02:20:35,400
is insufficient, Your placing 
your fears in God's hands asking

2562
02:20:35,400 --> 02:20:37,500
for protection. 
You can't provide yourself. 

2563
02:20:38,700 --> 02:20:41,900
You've also noticed that Faith 
provides Community even when 

2564
02:20:41,900 --> 02:20:46,100
physical Community is limited. 
At Mass, you stand alongside 

2565
02:20:46,100 --> 02:20:48,200
neighbors. 
Who faced identical challenges. 

2566
02:20:48,200 --> 02:20:51,600
You're all cold hungry and 
scared. 

2567
02:20:51,600 --> 02:20:56,100
You're all praying for survival 
for spring for deliverance. 

2568
02:20:56,100 --> 02:20:59,600
This shared, vulnerability 
creates bonds. 

2569
02:20:59,600 --> 02:21:02,400
You're not alone in your 
struggle because everyone is 

2570
02:21:02,400 --> 02:21:05,900
struggling to gather and God, 
theoretically cares about all of

2571
02:21:05,900 --> 02:21:10,600
you equally The priests sermons 
address Winters challenges 

2572
02:21:10,600 --> 02:21:14,100
directly. 
He preaches about job's patience

2573
02:21:14,100 --> 02:21:17,600
about the Israelites, 40 years 
in the wilderness, and about 

2574
02:21:17,600 --> 02:21:21,900
Christ, 40 days of fasting. 
The biblical stories become 

2575
02:21:21,900 --> 02:21:26,600
mirrors for your own experience.
If job could endure catastrophic

2576
02:21:26,600 --> 02:21:28,200
loss and still. 
Praise God. 

2577
02:21:28,200 --> 02:21:31,800
Surely, you can endure cold and 
hunger if the Israelites could 

2578
02:21:31,800 --> 02:21:35,200
wander for 40 years, surely you 
can manage four months. 

2579
02:21:35,200 --> 02:21:37,800
Your faith is practical and 
immediate. 

2580
02:21:37,800 --> 02:21:40,600
You're not particularly 
interested in abstract, 

2581
02:21:40,600 --> 02:21:44,700
theology, or doctrinal fine 
points, you want prayers that 

2582
02:21:44,700 --> 02:21:48,600
work, rituals that comfort and 
beliefs that help you survive. 

2583
02:21:49,600 --> 02:21:52,800
The church provides these things
and in exchange you provide 

2584
02:21:52,800 --> 02:21:57,000
labor ties, when you can afford 
them and genuine devotion. 

2585
02:21:57,800 --> 02:22:01,100
It's a transaction but it's also
an authentic relationship. 

2586
02:22:02,700 --> 02:22:06,500
By late-winter your faith feels 
tested, but intact. 

2587
02:22:07,400 --> 02:22:11,100
God hasn't eliminated, Winter's 
hardships but God has helped you

2588
02:22:11,100 --> 02:22:16,400
in the spring will come, you 
believe this absolutely based 

2589
02:22:16,400 --> 02:22:18,200
both on faith in Divine 
Providence. 

2590
02:22:18,200 --> 02:22:22,000
And on the empirical observation
that spring always has come 

2591
02:22:22,000 --> 02:22:25,000
before Your belief and your 
experience. 

2592
02:22:25,000 --> 02:22:29,400
Align, creating a sturdy 
foundation for hope that carries

2593
02:22:29,400 --> 02:22:33,100
you through the darkest weeks. 
You and your neighbor Thomas, 

2594
02:22:33,100 --> 02:22:37,100
share a plow this Arrangement 
negotiated years ago works 

2595
02:22:37,100 --> 02:22:39,400
because neither family can 
afford a plow individually. 

2596
02:22:40,200 --> 02:22:42,100
But together, the cost becomes 
manageable. 

2597
02:22:43,000 --> 02:22:46,800
In winter this partnership 
manifests differently, you share

2598
02:22:46,800 --> 02:22:50,400
information about which families
have Surplus going to trade, you

2599
02:22:50,400 --> 02:22:53,200
need help repairing their 
Cottage and who's too sick to 

2600
02:22:53,200 --> 02:22:55,800
manage alone. 
The economics of mutual survival

2601
02:22:55,800 --> 02:22:59,500
operate year-round, but winter 
makes them essential rather than

2602
02:22:59,500 --> 02:23:02,600
convenient. 
When the Millers roof, partially

2603
02:23:02,600 --> 02:23:06,400
collapses under heavy, snow, 8 
families, contribute labor to 

2604
02:23:06,400 --> 02:23:10,600
repair it, This isn't charity. 
It's enlightened self-interest. 

2605
02:23:12,000 --> 02:23:14,200
You all need the mill functional
come spring. 

2606
02:23:14,200 --> 02:23:17,900
If the Millicent grind grain, 
because his building is damaged,

2607
02:23:17,900 --> 02:23:22,600
everyone suffers so you spend a 
day hauling Timbers and 

2608
02:23:22,608 --> 02:23:25,300
patching, thatch. 
Knowing the Miller will remember

2609
02:23:25,300 --> 02:23:28,300
who helped and who did not when 
the grinding queue forms in 8 

2610
02:23:28,300 --> 02:23:32,700
Pro. food sharing happens, 
quietly and unofficially, you 

2611
02:23:32,700 --> 02:23:36,600
have extra turnips, but a short 
on grain Margaret has grain but 

2612
02:23:36,600 --> 02:23:40,200
needs turnips, you trade 
calling, it neighborly help, 

2613
02:23:40,200 --> 02:23:43,100
rather than Commerce avoiding 
the manners, rules about 

2614
02:23:43,100 --> 02:23:47,500
unauthorized trade, Everyone 
engages in these small exchanges

2615
02:23:47,500 --> 02:23:50,100
because everyone has different 
surpluses and shortages. 

2616
02:23:50,100 --> 02:23:53,800
The informal economy of barter 
Keeps The Village functioning 

2617
02:23:53,800 --> 02:23:58,100
when official markets are 
frozen, shut, Child Care is 

2618
02:23:58,100 --> 02:24:01,800
communal by necessity. 
When you're sick, your neighbor 

2619
02:24:01,800 --> 02:24:04,900
watches your children. 
When she needs to hold water. 

2620
02:24:04,900 --> 02:24:08,500
You watch hers. 
The children learn from multiple

2621
02:24:08,500 --> 02:24:12,300
adults, absorb different 
teaching styles and hear various

2622
02:24:12,300 --> 02:24:16,500
versions of the same stories. 
This distributed care means, no 

2623
02:24:16,500 --> 02:24:19,300
single family Bears. 
All the burden of raising their 

2624
02:24:19,300 --> 02:24:22,400
young and it creates a Village 
Wide investment in All 

2625
02:24:22,400 --> 02:24:23,300
Children's. 
Welfare. 

2626
02:24:24,100 --> 02:24:26,200
Tool, share, sharing, extends, 
beyond the plow. 

2627
02:24:26,200 --> 02:24:29,500
You borrow Thomas's better axe 
when you need to slip 

2628
02:24:29,500 --> 02:24:32,000
particularly tough. 
Would he borrowed your grain 

2629
02:24:32,000 --> 02:24:34,400
grinder? 
When his breaks your spouse 

2630
02:24:34,400 --> 02:24:36,100
loans? 
The leather working tools. 

2631
02:24:36,100 --> 02:24:39,800
He rarely uses the neighbor's 
wife shares her best cooking pot

2632
02:24:39,800 --> 02:24:42,900
for preparing Feasts. 
These tools circulate through 

2633
02:24:42,908 --> 02:24:45,800
the village each family using 
what they need when they need 

2634
02:24:45,800 --> 02:24:47,600
it. 
Trusting, the others will 

2635
02:24:47,600 --> 02:24:51,400
reciprocate when roles reverse. 
The cooperation isn't always 

2636
02:24:51,400 --> 02:24:54,800
warm or friendly, it's often 
grudging transactional and 

2637
02:24:54,800 --> 02:24:58,500
limited by Mutual suspicion. 
You helped Thomas because 

2638
02:24:58,500 --> 02:25:02,000
refusing would Mark you as 
unreliable and reliability 

2639
02:25:02,000 --> 02:25:05,100
matters when survival depends on
community, Goodwill. 

2640
02:25:05,100 --> 02:25:08,800
He helps you for the same 
reason, you're not necessarily 

2641
02:25:08,800 --> 02:25:12,400
friends, but your partners in 
survival and that partnership 

2642
02:25:12,400 --> 02:25:15,700
requires certain behaviors, 
regardless of personal feelings,

2643
02:25:16,700 --> 02:25:19,300
The Village maintains common 
resources that require 

2644
02:25:19,300 --> 02:25:22,100
Collective labor. 
The well needs periodic, 

2645
02:25:22,100 --> 02:25:25,200
cleaning and repair. 
The roads need clearing after 

2646
02:25:25,200 --> 02:25:27,400
heavy snow. 
The church building needs 

2647
02:25:27,400 --> 02:25:30,500
maintenance. 
No single family, could manage 

2648
02:25:30,500 --> 02:25:33,900
these tasks alone, the 
distributed across all families.

2649
02:25:33,900 --> 02:25:37,500
The work becomes manageable, you
can contribute your share 

2650
02:25:37,500 --> 02:25:40,700
sometimes, more than your share,
if you're seeking Community 

2651
02:25:40,700 --> 02:25:43,700
Goodwill, nevertheless in your 
share, if you want to maintain 

2652
02:25:43,700 --> 02:25:48,300
your standing, Information 
sharing is another form of 

2653
02:25:48,300 --> 02:25:50,900
cooperation. 
And someone learns that the 

2654
02:25:50,900 --> 02:25:53,200
nearby Market town, has grained 
for sale. 

2655
02:25:53,200 --> 02:25:57,200
They share this news when 
unusual weather approaches 

2656
02:25:57,200 --> 02:26:00,100
observations, get passed from 
household to household. 

2657
02:26:01,200 --> 02:26:04,400
When the priest announces a 
special service or the Lord 

2658
02:26:04,400 --> 02:26:07,300
issues a new demand the 
information spreads through 

2659
02:26:07,300 --> 02:26:11,000
informal networks, you all 
survived better when you're all 

2660
02:26:11,000 --> 02:26:14,700
informed. 
The funny thing is how 

2661
02:26:14,700 --> 02:26:17,800
cooperation coexists with 
competition and resentment. 

2662
02:26:18,600 --> 02:26:21,400
You help your neighbors. 
But you also notice when they 

2663
02:26:21,400 --> 02:26:24,600
seem to have more food than you 
do, You cooperate with the 

2664
02:26:24,600 --> 02:26:27,500
manners demands, while privately
resenting, the portion of your 

2665
02:26:27,508 --> 02:26:31,300
labor and produce, that goes to 
support people who contribute 

2666
02:26:31,300 --> 02:26:34,700
less physical work than you do. 
Medieval life contains 

2667
02:26:34,700 --> 02:26:37,600
contradictions, genuine Mutual 
Aid. 

2668
02:26:37,600 --> 02:26:40,700
Alongside. 
Genuine inequality, cooperation,

2669
02:26:40,700 --> 02:26:44,400
necessitated by circumstances, 
everyone wishes were different 

2670
02:26:45,500 --> 02:26:48,700
Some cooperation is formalized 
through institutions. 

2671
02:26:49,500 --> 02:26:52,600
The Village has a common oven 
where bread gets baked with 

2672
02:26:52,600 --> 02:26:54,500
families. 
Taking turns, maintaining the 

2673
02:26:54,500 --> 02:26:56,600
fire and paying small fees for 
its use. 

2674
02:26:57,400 --> 02:27:00,500
This shared resource means no, 
family must build and maintain 

2675
02:27:00,500 --> 02:27:03,100
their own. 
Other means negotiating, 

2676
02:27:03,100 --> 02:27:06,100
schedule's an occasionally 
dealing with someone who uses 

2677
02:27:06,100 --> 02:27:08,200
more than their fair share of 
other time. 

2678
02:27:09,000 --> 02:27:12,300
You've also noticed that 
cooperation has limits each 

2679
02:27:12,300 --> 02:27:14,600
family. 
Ultimately prioritizes their own

2680
02:27:14,600 --> 02:27:17,500
Survival. 
If sharing your last food means 

2681
02:27:17,500 --> 02:27:19,600
your children starve. 
So that your neighbor's children

2682
02:27:19,600 --> 02:27:22,600
can eat. 
You don't share the community 

2683
02:27:22,600 --> 02:27:25,400
Spirit extends up to the point 
where it threatens your 

2684
02:27:25,400 --> 02:27:28,300
immediate families existence but
not Beyond. 

2685
02:27:28,300 --> 02:27:32,400
This isn't cruelty. 
It's the logic of survival in a 

2686
02:27:32,400 --> 02:27:35,500
world where resources truly are 
insufficient for everyone to 

2687
02:27:35,500 --> 02:27:40,000
thrive simultaneously. religious
institutions, encourage 

2688
02:27:40,000 --> 02:27:44,000
cooperation, through moral 
teaching priest preaches about 

2689
02:27:44,000 --> 02:27:47,700
charity about treating others, 
as you would want to be treated 

2690
02:27:47,700 --> 02:27:52,100
about rich, men and heaven, and 
needles eyes, these messages 

2691
02:27:52,100 --> 02:27:56,500
have impact, but limited impact 
you give to the church when you 

2692
02:27:56,500 --> 02:28:00,000
can and you help truly desperate
Neighbors when possible. 

2693
02:28:00,000 --> 02:28:02,700
But you also horde your 
resources against your own 

2694
02:28:02,700 --> 02:28:05,600
future. 
Need virtue is constrained by 

2695
02:28:05,600 --> 02:28:09,600
survival imperatives. 
The Mana system itself is a form

2696
02:28:09,600 --> 02:28:13,200
of coerced, cooperation, you 
provide labor, and portion of 

2697
02:28:13,208 --> 02:28:16,000
harvest to the Lord. 
And in an exchange, he 

2698
02:28:16,000 --> 02:28:18,900
theoretically provides 
protection Justice and 

2699
02:28:18,900 --> 02:28:22,800
stability. 
Whether this exchange is fair is

2700
02:28:22,800 --> 02:28:27,400
debatable but it's the system 
you're born into, you cooperate,

2701
02:28:27,400 --> 02:28:30,200
with its demands because 
resistance is dangerous and 

2702
02:28:30,200 --> 02:28:33,100
futile. 
The cooperation is structural 

2703
02:28:33,100 --> 02:28:36,500
rather than voluntary, but it 
still shapes Village Life. 

2704
02:28:37,300 --> 02:28:39,400
Women have their own cooperation
networks. 

2705
02:28:39,400 --> 02:28:42,700
Separate from men your wife 
shares, Child, Care advice, 

2706
02:28:42,700 --> 02:28:46,400
Herbal Remedies and emotional 
support with other women. 

2707
02:28:47,100 --> 02:28:50,600
These relationships matter 
enormously, when you're pregnant

2708
02:28:50,600 --> 02:28:53,900
frightened or dealing with 
problems, you can't share with 

2709
02:28:53,900 --> 02:28:55,700
men. 
You turn to other women who 

2710
02:28:55,700 --> 02:28:59,100
understand through shared 
experience The female 

2711
02:28:59,100 --> 02:29:02,500
cooperation Network operates, 
somewhat invisibly, but is 

2712
02:29:02,500 --> 02:29:06,400
crucial for survival. 
The children form their own 

2713
02:29:06,400 --> 02:29:10,600
cooperation structures. 
Even in Winters isolation, they 

2714
02:29:10,600 --> 02:29:14,500
create games share. 
The limited toys that exist, and

2715
02:29:14,500 --> 02:29:18,100
develop complex, social 
hierarchies, that mirror adults 

2716
02:29:18,100 --> 02:29:20,900
Society, they're learning 
cooperation, early 

2717
02:29:20,900 --> 02:29:25,300
internalizing, the lesson that 
survival requires Alliance, that

2718
02:29:25,300 --> 02:29:28,800
individuals can't Thrive alone 
and that Community membership 

2719
02:29:28,800 --> 02:29:33,400
requires both giving and 
receiving By late winter, you 

2720
02:29:33,400 --> 02:29:36,500
can identify, which cooperation 
relationships are strong and 

2721
02:29:36,500 --> 02:29:39,600
which are strained. 
You know, who you can count on 

2722
02:29:39,600 --> 02:29:43,500
in a crisis and who make 
excuses, you know, who remembers

2723
02:29:43,500 --> 02:29:45,400
debts. 
And who conveniently forgets? 

2724
02:29:45,400 --> 02:29:49,000
These are assessments matter 
because spring will bring new 

2725
02:29:49,000 --> 02:29:52,600
needs for cooperation. 
Planting requires, shared 

2726
02:29:52,600 --> 02:29:56,600
laboring requires shared 
knowledge, and the whole cycle 

2727
02:29:56,600 --> 02:30:00,300
of mutual dependence will 
intensify as work demands, 

2728
02:30:00,300 --> 02:30:04,300
increase. 
Cooperation isn't beautiful or 

2729
02:30:04,300 --> 02:30:07,100
Noble. 
It's pragmatic and sometimes 

2730
02:30:07,100 --> 02:30:11,500
resentful, but it works the 
village survives because people 

2731
02:30:11,500 --> 02:30:14,500
help each other just enough 
share, just enough and 

2732
02:30:14,500 --> 02:30:17,400
cooperate, just enough to make 
Collective survival possible. 

2733
02:30:17,400 --> 02:30:21,400
You're not doing it out of pure 
Ultra, but the outcome helps 

2734
02:30:21,400 --> 02:30:25,800
everyone on the less. 
The first real sign appears in 

2735
02:30:25,800 --> 02:30:30,300
early March a day when the sun 
shows actual warmth rather than 

2736
02:30:30,300 --> 02:30:35,300
pale Cold Light you stand in. 
It greatly face turned upward 

2737
02:30:35,300 --> 02:30:40,200
and feel heat penetrating your 
layers of clothing Subtle this 

2738
02:30:40,200 --> 02:30:43,000
warmth. 
Not enough to shed your cloak. 

2739
02:30:43,700 --> 02:30:46,900
But it's different from the 
winter, Suns impotent Shining. 

2740
02:30:47,700 --> 02:30:51,800
This son carries conviction. you
notice water dripping from the 

2741
02:30:51,800 --> 02:30:55,700
thatch roof and snow melting 
into mud, and you allow yourself

2742
02:30:55,700 --> 02:31:00,000
to believe that winter is 
genuinely loosening its grip The

2743
02:31:00,000 --> 02:31:02,100
birds return before you quite 
register. 

2744
02:31:02,100 --> 02:31:06,200
Their absence One morning, you 
wake to unfamiliar sound 

2745
02:31:06,200 --> 02:31:11,000
chirping singing and the complex
vocalizations of creatures that 

2746
02:31:11,000 --> 02:31:12,700
fled South and are now 
returning. 

2747
02:31:13,600 --> 02:31:17,100
The noise seems almost excessive
after Winter's quiet, but it's 

2748
02:31:17,100 --> 02:31:19,900
the most welcome access you've 
ever experienced. 

2749
02:31:19,900 --> 02:31:24,000
Birds mean, insects which mean 
warmer weather, which means the 

2750
02:31:24,000 --> 02:31:28,000
whole ecosystem is reactivating.
You're not alone in this Frozen 

2751
02:31:28,000 --> 02:31:31,500
world anymore. 
The first green shoots appear in

2752
02:31:31,500 --> 02:31:35,300
late March, tiny points of color
emerging from the brown Earth. 

2753
02:31:36,100 --> 02:31:39,800
You examine them with something 
close to reverence, grasping, to

2754
02:31:39,800 --> 02:31:43,700
grow the earliest wild herbs, 
pushing through the thorong 

2755
02:31:43,700 --> 02:31:46,200
ground. 
Your cow best. 

2756
02:31:46,200 --> 02:31:50,500
Seems to sense the change. 
She loathes differently, less 

2757
02:31:50,500 --> 02:31:54,000
mournfully as if she too knows 
that green food is coming. 

2758
02:31:54,800 --> 02:31:57,200
The chickens emerge from their 
Coop, more readily. 

2759
02:31:57,900 --> 02:32:00,100
Scratching at the slowly 
softening Earth. 

2760
02:32:01,000 --> 02:32:04,100
You inventory the food stores 
with mixed feelings? 

2761
02:32:04,100 --> 02:32:09,200
The grain is nearly exhausted. 
The two weeks worth Remains. 

2762
02:32:09,200 --> 02:32:12,500
The apples are gone entirely the
last eaten weeks ago. 

2763
02:32:12,500 --> 02:32:14,900
The turnips of dwindled to a 
handful. 

2764
02:32:14,900 --> 02:32:17,700
Many showing Rock despite 
careful storage. 

2765
02:32:19,000 --> 02:32:23,800
You've survived, but barely. 
If spring were delayed by even a

2766
02:32:23,800 --> 02:32:25,400
month, you'd be in genuine 
crisis. 

2767
02:32:25,400 --> 02:32:28,500
The timing has worked as it 
usually does. 

2768
02:32:28,500 --> 02:32:32,500
But the margin feels 
terrifyingly thin, the work 

2769
02:32:32,500 --> 02:32:36,200
changes as spring approaches 
instead of pure survival 

2770
02:32:36,200 --> 02:32:39,200
maintenance, your beginning to 
prepare for the new growing 

2771
02:32:39,200 --> 02:32:44,000
season tools need sharpening for
planting seeds must be sorted 

2772
02:32:44,000 --> 02:32:49,500
and organized Fields Frozen and 
dormant for months, need to be 

2773
02:32:49,508 --> 02:32:52,900
assessed for drainage and 
fertility. you're transitioning 

2774
02:32:52,900 --> 02:32:56,600
from endurance to action from 
waiting to working towards 

2775
02:32:56,600 --> 02:33:00,000
something productive, the social
World reopens gradually 

2776
02:33:00,000 --> 02:33:03,400
neighbors, emerge from their 
Cottages, more frequently, 

2777
02:33:03,400 --> 02:33:07,100
visiting to share, news and 
assess who survived winter 

2778
02:33:07,100 --> 02:33:10,900
intact, You learn that two 
Village, Elders died. 

2779
02:33:11,700 --> 02:33:16,100
Neither unexpectedly both simply
worn down by the accumulated 

2780
02:33:16,100 --> 02:33:17,800
stress of one. 
Winter to many. 

2781
02:33:18,600 --> 02:33:21,900
Three babies were born, which 
feels miraculous given Winters, 

2782
02:33:21,900 --> 02:33:24,300
harshness, The Village has 
changed slightly. 

2783
02:33:24,300 --> 02:33:28,300
Its composition shifted by death
and birth and the random 

2784
02:33:28,300 --> 02:33:32,800
variation of Human Experience. 
The paths between Cottages 

2785
02:33:32,800 --> 02:33:35,000
reappear as snow, melts and mud 
dries. 

2786
02:33:35,000 --> 02:33:38,400
You can visit neighbors without 
struggling through snowdrifts. 

2787
02:33:38,400 --> 02:33:41,700
The walk to church becomes 
almost Pleasant on mild days. 

2788
02:33:41,700 --> 02:33:45,900
The world is expanding. 
Again, your universe is no 

2789
02:33:45,900 --> 02:33:50,000
longer contracted to the cottage
in immediate surrounding The 

2790
02:33:50,000 --> 02:33:53,400
expansion feels like logical as 
much as physical. 

2791
02:33:54,400 --> 02:33:58,600
Possibilities re-emerging. 
Life resuming complexity and 

2792
02:33:58,600 --> 02:34:02,800
variety. 
You notice changes in your self 

2793
02:34:02,800 --> 02:34:07,000
and your family, everyone is 
thin more so than you realize 

2794
02:34:07,000 --> 02:34:09,900
while it was happening. 
Gradually Your children have 

2795
02:34:09,900 --> 02:34:12,000
grown. 
Despite insufficient nutrition 

2796
02:34:12,000 --> 02:34:14,000
though, not as much as they 
should have. 

2797
02:34:14,900 --> 02:34:18,500
Your spouse looks older, the 
winter, having etched new lines 

2798
02:34:18,500 --> 02:34:21,300
around eyes and mouth. 
You probably look. 

2799
02:34:21,300 --> 02:34:25,600
Similarly aged though, you have 
no mirror to confirm winter 

2800
02:34:25,600 --> 02:34:30,000
leaves marks Easter arrives in 
early April and the celebration 

2801
02:34:30,000 --> 02:34:33,800
feels genuinely joyful rather 
than merely obligatory. 

2802
02:34:34,600 --> 02:34:36,700
Christ. 
Resurrection, parallels Nature's

2803
02:34:36,700 --> 02:34:40,300
resurrection and both seem 
miraculous after Winters death 

2804
02:34:40,300 --> 02:34:43,400
like suspension. 
You attend the special mass, 

2805
02:34:43,400 --> 02:34:46,100
which is longer and more 
elaborate than usual, Sunday, 

2806
02:34:46,100 --> 02:34:48,700
Services. 
You receive communion with 

2807
02:34:48,700 --> 02:34:52,600
profound gratitude, you've 
survived to see another Easter 

2808
02:34:52,600 --> 02:34:56,900
which is never guaranteed. 
The Easter feast though, modest 

2809
02:34:56,900 --> 02:35:00,300
by prosperous standards feels 
extravagant after Winter's 

2810
02:35:00,300 --> 02:35:03,100
deprivation. 
There's fresh bread made with 

2811
02:35:03,100 --> 02:35:07,100
the last precious wheat. 
There's roasted meat contributed

2812
02:35:07,100 --> 02:35:09,500
collectively by several 
families, who slaughtered 

2813
02:35:09,500 --> 02:35:12,600
animals for the occasion. 
There are the first spring 

2814
02:35:12,600 --> 02:35:16,900
greens tender slightly bitter, 
and utterly delicious after 

2815
02:35:16,900 --> 02:35:21,700
months of turnips and grain. 
He eats slowly savoring, every 

2816
02:35:21,700 --> 02:35:25,900
bite eating past fullness for 
the first time in months. 

2817
02:35:27,900 --> 02:35:31,200
The funny thing about Springs 
arrival is how quickly winter 

2818
02:35:31,200 --> 02:35:34,500
begins to seem unreal. 
Was it really that cold that 

2819
02:35:34,500 --> 02:35:38,500
hungry that difficult? 
The memory start to blur, almost

2820
02:35:38,500 --> 02:35:41,900
immediately your mind perhaps 
protecting itself from dwelling 

2821
02:35:41,900 --> 02:35:46,400
on hardship. 
Now that hardship has eased you 

2822
02:35:46,400 --> 02:35:49,700
know, intellectually that winter
was brutal, but the emotional 

2823
02:35:49,700 --> 02:35:52,700
memory begins fading. 
As soon as the present improves,

2824
02:35:52,700 --> 02:35:56,800
the first planting happens in 
mid-april and despite your 

2825
02:35:56,800 --> 02:36:01,400
exhaustion you feel excited. 
Seeds going into the warming 

2826
02:36:01,400 --> 02:36:04,100
Earth. 
Represent, hope investment in 

2827
02:36:04,100 --> 02:36:07,900
future abundant and the 
beginning of the cycle that will

2828
02:36:07,900 --> 02:36:11,000
hopefully prevent next winter 
from being quite as desperate. 

2829
02:36:12,100 --> 02:36:16,500
You drops seeds into furrows, 
cover them with soil, and pray 

2830
02:36:16,500 --> 02:36:19,700
for their growth. 
With the same further you prayed

2831
02:36:19,700 --> 02:36:23,500
for survival weeks, early. 
Best goes to pass her in late 

2832
02:36:23,500 --> 02:36:25,800
April, and watching her graze on
Fresh. 

2833
02:36:25,800 --> 02:36:28,600
Grass is nearly as satisfying as
eating your self. 

2834
02:36:29,700 --> 02:36:33,600
She moves slowly at first, we 
can buy winter, but she is 

2835
02:36:33,600 --> 02:36:36,600
eating living food again and you
can see relief in her large 

2836
02:36:36,600 --> 02:36:39,200
eyes. 
The chickens resume laying 

2837
02:36:39,200 --> 02:36:44,200
sporadically, one egg here, two 
eggs there gradually increasing 

2838
02:36:44,200 --> 02:36:48,200
as their nutrition improves. 
These eggs taste impossibly, 

2839
02:36:48,200 --> 02:36:50,300
rich and good after Winter's 
deprivation. 

2840
02:36:51,300 --> 02:36:54,600
You begin the work of restoring 
the cottage, which suffered 

2841
02:36:54,600 --> 02:36:56,700
through winter, despite your 
best efforts. 

2842
02:36:57,400 --> 02:37:00,200
The door needs replacing in 
multiple places. 

2843
02:37:01,200 --> 02:37:03,700
That has gaps. 
That must be filled before next 

2844
02:37:03,700 --> 02:37:06,300
winter, the whole structure 
needs attention. 

2845
02:37:06,300 --> 02:37:11,000
But now you have time daylight 
and slightly better energy to 

2846
02:37:11,000 --> 02:37:14,400
address these needs. 
The work is still hard but it's 

2847
02:37:14,400 --> 02:37:18,100
hopeful hard building toward 
Improvement rather than merely 

2848
02:37:18,100 --> 02:37:21,100
preventing collapse. 
The Village gradually. 

2849
02:37:21,100 --> 02:37:26,100
Resumed its Fuller rhythms 
markets reopen as Merchant's 

2850
02:37:26,100 --> 02:37:32,000
resume traveling. news arrives 
from The Wider World, stories of

2851
02:37:32,000 --> 02:37:36,300
what happened during winter in 
places you've never seen workers

2852
02:37:36,300 --> 02:37:38,900
arrived seeking Harvest 
employment later in the year. 

2853
02:37:39,800 --> 02:37:43,200
The population of faces, you see
regularly expands and the 

2854
02:37:43,200 --> 02:37:45,100
expansion itself. 
Brings Joy. 

2855
02:37:45,100 --> 02:37:46,800
You'd forgotten how much you 
need. 

2856
02:37:46,800 --> 02:37:51,200
Variety and Novelty. 
By early May winter feels 

2857
02:37:51,200 --> 02:37:55,000
definitively over the mornings 
are warm enough that the fire 

2858
02:37:55,000 --> 02:37:56,800
can be allowed to die out during
the day. 

2859
02:37:57,500 --> 02:38:00,800
You open shutters and doors to 
let fresh air circulate through 

2860
02:38:00,800 --> 02:38:04,500
the cottage expelling Winters 
accumulated, staleness. 

2861
02:38:05,300 --> 02:38:08,500
The children play outside 
extensively burning off energy, 

2862
02:38:08,500 --> 02:38:10,700
that had nowhere to go during 
confinement. 

2863
02:38:12,000 --> 02:38:15,600
Life has resumed. 
Not exactly where it left off in

2864
02:38:15,600 --> 02:38:18,000
October. 
But in a new iteration of the 

2865
02:38:18,000 --> 02:38:21,900
Endless cycle, You reflect on 
what winter taught you though? 

2866
02:38:21,900 --> 02:38:23,900
You're not sure you wanted the 
lessons. 

2867
02:38:24,600 --> 02:38:29,100
You learned how little you truly
need to survive warmth basic 

2868
02:38:29,100 --> 02:38:32,500
food, shelter, and 
companionship, reduced to 

2869
02:38:32,508 --> 02:38:35,100
Essentials. 
You learned your own capacity 

2870
02:38:35,100 --> 02:38:37,800
for endurance for tolerating 
discomfort, that seemed 

2871
02:38:37,800 --> 02:38:40,900
intolerable you learned, which 
relationships are truly 

2872
02:38:40,900 --> 02:38:44,400
reliable, and which are merely 
convenient, you learned that 

2873
02:38:44,400 --> 02:38:48,100
life Narrows and expands in 
predictable patterns and that 

2874
02:38:48,100 --> 02:38:50,500
both the narrowing and the 
expanding a survival. 

2875
02:38:50,500 --> 02:38:54,300
The stores you'll build this 
summer will be informed by last 

2876
02:38:54,300 --> 02:38:57,700
winter shortages. 
You'll try to harvest more hay 

2877
02:38:57,700 --> 02:39:00,900
for best store more grain and 
preserve more vegetables. 

2878
02:39:01,800 --> 02:39:05,700
Whether you'll succeed is on 
agriculture, remains dependent 

2879
02:39:05,700 --> 02:39:09,000
on whether luck and factors 
beyond your control. 

2880
02:39:10,600 --> 02:39:14,400
But you'll try because trying is
what you do, because the 

2881
02:39:14,400 --> 02:39:17,700
alternative is passively 
accepting next Winter's hardship

2882
02:39:17,700 --> 02:39:19,700
rather than working to mitigate 
it. 

2883
02:39:20,600 --> 02:39:24,200
You look ahead to Summer with 
anticipation and anxiety, mixed 

2884
02:39:24,200 --> 02:39:27,400
together. 
Summer means work hard 

2885
02:39:27,400 --> 02:39:32,200
sustained, crucial work to grow 
and preserve enough to survive 

2886
02:39:32,200 --> 02:39:35,900
another winter. 
The cycle is eternal and 

2887
02:39:35,900 --> 02:39:38,500
exhausting. 
But it's also the only life, you

2888
02:39:38,500 --> 02:39:41,600
know, and it contains its own 
satisfactions. 

2889
02:39:42,300 --> 02:39:45,800
You've survived winter again, 
spring has returned as it always

2890
02:39:45,808 --> 02:39:48,400
does. 
The World Turns the seasons 

2891
02:39:48,400 --> 02:39:51,800
change and you can continue in 
the ancient Rhythm that has 

2892
02:39:51,800 --> 02:39:53,600
sustained your people for 
countless Generations. 

2893
02:39:53,600 --> 02:39:59,700
The medieval winter is over your
tired thin and marked by its 

2894
02:39:59,700 --> 02:40:03,900
passage, but you're alive. 
Your family is alive and the 

2895
02:40:03,900 --> 02:40:09,100
green world is returning. for 
now, for this moment standing in

2896
02:40:09,100 --> 02:40:13,000
mace Sunshine with the whole 
growing season ahead, thats 

2897
02:40:13,000 --> 02:40:20,800
enough The California Gold Rush 
brought hundreds of thousands of

2898
02:40:20,800 --> 02:40:25,200
dreamers to the Sierra, Nevada 
between 1848 and the mid-1850s. 

2899
02:40:26,300 --> 02:40:29,000
But the real story wasn't in the
headlines about overnight 

2900
02:40:29,000 --> 02:40:32,300
millionaires. 
It was in the quiet creek beds, 

2901
02:40:32,300 --> 02:40:35,400
where solitary panners spent 
their days knee deep in cold 

2902
02:40:35,400 --> 02:40:38,200
water. 
Searching for flakes of yellow 

2903
02:40:38,200 --> 02:40:40,300
metal smaller than their 
fingernails. 

2904
02:40:41,100 --> 02:40:45,600
This is what those slow patient 
days actually felt like You wake

2905
02:40:45,600 --> 02:40:48,800
before the sun touches, the 
Eastern Ridge, which means you 

2906
02:40:48,800 --> 02:40:50,500
waken Darkness. 
So complete. 

2907
02:40:50,500 --> 02:40:54,400
You can barely see your hand. 
Your canvas tent fills with the 

2908
02:40:54,400 --> 02:40:56,600
center of damp wool and wood 
smoke. 

2909
02:40:57,500 --> 02:40:59,700
Permeating every fiber of your 
bedroom? 

2910
02:41:01,200 --> 02:41:04,200
Outside, the American River 
mutters to itself the way it 

2911
02:41:04,200 --> 02:41:06,400
does. 
Every morning a constant 

2912
02:41:06,400 --> 02:41:09,100
whisper, that becomes the 
backdrop to everything you do 

2913
02:41:09,100 --> 02:41:11,300
here. 
You've been listening to that 

2914
02:41:11,300 --> 02:41:14,600
sound for three months now and 
you've stopped wandering when 

2915
02:41:14,600 --> 02:41:16,600
you'll get used to it because 
you already have. 

2916
02:41:17,400 --> 02:41:19,700
Your back aches from sleeping on
ground, that never quite 

2917
02:41:19,700 --> 02:41:22,900
softens, no matter how 
carefully, your pine needles 

2918
02:41:22,900 --> 02:41:27,200
underneath your blanket. 
Your 37 years old, which felt 

2919
02:41:27,200 --> 02:41:30,800
Young when you left Ohio, but 
feels considerably less young. 

2920
02:41:30,800 --> 02:41:34,000
Now that you've been hauling 
buckets of gravel up hill for 93

2921
02:41:34,000 --> 02:41:36,500
days straight, not that your 
Counting. 

2922
02:41:37,600 --> 02:41:40,000
The August morning is cold 
enough that you can see your 

2923
02:41:40,000 --> 02:41:43,200
breath, which seems impossible 
given how hot it will be by 

2924
02:41:43,200 --> 02:41:45,200
noon. 
This is something nobody 

2925
02:41:45,200 --> 02:41:47,700
mentioned back. 
East that the mountains could 

2926
02:41:47,700 --> 02:41:49,800
freeze you at dawn and bake, you
buy lunch. 

2927
02:41:49,800 --> 02:41:53,400
You pull on your boots without 
unlaced fully because you learn 

2928
02:41:53,400 --> 02:41:56,800
that trick from a Danish fellow 
to camps over and it saves you 

2929
02:41:56,808 --> 02:41:59,700
about 30 seconds. 
Every morning, those seconds, 

2930
02:41:59,700 --> 02:42:03,400
add up Your shirt is still damp 
from yesterday's sweat, which is

2931
02:42:03,408 --> 02:42:07,700
unpleasant, but not surprising 
nothing, dries completely here. 

2932
02:42:07,700 --> 02:42:12,000
The air is too thin, the knights
too cold and you work too hard 

2933
02:42:12,000 --> 02:42:14,300
to avoid sweating straight 
through everything you own, 

2934
02:42:14,300 --> 02:42:18,200
you've got two shirts total and 
they take turns being the less 

2935
02:42:18,200 --> 02:42:22,100
disgusting, one outside the 
tent, the campers beginning its 

2936
02:42:22,100 --> 02:42:24,300
morning ritual without anyone 
saying much of anything. 

2937
02:42:25,100 --> 02:42:28,500
Miners aren't talking to before 
breakfast, the fellow whose name

2938
02:42:28,500 --> 02:42:31,300
you've never learned but who 
camps about 50 feet Downstream 

2939
02:42:31,300 --> 02:42:35,500
his already crouched by his fire
ring feeding small sticks into 

2940
02:42:35,500 --> 02:42:39,200
reluctant Flames his dog, a 
barrel-shaped mutt. 

2941
02:42:39,200 --> 02:42:42,000
That's missing half an ear 
watches the fire, like it might 

2942
02:42:42,000 --> 02:42:46,000
Escape You've noticed that the 
dog is significantly better fed 

2943
02:42:46,000 --> 02:42:48,600
than its owner, which says 
something about the man's 

2944
02:42:48,600 --> 02:42:50,700
priorities, that you find, oddly
reassuring. 

2945
02:42:50,700 --> 02:42:53,800
You build your own fire in the 
ring of stones. 

2946
02:42:53,800 --> 02:42:56,900
You assembled during your first 
week here, back when you still 

2947
02:42:56,900 --> 02:43:00,000
had energy for Unnecessary 
projects like making things look

2948
02:43:00,000 --> 02:43:02,300
neat. 
Now, the stones are black with 

2949
02:43:02,300 --> 02:43:05,900
soot and arranged in a circle, 
that's more suggestion than 

2950
02:43:05,908 --> 02:43:09,000
geometry. 
Your kindling is dry because you

2951
02:43:09,000 --> 02:43:11,900
learn to keep it in your tent 
wrapped in an old flour. 

2952
02:43:11,900 --> 02:43:16,400
Sack the matches you bought in 
Sacramento, a full box of them, 

2953
02:43:16,400 --> 02:43:20,300
which seemed wildly expensive at
the time, a down to seven. 

2954
02:43:21,200 --> 02:43:24,200
You've become religious about 
extinguishing candles and using 

2955
02:43:24,200 --> 02:43:27,800
coals from the fire to light 
your pipe, rather than striking 

2956
02:43:27,800 --> 02:43:29,900
a fresh match. 
The coffee. 

2957
02:43:29,900 --> 02:43:33,200
You may make is terrible. 
This isn't self-deprecation. 

2958
02:43:33,200 --> 02:43:35,100
It's objectively. 
Bad coffee. 

2959
02:43:35,100 --> 02:43:38,400
Made from grounds, you've 
already used twice, but it's hot

2960
02:43:38,400 --> 02:43:40,800
and has caffeine. 
And that's all you need. 

2961
02:43:40,808 --> 02:43:44,800
You drink it from a Tin Cup. 
That burns your lip every single

2962
02:43:44,800 --> 02:43:47,800
morning without fail. 
Because you never remember to 

2963
02:43:47,800 --> 02:43:49,400
wait the extra minute for it to 
cool. 

2964
02:43:49,400 --> 02:43:52,000
Some lessons refused to be 
learned. 

2965
02:43:53,000 --> 02:43:57,200
Breakfast is hardtack and bacon,
always hardtack and bacon. 

2966
02:43:57,200 --> 02:44:00,000
You've developed a technique 
where you fry the bacon. 

2967
02:44:00,000 --> 02:44:03,800
First, then use the grease to 
soften the hardtack which makes 

2968
02:44:03,800 --> 02:44:06,200
it marginally less likely to 
break your teeth. 

2969
02:44:07,000 --> 02:44:10,000
The bacon is so salty that you 
can feel your heart beating your

2970
02:44:10,008 --> 02:44:13,800
temples after eating it. 
But salt is, the only reason it 

2971
02:44:13,800 --> 02:44:16,900
hasn't gone Rancid. 
You should pound the hard tack 

2972
02:44:16,900 --> 02:44:18,800
with a rock before soaking it in
the grease. 

2973
02:44:18,800 --> 02:44:22,200
Otherwise it feels like chewing 
through roof shingles. 

2974
02:44:22,200 --> 02:44:25,300
A Stellar's. 
J lands on a branch of your head

2975
02:44:25,300 --> 02:44:28,900
and screams at you with what 
sounds like personal outrage, 

2976
02:44:28,900 --> 02:44:32,400
the Jays here are vibrant shade 
of blue and exhibit. 

2977
02:44:32,400 --> 02:44:35,700
Remarkable fearlessness, which 
commands, your respect, even 

2978
02:44:35,700 --> 02:44:39,200
when their behavior is, what 
bothersome this particular, Jay 

2979
02:44:39,200 --> 02:44:41,800
wants your bacon. 
You don't give it any but not, 

2980
02:44:41,800 --> 02:44:45,300
because you're stingy, you 
genuinely don't have to spare. 

2981
02:44:46,200 --> 02:44:49,900
The bird screams again, makes a 
sound exactly like a rusty gate 

2982
02:44:49,900 --> 02:44:52,400
hinge and then flies off to 
bother someone else. 

2983
02:44:52,400 --> 02:44:56,600
The skies turning from black to 
Deep Purple which means you've 

2984
02:44:56,600 --> 02:45:00,200
got maybe 20 minutes before 
proper Dawn, you eat fast 

2985
02:45:00,200 --> 02:45:02,700
faster. 
The hardtack Greece is made your

2986
02:45:02,700 --> 02:45:06,500
fingers shiny and you wipe them 
on your pants which are already.

2987
02:45:06,500 --> 02:45:10,700
So, filthy that adding bacon 
grease, barely registered you've

2988
02:45:10,700 --> 02:45:12,200
learned. 
Not to think too hard about the 

2989
02:45:12,200 --> 02:45:14,700
state of your clothing. 
It's all going to be covered in 

2990
02:45:14,700 --> 02:45:18,100
mud within an hour. 
Anyway, your plan, the only 

2991
02:45:18,108 --> 02:45:21,000
piece of equipment that truly 
matters is where you left it 

2992
02:45:21,000 --> 02:45:23,500
last night, turned upside down 
on a Flat Rock. 

2993
02:45:24,400 --> 02:45:28,200
You've got a good pan, Which is 
to say, it's not cracked and the

2994
02:45:28,200 --> 02:45:31,900
bottom is relatively smooth. 
You bought it in Sacramento for 

2995
02:45:31,900 --> 02:45:35,300
six dollars, which was somehow 
both a fortune and a bargain. 

2996
02:45:36,500 --> 02:45:39,100
the merchant said it was 
genuinely Eastern Steel, but you

2997
02:45:39,100 --> 02:45:41,800
doubt it, Still, it works. 
So you don't care. 

2998
02:45:41,800 --> 02:45:45,500
The walk from your Camp to your 
claim takes about 15 minutes 

2999
02:45:45,500 --> 02:45:48,700
through Pines, that smell like 
vanilla when the Sun hits them, 

3000
02:45:48,700 --> 02:45:50,800
right? 
But the sun hasn't hit them 

3001
02:45:50,800 --> 02:45:53,600
right yet. 
The trail is barely a trail, 

3002
02:45:53,600 --> 02:45:56,600
just to slightly clear, a path 
through the undergrowth where 

3003
02:45:56,600 --> 02:45:58,100
other miners have walked before 
you. 

3004
02:45:59,000 --> 02:46:02,000
You passed three abandoned 
Campsite in various states of 

3005
02:46:02,000 --> 02:46:04,900
decay. 
One has a tent that's collapsed 

3006
02:46:04,900 --> 02:46:07,000
into a sad pile of rotting 
canvas. 

3007
02:46:07,000 --> 02:46:10,500
Another has a neat stack of 
firewood that someone apparently

3008
02:46:10,500 --> 02:46:13,100
decided wasn't worth carrying to
their next location. 

3009
02:46:14,300 --> 02:46:18,400
In the Third location, a pair of
boots with holes in both Souls 

3010
02:46:18,400 --> 02:46:22,100
sits by a dead firing. 
Testament to the futility of 

3011
02:46:22,100 --> 02:46:25,400
optimism. 
These abandoned camps, don't 

3012
02:46:25,400 --> 02:46:27,600
depress you the way they did in 
your first weeks here. 

3013
02:46:28,400 --> 02:46:31,600
Now they're just part of the 
landscape, like the tree stumps 

3014
02:46:31,600 --> 02:46:33,200
and the scattered piles of 
tailings. 

3015
02:46:34,200 --> 02:46:38,200
Men come and go most go. 
The ones who stay or either 

3016
02:46:38,200 --> 02:46:41,200
making just enough to justify 
staying, or a two broke to 

3017
02:46:41,200 --> 02:46:43,900
afford leaving. 
You're not entirely sure which 

3018
02:46:43,900 --> 02:46:47,000
category you fall into and 
you've stopped asking yourself 

3019
02:46:47,000 --> 02:46:50,000
the question. 
Your claim is a bend in a 

3020
02:46:50,000 --> 02:46:53,700
smaller Creek that feeds into 
the American River about 30 

3021
02:46:53,700 --> 02:46:57,100
yards from where the Creeks 
takes a sharp, turn around a 

3022
02:46:57,100 --> 02:46:58,400
boulder, the size of a hay 
wagon. 

3023
02:46:59,400 --> 02:47:02,500
You chose this spot because the 
water slows down at the bend 

3024
02:47:02,500 --> 02:47:05,500
which means heavier particles 
like gold. 

3025
02:47:05,500 --> 02:47:08,100
Theoretically might settle in 
the gravel. 

3026
02:47:09,600 --> 02:47:11,800
This is science. 
You learned from a pamphlet you 

3027
02:47:11,800 --> 02:47:16,000
bought in Sacramento titled the 
49ers guide to certain wealth. 

3028
02:47:16,500 --> 02:47:19,500
Which turned out to be, neither 
a guide nor certain but did 

3029
02:47:19,500 --> 02:47:22,300
contain some useful information 
buried among the wild 

3030
02:47:22,300 --> 02:47:25,700
exaggeration. 
The creek at this hour is loud 

3031
02:47:25,700 --> 02:47:28,900
with morning run off. 
The water comes down from snow 

3032
02:47:28,900 --> 02:47:31,100
melt higher. 
In the mountains which means 

3033
02:47:31,100 --> 02:47:34,600
it's absolutely freezing. 
Even in August, you've watched 

3034
02:47:34,600 --> 02:47:37,800
men jump into this Creek on 
hoffmann's for a refreshing swim

3035
02:47:37,800 --> 02:47:40,800
and you've watched them jump 
right back out again yelling 

3036
02:47:42,000 --> 02:47:43,500
Creek doesn't care about her 
temperature. 

3037
02:47:43,500 --> 02:47:46,200
The creek is always cold enough 
to make your feet. 

3038
02:47:46,200 --> 02:47:49,800
Take you've staked your claim 
with four posts and a length of 

3039
02:47:49,808 --> 02:47:52,300
rope that marks off about 30 
feet of Creek bed. 

3040
02:47:52,300 --> 02:47:56,300
This practice is legal under the
Loosely defined mining laws that

3041
02:47:56,300 --> 02:47:58,900
govern these mountains, meaning 
it is permitted. 

3042
02:47:58,900 --> 02:48:02,000
As long as you are actively, 
working the claim and no one 

3043
02:48:02,000 --> 02:48:04,300
with greater Authority decides 
to take it from you. 

3044
02:48:05,200 --> 02:48:08,600
So far, nobody has your claim is
not. 

3045
02:48:08,600 --> 02:48:12,800
It must be said, obviously, 
Rich, it's not even obviously 

3046
02:48:12,800 --> 02:48:15,600
promising. 
It's just a patch of creeks that

3047
02:48:15,600 --> 02:48:18,000
nobody else wanted badly enough 
to fight over. 

3048
02:48:18,800 --> 02:48:21,400
The morning light is starting to
filter through the Pines. 

3049
02:48:21,400 --> 02:48:24,800
Now coming in at that low angle,
that makes everything look 

3050
02:48:24,800 --> 02:48:28,700
softer than it actually is. 
The water in your section of 

3051
02:48:28,700 --> 02:48:32,200
Creek, looks clear and innocent 
bubbling over rocks that are 

3052
02:48:32,208 --> 02:48:36,200
gold colored from iron oxide, 
but contain not a speck of 

3053
02:48:36,200 --> 02:48:38,300
actual gold. 
As you've learned through 

3054
02:48:38,300 --> 02:48:42,400
repeated disappointment, Real 
goal doesn't look like gold when

3055
02:48:42,400 --> 02:48:44,500
it's in the creek. 
It looks like a slightly 

3056
02:48:44,500 --> 02:48:48,400
brighter Fleck of sound simple 
to miss easier to doubt. 

3057
02:48:49,500 --> 02:48:51,500
Your first job of the day is to 
move rocks. 

3058
02:48:51,500 --> 02:48:55,300
It's always moving rocks. 
The technique is to clear the 

3059
02:48:55,300 --> 02:48:58,700
larger Stone from a section of 
Creek bed, dig down into the 

3060
02:48:58,700 --> 02:49:01,800
gravel beneath them. 
And then pan that gravel hoping 

3061
02:49:01,800 --> 02:49:04,900
it contains something other than
more gravel You've moved 

3062
02:49:04,900 --> 02:49:08,400
approximately 7,000 rocks in 
your time here, which is not a 

3063
02:49:08,408 --> 02:49:11,700
poetic exaggeration. 
You actually try to count once 

3064
02:49:11,700 --> 02:49:15,100
and gave up after 700. 
The rocks are slippery with 

3065
02:49:15,100 --> 02:49:19,200
algae cold from the water, and 
frequently inhabited by Angry 

3066
02:49:19,200 --> 02:49:22,300
crayfish who objected 
strenuously to be relocated 

3067
02:49:22,300 --> 02:49:27,300
crayfish of pinched to 11 times 
in the experience, never ceases 

3068
02:49:27,300 --> 02:49:30,400
to be startling. 
They hide under the rocks with 

3069
02:49:30,400 --> 02:49:33,500
their claws, extended waiting 
for an unsuspecting finger. 

3070
02:49:34,300 --> 02:49:37,000
You'd find them more Charming. 
If they weren't such consistent.

3071
02:49:37,000 --> 02:49:40,400
Jerks about the whole situation,
you weighed into the water, 

3072
02:49:40,400 --> 02:49:43,000
which immediately fills your 
boots because your boots are not

3073
02:49:43,008 --> 02:49:46,200
waterproof despite what the 
merchants in Sacramento 

3074
02:49:46,200 --> 02:49:49,300
promised. 
The cold grips, your feet, like 

3075
02:49:49,300 --> 02:49:52,300
a firm handshake from someone 
who's trying to prove something 

3076
02:49:52,300 --> 02:49:55,300
you've learned to keep moving 
because standing still in this 

3077
02:49:55,308 --> 02:49:56,500
water. 
Can make your feet. 

3078
02:49:56,500 --> 02:49:59,700
So numb that you might trip over
your own ankles while walking 

3079
02:49:59,700 --> 02:50:02,800
back to camp. 
There's a technique to move 

3080
02:50:02,800 --> 02:50:06,600
moving rocks, efficiently, which
mostly involves rolling, not 

3081
02:50:06,600 --> 02:50:10,500
lifting, the trick is to place 
your hands under the rock, while

3082
02:50:10,500 --> 02:50:13,800
it is still in the water. 
Use the water's buoyancy to 

3083
02:50:13,800 --> 02:50:17,400
assist with the initial lift and
then fully commit to move, 

3084
02:50:17,400 --> 02:50:21,200
moving it to shore as dropping 
it halfway is when you're most 

3085
02:50:21,208 --> 02:50:24,400
likely to injure your foot, You 
Dropped a rock on your foot in 

3086
02:50:24,400 --> 02:50:27,900
week two, your toenail turned, 
black and fell off. 

3087
02:50:28,600 --> 02:50:31,600
The new one growing in is a 
weird shape that catches on your

3088
02:50:31,600 --> 02:50:34,500
sock by mid-morning. 
You've cleared enough rocks to 

3089
02:50:34,500 --> 02:50:39,600
expose a patch of gravel. 
promising is a relative term, it

3090
02:50:39,600 --> 02:50:42,400
looks essentially identical to 
every other patch of gravel 

3091
02:50:42,400 --> 02:50:45,500
you've excavated but this 
reflects the mindset of 

3092
02:50:45,500 --> 02:50:49,500
successful, mining every pan 
could potentially contain gold 

3093
02:50:50,400 --> 02:50:53,700
If you start assuming that the 
gold isn't present, you might as

3094
02:50:53,700 --> 02:50:57,300
well pack up and go home to Ohio
where you have seven dollars in 

3095
02:50:57,300 --> 02:50:59,800
debt and a sister-in-law who 
said you would return in a 

3096
02:50:59,800 --> 02:51:02,200
month. 
You fill your pan with gravel 

3097
02:51:02,200 --> 02:51:04,700
scooping down to the Bedrock if 
you can reach it. 

3098
02:51:05,600 --> 02:51:07,500
Bedrock is where the good stuff 
settles. 

3099
02:51:07,500 --> 02:51:10,700
Theoretically, it is heavier 
than the sand and gravel that 

3100
02:51:10,708 --> 02:51:13,600
wash over it. 
You've reached Bedrock exactly 

3101
02:51:13,600 --> 02:51:16,600
three times. 
Usually you just get tired of 

3102
02:51:16,608 --> 02:51:18,300
digging and decide to pan. 
What you have? 

3103
02:51:19,200 --> 02:51:21,800
The gravel goes into the pan 
along with a healthy amount of 

3104
02:51:21,800 --> 02:51:24,500
water. 
Your pan is about 15 inches 

3105
02:51:24,500 --> 02:51:28,400
across and maybe three inches 
deep with a flat bottom and 

3106
02:51:28,400 --> 02:51:32,500
sloped sides when the pan is 
full of wet gravel, it becomes 

3107
02:51:32,500 --> 02:51:36,300
heavier than it appears likely 
around 15 pounds of material 

3108
02:51:36,300 --> 02:51:38,800
that you will spend the next 
several minutes shaking as if 

3109
02:51:38,800 --> 02:51:42,200
you were trying to wake it up. 
The technique for panning is 

3110
02:51:42,208 --> 02:51:46,700
simple in theory and exhausting 
and practice. you hold the pan 

3111
02:51:46,700 --> 02:51:49,400
with both hands and shake its 
side to side, under the water, 

3112
02:51:49,400 --> 02:51:53,700
using a circular motion that 
keeps everything submerged but 

3113
02:51:53,700 --> 02:51:58,100
moving The goal is to make the 
heavier particles, including 

3114
02:51:58,100 --> 02:52:00,500
gold. 
If there is any work, their way 

3115
02:52:00,500 --> 02:52:03,500
down to the bottom while the 
lighter sand and gravel wash 

3116
02:52:03,500 --> 02:52:06,300
over the rim. 
This takes longer than you'd 

3117
02:52:06,300 --> 02:52:11,200
think much longer. 
You shake the pan for what feels

3118
02:52:11,200 --> 02:52:14,300
like several years but is 
probably closer to two minutes. 

3119
02:52:14,300 --> 02:52:18,600
Your arms start to hurt your 
back, already unimpressed with 

3120
02:52:18,600 --> 02:52:20,700
your life choices, begins a 
formal complaint. 

3121
02:52:20,700 --> 02:52:24,800
The water is so cold that your 
hands transition from feeling 

3122
02:52:24,800 --> 02:52:29,300
cold to becoming numb and then 
to experience a strange burning 

3123
02:52:29,300 --> 02:52:31,100
sensation, that could be 
frostbite. 

3124
02:52:31,100 --> 02:52:34,500
But is likely just your body's 
way of indicating that this 

3125
02:52:34,500 --> 02:52:38,200
situation is absurd. 
You tilt the pan slightly 

3126
02:52:38,200 --> 02:52:41,100
letting the lighter material 
wash over the edge. 

3127
02:52:42,100 --> 02:52:45,000
The water coming off, the pan is
murky with sediment. 

3128
02:52:45,000 --> 02:52:49,300
Turning the Clear Creek into a 
muddy swirl Downstream from 

3129
02:52:49,300 --> 02:52:52,300
where you're working. 
You've basically turned a clean 

3130
02:52:52,308 --> 02:52:55,400
Creek into a dirty Creek, which 
seems like a metaphor for 

3131
02:52:55,400 --> 02:52:58,000
something, but you're too 
focused on the pain to figure 

3132
02:52:58,000 --> 02:53:02,500
out what More shaking. 
More swirling your arms feel 

3133
02:53:02,500 --> 02:53:06,000
like they're made of warm clay, 
your developing muscles in 

3134
02:53:06,000 --> 02:53:09,800
places you didn't know could 
have muscles There's a spot 

3135
02:53:09,800 --> 02:53:12,600
between your shoulder blades 
that's been aching continuously 

3136
02:53:12,600 --> 02:53:15,600
since June. 
After another minute of shaking 

3137
02:53:15,600 --> 02:53:18,800
you've washed away about half 
the material in your pan. 

3138
02:53:18,800 --> 02:53:23,500
What's left is concentrated 
gravel black sand which is 

3139
02:53:23,500 --> 02:53:25,900
heavier than regular sand and 
therefore annoying. 

3140
02:53:26,500 --> 02:53:30,300
And possibly somewhere in there.
A tiny piece of gold that will 

3141
02:53:30,300 --> 02:53:32,300
justify the last 20 minutes of 
work. 

3142
02:53:33,100 --> 02:53:36,700
You lift the pan out of the 
water to inspect it, the surface

3143
02:53:36,700 --> 02:53:40,400
is still covered with black sand
and small Pebbles, you're 

3144
02:53:40,400 --> 02:53:43,100
looking for color, which is what
miners called the yellow glint 

3145
02:53:43,100 --> 02:53:46,000
of gold. 
You're also searching for larger

3146
02:53:46,000 --> 02:53:49,000
nuggets but you're not 
optimistic about finding them. 

3147
02:53:49,000 --> 02:53:53,300
Nuggets are what other people 
find you find flakes. 

3148
02:53:53,300 --> 02:53:56,400
The sun is higher now and the 
light. 

3149
02:53:56,400 --> 02:54:00,000
Hit your pain, makes everything 
Sparkle for a moment which is 

3150
02:54:00,000 --> 02:54:03,500
cruel because 99% of what 
Sparkles is. 

3151
02:54:03,500 --> 02:54:09,300
Micah Not Gold Mica is a mineral
that attracts attention, due to 

3152
02:54:09,300 --> 02:54:11,700
its flashiness, and 
attention-seeking nature. 

3153
02:54:11,700 --> 02:54:17,000
Yet it holds no intrinsic value.
You've learned to hate Meeker 

3154
02:54:17,000 --> 02:54:18,900
with a passion. 
Usually reserved for people who 

3155
02:54:18,900 --> 02:54:21,200
owe you money. 
You swirl the pan. 

3156
02:54:21,200 --> 02:54:25,700
Gently watching the black sand 
shift there, right there. 

3157
02:54:25,700 --> 02:54:29,900
Is that color you squint, you 
tilt the pan. 

3158
02:54:29,900 --> 02:54:34,300
It's either a tiny Flack of gold
or a tiny Fleck of mica catching

3159
02:54:34,300 --> 02:54:36,000
the light in exactly the wrong 
way. 

3160
02:54:36,900 --> 02:54:40,300
You dip the pan back in the 
water and swirl again, more 

3161
02:54:40,300 --> 02:54:43,200
carefully. 
This time, the specs stays put, 

3162
02:54:43,200 --> 02:54:47,100
while the black sand moves gold 
is heavier than Mica. 

3163
02:54:47,100 --> 02:54:50,200
This is gold. 
This is actual gold. 

3164
02:54:50,200 --> 02:54:54,300
It's smaller than a pinhead. 
It's possibly the smallest piece

3165
02:54:54,300 --> 02:54:58,100
of gold that can still be called
gold rather than gold colored 

3166
02:54:58,100 --> 02:55:00,500
dust. 
But it's yours. 

3167
02:55:01,300 --> 02:55:04,600
You feel a small surge of 
satisfaction, that's wildly 

3168
02:55:04,600 --> 02:55:07,900
disproportionate to the value of
what you've just found which is 

3169
02:55:07,900 --> 02:55:10,100
approximately one tenth of one 
cent. 

3170
02:55:10,900 --> 02:55:13,600
But that's not the point. 
The point is confirmation. 

3171
02:55:14,400 --> 02:55:16,800
The gold is here in the right 
place. 

3172
02:55:16,800 --> 02:55:19,100
Your efforts, not entirely in 
vain. 

3173
02:55:20,400 --> 02:55:23,400
This is what you tell yourself. 
As you carefully tap, the flick 

3174
02:55:23,400 --> 02:55:26,500
into your Leather Pouch, which 
contains may be a teaspoon of 

3175
02:55:26,500 --> 02:55:28,200
gold. 
After three months of work. 

3176
02:55:28,200 --> 02:55:32,100
The next pan contains nothing. 
The one after that contains, 

3177
02:55:32,100 --> 02:55:35,700
three Flex so small. 
You need to check three times to

3178
02:55:35,700 --> 02:55:38,900
make sure they're actually there
and not just your desperate 

3179
02:55:38,900 --> 02:55:42,300
imagination. 
Fourth pan can contains what 

3180
02:55:42,300 --> 02:55:46,700
might be gold, but might also be
a piece of whether pyrite and 

3181
02:55:46,700 --> 02:55:49,000
you're not experienced enough to
know the difference just by 

3182
02:55:49,000 --> 02:55:50,700
looking. 
So you save it anyway. 

3183
02:55:51,700 --> 02:55:55,200
This is what gold mining 
actually is the long repetitive 

3184
02:55:55,200 --> 02:55:59,200
hours between tiny victories. 
For every moment of excitement 

3185
02:55:59,200 --> 02:56:02,500
when you spot color, there are 
dozens of pans that contain. 

3186
02:56:02,500 --> 02:56:06,200
Absolutely nothing intriguing. 
You shake the pan. 

3187
02:56:06,200 --> 02:56:11,000
You wash the gravel, you squint 
at the results you find nothing 

3188
02:56:11,000 --> 02:56:15,700
you refill the pan with new 
gravel you do it all again your 

3189
02:56:15,700 --> 02:56:18,200
back hurts. 
In a specific way that suggests 

3190
02:56:18,200 --> 02:56:21,000
you're going to regret being 37 
when you're 47. 

3191
02:56:21,900 --> 02:56:25,300
Your knees are bruised, from 
kneeling on Creek, rocks your 

3192
02:56:25,300 --> 02:56:28,000
hands of. 
Calluses, on top of calluses, 

3193
02:56:28,000 --> 02:56:31,000
creating a sort of hand armor, 
that makes your fingers less 

3194
02:56:31,000 --> 02:56:34,200
flexible but more durable. 
You've got a blister on your 

3195
02:56:34,200 --> 02:56:37,500
right thumb that keeps opening 
up and then healing just enough 

3196
02:56:37,500 --> 02:56:39,300
to convince you. 
It's better. 

3197
02:56:39,300 --> 02:56:43,000
It's right before you grip the 
pan again and it splits open 

3198
02:56:44,600 --> 02:56:47,300
around noon, the heat becomes 
genuine. 

3199
02:56:48,100 --> 02:56:50,000
The morning, cold is a distant 
memory. 

3200
02:56:50,000 --> 02:56:54,600
The sun reflects off the water 
and the Rocks, creating a 

3201
02:56:54,600 --> 02:56:56,400
brightener that makes your eyes 
hurt. 

3202
02:56:57,400 --> 02:57:00,900
Your supposed to be wearing a 
hat and you are wearing one but 

3203
02:57:00,900 --> 02:57:04,200
the hat is mostly decorative. 
At this point, the sun here 

3204
02:57:04,200 --> 02:57:08,100
doesn't negotiate, you take a 
break which means you sit on the

3205
02:57:08,100 --> 02:57:11,400
bank and eat hardtack without 
bacon because you're saving the 

3206
02:57:11,400 --> 02:57:14,600
bake and for dinner. 
You've got a canteen of water 

3207
02:57:14,600 --> 02:57:18,800
that tastes like metal and 
canvas but it's wet and wet is 

3208
02:57:18,808 --> 02:57:22,500
the main requirement. 
You drink half of it, reminding 

3209
02:57:22,500 --> 02:57:24,200
yourself to refill it from the 
creek. 

3210
02:57:24,200 --> 02:57:27,500
Before you head back to Camp. 
Drinking straight from the creek

3211
02:57:27,500 --> 02:57:30,500
is generally fine, though, 
you've heard stories about men 

3212
02:57:30,500 --> 02:57:33,900
getting sick from it. 
You've been drinking Creek Water

3213
02:57:33,900 --> 02:57:37,400
for three months without getting
sick which you can consider a 

3214
02:57:37,400 --> 02:57:40,000
victory. 
A mule deer watches you from a 

3215
02:57:40,000 --> 02:57:41,100
cross. 
The creek, chewing something 

3216
02:57:41,100 --> 02:57:43,000
with an expression of profound 
judgment. 

3217
02:57:44,200 --> 02:57:47,200
The deer here and not afraid of 
humans the way you'd expect. 

3218
02:57:48,000 --> 02:57:50,000
They've learned that miners, 
don't generally, shoot them 

3219
02:57:50,000 --> 02:57:53,300
because bullets are expensive 
and dragging a dead, deer back 

3220
02:57:53,300 --> 02:57:57,100
to Camp is more work than most 
minders want to do. this 

3221
02:57:57,100 --> 02:58:00,000
particular deer seems to be 
evaluating your Technique and 

3222
02:58:00,000 --> 02:58:04,000
finding it wanting You resist, 
the urge to explain yourself to 

3223
02:58:04,000 --> 02:58:07,600
the deer after your break, you 
move to a different section of 

3224
02:58:07,600 --> 02:58:10,100
your claim. 
Hoping that shifting locations 

3225
02:58:10,100 --> 02:58:14,400
will shift your luck. 
This belief is superstition to 

3226
02:58:14,400 --> 02:58:18,900
strategy yet. 
The mining industry is Rife with

3227
02:58:18,900 --> 02:58:21,200
superstitions presented as 
strategies. 

3228
02:58:22,400 --> 02:58:25,700
Some men won't work on Sundays, 
others won't work without their 

3229
02:58:25,700 --> 02:58:29,400
lucky shirt. 
One fellow, you met won't pan, 

3230
02:58:29,400 --> 02:58:32,400
unless he's whistling, which 
makes him deeply unpopular with 

3231
02:58:32,400 --> 02:58:34,000
the miners on neighboring 
claims. 

3232
02:58:35,300 --> 02:58:38,000
The afternoon pans yield a 
better return than the morning. 

3233
02:58:38,900 --> 02:58:42,000
Seven visible flex and what 
might be two more if you're 

3234
02:58:42,000 --> 02:58:46,300
generous with your definitions. 
This is a good day, not a great 

3235
02:58:46,300 --> 02:58:48,200
day. 
A great day would involve 

3236
02:58:48,200 --> 02:58:51,300
finding something larger than a 
Fleck, but solidly good. 

3237
02:58:51,300 --> 02:58:54,700
You'll add maybe three cents 
worth of gold to your pouch, 

3238
02:58:54,700 --> 02:58:57,900
which doesn't sound like much. 
Until you remember that you're 

3239
02:58:57,900 --> 02:59:00,500
finding it in a creek, using a 
pan and you're increasingly 

3240
02:59:00,500 --> 02:59:03,400
questionable back. 
The thing about the Sierra 

3241
02:59:03,400 --> 02:59:06,800
Nevada that nobody warns you 
about is how quickly the weather

3242
02:59:06,800 --> 02:59:09,200
can shift from Pleasant to 
actively hostile. 

3243
02:59:10,000 --> 02:59:13,000
You've seen it go from Sunny to 
hailing in the time it takes to 

3244
02:59:13,000 --> 02:59:15,800
smoke a pipe. 
The clouds gather behind the 

3245
02:59:15,800 --> 02:59:19,700
Peaks to the east accumulating 
as if they are preparing for 

3246
02:59:19,700 --> 02:59:23,100
something and then suddenly it 
starts raining sideways. 

3247
02:59:23,100 --> 02:59:26,400
While you scramble to remember 
where you left. 

3248
02:59:26,400 --> 02:59:30,600
Anything, that shouldn't get 
wet, which includes everything. 

3249
02:59:32,300 --> 02:59:37,200
Today stays clear, which is a 
mercy, you've endured rainstorms

3250
02:59:37,200 --> 02:59:41,300
in the past and the misery, they
inflict his Indescribable to 

3251
02:59:41,300 --> 02:59:43,900
those who have not tried 
prospecting for gold under 

3252
02:59:43,900 --> 02:59:48,800
torrential rain. the creek Rises
the visibility drops and 

3253
02:59:48,800 --> 02:59:53,500
everything becomes a cold muddy 
exercise in stubbornness you 

3254
02:59:53,500 --> 02:59:56,600
keep working because stopping 
means losing a day of potential 

3255
02:59:56,600 --> 03:00:00,000
income and you've already lost 
too many days to afford losing 

3256
03:00:00,000 --> 03:00:03,600
more. 
The wind picks up around 3 which

3257
03:00:03,600 --> 03:00:06,900
is normal for this time of year,
it comes down the canyon. 

3258
03:00:06,900 --> 03:00:09,400
Like it's been personally 
insulted by something at the 

3259
03:00:09,408 --> 03:00:12,400
bottom and is rushing down to 
file a complaint. 

3260
03:00:13,400 --> 03:00:17,600
Pines Sway and Creeks dropping 
pine cones, the size of your 

3261
03:00:17,600 --> 03:00:20,200
fist. 
You've been hit by Falling pine 

3262
03:00:20,200 --> 03:00:22,600
cones twice. 
And while it's not dangerous, 

3263
03:00:22,600 --> 03:00:26,400
it's startling and slightly 
humiliating to be attacked by a 

3264
03:00:26,400 --> 03:00:31,200
tree even touching Summer is the
best season for mining, which 

3265
03:00:31,200 --> 03:00:33,500
tells you something about 
adverse seasons? 

3266
03:00:34,800 --> 03:00:37,800
During the summer, you can work 
all day without your hands. 

3267
03:00:37,800 --> 03:00:41,700
Freezing solid. 
The creek is low which means you

3268
03:00:41,700 --> 03:00:45,300
can reach more of the gravel. 
The nights are cool but not 

3269
03:00:45,300 --> 03:00:47,600
deadly. 
You've heard stories about 

3270
03:00:47,600 --> 03:00:51,900
winter mining about men, trying 
to thaw frozen gravel with fire 

3271
03:00:51,900 --> 03:00:55,300
about creeks. 
Freezing, solid about finding 

3272
03:00:55,300 --> 03:00:57,400
minors in the spring who didn't 
make it through. 

3273
03:00:57,400 --> 03:01:01,600
You plan to be in Sacramento by 
November assuming you've made 

3274
03:01:01,600 --> 03:01:03,200
enough by then to afford 
leaving. 

3275
03:01:04,100 --> 03:01:06,600
The Autumn is supposed to be 
beautiful here, according to the

3276
03:01:06,600 --> 03:01:09,700
Danish fellow, who spent last 
fall in these mountains. 

3277
03:01:10,500 --> 03:01:14,000
He says the Aspens, turn yellow,
and the whole Canyon glows. 

3278
03:01:14,000 --> 03:01:17,000
Like it's on fire. 
He also says that October is 

3279
03:01:17,000 --> 03:01:20,500
when the big storms start 
rolling in from the Pacific and 

3280
03:01:20,500 --> 03:01:24,200
dumping snow by the Foot. 
He says that November is when 

3281
03:01:24,200 --> 03:01:28,300
smart men leave and December is 
when stubborn men die. 

3282
03:01:29,100 --> 03:01:31,700
You've marked yourself down as 
smart though. 

3283
03:01:31,700 --> 03:01:34,200
You're aware that most stubborn 
men probably think of the cells.

3284
03:01:34,200 --> 03:01:37,600
The same way you finish working 
when the light gets too low to 

3285
03:01:37,600 --> 03:01:40,600
see color in the pan, Which 
happens early than you'd like. 

3286
03:01:40,600 --> 03:01:43,500
Because the canyon walls create 
Shadows that arrived before 

3287
03:01:43,500 --> 03:01:46,100
sunset. 
You've mastered the art of 

3288
03:01:46,100 --> 03:01:49,700
timing your day by the Shadows, 
observing their leisurely 

3289
03:01:49,700 --> 03:01:53,500
progress across the creek. 
The walk back to Camp feels 

3290
03:01:53,500 --> 03:01:56,600
longer than the walk to your 
clay, probably, because you're 

3291
03:01:56,600 --> 03:01:57,900
worn out. 
And your boots are full of 

3292
03:01:57,900 --> 03:02:01,900
water, that squelches with every
step your socks are incredibly 

3293
03:02:01,900 --> 03:02:04,600
durable. 
They would be on saving two 

3294
03:02:04,600 --> 03:02:07,300
weeks ago, but you keep wearing 
them because the alternative is 

3295
03:02:07,300 --> 03:02:10,800
wearing no socks, which leads to
blisters that make the socks 

3296
03:02:10,800 --> 03:02:12,900
situation, look positively 
luxurious. 

3297
03:02:13,900 --> 03:02:17,000
At Camp, you have a set evening 
routine because you don't have 

3298
03:02:17,000 --> 03:02:18,800
the energy to think of what to 
do next. 

3299
03:02:19,800 --> 03:02:23,300
Fire first, using the coals you 
bank this morning that are 

3300
03:02:23,300 --> 03:02:24,700
hopefully still alive under the 
OSH. 

3301
03:02:25,300 --> 03:02:28,300
The coals are still alive but 
barely which saves you a match. 

3302
03:02:29,100 --> 03:02:33,500
Small kindling, slightly, larger
sticks, and then pieces of wood,

3303
03:02:33,500 --> 03:02:38,300
you've split from Deadfall. 
Fire catches and holds producing

3304
03:02:38,300 --> 03:02:40,700
smoke that smells like Pine and 
accomplishment. 

3305
03:02:41,500 --> 03:02:45,400
Dinner is bacon and beans. 
The beans have been soaking in 

3306
03:02:45,400 --> 03:02:47,200
Creek Water since morning in a 
pot. 

3307
03:02:47,200 --> 03:02:50,600
You leave by your tent, covered 
with a Flat Rock to keep the J's

3308
03:02:50,600 --> 03:02:53,800
out. 
This system works about 70% of 

3309
03:02:53,800 --> 03:02:57,700
the time, the other 30%, you 
return to find Jay's on the 

3310
03:02:57,700 --> 03:02:59,600
Rock. 
Looking pleased with themselves 

3311
03:02:59,600 --> 03:03:02,900
and half your beans scattered in
the dirt today. 

3312
03:03:02,900 --> 03:03:05,700
The beans are intact, which 
means to night, you'll have 

3313
03:03:05,700 --> 03:03:08,200
adequate protein, you cook the 
baked. 

3314
03:03:08,200 --> 03:03:11,100
And first and your small pan, 
not the gold pan. 

3315
03:03:11,100 --> 03:03:14,700
You're not a barbarian then at 
the beans to the bacon grease. 

3316
03:03:15,700 --> 03:03:18,400
This is the same cooking 
technique you use for breakfast,

3317
03:03:18,400 --> 03:03:20,800
which suggests your culinary 
skills. 

3318
03:03:20,800 --> 03:03:23,600
Have not expanded significantly 
during your time here. 

3319
03:03:24,500 --> 03:03:28,900
The beans, absorb the grease and
become softer and saltier which 

3320
03:03:28,900 --> 03:03:31,400
is the best you can hope for 
under the circumstances. 

3321
03:03:32,500 --> 03:03:34,700
While the beans cook, you count 
your gold. 

3322
03:03:34,700 --> 03:03:37,800
This is both satisfying and 
depressing depending on your 

3323
03:03:37,800 --> 03:03:39,700
mood. 
Tonight, you're feeling 

3324
03:03:39,708 --> 03:03:42,700
philosophical, which means you 
can look at your small Leather 

3325
03:03:42,700 --> 03:03:45,500
Pouch and think. 
I'm building towards something 

3326
03:03:45,500 --> 03:03:48,100
rather than I've been here for 
three months and have 

3327
03:03:48,100 --> 03:03:50,200
approximately eight dollars 
worth of gold. 

3328
03:03:51,000 --> 03:03:52,900
The pouch contains mostly 
flakes. 

3329
03:03:53,600 --> 03:03:56,400
A few slightly larger pieces 
that might generously be called,

3330
03:03:56,400 --> 03:04:00,000
small nuggets and a lot of black
sand you have not been able to 

3331
03:04:00,000 --> 03:04:03,900
separate out separating gold 
from black sand is an art form 

3332
03:04:03,900 --> 03:04:07,600
that involves Mercury, which you
don't have or tremendous 

3333
03:04:07,600 --> 03:04:10,700
patience, which you have, but 
prefer to use elsewhere. 

3334
03:04:11,500 --> 03:04:14,700
Most miners just sell their gold
with the black sand, still mixed

3335
03:04:14,700 --> 03:04:18,200
in accepting a lower price in 
exchange for not spending hours,

3336
03:04:18,200 --> 03:04:21,500
trying to clean it. 
You estimate, you've got about a

3337
03:04:21,500 --> 03:04:25,400
quarter ounce total in 
Sacramento, the price of gold is

3338
03:04:25,400 --> 03:04:29,400
16 dollars per ounce, indicating
that you have a total wealth of 

3339
03:04:29,400 --> 03:04:32,800
four dollars plus or minus. 
Four dollars. 

3340
03:04:32,800 --> 03:04:35,200
After three months of work, 
would be depressing if you 

3341
03:04:35,200 --> 03:04:38,200
thought about it directly. 
So you think about it sideways. 

3342
03:04:38,200 --> 03:04:41,700
Instead, you're learning a 
trade, you're improving your 

3343
03:04:41,700 --> 03:04:44,000
Technique. 
Tomorrow's pan might be the one 

3344
03:04:44,000 --> 03:04:46,300
that changes everything. 
These are the lies. 

3345
03:04:46,300 --> 03:04:48,300
You tell yourself that might 
actually be true. 

3346
03:04:48,300 --> 03:04:51,400
Mining attracts a specific type 
of person. 

3347
03:04:51,400 --> 03:04:55,300
Someone comfortable being alone 
but perhaps not skilled at it. 

3348
03:04:55,300 --> 03:04:59,100
The distinction matters you 
spend your days working by 

3349
03:04:59,100 --> 03:05:01,600
yourself but you're surrounded 
by other men. 

3350
03:05:01,600 --> 03:05:04,800
Doing the same thing. 
All of you existing in this 

3351
03:05:04,800 --> 03:05:06,900
strange state of communal 
solitude. 

3352
03:05:07,600 --> 03:05:10,800
There's the Danish fellow whose 
Camp is Upstream from yours. 

3353
03:05:11,600 --> 03:05:14,900
He is nodded at you 
approximately 60 times, but 

3354
03:05:14,900 --> 03:05:16,600
you've never learned his actual 
name. 

3355
03:05:17,400 --> 03:05:20,400
He's methodical in a way that 
suggests the previous mining 

3356
03:05:20,400 --> 03:05:23,800
experience or a personality that
can't help being methodical. 

3357
03:05:24,700 --> 03:05:28,800
His Camp is neat, his tools are 
organized and his morning fire 

3358
03:05:28,800 --> 03:05:31,500
starts with The Cloud of smoke 
that yours produces. 

3359
03:05:32,400 --> 03:05:35,100
You find this simultaneously 
admirable and annoying 

3360
03:05:35,100 --> 03:05:37,800
Downstream. 
There's a group of three Chinese

3361
03:05:37,800 --> 03:05:40,300
miners who worked together in a 
way that seems both more 

3362
03:05:40,300 --> 03:05:42,400
efficient and more pleasant than
working alone. 

3363
03:05:43,200 --> 03:05:45,800
They've built a Rocker Box. 
A larger Contraption for 

3364
03:05:45,800 --> 03:05:49,700
processing gravel and they take 
turns operating it in shifts. 

3365
03:05:49,700 --> 03:05:52,800
You've watched them work, and 
they seem to find more golden 

3366
03:05:52,800 --> 03:05:54,900
you do. 
Which suggests their technique 

3367
03:05:54,900 --> 03:05:57,600
is better. 
Their claim is richer or both. 

3368
03:05:58,400 --> 03:06:01,000
They've never been unfriendly, 
but they keep to themselves 

3369
03:06:01,000 --> 03:06:04,000
which you respect because you do
the same thing. 

3370
03:06:04,000 --> 03:06:07,300
There's a French Canadian who 
showed up two weeks ago and 

3371
03:06:07,300 --> 03:06:09,000
hasn't stopped talking about the
Nugget. 

3372
03:06:09,000 --> 03:06:12,200
He found in his first week which
was apparently the size of a 

3373
03:06:12,200 --> 03:06:15,000
pea. 
You've seen the Nugget, it's 

3374
03:06:15,000 --> 03:06:18,300
legitimately impressive. 
It's also the only significant 

3375
03:06:18,300 --> 03:06:20,800
goal he's found since which he 
mentioned his lesson. 

3376
03:06:21,800 --> 03:06:24,700
He started to develop the look 
that men get when they realized 

3377
03:06:24,700 --> 03:06:26,500
their luck might have run out on
day three. 

3378
03:06:27,800 --> 03:06:31,400
The nearest town calling it. 
A town is generous, is a 

3379
03:06:31,400 --> 03:06:33,500
six-hour walk which means you go
there. 

3380
03:06:33,500 --> 03:06:37,100
Approximately never. 
The town consists of a trading 

3381
03:06:37,100 --> 03:06:41,100
post, a place that sells Whiskey
and a collection of tents that 

3382
03:06:41,100 --> 03:06:43,900
serve various purposes. 
None of them particularly 

3383
03:06:43,900 --> 03:06:46,500
interesting. 
He went there once and July to 

3384
03:06:46,500 --> 03:06:49,700
buy supplies and found the 
prices so inflated that you 

3385
03:06:49,700 --> 03:06:52,600
seriously considered just eating
pine bark for the rest of the 

3386
03:06:52,600 --> 03:06:55,100
summer. 
Mail comes through the town 

3387
03:06:55,100 --> 03:06:58,200
twice a month. 
Carried by a man on a horse who 

3388
03:06:58,200 --> 03:07:01,300
looks like he's reconsidering 
his life choices every time you 

3389
03:07:01,300 --> 03:07:03,800
see him. 
You haven't gotten male because 

3390
03:07:03,800 --> 03:07:07,400
getting mail requires having 
sent mail first and sending mail

3391
03:07:07,400 --> 03:07:10,300
requires either admitting how 
things are going or lying about 

3392
03:07:10,300 --> 03:07:13,100
it. 
You've decided that writing home

3393
03:07:13,100 --> 03:07:15,700
can wait until you have 
something worth reporting Beyond

3394
03:07:15,700 --> 03:07:18,800
still here, still, poor Creek 
still cold. 

3395
03:07:19,600 --> 03:07:22,300
The thing that keeps you going 
isn't the dream of striking, it 

3396
03:07:22,300 --> 03:07:25,400
rich that dream died somewhere, 
around week six. 

3397
03:07:26,400 --> 03:07:29,800
What keeps you going? 
Is the small regular victories 

3398
03:07:29,800 --> 03:07:33,400
that arrived just often enough 
to feel like progress, A good 

3399
03:07:33,400 --> 03:07:36,200
day of panning, a flake larger 
than usual. 

3400
03:07:37,000 --> 03:07:40,100
The satisfaction of improving 
your Technique to the point, 

3401
03:07:40,100 --> 03:07:42,900
where you can process gravel 
faster than you could last 

3402
03:07:42,900 --> 03:07:45,600
month, you've gotten better at 
reading the creek. 

3403
03:07:46,400 --> 03:07:49,700
You've learned to spot places 
where the water slows down where

3404
03:07:49,700 --> 03:07:53,300
obstacles create Eddies where 
the Bedrock comes close to the 

3405
03:07:53,300 --> 03:07:55,700
surface. 
These are the places gold 

3406
03:07:55,700 --> 03:07:58,100
accumulates. 
If it accumulates anywhere. 

3407
03:07:59,000 --> 03:08:01,600
You've learned to test a spot 
with a single pan before 

3408
03:08:01,600 --> 03:08:05,100
committing to ours of digging. 
You've learned that the gravel 

3409
03:08:05,100 --> 03:08:08,300
right against Bedrock is worth 
checking first, because that's 

3410
03:08:08,300 --> 03:08:10,100
where the heaviest particles 
settle. 

3411
03:08:10,800 --> 03:08:13,200
Your panning technique has 
improved to the point where you 

3412
03:08:13,200 --> 03:08:16,800
rarely lose visible, gold over 
the rim of the pan anymore which

3413
03:08:16,800 --> 03:08:19,100
used to happen with embarrassing
frequency. 

3414
03:08:19,100 --> 03:08:23,000
You've learned the right rhythm 
of shaking and swirling, the 

3415
03:08:23,000 --> 03:08:26,200
right angle to tilt the pan and 
the right amount of water to 

3416
03:08:26,200 --> 03:08:29,000
keep in it. 
These skills are worthless 

3417
03:08:29,000 --> 03:08:32,700
anywhere except right here in 
this Creek doing this specific 

3418
03:08:32,700 --> 03:08:34,400
thing. 
But here they matter. 

3419
03:08:35,900 --> 03:08:38,800
There's a rhythm to the work 
that becomes almost meditative 

3420
03:08:38,800 --> 03:08:42,400
when you let it. 
Fill the pan, shake it under the

3421
03:08:42,408 --> 03:08:46,900
water, tilt and swirl. 
Watch the lighter material wash 

3422
03:08:46,900 --> 03:08:49,300
away. 
Check for color repeat. 

3423
03:08:50,500 --> 03:08:54,100
Your mind wanders during this 
process, which is good because 

3424
03:08:54,100 --> 03:08:57,600
otherwise you go crazy from the 
repetition. you think about 

3425
03:08:57,600 --> 03:09:01,600
home, you think about the people
you left behind, you think about

3426
03:09:01,600 --> 03:09:03,800
whether you're actually going to
make enough money here, to 

3427
03:09:03,800 --> 03:09:07,800
justify having left You think 
about dinner, you think about 

3428
03:09:07,800 --> 03:09:10,300
gold? 
The best day you've had was 

3429
03:09:10,300 --> 03:09:14,000
three weeks ago, when you found 
five flakes in a single pan. 

3430
03:09:14,800 --> 03:09:17,800
Five, lakes isn't Fortune. 
It's not even a really good 

3431
03:09:17,800 --> 03:09:20,500
meal. 
But it was encouraging in a way 

3432
03:09:20,508 --> 03:09:21,700
that made you want to keep 
going. 

3433
03:09:22,700 --> 03:09:26,600
You've had worst day since then 
plenty of them, but that one. 

3434
03:09:26,600 --> 03:09:30,500
Good day sits in your memory 
like proof that luck exists and 

3435
03:09:30,500 --> 03:09:32,700
might occasionally. 
Remember you exist, too? 

3436
03:09:32,700 --> 03:09:38,000
Your equipment consists of your 
pan, a shovel, a pick a blanket,

3437
03:09:38,000 --> 03:09:43,700
a tenth one cooking pot, one 
frying pan, two shirts, one pair

3438
03:09:43,700 --> 03:09:47,600
of pants, one hat, a sorted, 
other items of questionable 

3439
03:09:47,600 --> 03:09:49,800
utility and a rifle. 
You fired. 

3440
03:09:49,800 --> 03:09:54,000
Exactly twice and arriving here 
Once was to scare off a bear, 

3441
03:09:54,000 --> 03:09:57,700
who was investigating your Camp.
The bear left though? 

3442
03:09:57,700 --> 03:10:00,200
You're not convinced the rifle 
at anything to do with it. 

3443
03:10:01,000 --> 03:10:04,000
The bear seemed more annoyed by 
the noise than threatened by it.

3444
03:10:04,000 --> 03:10:06,600
The shovel is the most important
tool. 

3445
03:10:06,600 --> 03:10:10,400
After the pan you use it to move
gravel, dig down to bedrock 

3446
03:10:10,400 --> 03:10:13,700
crate channels in the creek and 
occasionally as a seat, when 

3447
03:10:13,700 --> 03:10:16,800
your two tired to stand, but the
ground is too wet to sit on. 

3448
03:10:17,800 --> 03:10:20,300
The handle is worn smooth where 
your hands grip it. 

3449
03:10:20,300 --> 03:10:23,400
And the blade is starting to 
show signs of serious. 

3450
03:10:23,400 --> 03:10:26,600
Where along the edge, you'll 
need a new Shovel by next 

3451
03:10:26,600 --> 03:10:28,700
summer. 
Assuming you're still here next 

3452
03:10:28,700 --> 03:10:31,500
summer, which is an assumption, 
you're not ready to examine Too 

3453
03:10:31,500 --> 03:10:34,300
Close closely. 
The pick breaks up hard packed 

3454
03:10:34,300 --> 03:10:36,800
gravel and chips weigh at 
Bedrock when you need to clear a

3455
03:10:36,800 --> 03:10:38,200
hollow where gold might be 
hiding. 

3456
03:10:39,000 --> 03:10:42,400
You're not great with the pick, 
it requires a specific kind of 

3457
03:10:42,408 --> 03:10:44,900
controlled violence, that 
doesn't come naturally to you, 

3458
03:10:44,900 --> 03:10:48,600
but you're better than you were.
You've learned to let the weight

3459
03:10:48,600 --> 03:10:52,300
of the pick do most of the work 
rather than trying to muscle it 

3460
03:10:52,300 --> 03:10:55,500
down into the Rock. 
Your shoulders are grateful for 

3461
03:10:55,500 --> 03:10:57,600
this lesson though. 
They wish you'd learned it 

3462
03:10:57,608 --> 03:11:01,200
sooner. 
Your tent is canvas supposedly 

3463
03:11:01,200 --> 03:11:04,400
waterproof, and actually water 
resistant at best. 

3464
03:11:05,300 --> 03:11:09,000
When it rains hard, small, drips
develop in predictable spots, 

3465
03:11:09,000 --> 03:11:11,800
and you've learned to arrange 
your belongings to avoid them. 

3466
03:11:12,600 --> 03:11:15,700
The tent is tall enough that you
can sit up inside it but not 

3467
03:11:15,700 --> 03:11:17,708
stand. 
Which means you spend a lot of 

3468
03:11:17,716 --> 03:11:21,400
time hunched over Your back as 
opinions about this Arrangement,

3469
03:11:21,400 --> 03:11:25,400
the blanket you sleep in his 
wool which was expensive but 

3470
03:11:25,400 --> 03:11:29,000
worth it all stays warm even 
when wet, which is important. 

3471
03:11:29,000 --> 03:11:31,500
Because everything here is 
always, at least slightly wet 

3472
03:11:32,700 --> 03:11:36,000
The blanket smells like campfire
and sweat and pine needles, 

3473
03:11:36,000 --> 03:11:38,900
which is to say it smells like 
you've been living in the 

3474
03:11:38,900 --> 03:11:42,600
mountains for three months. 
September arrives without 

3475
03:11:42,600 --> 03:11:45,900
ceremony marked only by the fact
that the Danish fellow 

3476
03:11:45,900 --> 03:11:48,500
mentioned. 
Its September while walking past

3477
03:11:48,500 --> 03:11:52,800
your claim one more morning. 
The days are still hot but the 

3478
03:11:52,800 --> 03:11:56,200
nights are starting to get 
properly cold, the kind of coal 

3479
03:11:56,200 --> 03:11:58,700
that makes you burrow deeper 
into your blanket and consider 

3480
03:11:58,700 --> 03:11:59,900
whether you've made good 
decisions. 

3481
03:12:01,400 --> 03:12:03,400
The creek is lower now than it 
was in July. 

3482
03:12:04,200 --> 03:12:07,100
The snow melt has slowed to a 
trickle which means you can 

3483
03:12:07,100 --> 03:12:09,300
reach gravel. 
That was underwater a month ago.

3484
03:12:10,300 --> 03:12:13,500
This is theoretically good news 
in practice. 

3485
03:12:13,500 --> 03:12:16,600
It means you're doing the same 
amount of work to assess 

3486
03:12:16,600 --> 03:12:19,300
slightly different gravel. 
That contains the same 

3487
03:12:19,300 --> 03:12:22,000
disappointing amount of gold as 
the previous gravel. 

3488
03:12:22,000 --> 03:12:25,100
The Aspen's are starting to 
turn, just like the Danish 

3489
03:12:25,100 --> 03:12:28,100
fellow said they would The 
canyon walls are developing 

3490
03:12:28,100 --> 03:12:31,100
patches of yellow that catch the
afternoon light and make 

3491
03:12:31,100 --> 03:12:34,600
everything look like a painting.
It's beautiful in a way that 

3492
03:12:34,600 --> 03:12:37,100
would be more enjoyable if you 
weren't worried about winter 

3493
03:12:37,100 --> 03:12:39,500
coming. 
Beauty is easier to appreciate 

3494
03:12:39,500 --> 03:12:41,900
when you're not concerned about 
freezing to death. 

3495
03:12:42,700 --> 03:12:44,700
The birds are changing their 
patterns. 

3496
03:12:45,600 --> 03:12:48,800
The Jays are still around, Jays 
are apparently immortal. 

3497
03:12:49,700 --> 03:12:52,100
But other birds are starting to 
move through on their way to 

3498
03:12:52,100 --> 03:12:54,700
somewhere else. 
You've seen geese flying 

3499
03:12:54,700 --> 03:12:58,300
overhead in v-formation heading 
south with what seems like 

3500
03:12:58,308 --> 03:13:01,500
excessive enthusiasm, the geese 
knows something, you know, 

3501
03:13:01,500 --> 03:13:05,000
winter in these mountains is not
a theoretical problem. 

3502
03:13:05,000 --> 03:13:09,300
You're starting to see other 
miners pack up and leave every 

3503
03:13:09,300 --> 03:13:11,000
few days. 
Another tent comes down. 

3504
03:13:11,000 --> 03:13:14,500
Another Camp gets abandoned and 
another claim becomes available 

3505
03:13:14,500 --> 03:13:17,300
for whoever's desperate or 
optimistic enough to take it 

3506
03:13:17,300 --> 03:13:19,700
over, you've watched maybe a 
dozen men. 

3507
03:13:19,700 --> 03:13:23,000
Leave in the past, two weeks, 
none of them looked happy, but 

3508
03:13:23,000 --> 03:13:24,600
some looked more defeated than 
others. 

3509
03:13:24,600 --> 03:13:27,100
The French Canadian left last 
Tuesday. 

3510
03:13:27,100 --> 03:13:31,000
He stopped by your claim to say 
goodbye which was more social 

3511
03:13:31,000 --> 03:13:32,600
interaction than you'd had in 
weeks. 

3512
03:13:32,600 --> 03:13:35,500
He said, he was heading to 
Sacramento to find work that 

3513
03:13:35,500 --> 03:13:39,100
paid in actual money rather than
tiny flecks of Hope. 

3514
03:13:39,900 --> 03:13:42,700
He said the Nugget he found him.
Weak one would cover his travel 

3515
03:13:42,700 --> 03:13:46,500
costs but nothing more he said 
he'd learned an important lesson

3516
03:13:46,500 --> 03:13:48,300
about luck and diminishing 
returns. 

3517
03:13:48,300 --> 03:13:52,000
He shook your hand and left and 
you haven't seen him since 

3518
03:13:52,000 --> 03:13:55,300
you're now faced with the 
question that every minor in 

3519
03:13:55,300 --> 03:13:56,900
these mountains faces 
eventually. 

3520
03:13:56,900 --> 03:14:01,800
When do you leave? 
The smart money says, leave an 

3521
03:14:01,800 --> 03:14:04,500
October before the first real 
storms hit. 

3522
03:14:05,300 --> 03:14:08,500
The optimistic money says stay 
until you've made enough to 

3523
03:14:08,500 --> 03:14:10,600
justify having come here in the 
first place. 

3524
03:14:10,600 --> 03:14:13,800
The desperate money says stay as
long as physically possible 

3525
03:14:13,800 --> 03:14:16,300
because going home empty-handed 
isn't really an option. 

3526
03:14:16,300 --> 03:14:19,000
You're not sure which category 
you fall into. 

3527
03:14:19,000 --> 03:14:22,700
You've made approximately 12 
dollars worth of gold in four 

3528
03:14:22,700 --> 03:14:26,200
months, which works out three 
dollars per month, which is not 

3529
03:14:26,200 --> 03:14:30,200
a fortune by any definition. 
On the other hand, you've 

3530
03:14:30,200 --> 03:14:32,300
learned skills that might 
actually translate to better 

3531
03:14:32,300 --> 03:14:35,800
returns next season. 
You've learned where gold hides,

3532
03:14:35,800 --> 03:14:38,400
you've learned how to read a 
creek, you've learned how to 

3533
03:14:38,400 --> 03:14:41,500
survive in the mountains with 
minimal supplies and maximum 

3534
03:14:41,500 --> 03:14:44,100
stubbornness. 
There's also the question of 

3535
03:14:44,100 --> 03:14:48,800
what you'd be going home to Ohio
feels very far away, both 

3536
03:14:48,800 --> 03:14:53,100
geographically and emotionally. 
the life, you left there, the 

3537
03:14:53,100 --> 03:14:56,300
debts, the obligations, the 
small town predictability, 

3538
03:14:57,300 --> 03:15:00,900
doesn't feel like something 
Eureka to return to, at least 

3539
03:15:00,900 --> 03:15:06,500
here your poor, but independent,
At least here, every plan has 

3540
03:15:06,500 --> 03:15:08,700
the potential to change your 
circumstances. 

3541
03:15:08,700 --> 03:15:12,600
The Danish fellow is staying 
through October possibly 

3542
03:15:12,600 --> 03:15:15,400
November. 
He told you this while refilling

3543
03:15:15,400 --> 03:15:18,800
his Canteen at the creek. 
Seeking in his careful English 

3544
03:15:18,800 --> 03:15:22,500
that suggests he's translating 
from Danish in his head before 

3545
03:15:22,500 --> 03:15:25,700
the words come out. 
He said he's been mining for two

3546
03:15:25,700 --> 03:15:29,800
years now in different locations
and that patience is the main 

3547
03:15:29,800 --> 03:15:33,100
requirement. 
He said that most men leave too 

3548
03:15:33,100 --> 03:15:36,100
early before they've learned 
enough to make the work pay off.

3549
03:15:36,800 --> 03:15:39,500
He said this with the confidence
of someone who's either, right? 

3550
03:15:39,500 --> 03:15:42,000
Or has become very good at lying
to himself. 

3551
03:15:42,700 --> 03:15:45,500
You decide to stay through 
September then reassess and 

3552
03:15:45,500 --> 03:15:48,300
October. 
This feels like a reasonable 

3553
03:15:48,300 --> 03:15:50,700
compromise, between optimism and
survival. 

3554
03:15:50,700 --> 03:15:53,300
Instinct, you mark the date in 
your head. 

3555
03:15:54,000 --> 03:15:57,800
October 1st. that's when you'll 
make a real decision about 

3556
03:15:57,800 --> 03:16:01,700
whether to winter here or head 
to lower elevation The best part

3557
03:16:01,700 --> 03:16:04,500
of each day is the hour after 
dinner, when you're too tired to

3558
03:16:04,500 --> 03:16:07,700
do anything productive, but not 
yet tired, enough to sleep, you 

3559
03:16:07,700 --> 03:16:09,800
sit by your fire, smoke your 
pipe. 

3560
03:16:10,800 --> 03:16:13,500
To backhoes expensive. 
So you mix it with dried bear 

3561
03:16:13,500 --> 03:16:16,800
breeds which is either an 
authentic Frontier technique, or

3562
03:16:16,800 --> 03:16:20,300
something you invented out of 
desperation and watch the light 

3563
03:16:20,300 --> 03:16:23,100
fade from the canyon. 
The evening light in the 

3564
03:16:23,100 --> 03:16:25,000
mountains is different from 
evening light. 

3565
03:16:25,000 --> 03:16:28,000
Anywhere else. 
His gold in a way that seems 

3566
03:16:28,000 --> 03:16:30,700
almost thick, like you could 
reach out and touch it. 

3567
03:16:31,900 --> 03:16:35,100
The air cools rapidly once the 
sun drops behind the Western 

3568
03:16:35,100 --> 03:16:39,100
Ridge and the temperature drops 
10 or 15 degrees in the space of

3569
03:16:39,100 --> 03:16:41,500
20 minutes. 
You've learned to have your 

3570
03:16:41,500 --> 03:16:44,100
jacket Within Reach. 
By the time, the light starts to

3571
03:16:44,100 --> 03:16:46,700
turn. 
The sounds of the evening are 

3572
03:16:46,700 --> 03:16:49,700
the creek. 
The fire crackling, the wind 

3573
03:16:49,700 --> 03:16:52,400
moving through the pines and 
occasionally, the far off. 

3574
03:16:52,400 --> 03:16:54,800
Sound of someone else's acts 
biting into wood. 

3575
03:16:55,600 --> 03:16:58,300
There's a rhythm to life here 
that slower than anything you 

3576
03:16:58,300 --> 03:17:01,500
experience in Ohio. 
Not peaceful, exactly. 

3577
03:17:01,500 --> 03:17:06,300
It's too much work to be 
peaceful, but separate remove 

3578
03:17:06,300 --> 03:17:07,600
from the normal pace of the 
world. 

3579
03:17:07,600 --> 03:17:10,800
You've started noticing small 
things, you wouldn't have 

3580
03:17:10,800 --> 03:17:13,500
noticed. 
Four months ago, The waist 

3581
03:17:13,500 --> 03:17:15,800
certain rocks in the creek have 
patented in the them that look 

3582
03:17:15,800 --> 03:17:18,100
like writing in a language. 
Nobody can read. 

3583
03:17:19,300 --> 03:17:20,800
The way the smoke from your 
fire. 

3584
03:17:20,800 --> 03:17:23,500
Sometimes swirls in One 
Direction while the wind is 

3585
03:17:23,500 --> 03:17:27,200
clearly blowing in another. 
The way the Stars up here are so

3586
03:17:27,208 --> 03:17:29,700
bright. 
They cast actual Shadows, 

3587
03:17:29,700 --> 03:17:34,600
turning the whole Forest into a 
study in silver and black Some 

3588
03:17:34,600 --> 03:17:36,800
evenings. 
You hear the sound of a fiddle, 

3589
03:17:36,800 --> 03:17:39,900
from one of the camps 
Downstream, someone has a fiddle

3590
03:17:39,900 --> 03:17:43,400
and knows about seven songs 
which they play in the same 

3591
03:17:43,400 --> 03:17:46,200
order every time. 
You've heard this sequence so 

3592
03:17:46,200 --> 03:17:48,800
many times, you could probably 
play at yourself if you had a 

3593
03:17:48,800 --> 03:17:52,600
fiddle and any musical ability 
whatsoever, The fact that you 

3594
03:17:52,600 --> 03:17:55,900
can hear the fiddle from your 
Camp, suggests sound carries 

3595
03:17:55,900 --> 03:17:59,400
farther here than it should, or 
that everyone is being quieter 

3596
03:17:59,400 --> 03:18:01,800
than you'd expect from a group 
of men, living in the woods. 

3597
03:18:01,800 --> 03:18:06,000
What keeps you panning day after
day is the fundamental truth. 

3598
03:18:06,000 --> 03:18:10,600
That gold is definitely here. 
Not hypothetically here not 

3599
03:18:10,600 --> 03:18:14,500
rumored to be here. 
Actually documentari present in 

3600
03:18:14,500 --> 03:18:18,800
this Creek in quantities that 
are small, but real, you found 

3601
03:18:18,800 --> 03:18:22,300
it yourself. 
You've held it in your hand, you

3602
03:18:22,300 --> 03:18:25,600
know, with absolute certain tea.
That if you pan enough gravel 

3603
03:18:25,600 --> 03:18:29,800
some of that gravel will contain
gold This is different from most

3604
03:18:29,800 --> 03:18:32,800
gambles, where your betting on 
something that might not even 

3605
03:18:32,800 --> 03:18:35,400
exist here. 
You'll just trying to find 

3606
03:18:35,400 --> 03:18:37,700
enough of something that 
definitely exists. 

3607
03:18:37,700 --> 03:18:42,400
It's like fishing, but the fish 
are tiny, and made of metal and 

3608
03:18:42,400 --> 03:18:45,700
really good at hiding. 
The biggest piece you've found 

3609
03:18:45,700 --> 03:18:48,200
so far is about the size of a 
grain of rice. 

3610
03:18:48,200 --> 03:18:51,700
You found it three weeks ago and
you keep it separate from your 

3611
03:18:51,700 --> 03:18:53,600
other goal in a small glass 
vial. 

3612
03:18:53,600 --> 03:18:55,700
You bought specifically for this
purpose. 

3613
03:18:56,500 --> 03:18:59,800
It's your trophy piece, the 
evidence that larger pieces 

3614
03:18:59,800 --> 03:19:02,100
exist and that you're capable of
finding them. 

3615
03:19:02,100 --> 03:19:05,300
The fact that you haven't found 
another piece that size since is

3616
03:19:05,300 --> 03:19:07,200
information. 
You've chosen not to dwell on, 

3617
03:19:07,200 --> 03:19:10,300
you've heard stories about men 
finding nuggets, the size of 

3618
03:19:10,308 --> 03:19:12,700
potatoes. 
You've heard stories about men 

3619
03:19:12,700 --> 03:19:14,400
becoming rich in a single 
afternoon. 

3620
03:19:14,400 --> 03:19:17,300
You've heard so many stories 
that you've stopped believing 

3621
03:19:17,300 --> 03:19:21,600
most of them but the core truth 
remains some men, do strike it 

3622
03:19:21,600 --> 03:19:24,800
rich. 
Not many men, maybe one in a 

3623
03:19:24,800 --> 03:19:28,300
thousand but someone is that one
in a thousand and there's no 

3624
03:19:28,300 --> 03:19:30,000
particular reason. 
It can't be you. 

3625
03:19:30,000 --> 03:19:33,400
This is the hope that persists 
through the long days of finding

3626
03:19:33,400 --> 03:19:35,500
nothing. 
This is what makes you pick up 

3627
03:19:35,500 --> 03:19:38,100
the pan each morning despite 
your aching back and your 

3628
03:19:38,100 --> 03:19:41,400
questionable finance's. 
This is what makes the whole 

3629
03:19:41,400 --> 03:19:44,500
Enterprise feel like something 
other than slow motion failure. 

3630
03:19:45,700 --> 03:19:48,900
The first of October is crisp in
a way that suggests summer has 

3631
03:19:48,900 --> 03:19:52,100
officially give up. 
You wake to frost on your tent 

3632
03:19:52,100 --> 03:19:56,000
which is new and unwelcome the 
creek seems colder though. 

3633
03:19:56,000 --> 03:19:58,300
You're not sure if it's actually
colder or if you're just losing 

3634
03:19:58,300 --> 03:20:01,900
your tolerance for cold. 
Either way, waiting in now 

3635
03:20:01,900 --> 03:20:03,700
requires a moment of mental 
preparation. 

3636
03:20:03,700 --> 03:20:07,700
That wasn't necessary in August.
You've been here, five months, 

3637
03:20:07,700 --> 03:20:11,200
your original plan was three 
months maximum. 

3638
03:20:11,200 --> 03:20:14,900
You've exceeded your plan by two
months and are now actively 

3639
03:20:14,900 --> 03:20:18,500
ignoring the fact that you made 
a plan at all, The Leather Pouch

3640
03:20:18,500 --> 03:20:20,900
with your gold. 
Now, contains maybe half an 

3641
03:20:20,900 --> 03:20:23,200
ounce total. 
Eight dollars worth of work, 

3642
03:20:23,200 --> 03:20:25,800
though. 
You try not to calculate the per

3643
03:20:25,800 --> 03:20:27,200
day rate because it's 
depressing. 

3644
03:20:28,000 --> 03:20:30,000
Most of the camps around your 
empty. 

3645
03:20:30,000 --> 03:20:33,600
Now the Danish fellow is still 
here along with the three 

3646
03:20:33,600 --> 03:20:37,800
Chinese miners Downstream maybe 
four or five other scattered 

3647
03:20:37,800 --> 03:20:41,700
along the creek. 
Forest feels empty here though. 

3648
03:20:41,700 --> 03:20:44,900
It's hard to say if that's 
because people left or because 

3649
03:20:44,900 --> 03:20:47,800
the changing season makes 
everything feel more Stark. 

3650
03:20:48,600 --> 03:20:51,700
You've made your decision, 
you'll stay through October. 

3651
03:20:51,700 --> 03:20:55,400
Then leave before the first 
snow, this gives you one more 

3652
03:20:55,400 --> 03:20:58,700
month to add to your total. 
One more month to find something

3653
03:20:58,700 --> 03:21:01,600
significant. 
One more month to convince 

3654
03:21:01,600 --> 03:21:04,100
yourself that this whole 
Adventure wasn't a 

3655
03:21:04,100 --> 03:21:08,100
miscalculation. 
October feels like the absolute 

3656
03:21:08,100 --> 03:21:11,300
deadline. 
November feels like death. 

3657
03:21:12,100 --> 03:21:16,700
The work continues as it has for
months, fill the pan, shake it 

3658
03:21:16,700 --> 03:21:20,600
look for color. 
Occasionally find color, mostly 

3659
03:21:20,600 --> 03:21:23,500
find nothing. 
The rhythm is so familiar. 

3660
03:21:23,500 --> 03:21:26,600
Now that you could do it in your
sleep, which is good, because 

3661
03:21:26,600 --> 03:21:28,700
you sometimes feel like you're 
doing it in your sleep. 

3662
03:21:29,500 --> 03:21:32,100
On October 15th, you find a 
nugget. 

3663
03:21:32,900 --> 03:21:36,600
Not a huge nugget calling, it 
nugget is technically generous, 

3664
03:21:36,600 --> 03:21:38,800
but definitely larger than a 
flake. 

3665
03:21:38,800 --> 03:21:42,400
It's about the size of a 
peppercorn with a weight. 

3666
03:21:42,400 --> 03:21:45,800
You can actually feel when you 
place it in your palm, this is 

3667
03:21:45,800 --> 03:21:49,100
the best find you've had in two 
months and you spend a 

3668
03:21:49,100 --> 03:21:52,400
ridiculous amount of time, just 
looking at it, turning it over, 

3669
03:21:52,400 --> 03:21:57,400
feeling the weight of it. 
This nugget is worth, may be 50 

3670
03:21:57,400 --> 03:22:01,500
cents. 50 cents is not a 
Fortune. 50 cents will not 

3671
03:22:01,500 --> 03:22:04,900
change your life. 
But 50 cents found in a single 

3672
03:22:04,900 --> 03:22:07,200
pan is better than the three 
cents per day. 

3673
03:22:07,200 --> 03:22:10,500
You've been averaging and it 
represents the possibility that 

3674
03:22:10,500 --> 03:22:12,700
other larger pieces might be 
nearby. 

3675
03:22:13,800 --> 03:22:17,400
This is how mining works. 
Every small success, suggests 

3676
03:22:17,400 --> 03:22:20,400
the possibility of larger 
success just around the corner. 

3677
03:22:21,200 --> 03:22:23,900
You spend the rest of the day 
working the same area, where you

3678
03:22:23,900 --> 03:22:27,000
found, the Nugget hoping that 
where there's one piece. 

3679
03:22:27,000 --> 03:22:29,900
There might be more, this is 
Sound Logic. 

3680
03:22:29,900 --> 03:22:33,300
This is all the same logic that 
has led you to waste entire 

3681
03:22:33,300 --> 03:22:35,900
days, digging and spots. 
That turned out to contain 

3682
03:22:35,900 --> 03:22:38,900
exactly one piece of gold and 
nothing else. 

3683
03:22:39,900 --> 03:22:44,400
By the end of the day, you found
two more flakes, normal sized, 

3684
03:22:44,400 --> 03:22:47,700
nothing, special and have 
convinced yourself that the 

3685
03:22:47,700 --> 03:22:50,000
Nugget was probably a Solo 
Traveler. 

3686
03:22:50,000 --> 03:22:52,600
Not the advanced Scout for a 
major deposit. 

3687
03:22:53,400 --> 03:22:56,000
This is disappointing, but not 
surprising. 

3688
03:22:57,000 --> 03:23:00,000
Most good news, in mining turns 
out to be followed by normal 

3689
03:23:00,000 --> 03:23:02,500
news. 
The last week of October brings,

3690
03:23:02,500 --> 03:23:06,100
whether that makes it clear that
winter is not a metaphor The 

3691
03:23:06,100 --> 03:23:08,200
temperature drops below freezing
at night. 

3692
03:23:08,200 --> 03:23:12,100
There's snow on the highest 
peaks visible from your Camp as 

3693
03:23:12,100 --> 03:23:15,000
a bright white line against the 
sky that seems to be creeping 

3694
03:23:15,000 --> 03:23:18,500
lower each day. 
The creek is painfully cold now 

3695
03:23:18,500 --> 03:23:21,700
and your hands go numb within 
minutes of starting work. 

3696
03:23:22,500 --> 03:23:26,500
You've made your final count. 
You've got approximately 3/4 of 

3697
03:23:26,500 --> 03:23:29,400
an ounce of gold worth maybe 12 
dollars. 

3698
03:23:31,000 --> 03:23:33,900
After five months of work you've
made 12 dollars. 

3699
03:23:33,900 --> 03:23:37,200
This works out to about two 
dollars and 40 cents per month 

3700
03:23:37,200 --> 03:23:40,500
which is less than you could 
make doing almost any other job.

3701
03:23:41,300 --> 03:23:43,300
On the other hand, you've had an
adventure. 

3702
03:23:43,300 --> 03:23:46,900
You've learned new skills, 
you've lived in the Sierra 

3703
03:23:46,900 --> 03:23:50,300
Nevada and survived, these 
things have value, even if they 

3704
03:23:50,300 --> 03:23:54,700
don't have a price tag, The 
Danish fellow stops by on the 

3705
03:23:54,700 --> 03:23:57,600
28th to say goodbye. 
He's staying through winter 

3706
03:23:57,600 --> 03:24:00,000
which you think is either. 
Braver insane. 

3707
03:24:00,000 --> 03:24:03,100
He says he's built a better 
shelter and has Supply is 

3708
03:24:03,100 --> 03:24:04,900
stored. 
He says, winter mining is 

3709
03:24:04,908 --> 03:24:08,200
difficult but possible and that 
most men who die in the winter 

3710
03:24:08,200 --> 03:24:12,300
die because they're unprepared, 
not because the winter itself is

3711
03:24:12,300 --> 03:24:14,900
unsurvivable. 
He wishes you luck. 

3712
03:24:14,900 --> 03:24:18,700
You wish him luck. 
You shake hands with the warmth 

3713
03:24:18,700 --> 03:24:21,300
of men who've been neighbors 
without quite being friends. 

3714
03:24:22,100 --> 03:24:26,500
On October 30th, you break Camp,
you take down your tent pack, 

3715
03:24:26,500 --> 03:24:29,100
your tools, and take a last. 
Look at your claim. 

3716
03:24:30,600 --> 03:24:33,800
The creek continues, its endless
conversation with itself. 

3717
03:24:34,600 --> 03:24:37,400
Caring, not at all that you've 
spent five months of your life 

3718
03:24:37,400 --> 03:24:41,800
crouched next to it. 
Hoping, The goal is still there,

3719
03:24:41,800 --> 03:24:46,100
somewhere in the gravel, waiting
for the next person, desperate, 

3720
03:24:46,100 --> 03:24:48,100
or optimistic enough to come 
looking for it. 

3721
03:24:49,400 --> 03:24:51,600
The walk back to Sacramento 
takes three days. 

3722
03:24:51,600 --> 03:24:55,600
Your gold pouch sits in your 
pocket heavier than you expected

3723
03:24:55,600 --> 03:24:58,400
for something. 
So, small 12 dollars worth of 

3724
03:24:58,400 --> 03:25:02,200
gold is, not the fortune you 
hope for but it's real money 

3725
03:25:02,200 --> 03:25:06,300
earned by your own labor pulled 
from a creek, one tiny flake. 

3726
03:25:06,300 --> 03:25:09,700
At a time You're not sure if 
you'll come back next spring. 

3727
03:25:09,700 --> 03:25:12,500
You're not sure if five months 
of work for 12 dollars, 

3728
03:25:12,500 --> 03:25:14,500
represents failure, or 
education. 

3729
03:25:15,400 --> 03:25:18,300
You're not sure if you're a 
minor, who's taking a break, or 

3730
03:25:18,300 --> 03:25:21,500
a man who briefly tried Mining 
and is moving on to something 

3731
03:25:21,500 --> 03:25:25,000
else. 
What you're sure of is this, you

3732
03:25:25,000 --> 03:25:28,000
know, how to read a creek. 
Now, you know how to survive in 

3733
03:25:28,000 --> 03:25:29,800
the mountains with minimal 
supplies. 

3734
03:25:29,800 --> 03:25:32,500
You know what it feels like to 
find goal. 

3735
03:25:32,500 --> 03:25:34,800
And you know what? 
It feels like to spend hours, 

3736
03:25:34,800 --> 03:25:36,900
finding nothing. 
These are things. 

3737
03:25:36,900 --> 03:25:40,600
You didn't know, six months ago 
and they're yours now worth more

3738
03:25:40,600 --> 03:25:43,300
than 12 dollars because they 
can't be taken away. 

3739
03:25:43,300 --> 03:25:45,900
The Sierra, Nevada receives 
behind you. 

3740
03:25:45,900 --> 03:25:49,000
As you walk the mountains 
holding their gold, close 

3741
03:25:49,000 --> 03:25:53,500
patient and indifferent waiting.
For the next wave of dreamers to

3742
03:25:53,500 --> 03:25:56,700
arrive with their hands and 
their hope and their willingness

3743
03:25:56,700 --> 03:26:00,300
to spend months in cold water 
for the chance at something 

3744
03:26:00,300 --> 03:26:03,200
better. 
Your time as a gold Panner in 

3745
03:26:03,200 --> 03:26:07,100
the Sierra, Nevada is one story 
among thousands, most of which 

3746
03:26:07,100 --> 03:26:11,200
ended roughly the same way with 
modest returns valuable 

3747
03:26:11,200 --> 03:26:13,700
experience and the knowledge 
that sometimes. 

3748
03:26:13,700 --> 03:26:16,400
The real Discovery is what you 
learn about yourself in the 

3749
03:26:16,400 --> 03:26:19,100
process. 
The gold remains where it's 

3750
03:26:19,100 --> 03:26:22,700
always been waiting in the 
Creeks, the constant invitation,

3751
03:26:22,700 --> 03:26:26,500
to those willing to bend their 
backs and numb their hands for 

3752
03:26:26,500 --> 03:26:29,500
the slim chance that today's pan
might be the one that changes 

3753
03:26:29,500 --> 03:26:37,900
everything. 
There is a version of the 

3754
03:26:37,900 --> 03:26:40,500
Vikings that lives in your head 
already horned. 

3755
03:26:40,500 --> 03:26:45,400
Helmets burning ships. 
Axes swinging, through fog, it 

3756
03:26:45,400 --> 03:26:48,900
is a vivid picture and it has 
been there so long that most 

3757
03:26:48,900 --> 03:26:50,900
people never stop to wonder 
where it came from. 

3758
03:26:51,700 --> 03:26:55,900
The truth is almost none of it 
is accurate and the real story 

3759
03:26:55,900 --> 03:26:59,800
is so much more interesting that
once you see it, the old one 

3760
03:26:59,800 --> 03:27:02,500
starts to feel like a costume 
someone else picked out for 

3761
03:27:02,500 --> 03:27:05,100
them. 
Let us start at the very 

3762
03:27:05,100 --> 03:27:06,800
beginning before any of it 
happened. 

3763
03:27:07,600 --> 03:27:11,000
Before the raids before the 
Legends before the fear. 

3764
03:27:11,900 --> 03:27:15,700
In the Years leading up to 
roughly the late 700 CE. 

3765
03:27:15,700 --> 03:27:19,000
Scandinavia was not a land of 
Warriors, waiting to be 

3766
03:27:19,008 --> 03:27:22,200
Unleashed on the world. 
It was a land of farmers 

3767
03:27:22,200 --> 03:27:25,300
fishermen and crafts. 
People living in one of the 

3768
03:27:25,300 --> 03:27:27,000
harsher climates in northern 
Europe. 

3769
03:27:27,900 --> 03:27:31,700
The winters were brutal, the 
growing seasons were short. 

3770
03:27:31,700 --> 03:27:37,300
The soil in many places was 
thin, Rocky and stubborn. 

3771
03:27:38,100 --> 03:27:41,800
This was not a paradise, it was 
a place where people had to be 

3772
03:27:41,800 --> 03:27:45,100
clever, just to get through the 
year and they were clever 

3773
03:27:45,100 --> 03:27:48,400
extraordinarily. 
So think about what it actually 

3774
03:27:48,400 --> 03:27:52,000
takes to survive in a place like
that, you cannot rely on a 

3775
03:27:52,008 --> 03:27:55,000
single crop. 
You cannot assume the sea will 

3776
03:27:55,000 --> 03:27:58,800
be generous, you cannot afford 
to waste anything because there 

3777
03:27:58,800 --> 03:28:03,000
is no margin for error, every 
household operated like a small 

3778
03:28:03,000 --> 03:28:06,700
quiet machine with moving Parts.
Each one doing something 

3779
03:28:06,700 --> 03:28:10,100
essential the people who lived 
here did not think of themselves

3780
03:28:10,100 --> 03:28:14,300
as Vikings by the way. 
That word came later and it only

3781
03:28:14,300 --> 03:28:17,100
applied to a small number of 
people who went on Expeditions, 

3782
03:28:17,100 --> 03:28:20,800
most of them never left home. 
Most of them lived and died 

3783
03:28:20,808 --> 03:28:24,000
within a few miles of where they
were born and they built a world

3784
03:28:24,000 --> 03:28:27,300
there that worked What makes 
this so fascinating? 

3785
03:28:27,300 --> 03:28:30,800
Is that the skills they 
developed during those long cold

3786
03:28:30,800 --> 03:28:33,800
years of survival? 
Other same skills that would 

3787
03:28:33,800 --> 03:28:38,400
later make them some of the most
effective Traders, settlers a 

3788
03:28:38,400 --> 03:28:41,900
Navigators in human history. 
It was not that they woke up one

3789
03:28:41,900 --> 03:28:43,900
morning and decided to conquer 
the Seas. 

3790
03:28:43,900 --> 03:28:47,200
It was that they had already 
spent Generations learning 

3791
03:28:47,200 --> 03:28:49,000
exactly what they needed to 
know. 

3792
03:28:49,700 --> 03:28:52,900
The land itself shaped them in 
ways that are easy to overlook. 

3793
03:28:53,700 --> 03:28:58,700
Scandinavia is not flat. 
It is carved up by fjords broken

3794
03:28:58,700 --> 03:29:02,000
into islands and divided by 
mountains and rivers. 

3795
03:29:02,800 --> 03:29:06,200
This means that even traveling 
short distances required, an 

3796
03:29:06,200 --> 03:29:09,900
intimate understanding of water.
You could not simply walk from 

3797
03:29:09,900 --> 03:29:13,200
one Valley to the next. 
You have to go around or you had

3798
03:29:13,200 --> 03:29:15,700
to go across The boat was not a 
luxury. 

3799
03:29:15,700 --> 03:29:18,400
It was the basic unit of 
Transportation. 

3800
03:29:19,300 --> 03:29:21,800
The way a road or a path might 
be in a flatter country. 

3801
03:29:22,700 --> 03:29:25,700
Children grew up watching their 
parents navigate inlets and 

3802
03:29:25,700 --> 03:29:27,800
channels the way you might watch
yours. 

3803
03:29:27,800 --> 03:29:30,400
Parallel park. 
It was all ordinary. 

3804
03:29:30,400 --> 03:29:34,400
It was necessary and it made 
them extraordinarily good at it.

3805
03:29:35,300 --> 03:29:38,400
There is something worth pausing
on here, because it changes the 

3806
03:29:38,400 --> 03:29:40,600
way you understand, everything 
that comes off after. 

3807
03:29:41,400 --> 03:29:44,000
The Vikings did not arrive in 
history as conquerors. 

3808
03:29:44,600 --> 03:29:47,600
They arrived as people who had 
already mastered a set of skills

3809
03:29:47,600 --> 03:29:51,400
that happened to be enormously 
useful in a world, where Rivers,

3810
03:29:51,400 --> 03:29:55,800
coastlines, and open water with 
the main highways of trade and 

3811
03:29:55,800 --> 03:29:58,200
travel. 
When the rest of Europe looked 

3812
03:29:58,200 --> 03:30:01,500
at them, they saw Raiders. 
But what they were really 

3813
03:30:01,500 --> 03:30:04,300
looking at was the product of 
centuries of quiet. 

3814
03:30:04,300 --> 03:30:08,400
I'm glamorous adaptation. 
The early North Society was also

3815
03:30:08,400 --> 03:30:11,400
far less militaristic than the 
reputation suggests. 

3816
03:30:12,100 --> 03:30:15,600
Yes, there were weapons. 
And yes, there were conflicts 

3817
03:30:15,600 --> 03:30:19,500
between communities, but Warfare
was not the organizing principle

3818
03:30:19,500 --> 03:30:22,600
of daily life. 
It was one activity, among many 

3819
03:30:22,600 --> 03:30:25,900
and for most people, it was 
something that happened rarely 

3820
03:30:25,900 --> 03:30:30,500
if at all The majority of 
Norsemen were farmers first in 

3821
03:30:30,500 --> 03:30:33,200
everything else. 
Second, they grew barley and 

3822
03:30:33,200 --> 03:30:38,000
Rye, the cattle and sheep. 
And goats they fished, they 

3823
03:30:38,000 --> 03:30:41,800
traded, they built things, they 
argued with their neighbor's 

3824
03:30:41,800 --> 03:30:43,800
over boundary lines and grazing 
rights. 

3825
03:30:43,800 --> 03:30:47,100
The way neighbors of argued over
property since the first person 

3826
03:30:47,100 --> 03:30:51,200
drew a line in the dirt, what is
particularly striking is how a 

3827
03:30:51,200 --> 03:30:54,300
gallery in nor Society was 
compared to much of the rest of 

3828
03:30:54,300 --> 03:30:56,500
the world. 
At that time, there were 

3829
03:30:56,500 --> 03:31:00,300
distinctions certainly, there 
were thralls who were enslaved 

3830
03:31:00,300 --> 03:31:03,600
people and that is a dark and 
important part of the history 

3831
03:31:03,600 --> 03:31:07,900
that deserves acknowledgment. 
There were also y'alls, who were

3832
03:31:07,900 --> 03:31:12,100
something like local laws and 
Carl's who were free farmers and

3833
03:31:12,100 --> 03:31:15,400
thralls, who occupied various 
positions in between. 

3834
03:31:16,400 --> 03:31:19,200
But the gap between the top and 
the bottom was not nearly as 

3835
03:31:19,200 --> 03:31:24,000
vast as it was in say feudal, 
France, or Anglo-Saxon England, 

3836
03:31:24,000 --> 03:31:28,100
a successful farmer could 
accumulate enough wealth and 

3837
03:31:28,100 --> 03:31:31,600
influence to stand in a long 
house and speak with genuine 

3838
03:31:31,600 --> 03:31:35,000
Authority. 
The system was stratified, but 

3839
03:31:35,000 --> 03:31:38,000
it was not rigid in the way that
many other European societies 

3840
03:31:38,000 --> 03:31:40,800
were at the time. 
This matters because it meant 

3841
03:31:40,800 --> 03:31:44,200
that a wide range of people had 
a stake in making things work, 

3842
03:31:44,200 --> 03:31:47,500
you did not need Royal 
permission to build a boat or 

3843
03:31:47,500 --> 03:31:50,900
sale to a new fishing ground. 
You did not need a king's 

3844
03:31:50,900 --> 03:31:54,600
blessing to trade with a 
neighboring Community initiative

3845
03:31:54,600 --> 03:31:57,700
was not. 
Punished Ingenuity was rewarded 

3846
03:31:57,700 --> 03:32:02,500
and in a landscape that demanded
both this created a culture of 

3847
03:32:02,500 --> 03:32:05,000
people who were used to figuring
things out on their own. 

3848
03:32:05,900 --> 03:32:09,300
So before you picture the Viking
in battle picture of the Viking 

3849
03:32:09,300 --> 03:32:12,300
in a workshop shaping, a piece 
of walrus Ivory into a game 

3850
03:32:12,308 --> 03:32:13,700
piece. 
Picture. 

3851
03:32:13,700 --> 03:32:17,100
The Viking on a roof top 
patching a sod roof before the 

3852
03:32:17,100 --> 03:32:20,900
first hard Frost. 
Picture the Viking knee, deep in

3853
03:32:20,900 --> 03:32:22,900
a river, checking a fishing 
line. 

3854
03:32:22,900 --> 03:32:26,700
These are the images that should
come first because they are the 

3855
03:32:26,708 --> 03:32:29,300
ones that are true. 
Most of the time and they are 

3856
03:32:29,300 --> 03:32:31,400
Foundation. 
Everything else was built on. 

3857
03:32:31,400 --> 03:32:33,400
The reputation. 
Came later. 

3858
03:32:33,400 --> 03:32:37,100
The skills came first and the 
skills of the story. 

3859
03:32:37,900 --> 03:32:40,000
There's one more thing worth 
noting about life. 

3860
03:32:40,000 --> 03:32:44,500
Before the reputation took hold,
the Norse were not isolated even

3861
03:32:44,500 --> 03:32:47,100
before the age of expansion they
were trading with their 

3862
03:32:47,100 --> 03:32:50,300
neighbors. 
Furs and Amber and dried fish 

3863
03:32:50,300 --> 03:32:54,800
moved, South Iron and Grain and 
occasionally silver moved. 

3864
03:32:54,800 --> 03:32:57,200
North The network was already 
there. 

3865
03:32:57,200 --> 03:33:01,100
Already functioning already 
connecting, Scandinavia to the 

3866
03:33:01,100 --> 03:33:04,400
rest of Europe in quiet 
unglamorous ways. 

3867
03:33:05,200 --> 03:33:09,000
What changed in the late 700's 
was not that the north suddenly 

3868
03:33:09,000 --> 03:33:12,500
became connected to the world. 
It was that the world suddenly 

3869
03:33:12,500 --> 03:33:16,500
noticed them once it noticed 
them, it had a very hard time 

3870
03:33:16,500 --> 03:33:19,100
looking away. 
But that is getting ahead of 

3871
03:33:19,100 --> 03:33:22,200
ourselves. 
For now, let us stay with the 

3872
03:33:22,200 --> 03:33:25,500
land and the water because that 
is where the next piece of the 

3873
03:33:25,500 --> 03:33:27,900
story lives. 
And it is a piece that most 

3874
03:33:27,900 --> 03:33:30,900
people never think about at all.
There is a reason for that. 

3875
03:33:30,900 --> 03:33:35,200
And the reason is simply that 
the quiet part of History do not

3876
03:33:35,200 --> 03:33:38,300
compete. 
Well with the loud parts A 

3877
03:33:38,300 --> 03:33:40,300
farmer mending. 
A fence does not make for the 

3878
03:33:40,308 --> 03:33:42,900
kind of story that gets retold 
around a fire. 

3879
03:33:44,100 --> 03:33:47,400
Fence still needed mending. 
And someone still did it and the

3880
03:33:47,400 --> 03:33:51,500
farm still stood because of it. 
Most of Norse history is like 

3881
03:33:51,500 --> 03:33:56,600
that fence unglamorous necessary
and holding everything else up. 

3882
03:33:57,300 --> 03:34:00,400
If you have ever lived near the 
ocean you know that it changes 

3883
03:34:00,400 --> 03:34:03,900
the way you think about 
distance, a town that is 40 

3884
03:34:03,900 --> 03:34:07,500
miles away by Road, might feel 
closer than one that is 10 miles

3885
03:34:07,500 --> 03:34:10,100
away on the other side of a hill
because the water offers a 

3886
03:34:10,100 --> 03:34:14,300
straight unobstructed path. 
The Norse understood this better

3887
03:34:14,300 --> 03:34:16,400
than almost anyone in the 
medieval world. 

3888
03:34:17,200 --> 03:34:19,200
Water was not an obstacle to 
them. 

3889
03:34:19,200 --> 03:34:23,100
It was an invitation. 
The coastline of Norway alone is

3890
03:34:23,100 --> 03:34:27,300
staggering in its complexity. if
you straightened every Fjord, 

3891
03:34:27,300 --> 03:34:32,200
Inlet Ireland, and Peninsula, 
the coastline would be tens of 

3892
03:34:32,200 --> 03:34:36,400
thousands of miles long This is 
not a place where the land meets

3893
03:34:36,400 --> 03:34:39,900
the sea in a clean line, it is a
place where they're Tangled 

3894
03:34:39,900 --> 03:34:43,800
together into woven an almost 
impossible to separate. 

3895
03:34:44,800 --> 03:34:47,500
And the people who lived along 
that Coastline did not 

3896
03:34:47,500 --> 03:34:51,300
experience it as chaos. 
They experience to his home, 

3897
03:34:51,300 --> 03:34:54,800
they knew which channels were 
navigable in which sees Seasons,

3898
03:34:54,800 --> 03:34:59,100
they knew where the currents ran
fast and where they slowed, they

3899
03:34:59,100 --> 03:35:01,800
knew the rocks by field. 
The way, you might know the 

3900
03:35:01,800 --> 03:35:03,700
layout of your own Kitchen in 
the dark. 

3901
03:35:04,700 --> 03:35:08,600
This intimacy with water shaped 
everything about Norse daily 

3902
03:35:08,600 --> 03:35:11,100
life. 
Fishing was not a weekend 

3903
03:35:11,108 --> 03:35:15,200
activity or a hobby, it was a 
fundamental source of food and 

3904
03:35:15,200 --> 03:35:19,300
income. the waters off, 
Scandinavia were Rich teeming 

3905
03:35:19,300 --> 03:35:23,600
with Cod Herring and salmon 
among other species, cod in 

3906
03:35:23,600 --> 03:35:27,300
particular became enormously 
important, not just as a food 

3907
03:35:27,300 --> 03:35:31,300
source, but as a trade good, 
dried Cod could last for months,

3908
03:35:31,300 --> 03:35:35,300
even years, and it could be 
carried long distances without 

3909
03:35:35,300 --> 03:35:40,600
spoiling Their was lightweight 
Cal dents and portable. in many 

3910
03:35:40,600 --> 03:35:43,600
ways, dried Cod was to the 
Norse, what grain was to 

3911
03:35:43,600 --> 03:35:47,500
agricultural civilizations, 
elsewhere in Europe, Durable, 

3912
03:35:47,500 --> 03:35:50,600
tradable, Foundation upon which 
everything else could be built. 

3913
03:35:51,600 --> 03:35:54,200
Fishing itself required a level 
of skill and knowledge. 

3914
03:35:54,200 --> 03:35:58,600
That is hard to overstate. 
You have to know the tides, you 

3915
03:35:58,600 --> 03:36:02,000
had to know the weather, not 
just today's weather but the way

3916
03:36:02,000 --> 03:36:04,900
the atmosphere behaved in your 
particular stretch of Coast 

3917
03:36:04,900 --> 03:36:07,500
which could be entirely 
different from what was 

3918
03:36:07,500 --> 03:36:09,100
happening, just a few miles 
away. 

3919
03:36:10,000 --> 03:36:12,600
You had to know where the fish 
were at different times of year,

3920
03:36:12,600 --> 03:36:15,900
which meant understanding the 
water temperature, the currents,

3921
03:36:15,900 --> 03:36:18,100
and the behavior of the species 
you are. 

3922
03:36:18,100 --> 03:36:21,100
After this was not knowledge, 
you could read in a book. 

3923
03:36:21,108 --> 03:36:25,100
It was knowledge passed down 
through, practice observation 

3924
03:36:25,100 --> 03:36:30,400
and years of quiet attention, 
And it extended far beyond 

3925
03:36:30,400 --> 03:36:33,200
fishing. 
The Norse relationship with 

3926
03:36:33,200 --> 03:36:35,900
water also shaped how they 
thought about community. 

3927
03:36:36,600 --> 03:36:39,500
Settlements tended to Cluster 
along, coastlines and River 

3928
03:36:39,500 --> 03:36:41,700
mouths. 
Not because the Land There was 

3929
03:36:41,700 --> 03:36:44,800
necessarily the best for 
farming, but because the water 

3930
03:36:44,800 --> 03:36:48,400
provided access to everything 
else, a village at the mouth of 

3931
03:36:48,400 --> 03:36:51,000
a river could send Goods 
upstream and receive goods from 

3932
03:36:51,000 --> 03:36:55,100
the interior. a settlement on a 
sheltered Bay could launch boats

3933
03:36:55,100 --> 03:36:59,700
and calm weather and haul them 
up on shore When Storms came The

3934
03:36:59,700 --> 03:37:02,500
water was the reason people 
lived where they lived and it 

3935
03:37:02,500 --> 03:37:05,900
determined who they could trade 
with who they could reach and 

3936
03:37:05,900 --> 03:37:08,000
how quickly they could move when
they needed to. 

3937
03:37:09,000 --> 03:37:12,600
Rivers were just as important as
the sea and in some ways more. 

3938
03:37:12,600 --> 03:37:15,900
So for the interior of 
Scandinavia, Rivers were 

3939
03:37:15,900 --> 03:37:18,200
highways and they were used as 
such. 

3940
03:37:18,900 --> 03:37:22,200
Goods moved along them 
constantly carried by small 

3941
03:37:22,200 --> 03:37:25,800
boats and rafts. 
The north was skilled at reading

3942
03:37:25,800 --> 03:37:29,600
Rivers, the way a sailor reads, 
the open ocean, understanding 

3943
03:37:29,600 --> 03:37:33,200
where the water moved fast, 
where it pulled where it was 

3944
03:37:33,200 --> 03:37:36,700
shallow enough to Wade and where
it dropped suddenly into depth. 

3945
03:37:37,700 --> 03:37:41,100
This knowledge of river systems 
would proven enormously valuable

3946
03:37:41,100 --> 03:37:44,800
later when Norse trade is and 
settles began pushing into the 

3947
03:37:44,800 --> 03:37:47,700
interior of what is now Russia 
and Eastern Europe. 

3948
03:37:47,700 --> 03:37:52,800
But that is a story for another 
segment. for now, the point is 

3949
03:37:52,800 --> 03:37:57,100
simply this, The Norse did not 
stumble into their relationship 

3950
03:37:57,100 --> 03:37:59,500
with water. 
They cultivated it. 

3951
03:37:59,500 --> 03:38:03,900
Generation after generation 
until it became As Natural as 

3952
03:38:03,900 --> 03:38:06,500
breathing. 
There is also something worth 

3953
03:38:06,500 --> 03:38:09,100
considering about this 
psychological effect of living 

3954
03:38:09,100 --> 03:38:12,600
in a landscape like this. 
When the water is always there, 

3955
03:38:12,600 --> 03:38:15,800
always visible always part of 
your daily routine. 

3956
03:38:15,800 --> 03:38:20,000
It becomes part of the way you 
see the world, The Norse did not

3957
03:38:20,008 --> 03:38:21,900
think of Travelers, something 
extraordinary. 

3958
03:38:22,600 --> 03:38:25,700
They thought of it to something 
you did when you needed to get 

3959
03:38:25,700 --> 03:38:28,800
somewhere. 
Idea of staying in one place 

3960
03:38:28,800 --> 03:38:31,800
your entire life, never 
venturing, beyond the next 

3961
03:38:31,800 --> 03:38:36,100
Valley would have struck many of
them as unusual, perhaps, even a

3962
03:38:36,100 --> 03:38:38,700
little sad. 
Movement was normal. 

3963
03:38:38,700 --> 03:38:41,600
Exploration was not an act of 
heroism. 

3964
03:38:41,600 --> 03:38:45,300
It was simply what you did when 
the water offered you away 

3965
03:38:45,300 --> 03:38:47,700
forward and you had a reason to 
take it. 

3966
03:38:48,900 --> 03:38:51,400
This is one of the things that 
makes the north so different, 

3967
03:38:51,400 --> 03:38:54,100
from many of the other cultures 
you read about in medieval 

3968
03:38:54,100 --> 03:38:57,100
European history. 
In a world where most people's 

3969
03:38:57,100 --> 03:38:59,300
lives were bounded by the 
nearest market town. 

3970
03:38:59,300 --> 03:39:02,700
The Norse were already thinking.
In terms of coastlines and River

3971
03:39:02,700 --> 03:39:05,500
networks that stretched across 
hundreds of miles. 

3972
03:39:05,500 --> 03:39:09,300
Not because they were braver, 
but because their geography made

3973
03:39:09,300 --> 03:39:13,100
it possible and their skills 
made it practical, The boats 

3974
03:39:13,100 --> 03:39:16,300
themselves deserve a mention 
here even though we are not 

3975
03:39:16,308 --> 03:39:18,400
focusing on shipbuilding as a 
separate topic. 

3976
03:39:19,300 --> 03:39:22,200
The Norse longship is one of the
most celebrated pieces of 

3977
03:39:22,208 --> 03:39:25,900
engineering and history. 
And for good reason, It was 

3978
03:39:25,900 --> 03:39:28,600
shallow enough to navigate 
rivers and Coastal shallows. 

3979
03:39:28,600 --> 03:39:32,300
It was flexible enough to ride 
over waves rather than fighting 

3980
03:39:32,300 --> 03:39:34,200
them. 
It was light enough to be 

3981
03:39:34,200 --> 03:39:37,500
carried, Overland, when 
necessary and it was fast. 

3982
03:39:37,500 --> 03:39:42,000
Remarkably fast for its size. 
But the thing that is often 

3983
03:39:42,000 --> 03:39:44,500
overlooked is how much of that 
design was the product of 

3984
03:39:44,500 --> 03:39:48,500
practical necessity rather than 
an ambition, the Norse did not 

3985
03:39:48,500 --> 03:39:50,900
build those boats because they 
wanted to sail, across the 

3986
03:39:50,900 --> 03:39:53,000
Atlantic. 
They built them because they 

3987
03:39:53,000 --> 03:39:56,700
needed to get from one fuel to 
the next, to haul fish to 

3988
03:39:56,700 --> 03:39:59,300
Market. 
And to visit a trading partner 

3989
03:39:59,300 --> 03:40:02,700
on the other side of an island. 
The ocean Crossing was came 

3990
03:40:02,700 --> 03:40:05,900
later. 
Daily usefulness came first. 

3991
03:40:07,600 --> 03:40:11,200
There is a quiet satisfaction in
thinking about this most 

3992
03:40:11,200 --> 03:40:14,000
impressive Feats of North Sea 
fairing were not planned 

3993
03:40:14,000 --> 03:40:17,000
centuries in advance. 
They were the natural extension 

3994
03:40:17,000 --> 03:40:19,800
of skills that had been home for
Generations in the service of 

3995
03:40:19,800 --> 03:40:22,800
ordinary life. 
The north did not set out to 

3996
03:40:22,800 --> 03:40:26,200
change the world. 
They set out to fish to trade 

3997
03:40:26,200 --> 03:40:30,300
and to move goods and people 
from one place to another and in

3998
03:40:30,300 --> 03:40:32,500
doing. 
So they ended up touching almost

3999
03:40:32,500 --> 03:40:36,800
every corner of the Known World.
The water gave them axis their 

4000
03:40:36,800 --> 03:40:39,000
skills. 
Gave them the ability to use it.

4001
03:40:39,700 --> 03:40:43,000
And the combination of the two 
created, something that no 

4002
03:40:43,000 --> 03:40:45,600
single generation could have 
planned or predicted. 

4003
03:40:46,300 --> 03:40:50,300
It simply grew the way, a river 
grows, when tributaries feed 

4004
03:40:50,300 --> 03:40:52,500
into it. 
Each one adding a little more 

4005
03:40:52,500 --> 03:40:55,200
until the whole thing is 
something much larger than any 

4006
03:40:55,200 --> 03:40:58,300
of its parts. 
Tonight, as you drift towards 

4007
03:40:58,300 --> 03:41:01,200
sleep, it is worth holding that 
image for a moment. 

4008
03:41:02,000 --> 03:41:05,900
The image is not a viking on the
proud of a warship but rather of

4009
03:41:05,900 --> 03:41:09,900
a Norse fisherman checking his 
lines at dawn a trade a loading 

4010
03:41:09,900 --> 03:41:13,700
dried, Cod onto a small boat and
a mother instructing her child 

4011
03:41:13,700 --> 03:41:16,300
on which channel to take When 
the tide is running out. 

4012
03:41:17,200 --> 03:41:19,800
These are the people who built 
the world of Vikings are 

4013
03:41:19,800 --> 03:41:23,700
remembered for one quiet trip 
across the water at a time. 

4014
03:41:24,600 --> 03:41:27,300
There is one more detail about 
water-oriented living that is 

4015
03:41:27,308 --> 03:41:30,500
worth mentioning before we move 
on, and it has to do with the 

4016
03:41:30,500 --> 03:41:32,500
way the Norse thought about 
seasons. 

4017
03:41:33,300 --> 03:41:37,000
In a land, where the days shrink
to almost nothing in Winter and 

4018
03:41:37,000 --> 03:41:39,800
then expand to almost continuous
daylight in summer. 

4019
03:41:40,700 --> 03:41:42,500
The rhythm of the year is not 
subtle. 

4020
03:41:42,500 --> 03:41:46,500
It is dramatic and it Demands. 
A kind of flexibility that 

4021
03:41:46,500 --> 03:41:48,100
people. 
In more temperate climates 

4022
03:41:48,100 --> 03:41:52,900
rarely have to develop The Norse
fish differently in some of them

4023
03:41:52,900 --> 03:41:54,800
in Winter. 
They traveled differently. 

4024
03:41:54,800 --> 03:41:58,600
They worked differently. 
They even thought about time 

4025
03:41:58,600 --> 03:42:02,500
differently measuring it, not by
clocks or calendars, but by the 

4026
03:42:02,500 --> 03:42:04,700
behavior of the land and the 
water around them. 

4027
03:42:05,600 --> 03:42:09,300
First Thor was a landmark. 
The arrival of certain fish 

4028
03:42:09,300 --> 03:42:13,100
species was a landmark the 
longest day and the shortest day

4029
03:42:13,100 --> 03:42:16,800
were landmarks. 
Life moved in cycles and the 

4030
03:42:16,800 --> 03:42:20,300
Norse moved with them, not 
fighting the Rhythm, but riding 

4031
03:42:20,300 --> 03:42:24,000
it the way, a boat rides away, 
rather than trying to cut 

4032
03:42:24,000 --> 03:42:26,700
through it. 
This attentiveness to seasonal 

4033
03:42:26,700 --> 03:42:29,200
change made the Norse from Mark 
of the adaptable. 

4034
03:42:29,200 --> 03:42:33,900
When conditions shifted whether 
to a bad winter and unusual 

4035
03:42:33,900 --> 03:42:37,600
storm or a change in the local 
ecosystem, they could adjust. 

4036
03:42:38,500 --> 03:42:41,200
They were not locked in to a 
single strategy for survival, 

4037
03:42:41,200 --> 03:42:45,100
they had dozens of them and they
switched between them as the 

4038
03:42:45,100 --> 03:42:48,800
situation required. 
This flexibility was one of the 

4039
03:42:48,800 --> 03:42:51,100
reasons North communities were 
so durable. 

4040
03:42:51,100 --> 03:42:54,600
They did not Thrive. 
Only in good years, they 

4041
03:42:54,600 --> 03:42:58,300
survived in bad ones, too 
bending rather than Breaking the

4042
03:42:58,300 --> 03:42:59,700
way. 
The longship bent with the 

4043
03:42:59,700 --> 03:43:01,500
wave's rather than resisting 
them. 

4044
03:43:02,700 --> 03:43:05,900
And now let us talk about what 
they did when they got there 

4045
03:43:05,900 --> 03:43:09,700
because the skills they brought 
with them were remarkable in 

4046
03:43:09,700 --> 03:43:11,800
ways that have nothing to do 
with fighting. 

4047
03:43:12,800 --> 03:43:15,600
There is a particular kind of 
competence that does not make 

4048
03:43:15,600 --> 03:43:19,400
for exciting headlines. 
It does not involve swords or 

4049
03:43:19,400 --> 03:43:23,700
fire or dramatic loss stands. 
It is the competence of people 

4050
03:43:23,700 --> 03:43:28,700
who know, how to make things fix
things, and keep things running 

4051
03:43:28,700 --> 03:43:30,900
in a climate that does not 
forgive mistakes. 

4052
03:43:30,900 --> 03:43:35,600
The Norse, have this competence 
in abundance and it is one of 

4053
03:43:35,600 --> 03:43:37,700
the least celebrated parts of 
their story. 

4054
03:43:38,900 --> 03:43:41,400
Woodworking as a good place to 
start because wood was 

4055
03:43:41,400 --> 03:43:44,700
everywhere in Scandinavia and 
the Norse used it for almost 

4056
03:43:44,700 --> 03:43:47,600
everything. 
The Norse used wood for building

4057
03:43:47,600 --> 03:43:53,600
structures boats, furniture 
tools, sled Runners fence posts 

4058
03:43:53,600 --> 03:43:56,400
cooking implements and 
children's toys. 

4059
03:43:58,100 --> 03:44:01,100
The forests of Northern 
Scandinavia were vast and dense 

4060
03:44:01,100 --> 03:44:03,800
filled with pine, Birch, and 
Spruce. 

4061
03:44:03,800 --> 03:44:06,100
And the Norse knew how to read a
tree. 

4062
03:44:06,100 --> 03:44:09,400
The way a butcher, knows how to 
read a cut of meat, They 

4063
03:44:09,400 --> 03:44:12,900
understood which would was best 
for which purpose Oak for 

4064
03:44:12,900 --> 03:44:15,400
structural Timbers. 
Where strength, matted? 

4065
03:44:15,400 --> 03:44:19,200
Most Pine for boat planking 
where flexibility and 

4066
03:44:19,200 --> 03:44:23,700
lightweight were more important.
Birch for smaller items, where 

4067
03:44:23,700 --> 03:44:26,700
the wood needed to be easy to 
shape and quick to work. 

4068
03:44:27,300 --> 03:44:29,900
The actual craft of woodworking 
was passed down through 

4069
03:44:29,900 --> 03:44:34,500
apprenticeship through watching 
and doing and through years of 

4070
03:44:34,500 --> 03:44:37,300
handling tools and learning the 
feel of the grain. 

4071
03:44:37,300 --> 03:44:41,700
Beneath your fingers. 
A skilled Norse Carpenter could 

4072
03:44:41,700 --> 03:44:45,800
shape a whole plank so precisely
that it fit against its neighbor

4073
03:44:45,800 --> 03:44:49,200
with almost no Gap. 
Relying not on nails or 

4074
03:44:49,200 --> 03:44:51,600
caulking, but on the accuracy of
the cut itself. 

4075
03:44:52,800 --> 03:44:56,700
This was not magic, it was 
practiced and patience and a 

4076
03:44:56,700 --> 03:44:58,500
deep familiarity with the 
material. 

4077
03:44:58,500 --> 03:45:02,600
It was the kind of skill that 
took a lifetime to fully develop

4078
03:45:02,600 --> 03:45:07,100
and it showed in everything the 
Norse built Textile work was 

4079
03:45:07,100 --> 03:45:10,800
equally important and it 
occupied a significant portion 

4080
03:45:10,800 --> 03:45:13,000
of daily life for women in North
households. 

4081
03:45:13,900 --> 03:45:17,000
Spinning and weaving were not 
minor tasks, squeezed in to the 

4082
03:45:17,000 --> 03:45:20,300
margins of the day, they were 
Central activities and the 

4083
03:45:20,300 --> 03:45:24,100
cloth, they produced was both a 
practical necessity and a source

4084
03:45:24,100 --> 03:45:27,600
of genuine Pride. 
Norse will cloth was known for 

4085
03:45:27,600 --> 03:45:31,100
its quality. 
It was warm durable and well 

4086
03:45:31,100 --> 03:45:34,500
made and it traveled. 
Well, as a trade, good the 

4087
03:45:34,500 --> 03:45:37,800
process of producing it from 
shearing, the Sheep to carding 

4088
03:45:37,800 --> 03:45:40,800
the wall to spinning it, into 
thread, to weaving it into 

4089
03:45:40,800 --> 03:45:43,800
fabric was long and labor 
intensive. 

4090
03:45:44,400 --> 03:45:48,000
It required skill at every stage
and the women who did it were 

4091
03:45:48,000 --> 03:45:49,900
not performing a lesser role in 
the household. 

4092
03:45:49,900 --> 03:45:53,100
They were producing one of the 
most valuable things, the 

4093
03:45:53,100 --> 03:45:57,300
household had Metal work was 
another area where the Norse 

4094
03:45:57,300 --> 03:46:01,600
showed remarkable ability. 
Iron smelting and forging were 

4095
03:46:01,600 --> 03:46:02,900
practiced throughout 
Scandinavia. 

4096
03:46:03,800 --> 03:46:07,400
A Norse myths were capable of 
producing tools and weapons of 

4097
03:46:07,400 --> 03:46:11,200
high quality. 
A good Smith was a valued member

4098
03:46:11,200 --> 03:46:14,900
of any Community, the work 
required, both technical 

4099
03:46:14,900 --> 03:46:17,700
knowledge, and a kind of 
intuitive feel for the material.

4100
03:46:18,600 --> 03:46:22,500
You had to know how to heat 
strike and quench the iron. 

4101
03:46:22,500 --> 03:46:24,700
So it held an edge without 
becoming brittle. 

4102
03:46:25,400 --> 03:46:27,600
These were not skills. 
You could learn from a written 

4103
03:46:27,600 --> 03:46:29,900
guide. 
They were learned at the forge 

4104
03:46:29,900 --> 03:46:32,700
through repetition and failure 
and gradual mastery. 

4105
03:46:33,800 --> 03:46:36,900
But here is, what is worth 
noting about all of the skills. 

4106
03:46:36,900 --> 03:46:40,500
They were not specialized in the
way that skills tend to be in 

4107
03:46:40,500 --> 03:46:42,800
Modern Life. 
A Norse farmer. 

4108
03:46:42,800 --> 03:46:45,800
Might also be a passable 
Carpenter, a competent 

4109
03:46:45,800 --> 03:46:49,400
woodworker, and someone who 
could mend a tool or Patcher 

4110
03:46:49,400 --> 03:46:51,000
roof without needing to hire 
anyone. 

4111
03:46:51,800 --> 03:46:55,700
Women manage complex households 
that involved cooking preserving

4112
03:46:55,700 --> 03:46:59,900
food, producing cloth, raising 
children, and keeping the 

4113
03:46:59,900 --> 03:47:03,200
domestic economy running. 
There was overlap everywhere. 

4114
03:47:04,000 --> 03:47:06,400
People wore. 
Multiple hats not because they 

4115
03:47:06,400 --> 03:47:09,400
were trying to impress anyone 
but because the scale of Life 

4116
03:47:09,400 --> 03:47:13,500
demanded it this generalist 
quality made Norse communities, 

4117
03:47:13,500 --> 03:47:18,200
remarkably resilient If one 
person got sick or was injured 

4118
03:47:18,200 --> 03:47:21,900
or simply Had a Bad season, 
others could step in and cover 

4119
03:47:21,900 --> 03:47:24,700
the gap. 
There were no single points of 

4120
03:47:24,700 --> 03:47:28,200
failure, nowhere replaceable 
specialist, without whom the 

4121
03:47:28,200 --> 03:47:31,600
whole system would collapse. 
Everyone knew enough to keep 

4122
03:47:31,600 --> 03:47:35,000
things moving and that shared 
competence created a kind of 

4123
03:47:35,000 --> 03:47:39,400
quiet stability that outside is 
rarely noticed, that was 

4124
03:47:39,408 --> 03:47:43,600
essential to survive or cooking 
and food preservation deserves 

4125
03:47:43,600 --> 03:47:47,100
special attention here. 
Because they reveal a great deal

4126
03:47:47,100 --> 03:47:49,000
about how the Norse actually 
lived. 

4127
03:47:49,700 --> 03:47:53,100
The diet was practical and 
varied built around, what the 

4128
03:47:53,100 --> 03:47:55,800
land and water could provide. 
Fish. 

4129
03:47:55,800 --> 03:47:59,700
As we have already discussed was
a staple. so, with dairy 

4130
03:47:59,700 --> 03:48:03,300
products, Cattle and sheep 
provided milk, which was 

4131
03:48:03,300 --> 03:48:07,100
consumed fresh, and also 
fermented into buttermilk and 

4132
03:48:07,100 --> 03:48:11,500
skier, a thick Tangy, cultured, 
dairy product, that is still 

4133
03:48:11,508 --> 03:48:15,500
eaten in a nice and today. 
Eggs came from chickens and 

4134
03:48:15,508 --> 03:48:18,500
ducks. 
Game was hunted when available. 

4135
03:48:19,300 --> 03:48:22,300
Berries and nuts were gathered 
In Summer and Autumn when the 

4136
03:48:22,308 --> 03:48:24,800
landscape briefly exploded with 
food. 

4137
03:48:25,600 --> 03:48:27,500
Bread was made from barley and 
Rye. 

4138
03:48:27,500 --> 03:48:30,700
The grains that actually grew in
Scandinavian climates. 

4139
03:48:31,400 --> 03:48:35,100
It was dense and heavy, nothing 
like the soft white bread that 

4140
03:48:35,100 --> 03:48:37,100
would become common in warmer 
parts of Europe. 

4141
03:48:38,000 --> 03:48:41,000
But it was nutritious and 
filling, and it kept well which 

4142
03:48:41,000 --> 03:48:43,900
mattered enormously in a place 
where Winter could last for 

4143
03:48:43,900 --> 03:48:46,700
months. 
Preservation of food was a 

4144
03:48:46,700 --> 03:48:49,100
critical skill and the Norse 
were good at it. 

4145
03:48:49,900 --> 03:48:53,600
Drying smoking and fermenting 
with the main methods, and they 

4146
03:48:53,600 --> 03:48:55,800
used each one with care and 
precision. 

4147
03:48:56,700 --> 03:49:00,300
Dried fish could last for years.
Fermented dairy products 

4148
03:49:00,300 --> 03:49:04,000
provided nutritional Through The
Long Winter. smoked meat and 

4149
03:49:04,000 --> 03:49:07,600
fish, added variety, and could 
be carried on Long Journeys, 

4150
03:49:07,600 --> 03:49:11,500
without spoiling The Norse did 
not waste for food. 

4151
03:49:12,500 --> 03:49:15,800
In a climate where a single bad 
Harvest could mean genuine 

4152
03:49:15,800 --> 03:49:18,600
hardship. 
Every scrap was accounted for 

4153
03:49:19,500 --> 03:49:21,900
There is something almost 
meditative about the rhythm of 

4154
03:49:21,900 --> 03:49:24,000
Norse daily life. 
When you think about it in these

4155
03:49:24,000 --> 03:49:28,800
terms, wake up ten, the animals,
work the land, or the water 

4156
03:49:28,800 --> 03:49:32,600
craft, something preserve 
something, feed the household 

4157
03:49:32,600 --> 03:49:35,700
repair, what needs repairing do 
it again? 

4158
03:49:35,700 --> 03:49:39,200
The next day there was not 
glamorous, but it was purposeful

4159
03:49:39,200 --> 03:49:43,000
and it worked and It produced a 
people who are capable of 

4160
03:49:43,008 --> 03:49:46,600
extraordinary things precisely 
because they had spent so long. 

4161
03:49:46,600 --> 03:49:50,100
Mastering the ordinary ones 
animal husbandry was another 

4162
03:49:50,100 --> 03:49:53,400
Cornerstone of Norse daily life,
and it deserves a moment of 

4163
03:49:53,400 --> 03:49:56,400
attention. 
Battle were prized possessions, 

4164
03:49:56,400 --> 03:50:00,700
symbols of wealth and stability 
and caring for them was a 

4165
03:50:00,708 --> 03:50:04,700
serious responsibility. 
Norse cattle was smaller than 

4166
03:50:04,700 --> 03:50:09,400
modern breeds Hardy and well 
adapted the cold, but they still

4167
03:50:09,400 --> 03:50:13,000
required constant attention. 
They had to be fed through the 

4168
03:50:13,000 --> 03:50:16,100
winter, which meant that enough 
hay had to be harvested and 

4169
03:50:16,100 --> 03:50:19,300
stored during the brief growing 
season to sustain the herd until

4170
03:50:19,300 --> 03:50:22,700
spring. 
Calculating how much hey, you 

4171
03:50:22,700 --> 03:50:24,900
needed and making sure you 
actually cut and dried. 

4172
03:50:24,900 --> 03:50:28,400
Enough of it was one of the more
consequential decisions and 

4173
03:50:28,400 --> 03:50:33,100
North farmer made each year, get
it wrong and animals died, get 

4174
03:50:33,100 --> 03:50:35,300
it right and the household 
survived. 

4175
03:50:36,000 --> 03:50:40,200
Sheep were equally important and
in some ways more so because 

4176
03:50:40,200 --> 03:50:44,300
they provided not only meat and 
milk, but also wool the raw 

4177
03:50:44,300 --> 03:50:47,000
material for the textile 
production that kept North 

4178
03:50:47,000 --> 03:50:50,300
households clothed and that 
generated one of their most 

4179
03:50:50,300 --> 03:50:54,000
valuable trade goods. 
Nor sheep were tough Scrappy 

4180
03:50:54,000 --> 03:50:56,100
animals. 
Well, suited to the harsh 

4181
03:50:56,100 --> 03:50:59,400
grazing conditions of 
Scandinavia, and they required 

4182
03:50:59,400 --> 03:51:03,600
less intensive care than cattle.
But they still had to be watched

4183
03:51:03,600 --> 03:51:07,500
sheared and fed and the 
knowledge of how to manage a 

4184
03:51:07,500 --> 03:51:09,200
flock. 
Well, was passed down through 

4185
03:51:09,200 --> 03:51:12,100
generations of careful, 
observation and practice. 

4186
03:51:13,300 --> 03:51:16,500
One more skilled deserves 
mention, before we move on and 

4187
03:51:16,500 --> 03:51:19,800
that is navigation. 
We touched on the early in the 

4188
03:51:19,800 --> 03:51:23,300
context of water oriented 
living. but it Bears repeating 

4189
03:51:23,300 --> 03:51:26,400
because it was so Central to 
everything the north did and 

4190
03:51:26,400 --> 03:51:29,900
eventually became Norse 
navigational was not dependent 

4191
03:51:29,900 --> 03:51:33,700
on a single tool or technique. 
There was no compass in 

4192
03:51:33,700 --> 03:51:35,800
Scandinavia until centuries 
later. 

4193
03:51:35,800 --> 03:51:40,300
Instead Norse Navigators relied 
on a combination of knowledge 

4194
03:51:40,300 --> 03:51:42,400
that was almost staggeringly 
Broad. 

4195
03:51:43,400 --> 03:51:46,400
They read the Stars tracking 
their positions across the sky 

4196
03:51:46,400 --> 03:51:50,000
with a Precision that allowed 
them to determine their latitude

4197
03:51:50,000 --> 03:51:52,000
even on clear nights far from 
Shore. 

4198
03:51:53,200 --> 03:51:57,200
They read the sun using devices 
called sunstones, which could 

4199
03:51:57,200 --> 03:52:00,500
locate the sun's position even 
on overcast Days by detecting, 

4200
03:52:00,500 --> 03:52:03,700
the polarization of light. 
They read the waves 

4201
03:52:03,700 --> 03:52:07,800
understanding, how ocean swells 
behave differently, depending on

4202
03:52:07,800 --> 03:52:09,700
their relationship, to the wind 
and the land. 

4203
03:52:09,700 --> 03:52:14,200
They read the birds knowing that
certain species flew toward land

4204
03:52:14,200 --> 03:52:17,200
in the evening and away from it.
In the morning, they read the 

4205
03:52:17,208 --> 03:52:20,200
color of the water, the 
temperature, the clouds, and the

4206
03:52:20,200 --> 03:52:24,100
wind, no single one of these 
methods was sufficient on its 

4207
03:52:24,100 --> 03:52:27,300
own. 
Button together, they formed a 

4208
03:52:27,300 --> 03:52:30,800
navigational system of 
remarkable sophistication, one 

4209
03:52:30,800 --> 03:52:34,200
that allowed nor Sailors to 
cross open, ocean and arrive, 

4210
03:52:34,200 --> 03:52:37,800
within sight of their intended. 
Destination, with a regularity 

4211
03:52:37,800 --> 03:52:40,500
that impressed and sometimes 
terrified the people they 

4212
03:52:40,500 --> 03:52:45,300
visited. this was not luck, it 
was knowledge accumulated over 

4213
03:52:45,300 --> 03:52:49,700
generations and refined through 
constant use and it is worth 

4214
03:52:49,700 --> 03:52:51,500
remembering the tall of these 
skills. 

4215
03:52:51,500 --> 03:52:54,900
The Woodworking the textile 
work, the metal work, the 

4216
03:52:54,900 --> 03:52:58,600
cooking and the navigation. 
Were not the province of a 

4217
03:52:58,600 --> 03:53:00,800
warrior class. 
They were the province of 

4218
03:53:00,800 --> 03:53:02,900
ordinary people doing ordinary 
things. 

4219
03:53:02,900 --> 03:53:05,900
The north did not become 
remarkable because they were 

4220
03:53:05,900 --> 03:53:09,000
born remarkable. 
They became remarkable because 

4221
03:53:09,000 --> 03:53:12,000
they spent centuries getting 
very, very good at the things 

4222
03:53:12,000 --> 03:53:15,500
that mattered. 
Now, all of that competence had 

4223
03:53:15,500 --> 03:53:18,800
to go somewhere and in the 
centuries after the Norse began 

4224
03:53:18,800 --> 03:53:21,700
expanding their reach. 
It went into one of the most 

4225
03:53:21,700 --> 03:53:26,100
impressive Feats of peaceful 
human activity in the Medieval 

4226
03:53:26,100 --> 03:53:32,000
World, Trade and settlement. 
Let us follow that thread. 

4227
03:53:32,700 --> 03:53:34,600
Because it leads, somewhere 
surprising. 

4228
03:53:35,200 --> 03:53:38,200
The image of the Vikings are 
Raider is so deeply embedded in 

4229
03:53:38,200 --> 03:53:41,500
the popular imagination that it 
can be genuinely difficult to 

4230
03:53:41,500 --> 03:53:44,500
see past it. 
But here is a fact worth sitting

4231
03:53:44,500 --> 03:53:48,400
with for a moment the Norse were
first and foremost Traders. 

4232
03:53:49,100 --> 03:53:51,100
Raiding was one activity among 
many. 

4233
03:53:51,800 --> 03:53:54,700
And for a large portion of the 
north population, that was not 

4234
03:53:54,700 --> 03:53:56,700
something they ever participated
in. 

4235
03:53:58,000 --> 03:54:01,400
What drew the Norse outward into
the wide world was not primarily

4236
03:54:01,400 --> 03:54:06,100
a desire to plunder. 
It was a desire to trade to find

4237
03:54:06,100 --> 03:54:10,000
new land and to build something 
in places where the old land 

4238
03:54:10,000 --> 03:54:12,400
could no longer support everyone
who needed it. 

4239
03:54:13,200 --> 03:54:16,700
The North trading Network at its
height stretched from the Frozen

4240
03:54:16,700 --> 03:54:20,600
shores of what is now Canada all
the way to the Byzantine Empire 

4241
03:54:20,600 --> 03:54:22,900
and the markets of the Islamic 
world. 

4242
03:54:22,900 --> 03:54:26,700
This is an almost absurdist when
you think about it. 

4243
03:54:27,600 --> 03:54:30,900
Constantinople and Baghdad, 
we're not exactly neighbors of 

4244
03:54:30,908 --> 03:54:34,500
Scandinavia. 
And yet Norse traders made it 

4245
03:54:34,500 --> 03:54:38,800
there, not once, but regularly 
over a period of several 

4246
03:54:38,800 --> 03:54:42,900
centuries. 
They Carried Furs, Ivory Amber 

4247
03:54:42,900 --> 03:54:47,800
and dried fish, south and east. 
They brought back silver silk 

4248
03:54:47,800 --> 03:54:50,500
spices and occasionally exotic 
Curiosities. 

4249
03:54:51,400 --> 03:54:54,400
The exchange was substantial 
enough that nor silver from his 

4250
03:54:54,400 --> 03:54:57,900
lamech mints has been found in 
archaeological sites across 

4251
03:54:57,900 --> 03:55:00,600
northern Europe. 
A testament to just how far the 

4252
03:55:00,600 --> 03:55:04,100
money flowed the trading routes 
through what is now Russia and 

4253
03:55:04,100 --> 03:55:05,800
Eastern Europe. 
A particularly fascinating 

4254
03:55:05,800 --> 03:55:08,900
because they reveal a side of 
North activity. 

4255
03:55:08,900 --> 03:55:12,600
That is almost entirely absent 
from the popular narrative. 

4256
03:55:12,600 --> 03:55:16,900
Norse Traders known in the 
Byzantine and Islamic sources as

4257
03:55:16,900 --> 03:55:21,000
the varangians or the roosts 
travels South along the massive 

4258
03:55:21,000 --> 03:55:25,500
river systems of Eastern Europe,
the vulgar, the near and the 

4259
03:55:25,500 --> 03:55:29,600
west and Davina among others. 
These Rivers connected, the 

4260
03:55:29,608 --> 03:55:33,400
Baltic Sea, to the Caspian, and 
black seas, and the Norse used 

4261
03:55:33,400 --> 03:55:37,000
them as highways portaging their
boats, Overland between river 

4262
03:55:37,000 --> 03:55:40,500
systems where necessary. 
The settlements, they 

4263
03:55:40,500 --> 03:55:42,900
established along these routes 
were not conquests in the 

4264
03:55:42,900 --> 03:55:46,300
traditional sense. 
The settlement served as trading

4265
03:55:46,300 --> 03:55:51,000
posts waypoints and hubs for the
exchange storage and subsequent 

4266
03:55:51,000 --> 03:55:54,400
movement of goods. 
The Norse who settled in what is

4267
03:55:54,400 --> 03:55:57,600
now, Kiev and novegrow. 
And other cities did not simply 

4268
03:55:57,600 --> 03:55:59,800
impose their culture on the 
people already living there, 

4269
03:55:59,800 --> 03:56:03,300
they blended with them. 
They learned local languages, 

4270
03:56:03,300 --> 03:56:07,700
they married local women, they 
adopted local Customs alongside 

4271
03:56:07,700 --> 03:56:10,300
their own. 
The result was something 

4272
03:56:10,300 --> 03:56:14,400
genuinely new a hybrid culture 
that Drew on both Norse and 

4273
03:56:14,408 --> 03:56:18,100
Slavic traditions and it became 
the foundation of what would 

4274
03:56:18,100 --> 03:56:20,500
eventually become the state of 
Cleveland Russ. 

4275
03:56:20,500 --> 03:56:23,800
One of the most important 
political entities in medieval 

4276
03:56:23,800 --> 03:56:27,000
Eastern Europe. 
This is not a story of Conquest,

4277
03:56:27,000 --> 03:56:30,800
it is a story of integration and
it is one of the most 

4278
03:56:30,800 --> 03:56:33,300
underappreciated aspects of 
Norse history. 

4279
03:56:34,700 --> 03:56:39,500
Closer to home the Norse also 
settled Iceland Greenland and 

4280
03:56:39,500 --> 03:56:42,900
briefly a settlement in what is 
now North America. 

4281
03:56:42,900 --> 03:56:47,000
Hundreds of years before 
Columbus made his famous voyage 

4282
03:56:47,000 --> 03:56:50,500
across the Atlantic. 
The settlement of Iceland is 

4283
03:56:50,500 --> 03:56:54,600
particularly instructive because
it illustrates how Norse 

4284
03:56:54,600 --> 03:56:56,600
expansion actually worked in 
practice. 

4285
03:56:57,500 --> 03:57:00,600
Iceland was uninhabited. 
When the Norse arrived in the 

4286
03:57:00,600 --> 03:57:05,100
late 800s, which meant there was
no one to conquer and no one to 

4287
03:57:05,100 --> 03:57:07,900
displace. 
The settlers simply showed up 

4288
03:57:07,900 --> 03:57:10,200
divided the land among 
themselves. 

4289
03:57:10,200 --> 03:57:13,500
According to a system that was 
remarkably fair by the standards

4290
03:57:13,500 --> 03:57:17,300
of the time and set about 
building a society from scratch.

4291
03:57:18,000 --> 03:57:20,800
They brought their livestock 
their tools, their language and 

4292
03:57:20,800 --> 03:57:22,200
their legal Traditions with 
them. 

4293
03:57:22,200 --> 03:57:25,600
They built longhouses they 
farmed sheep and cattle. 

4294
03:57:25,600 --> 03:57:28,900
They fished the rich Waters 
around the island and they 

4295
03:57:28,900 --> 03:57:31,000
created something that would 
become one of the most 

4296
03:57:31,008 --> 03:57:33,700
culturally productive Societies 
in medieval Europe. 

4297
03:57:33,700 --> 03:57:36,100
But that is a story for a later 
segment. 

4298
03:57:37,800 --> 03:57:41,800
For now, the point is simply 
that the north did not need to 

4299
03:57:41,800 --> 03:57:44,400
take land from someone else in 
order to expand. 

4300
03:57:45,300 --> 03:57:48,600
When uninhabited land was 
available, they took it settled 

4301
03:57:48,600 --> 03:57:51,900
it and made it work. 
Greenland followed a similar 

4302
03:57:51,900 --> 03:57:54,800
pattern, though, the conditions 
there were far harsher. 

4303
03:57:55,800 --> 03:58:00,200
Nor settlers arrived in the late
900s and established two main 

4304
03:58:00,200 --> 03:58:02,600
communities on the Western and 
Eastern coasts. 

4305
03:58:03,200 --> 03:58:06,900
They raise sheep and cattle 
hunted marine, mammals and 

4306
03:58:06,900 --> 03:58:10,400
traded with the Inuit people. 
They encountered the settlement 

4307
03:58:10,400 --> 03:58:14,900
survived for roughly 500 years 
before disappearing likely, due 

4308
03:58:14,900 --> 03:58:17,900
to a combination of climate 
change shifting trade routes, 

4309
03:58:17,900 --> 03:58:20,500
and a failure to adapt to 
increase in the harsh 

4310
03:58:20,500 --> 03:58:23,100
conditions. 
It is sobering story. 

4311
03:58:23,100 --> 03:58:27,700
A reminder that Norse expansion 
was not always successful and 

4312
03:58:27,700 --> 03:58:30,000
that even a skilled and 
resilient people could be 

4313
03:58:30,008 --> 03:58:32,600
defeated by circumstances beyond
their control. 

4314
03:58:33,800 --> 03:58:37,400
But the trading itself, the 
movement of goods and ideas 

4315
03:58:37,400 --> 03:58:41,100
across vast distances is what 
deserves the most attention 

4316
03:58:41,100 --> 03:58:43,200
here. 
The Norse were not, the only 

4317
03:58:43,200 --> 03:58:46,600
traders in the Medieval World. 
Of course, the Vikings were 

4318
03:58:46,600 --> 03:58:49,400
operating in a network that 
included Arab Merchants 

4319
03:58:49,400 --> 03:58:52,400
presenting Traders and many 
others. 

4320
03:58:53,300 --> 03:58:55,700
But the Norse brought something 
distinctive to this network, 

4321
03:58:55,700 --> 03:58:59,600
their ability to navigate rivers
and coastlines that other 

4322
03:58:59,600 --> 03:59:01,700
Traders found difficult or 
impossible. 

4323
03:59:02,700 --> 03:59:05,400
They could reach places that 
were simply not acceptable to 

4324
03:59:05,400 --> 03:59:09,000
people without their seafaring 
skills and this gave them a 

4325
03:59:09,000 --> 03:59:10,800
natural advantage in the 
exchange of goods. 

4326
03:59:11,700 --> 03:59:14,200
The goods themselves, tell an 
interesting story. 

4327
03:59:14,900 --> 03:59:18,500
Furs were enormously valuable in
the medieval world and 

4328
03:59:18,500 --> 03:59:22,100
Scandinavia and Northern Russia 
were among the richest sources 

4329
03:59:22,100 --> 03:59:27,600
of high-quality Furs in Europe. 
Beaver, pelts, Fox skins ermine 

4330
03:59:27,600 --> 03:59:31,000
and Sable all moved through 
North trading networks. 

4331
03:59:31,000 --> 03:59:34,800
In large quantities. 
Walrus Ivory was another 

4332
03:59:34,800 --> 03:59:37,900
important Norse. 
Export used to make everything 

4333
03:59:37,900 --> 03:59:40,800
from chess pieces, to religious,
carvings in the churches of 

4334
03:59:40,800 --> 03:59:45,500
Western Europe, And dried cod. 
As we have already discussed was

4335
03:59:45,500 --> 03:59:49,700
a trade, good of remarkable, 
durability, and portability One 

4336
03:59:49,700 --> 03:59:53,200
that could sustain long voyages 
and survive months in a cargo. 

4337
03:59:53,200 --> 03:59:57,200
Hold without spoiling In return,
the Norse brought back Goods 

4338
03:59:57,200 --> 04:00:00,200
that enriched their own 
societies and connected them to 

4339
04:00:00,200 --> 04:00:04,300
distant cultures. 
Silver from Islamic mints tells 

4340
04:00:04,300 --> 04:00:07,900
us that Norris Traders reach the
markets of the Middle East, silk

4341
04:00:07,900 --> 04:00:10,900
from Byzantine or Chinese, 
sauces tells us that luxury 

4342
04:00:10,900 --> 04:00:12,100
goods. 
Travel traveled all the way 

4343
04:00:12,100 --> 04:00:16,100
North to scan in Avia. 
And the coins beads and small 

4344
04:00:16,100 --> 04:00:18,700
objects found in North 
archaeological sites. 

4345
04:00:18,700 --> 04:00:22,500
Paint a picture of a people who 
are far more Cosmopolitan than 

4346
04:00:22,500 --> 04:00:26,400
their reputation suggests There 
was a quietness to trade, that 

4347
04:00:26,400 --> 04:00:28,600
makes it easy to overlook in the
sweep of History. 

4348
04:00:28,600 --> 04:00:32,600
It does not produce the dramatic
moments that fill textbooks and 

4349
04:00:32,608 --> 04:00:35,800
movies. 
No one writes epic poems about a

4350
04:00:35,800 --> 04:00:39,600
successful negotiation at a 
Market Fair or about a cargo of 

4351
04:00:39,600 --> 04:00:44,100
dried Cod arriving, safely and 
Constantinople But trade is how 

4352
04:00:44,100 --> 04:00:49,200
civilizations actually grow. 
It is how ideas spread how 

4353
04:00:49,200 --> 04:00:52,500
Technologies move from one 
culture to another and how 

4354
04:00:52,500 --> 04:00:56,300
economies develop enough Surplus
to support art law and learning.

4355
04:00:57,000 --> 04:01:00,200
And the Norse for all their 
famous Raiders were among the 

4356
04:01:00,200 --> 04:01:02,500
most effective traders in the 
medieval world. 

4357
04:01:03,500 --> 04:01:06,700
The economics of Norse trade 
were not simple barter though. 

4358
04:01:06,700 --> 04:01:10,100
Barter certainly played a role 
in smaller local exchanges. 

4359
04:01:11,100 --> 04:01:13,900
For larger transactions. 
Particularly those involving 

4360
04:01:13,900 --> 04:01:17,500
distant trading partners, the 
Norse, use silver as a medium of

4361
04:01:17,500 --> 04:01:20,700
Exchange. 
Nor silver coin's have been 

4362
04:01:20,700 --> 04:01:24,800
found across an enormous. 
Geographic rain from Scandinavia

4363
04:01:24,800 --> 04:01:28,200
to the British Isles, to the 
Baltic states, to the heart of 

4364
04:01:28,200 --> 04:01:30,900
Russia. 
Many of these coins were not 

4365
04:01:30,908 --> 04:01:34,100
minted in Scandinavia at all. 
They were a slamming. 

4366
04:01:34,100 --> 04:01:37,900
Silver Dirhams minted in cities 
across the Middle East and 

4367
04:01:37,900 --> 04:01:40,700
Central Asia. 
And they made their way North 

4368
04:01:40,700 --> 04:01:43,700
through the trading networks, 
that connected the Norse world, 

4369
04:01:43,700 --> 04:01:47,900
the rest of the known world. 
The sheer volume of Islamic 

4370
04:01:47,900 --> 04:01:51,400
silver found in Scandinavian 
archaeological site to striking.

4371
04:01:52,100 --> 04:01:54,600
It tells us that the Norse 
trading networks were not 

4372
04:01:54,608 --> 04:01:59,200
occasional or opportunistic. 
They were sustained, systematic 

4373
04:01:59,200 --> 04:02:03,900
and enormously profitable. 
Norse Merchants made repeated 

4374
04:02:03,900 --> 04:02:07,100
trips along the same routes 
building relationships with 

4375
04:02:07,100 --> 04:02:09,100
trading partners over years and 
decades. 

4376
04:02:09,100 --> 04:02:12,800
Developing the trust and the 
reputation that long distance 

4377
04:02:12,800 --> 04:02:15,600
trade required. 
This was not a world of 

4378
04:02:15,600 --> 04:02:19,700
anonymous transactions, it was a
world of relationships and the 

4379
04:02:19,700 --> 04:02:22,200
Norse was skilled at building 
and maintaining them. 

4380
04:02:23,100 --> 04:02:26,100
So when you think about the 
Vikings to night, try to see 

4381
04:02:26,100 --> 04:02:29,600
past the longships and the axes,
try to see the merchant, 

4382
04:02:29,600 --> 04:02:32,900
calculating the value of a 
bundle of Furs against a handful

4383
04:02:32,900 --> 04:02:36,000
of silver coins. 
Try to see the settler loading, 

4384
04:02:36,000 --> 04:02:39,100
a boat with livestock and Seed, 
grain heading for an island. 

4385
04:02:39,100 --> 04:02:42,500
He's never seen. 
Try to see the trade on a river 

4386
04:02:42,500 --> 04:02:46,000
in what is now Russia, 
negotiating with a local Chief 

4387
04:02:46,000 --> 04:02:50,000
over the price of honey and 
beeswax. these are the Vikings 

4388
04:02:50,000 --> 04:02:53,600
who shape, the world not through
violence, but through the 

4389
04:02:53,600 --> 04:02:57,400
patient unglamorous work of 
moving things from one place to 

4390
04:02:57,400 --> 04:03:00,900
another, And the world. 
They helped build through trade 

4391
04:03:00,900 --> 04:03:04,600
and settlement and quiet. 
Integration was more complex and

4392
04:03:04,600 --> 04:03:06,900
more connected than most people 
realize. 

4393
04:03:07,700 --> 04:03:09,900
It is time. 
Now to look at another part of 

4394
04:03:09,908 --> 04:03:14,000
that world, one, that lived not 
on the water, but in the homes 

4395
04:03:14,000 --> 04:03:17,400
and communities where the Norse 
spent most of their time, It is 

4396
04:03:17,408 --> 04:03:19,700
time to talk about law and 
language. 

4397
04:03:19,700 --> 04:03:23,800
And the way they organize the 
societies they built, one of the

4398
04:03:23,800 --> 04:03:26,400
things that separates a 
collection of people from a 

4399
04:03:26,400 --> 04:03:30,300
civilization is law, Not the 
idea of it that the actual 

4400
04:03:30,300 --> 04:03:33,900
practice of it, the shared 
agreement that certain rules 

4401
04:03:33,900 --> 04:03:36,500
exist and that everyone is bound
by them. 

4402
04:03:36,500 --> 04:03:40,600
Even the powerful. 
The Norse had this and they had 

4403
04:03:40,600 --> 04:03:43,400
it earlier and more thoroughly 
than many of the societies 

4404
04:03:43,400 --> 04:03:45,800
around them. 
Their legal Traditions were not 

4405
04:03:45,800 --> 04:03:48,300
imposed from above by a king or 
a priest. 

4406
04:03:48,300 --> 04:03:52,500
They Grew From Below from the 
community's themselves and they 

4407
04:03:52,500 --> 04:03:56,700
reflected a set of values that 
once you understand the reveal, 

4408
04:03:56,700 --> 04:03:59,400
a great deal about how the Norse
actually thought about the 

4409
04:03:59,400 --> 04:04:02,800
world. 
The basic unit of Norse legal 

4410
04:04:02,800 --> 04:04:06,400
life was the thing, which was a 
regional assembly where three 

4411
04:04:06,400 --> 04:04:10,100
men gather to settle disputes, 
make decisions that affected the

4412
04:04:10,100 --> 04:04:12,700
community and conduct the 
business of governance. 

4413
04:04:12,700 --> 04:04:16,200
The word thing is in fact the 
origin of our Modern English 

4414
04:04:16,200 --> 04:04:18,700
word thing though. 
Its meaning has drifted 

4415
04:04:18,700 --> 04:04:23,400
enormously over the centuries. 
In the Norse World thing was not

4416
04:04:23,400 --> 04:04:27,500
an object. 
It was a gathering a forum a 

4417
04:04:27,500 --> 04:04:29,900
place where the community came 
together to talk things through 

4418
04:04:30,900 --> 04:04:34,500
These assemblies met at regular 
intervals, usually in the spring

4419
04:04:34,500 --> 04:04:37,900
and sometimes again in the 
Autumn men, traveled to attend 

4420
04:04:37,900 --> 04:04:40,600
them sometimes from considerable
distances. 

4421
04:04:40,600 --> 04:04:45,200
And the meetings could last for 
days The proceedings were 

4422
04:04:45,200 --> 04:04:47,800
conducted according to 
established procedures with 

4423
04:04:47,800 --> 04:04:52,000
speakers, taking turns evidence 
being presented and decisions 

4424
04:04:52,000 --> 04:04:55,600
being reached through a process 
that are not identical to Modern

4425
04:04:55,600 --> 04:04:58,400
democracy shared certain 
features with it. 

4426
04:04:59,500 --> 04:05:02,600
Free men had the right to speak 
decisions were made 

4427
04:05:02,600 --> 04:05:06,400
collectively. 
And the outcomes once reached. 

4428
04:05:07,100 --> 04:05:09,200
Carried the weight of the 
community behind them. 

4429
04:05:10,000 --> 04:05:13,800
This is worth pausing on because
it is genuinely remarkable for 

4430
04:05:13,800 --> 04:05:16,800
the time period. 
In much of medieval Europe, 

4431
04:05:16,800 --> 04:05:21,300
Justice was the province of 
kings and Nobles, if you had a 

4432
04:05:21,300 --> 04:05:24,800
grievance, you brought it to 
your lord and your lord decided.

4433
04:05:25,700 --> 04:05:28,600
The Narcissist was different. 
It was decentralized. 

4434
04:05:28,600 --> 04:05:33,100
It was participatory and it 
placed a significant amount of 

4435
04:05:33,108 --> 04:05:37,000
power in the hands of ordinary 
farmers and landowners, not just

4436
04:05:37,000 --> 04:05:38,400
the wealthy or the 
well-connected. 

4437
04:05:39,400 --> 04:05:41,900
The law itself was not written 
down for a long time. 

4438
04:05:41,900 --> 04:05:46,000
It existed in the memories of 
the community passed from one 

4439
04:05:46,000 --> 04:05:48,400
generation to the next through 
oral tradition. 

4440
04:05:49,300 --> 04:05:52,600
Certain individuals known as 
Luxor, gammada in Iceland, which

4441
04:05:52,600 --> 04:05:56,500
with memorizing and reciting the
law of the thing serving as a 

4442
04:05:56,500 --> 04:06:00,400
kind of living legal Library. 
This was not an imprecise or 

4443
04:06:00,400 --> 04:06:03,900
unreliable system. oral 
Traditions can be remarkably 

4444
04:06:03,900 --> 04:06:06,000
accurate when they are 
maintained with care and 

4445
04:06:06,000 --> 04:06:08,900
repeated regularly, and the 
north took, their legal 

4446
04:06:08,900 --> 04:06:12,800
knowledge, seriously enough to 
do both, The content of the law 

4447
04:06:12,800 --> 04:06:14,800
covered. 
An enormous range of everyday, 

4448
04:06:14,800 --> 04:06:18,800
concerns property disputes were 
common and the law provided 

4449
04:06:18,800 --> 04:06:20,500
details Frameworks for 
resolving. 

4450
04:06:20,500 --> 04:06:24,900
The Inheritance was carefully 
regulated with rules governing, 

4451
04:06:24,900 --> 04:06:28,000
how a dead man's property should
be divided among his heirs. 

4452
04:06:28,900 --> 04:06:33,000
Crime against the person from 
theft to assault to more serious

4453
04:06:33,000 --> 04:06:36,000
offense's, each carried, 
specific penalties. 

4454
04:06:36,000 --> 04:06:38,900
And the penalties were often 
find natural rather than 

4455
04:06:38,900 --> 04:06:41,900
physical. 
The Norse system, relied heavily

4456
04:06:41,900 --> 04:06:44,000
on compensation rather than 
punishment. 

4457
04:06:44,000 --> 04:06:48,300
If you injured some one, you 
owed them or their family, a 

4458
04:06:48,300 --> 04:06:51,000
specific amount. 
Calculated, according to the 

4459
04:06:51,000 --> 04:06:53,000
severity of the harm. 
Pay it. 

4460
04:06:53,008 --> 04:06:56,400
And the matter was settled 
refused to pay. 

4461
04:06:56,400 --> 04:06:59,800
And you could be declared an 
outlaw, which meant that anyone 

4462
04:06:59,800 --> 04:07:02,100
was free to kill you without 
legal consequence. 

4463
04:07:02,100 --> 04:07:04,100
This last Point. 
Sounds harsh. 

4464
04:07:04,100 --> 04:07:08,300
And in some ways it was But it 
also reflects a pragmatic 

4465
04:07:08,300 --> 04:07:12,100
understanding of how to maintain
order in a society without a 

4466
04:07:12,100 --> 04:07:14,800
standing police force or a 
professional judiciary. 

4467
04:07:16,000 --> 04:07:19,300
The threat of outlawry was a 
powerful incentive to settle 

4468
04:07:19,300 --> 04:07:22,000
disputes peacefully and most 
people did. 

4469
04:07:22,800 --> 04:07:26,800
The system was not perfect. 
Wealthy men could sometimes use 

4470
04:07:26,800 --> 04:07:29,100
their influence to tip 
proceedings in their favor. 

4471
04:07:30,000 --> 04:07:33,200
Feuds could escalate when one 
side felt the other had not been

4472
04:07:33,200 --> 04:07:37,800
adequately compensated. 
But on balance it worked and it 

4473
04:07:37,800 --> 04:07:40,100
worked better than the 
Alternatives available at the 

4474
04:07:40,100 --> 04:07:43,100
time. 
Language is the other thread 

4475
04:07:43,100 --> 04:07:45,400
worth pulling here. 
Because the Norse language 

4476
04:07:45,400 --> 04:07:49,300
itself is one of the quietest 
and most lasting contributions 

4477
04:07:49,300 --> 04:07:54,900
the Vikings made to the world. 
Old North, the language spoken 

4478
04:07:54,900 --> 04:07:57,800
across, Scandinavia and Iceland 
during the Viking age. 

4479
04:07:58,700 --> 04:08:02,800
Was a North Germanic language 
related to but distinct from the

4480
04:08:02,800 --> 04:08:06,200
language's spoken by the Saxons 
and the angles in England. 

4481
04:08:07,300 --> 04:08:10,600
And when the north settled in 
England, Ireland, Scotland, and 

4482
04:08:10,600 --> 04:08:13,000
other parts of the British 
Isles, they brought their 

4483
04:08:13,000 --> 04:08:15,600
language with them. 
The result was not the 

4484
04:08:15,600 --> 04:08:19,200
replacement of one language by 
another, it was something more 

4485
04:08:19,200 --> 04:08:22,800
interesting than that. 
Old Norse and Old English. 

4486
04:08:22,800 --> 04:08:25,700
Were similar enough that 
speakers of each could with some

4487
04:08:25,700 --> 04:08:30,200
effort, understand the other 
They were not identical, but 

4488
04:08:30,200 --> 04:08:33,400
they shared enough common ground
that communication was possible 

4489
04:08:33,400 --> 04:08:37,500
without a translator. 
And in the areas where North 

4490
04:08:37,500 --> 04:08:40,200
settlers lived, alongside 
English-speaking populations, 

4491
04:08:40,200 --> 04:08:44,200
the two languages began to blend
together in ways that shape the 

4492
04:08:44,200 --> 04:08:47,800
English we speak today. 
The number of words, in Modern 

4493
04:08:47,800 --> 04:08:51,300
English that come directly from 
Old Norse is staggering, and 

4494
04:08:51,300 --> 04:08:54,700
many of them are so fundamental 
that you use them without ever 

4495
04:08:54,700 --> 04:09:00,100
thinking about their Origins. 
The words Sky egg give take. 

4496
04:09:00,100 --> 04:09:07,700
They them their want wrong. 
Ugly and hundreds of others. 

4497
04:09:07,700 --> 04:09:11,100
All entered English through 
Norse influence, But the 

4498
04:09:11,100 --> 04:09:15,300
contribution goes beyond 
individual words, nor settlers 

4499
04:09:15,300 --> 04:09:19,200
also influence the grammar and 
syntax of English in ways that 

4500
04:09:19,200 --> 04:09:23,000
linguists are still studying. 
The simplification of English 

4501
04:09:23,000 --> 04:09:25,500
verb endings. 
For instance, may have been 

4502
04:09:25,508 --> 04:09:28,800
partly driven by the need for 
Norse and English speakers to 

4503
04:09:28,800 --> 04:09:31,700
communicate with each other. 
Using a shared simplified 

4504
04:09:31,700 --> 04:09:33,900
grammar, This is one of the 
most. 

4505
04:09:34,700 --> 04:09:36,900
Fascinating aspects of Norse 
influence on the world. 

4506
04:09:37,800 --> 04:09:40,500
Because it is so invisible. 
You cannot see it. 

4507
04:09:41,200 --> 04:09:44,700
You cannot point to it on a map.
but every time you speak 

4508
04:09:44,700 --> 04:09:48,700
English, you are using words and
structures that were shaped in 

4509
04:09:48,700 --> 04:09:52,900
part By people who, sail, to 
cross the North Sea, a thousand 

4510
04:09:52,900 --> 04:09:55,700
years ago and settled in a new 
land. 

4511
04:09:56,700 --> 04:09:59,900
The Vikings did not just change 
the political landscape of 

4512
04:09:59,900 --> 04:10:02,900
medieval Europe. 
They changed the way in an 

4513
04:10:02,900 --> 04:10:06,400
entire language grew and evolved
and through that language, the 

4514
04:10:06,400 --> 04:10:08,800
way millions of people think and
communicate today. 

4515
04:10:09,900 --> 04:10:13,000
There is something almost poetic
about this though, it is worth 

4516
04:10:13,000 --> 04:10:16,100
being careful with that word 
because the Norse themselves 

4517
04:10:16,100 --> 04:10:19,400
were deeply invested in the 
power of language and would have

4518
04:10:19,400 --> 04:10:23,300
understood its significant 
better than most words mattered 

4519
04:10:23,300 --> 04:10:28,000
enormously in North culture. 
The ability to speak well to 

4520
04:10:28,000 --> 04:10:30,600
compose verses that were 
memorable and striking. 

4521
04:10:30,600 --> 04:10:34,600
And to tell a story that held an
audience was a valued skill, 

4522
04:10:34,600 --> 04:10:38,200
almost as value as physical 
courage, or practical 

4523
04:10:38,200 --> 04:10:42,100
competence, The north sagas 
which we will touch on briefly 

4524
04:10:42,100 --> 04:10:45,800
later are in part a testament to
this reverence for language. 

4525
04:10:46,600 --> 04:10:49,300
They are among the finest. 
Works of narrative, prose 

4526
04:10:49,300 --> 04:10:52,400
produced anywhere in the 
medieval world and they were 

4527
04:10:52,400 --> 04:10:56,100
written in Old Norse. 
The language, the Vikings spoke 

4528
04:10:56,100 --> 04:10:59,700
at home, The law and the 
language taken together, reveal 

4529
04:10:59,700 --> 04:11:02,500
a people who are far more 
sophisticated than the popular 

4530
04:11:02,500 --> 04:11:05,700
image suggests. 
They were not simply Warriors, 

4531
04:11:05,700 --> 04:11:08,600
who happened to sail. 
They were a society with a 

4532
04:11:08,600 --> 04:11:13,000
functioning legal system, a rich
literary tradition and a 

4533
04:11:13,000 --> 04:11:15,400
language that would go on to 
shape one of the most widely 

4534
04:11:15,400 --> 04:11:18,700
spoken tongues in the world. 
These are not the 

4535
04:11:18,700 --> 04:11:22,300
accomplishments of Barbarians. 
These are the accomplishments of

4536
04:11:22,308 --> 04:11:25,600
a civilization, one that 
happened to be located at the 

4537
04:11:25,600 --> 04:11:28,900
edge of the known world. 
And one that for reasons, both 

4538
04:11:28,900 --> 04:11:33,400
fair and unfair got a reputation
that obscured almost everything 

4539
04:11:33,400 --> 04:11:37,600
interesting about it. 
Think assemblies, the oral 

4540
04:11:37,600 --> 04:11:41,200
legal, traditions of blending of
Northern English into something 

4541
04:11:41,200 --> 04:11:45,000
new and the words you use every 
single day without knowing where

4542
04:11:45,000 --> 04:11:48,800
they came from. 
These are the quiet Legacy. 

4543
04:11:48,800 --> 04:11:52,800
The ones that do not make for 
dramatic television, but that of

4544
04:11:52,800 --> 04:11:57,400
lasted thousand years and showed
no sign of fading, Now, let us 

4545
04:11:57,408 --> 04:12:01,500
step inside, literally, and talk
about the homes, the Norse 

4546
04:12:01,500 --> 04:12:03,200
built, and the lives. 
They lived within them. 

4547
04:12:04,100 --> 04:12:06,700
Because the domestic world of 
the Vikings is one of the most 

4548
04:12:06,700 --> 04:12:10,900
under-explored parts of their 
story and it is full of details 

4549
04:12:10,900 --> 04:12:13,300
that are both surprising and 
oddly comforting. 

4550
04:12:14,100 --> 04:12:17,000
There is a warmth to thinking 
about how people actually live 

4551
04:12:17,000 --> 04:12:21,100
their daily lives as opposed to 
how they fought or conquered or 

4552
04:12:21,100 --> 04:12:24,200
explored. 
The Norse long house is one of 

4553
04:12:24,208 --> 04:12:26,600
the best Windows we have in to 
that warmth. 

4554
04:12:27,100 --> 04:12:30,200
And it is worth spending some 
time inside it because the 

4555
04:12:30,200 --> 04:12:33,200
picture it reveals is one of a 
people who cared deeply about 

4556
04:12:33,200 --> 04:12:37,600
Comfort family and the small 
Pleasures that make a hard life 

4557
04:12:37,600 --> 04:12:41,500
bearable. 
The long house was the basic 

4558
04:12:41,500 --> 04:12:45,200
unit of North domestic 
architecture and it came in many

4559
04:12:45,200 --> 04:12:47,900
sizes and variations. 
Depending on the region. 

4560
04:12:47,900 --> 04:12:52,400
The wealth of the family and the
local climate In its simplest 

4561
04:12:52,400 --> 04:12:54,100
form. 
It was a large rectangular 

4562
04:12:54,100 --> 04:12:58,400
building, sometimes remarkably 
large with thick walls made of 

4563
04:12:58,400 --> 04:13:03,200
wood, stone or turf depending on
what was available locally. 

4564
04:13:04,100 --> 04:13:06,100
In ice land, where trees were 
scared? 

4565
04:13:06,100 --> 04:13:10,100
Long houses were often built 
primarily of stone and Turf. 

4566
04:13:11,000 --> 04:13:13,800
In Norway, where Timber was 
plentiful, would was the 

4567
04:13:13,808 --> 04:13:16,800
dominant material. 
The roof was typically covered 

4568
04:13:16,800 --> 04:13:20,600
with sod, which provided 
excellent insulation, keeping 

4569
04:13:20,600 --> 04:13:23,300
the interior, surprisingly, 
warm, even in the coldest 

4570
04:13:23,300 --> 04:13:27,300
months, In the long house was 
organized around a central fire 

4571
04:13:27,300 --> 04:13:31,300
pit or half which served as the 
source of both heat and light. 

4572
04:13:31,300 --> 04:13:35,700
There was no chimney the smoke 
drifted upward and escaped 

4573
04:13:35,700 --> 04:13:37,100
through a hole or Gap in the 
roof. 

4574
04:13:38,000 --> 04:13:39,700
Which also let in a shaft of 
daylight. 

4575
04:13:40,600 --> 04:13:43,800
This meant that the interior of 
a long house was often hazy with

4576
04:13:43,800 --> 04:13:47,700
smoke and the walls and ceiling 
were perpetually darkened by it.

4577
04:13:48,500 --> 04:13:51,200
But it also meant that the fire 
could be kept burning almost 

4578
04:13:51,200 --> 04:13:54,800
continuously Through The Long 
Winter and the smoke itself, 

4579
04:13:54,800 --> 04:13:59,000
served a practical purpose. 
It helped preserve, the dried 

4580
04:13:59,000 --> 04:14:01,000
fish and meat that hung from the
rafters above. 

4581
04:14:02,000 --> 04:14:05,000
The sleeping Arrangements were 
along the walls on Race 

4582
04:14:05,000 --> 04:14:07,800
platforms or benches that ran 
the length of the building on 

4583
04:14:07,800 --> 04:14:10,700
either side of the half. 
These were not beds in the 

4584
04:14:10,700 --> 04:14:13,200
modern sense. 
They were wooden platforms, 

4585
04:14:13,200 --> 04:14:15,100
covered with Furs and woven 
blankets. 

4586
04:14:15,100 --> 04:14:19,000
And they served as both sleeping
surfaces during the night and 

4587
04:14:19,000 --> 04:14:23,100
seating during the day. 
The family slept together. 

4588
04:14:23,100 --> 04:14:27,100
Close to the fire wrapped in 
layers of wool and animal skin. 

4589
04:14:28,200 --> 04:14:31,400
In the coldest months, this 
communal warmth was not a matter

4590
04:14:31,408 --> 04:14:34,000
of preference. 
It was a matter of survival. 

4591
04:14:35,200 --> 04:14:38,700
The center of the Longhouse the 
area around the fire was where 

4592
04:14:38,700 --> 04:14:40,700
the family spent most of its 
waking hours. 

4593
04:14:41,400 --> 04:14:43,700
This was where meals were 
prepared and eaten. 

4594
04:14:44,300 --> 04:14:47,700
The cooking was done over the 
Open Fire, or in a pit beside it

4595
04:14:47,708 --> 04:14:51,900
using iron pots that held stews,
and soups made from whatever was

4596
04:14:51,900 --> 04:14:54,800
available. 
The typical Norse meal might 

4597
04:14:54,800 --> 04:14:59,500
include fish, Dairy bread, and 
perhaps some greens or berries 

4598
04:14:59,500 --> 04:15:02,300
in season. 
The meals were not elaborate but

4599
04:15:02,300 --> 04:15:05,300
they were substantial and they 
were eaten together as a family,

4600
04:15:05,300 --> 04:15:07,200
which gave them a social 
Dimension. 

4601
04:15:07,200 --> 04:15:09,400
That went beyond, simple 
nutrition. 

4602
04:15:09,400 --> 04:15:13,500
Harley was brewed in most 
households made from barley or 

4603
04:15:13,508 --> 04:15:16,400
other available grains. 
And it was a daily part of the 

4604
04:15:16,408 --> 04:15:18,900
diet for adults and often for 
older children as well. 

4605
04:15:20,000 --> 04:15:22,400
This was not unusual for the 
Medieval World. 

4606
04:15:23,400 --> 04:15:26,300
Water sources were often 
unreliable and fermented 

4607
04:15:26,300 --> 04:15:29,400
beverages were both safer, to 
drink and more calorie dense 

4608
04:15:29,400 --> 04:15:32,700
than water. 
Sale was not particularly Strong

4609
04:15:32,700 --> 04:15:36,200
by modern standards but it was a
staple and Brewing. 

4610
04:15:36,200 --> 04:15:39,000
It was another of the many 
domestic skills that women in 

4611
04:15:39,000 --> 04:15:41,600
North households managed 
alongside everything else. 

4612
04:15:42,600 --> 04:15:44,500
The Longhouse was also a 
workspace. 

4613
04:15:44,500 --> 04:15:48,000
Textile production as we 
discussed earlier happened here,

4614
04:15:48,000 --> 04:15:51,200
often in the evenings when the 
days outdoor work was done. 

4615
04:15:51,200 --> 04:15:55,400
Women spun wool on drop 
spindles, which could be worked 

4616
04:15:55,400 --> 04:15:58,800
while walking or sitting and 
wove it on upright, looms that 

4617
04:15:58,800 --> 04:16:02,400
were set up near the fire. 
The rhythmic click of the Loom 

4618
04:16:02,400 --> 04:16:05,900
and the quiet pool of the 
spindle was sounds that filled 

4619
04:16:05,900 --> 04:16:09,200
Norse evenings and they were 
accompanied by conversation 

4620
04:16:09,200 --> 04:16:14,300
storytelling and the occasional 
song children grew up in this 

4621
04:16:14,300 --> 04:16:17,600
environment, surrounded by the 
work of the household and 

4622
04:16:17,600 --> 04:16:20,000
absorbing its rhythms from a 
very young age. 

4623
04:16:21,000 --> 04:16:23,800
Norse childhood was not a 
prolonged period of play and 

4624
04:16:23,800 --> 04:16:26,700
Leisure as it might be in 
wealthiest societies. 

4625
04:16:27,700 --> 04:16:30,400
Children were expected to 
contribute to the household from

4626
04:16:30,400 --> 04:16:33,100
an early age. 
Helping with tasks that match 

4627
04:16:33,100 --> 04:16:37,400
their size and strength. 
But they were also valued and 

4628
04:16:37,400 --> 04:16:40,300
their well-being mattered to 
their parents in ways that are 

4629
04:16:40,300 --> 04:16:42,800
evident from the archaeological 
and textual record. 

4630
04:16:44,000 --> 04:16:46,400
Children children's Graves have 
been found with care and 

4631
04:16:46,400 --> 04:16:50,200
attention buried with small 
possessions that suggests they 

4632
04:16:50,200 --> 04:16:54,000
were mourned and remembered. 
Norse law provided specific 

4633
04:16:54,000 --> 04:16:57,300
protections for children 
including penalties for harming 

4634
04:16:57,300 --> 04:16:59,800
them. 
The Norse were not sentimental 

4635
04:16:59,800 --> 04:17:02,800
about childhood in the way that 
modern Western cultures tend to 

4636
04:17:02,800 --> 04:17:05,200
be, but they were not 
indifferent to it either. 

4637
04:17:06,000 --> 04:17:09,700
The long house, also housed, in 
many cases, more than one 

4638
04:17:09,700 --> 04:17:12,400
family. 
Extended family groups often 

4639
04:17:12,400 --> 04:17:14,500
live together, sharing the space
and the work. 

4640
04:17:15,200 --> 04:17:19,600
Grandparents parents children 
and sometimes siblings and their

4641
04:17:19,600 --> 04:17:23,800
spouses all Under One Roof. 
This was partly practical a 

4642
04:17:23,800 --> 04:17:25,700
matter of shared labor and 
shared warmth. 

4643
04:17:26,200 --> 04:17:29,900
And partly cultural a reflection
of the Norse value placed on 

4644
04:17:29,900 --> 04:17:32,100
family, bonds and mutual 
obligation. 

4645
04:17:33,600 --> 04:17:37,200
The long house was not just a 
shelter, it was a social 

4646
04:17:37,200 --> 04:17:40,600
structure, a place where 
relationships were maintained 

4647
04:17:40,600 --> 04:17:43,200
and obligations were fulfilled 
on a daily basis. 

4648
04:17:44,300 --> 04:17:46,400
There is a detail about North 
domestic life. 

4649
04:17:46,400 --> 04:17:49,100
That is worth lingering on 
because it reveals something 

4650
04:17:49,100 --> 04:17:52,900
about the texture of everyday 
existence that larger historical

4651
04:17:52,900 --> 04:17:57,200
narratives tend to miss The 
Norse kept animals inside the 

4652
04:17:57,200 --> 04:18:01,100
long house, during the winter 
months, cattle, sheep, and goats

4653
04:18:01,100 --> 04:18:04,900
shared the building with the 
Human family separated, by a 

4654
04:18:04,900 --> 04:18:07,800
partition, but close enough that
their warmth, contributed to the

4655
04:18:07,800 --> 04:18:11,000
overall temperature of the 
space, this sounds uncomfortable

4656
04:18:11,000 --> 04:18:15,500
by modern standards and it 
probably was in certain ways but

4657
04:18:15,500 --> 04:18:19,200
it also meant that the long 
house was never truly cold even 

4658
04:18:19,200 --> 04:18:23,900
on the darkest winter nights. 
The combined body heat of dozens

4659
04:18:23,900 --> 04:18:27,300
of animals and a human family, 
contained within thick walls of 

4660
04:18:27,308 --> 04:18:30,800
stone or turf. 
Created an environment that was 

4661
04:18:30,800 --> 04:18:34,400
surprisingly livable. 
The smell presumably was 

4662
04:18:34,400 --> 04:18:35,400
something. 
You got used to. 

4663
04:18:36,400 --> 04:18:39,900
The Norse like people in many 
pre-modern societies lived in 

4664
04:18:39,900 --> 04:18:42,300
much closer contact with animals
than we do. 

4665
04:18:42,300 --> 04:18:46,700
And they did not find it 
particularly remarkable hygiene 

4666
04:18:46,700 --> 04:18:48,200
and cleanliness were not 
neglected. 

4667
04:18:48,200 --> 04:18:50,700
Despite what the popular image 
of Vikings might suggest. 

4668
04:18:51,900 --> 04:18:55,400
The Norse bathed regularly 
particularly in areas where Hot 

4669
04:18:55,400 --> 04:18:58,400
Springs were available as they 
are in part of Iceland and 

4670
04:18:58,400 --> 04:19:01,000
Norway. 
Archaeological evidence from 

4671
04:19:01,000 --> 04:19:05,200
North site to turned up Combs 
tweezers, razors and other 

4672
04:19:05,200 --> 04:19:08,600
grooming implements suggesting 
that personal appearance matter 

4673
04:19:08,600 --> 04:19:10,600
to them. 
They were not the unwashed 

4674
04:19:10,600 --> 04:19:13,900
Savages of Legend. 
They were people who took pride 

4675
04:19:13,900 --> 04:19:17,200
in how they looked and felt 
within the constraints of their 

4676
04:19:17,200 --> 04:19:21,100
environment and resources. the 
home also reflected North 

4677
04:19:21,100 --> 04:19:24,100
aesthetic sensibilities which 
were more refined than the 

4678
04:19:24,108 --> 04:19:27,900
popular image allows Norse art 
known as the Arts. 

4679
04:19:27,900 --> 04:19:31,300
Styles of the Viking age was 
characterized by intricate 

4680
04:19:31,300 --> 04:19:35,800
interlocking patterns stylized, 
animal forms, and a level of 

4681
04:19:35,808 --> 04:19:38,300
decorative detail. 
That suggests a genuine 

4682
04:19:38,300 --> 04:19:40,900
appreciation for beauty and 
everyday objects. 

4683
04:19:41,700 --> 04:19:44,600
Longhouse door posts were 
sometimes carved with, elaborate

4684
04:19:44,600 --> 04:19:47,600
designs, wooden furniture and 
household. 

4685
04:19:47,600 --> 04:19:51,100
Implements were decorated with 
patterns that serve no practical

4686
04:19:51,100 --> 04:19:53,700
purpose other than to make them 
beautiful. 

4687
04:19:54,600 --> 04:19:59,100
The Norse did not live in Bear, 
utilitarian spaces, they lived 

4688
04:19:59,100 --> 04:20:02,100
in spaces, that reflected their 
sense of what the world should 

4689
04:20:02,100 --> 04:20:05,300
look like. 
And that sense, included Beauty 

4690
04:20:05,300 --> 04:20:08,700
alongside function, an evening 
in a Norse, long house. 

4691
04:20:08,700 --> 04:20:11,900
When the days work was done and 
the fire was burning steadily, 

4692
04:20:11,900 --> 04:20:14,900
and the ale was poured and the 
family was gathered. 

4693
04:20:14,900 --> 04:20:18,200
Close must have been one of the 
most Pleasant environments. 

4694
04:20:18,200 --> 04:20:23,000
The Medieval World had to offer.
The warmth, the light the smell 

4695
04:20:23,000 --> 04:20:27,000
of cooking food, the quiet 
conversation, the occasional 

4696
04:20:27,000 --> 04:20:30,800
burst of laughter. 
It was not glamorous but it was 

4697
04:20:30,800 --> 04:20:35,000
real and it was human and it was
the place where the north spent 

4698
04:20:35,000 --> 04:20:39,000
most of their lives. 
Hospitality was another value 

4699
04:20:39,000 --> 04:20:41,800
that shaped North to domestic 
life in ways that went beyond 

4700
04:20:41,800 --> 04:20:45,200
simple politeness. 
In a world where travel was 

4701
04:20:45,200 --> 04:20:47,500
common but ins and hotels did 
not exist. 

4702
04:20:48,400 --> 04:20:51,100
The obligation to feed and 
shelter, a traveler was taken 

4703
04:20:51,100 --> 04:20:54,600
seriously. 
No snoring custom both supported

4704
04:20:54,600 --> 04:20:58,100
this expectation. 
A host was expected to offer 

4705
04:20:58,100 --> 04:21:01,600
food drink and a place to sleep 
to anyone who arrived at the 

4706
04:21:01,600 --> 04:21:05,300
Longhouse and failing to do. 
So was considered a serious 

4707
04:21:05,300 --> 04:21:09,000
breach of social norms. 
This was not purely altruistic. 

4708
04:21:09,000 --> 04:21:13,100
Of course, in a society where 
anyone might find themselves far

4709
04:21:13,100 --> 04:21:16,100
from home and in need of 
shelter, the custom of 

4710
04:21:16,100 --> 04:21:18,900
hospitality was a form of Mutual
Insurance. 

4711
04:21:19,900 --> 04:21:22,400
You offered it to others because
you might one day, need it 

4712
04:21:22,400 --> 04:21:24,900
yourself. 
The result was that, Norse long 

4713
04:21:24,900 --> 04:21:27,900
houses were often more socially 
active than a single family 

4714
04:21:27,900 --> 04:21:29,500
dwelling. 
In the modern world might be 

4715
04:21:30,500 --> 04:21:34,100
Travelers passed through trade. 
A stop to rest and resupply 

4716
04:21:34,900 --> 04:21:38,300
Relatives visited from 
neighboring settlements, the 

4717
04:21:38,300 --> 04:21:42,800
household was not a closed 
system, it was open Connected To

4718
04:21:42,800 --> 04:21:45,300
The Wider community. 
In ways that made isolation 

4719
04:21:45,300 --> 04:21:48,700
nearly impossible and 
loneliness, at least the 

4720
04:21:48,700 --> 04:21:51,000
sustained kind of relatively 
rare. 

4721
04:21:52,700 --> 04:21:56,300
And it is from this domestic 
world, this warm and busy and 

4722
04:21:56,300 --> 04:22:00,400
slightly Smoky Center of Norse 
existence that we should draw 

4723
04:22:00,400 --> 04:22:03,900
our final thread. 
Because the story of how the 

4724
04:22:03,900 --> 04:22:08,600
Vikings quietly shaped the world
does not end with trade or law 

4725
04:22:08,600 --> 04:22:11,600
or language. 
It ends with a legacy that is 

4726
04:22:11,608 --> 04:22:15,000
quieter, still one that 
stretches from those Longhouse 

4727
04:22:15,000 --> 04:22:18,200
halves all the way into the 
present, day touching things. 

4728
04:22:18,200 --> 04:22:21,100
You might never have thought to 
connect to a people who lived 

4729
04:22:21,100 --> 04:22:23,900
1000 years ago on the edge of 
the Northern sea. 

4730
04:22:24,500 --> 04:22:28,100
The most lasting contributions 
any civilization makes are 

4731
04:22:28,100 --> 04:22:31,900
rarely the ones that intended. 
The Norse did not set out to 

4732
04:22:31,900 --> 04:22:35,500
change the English language. 
They did not plan centuries in 

4733
04:22:35,508 --> 04:22:38,500
advance to help lay the 
groundwork for the political 

4734
04:22:38,500 --> 04:22:42,000
development of Eastern Europe. 
They did not wake up one morning

4735
04:22:42,000 --> 04:22:45,200
and decide that their legal 
Traditions would influence the 

4736
04:22:45,200 --> 04:22:49,100
way Iceland organized his 
Society for the next Thousand 

4737
04:22:49,100 --> 04:22:52,500
Years. 
These things happen because the 

4738
04:22:52,500 --> 04:22:55,800
Norse were a particular kind of 
people living in a particular 

4739
04:22:55,800 --> 04:22:59,400
kind of place at a particular 
moment in history and the 

4740
04:22:59,400 --> 04:23:02,100
combination produced affects 
that rippled outward in ways. 

4741
04:23:02,100 --> 04:23:05,100
No single generation could have 
predicted or controlled. 

4742
04:23:06,800 --> 04:23:10,500
This is what a quiet Legacy. 
Looks like not a monument or a 

4743
04:23:10,508 --> 04:23:15,200
conquest or a grand declaration.
Slow gradual, almost 

4744
04:23:15,200 --> 04:23:19,100
imperceptible shift in how the 
world Works driven by the 

4745
04:23:19,100 --> 04:23:22,200
ordinary activities of ordinary 
people who are simply trying to 

4746
04:23:22,200 --> 04:23:24,408
live. 
Well, Let us trace a few of 

4747
04:23:24,416 --> 04:23:27,200
those threads because they are 
worth following the legal 

4748
04:23:27,200 --> 04:23:29,500
traditions. 
We discussed earlier did not 

4749
04:23:29,500 --> 04:23:34,500
disappear when the Viking age 
ended They evolved adapted and 

4750
04:23:34,500 --> 04:23:37,800
in some cases survived 
remarkably intact into the 

4751
04:23:37,808 --> 04:23:41,600
modern era. 
Iceland is the clearest example,

4752
04:23:41,600 --> 04:23:45,000
the owl thing. 
Iceland Parliament was 

4753
04:23:45,000 --> 04:23:50,100
established in 9360 CE and is 
still in operation today. 

4754
04:23:50,100 --> 04:23:53,500
Making it one of the oldest 
continuously functioning 

4755
04:23:53,500 --> 04:23:58,200
legislative bodies in the world.
It is not the same institution, 

4756
04:23:58,200 --> 04:24:01,800
it was a 1,000 years ago. 
Of course, it is changed 

4757
04:24:01,800 --> 04:24:06,000
enormously adapting to new 
circumstances and new ideas 

4758
04:24:06,000 --> 04:24:10,000
about governance. 
But its roots are north and the 

4759
04:24:10,008 --> 04:24:13,700
basic principle behind it. 
That free people have the right 

4760
04:24:13,700 --> 04:24:16,400
to gather and make decisions 
about their own affairs. 

4761
04:24:17,000 --> 04:24:20,000
Is a principle that traces 
directly back to the thing, 

4762
04:24:20,000 --> 04:24:24,400
Assemblies of the Viking age. 
This is not a small thing, the 

4763
04:24:24,400 --> 04:24:27,400
idea that governance should be 
participatory that it should 

4764
04:24:27,408 --> 04:24:30,100
involve the consent of the 
governed rather than simply the 

4765
04:24:30,100 --> 04:24:33,600
will of the powerful is one of 
the most important ideas in the 

4766
04:24:33,608 --> 04:24:37,300
history of human civilization. 
And while it did not originate 

4767
04:24:37,300 --> 04:24:40,800
exclusively with the Norse, they
were among the earliest and most

4768
04:24:40,800 --> 04:24:43,200
consistent practitioners of it 
in northern Europe. 

4769
04:24:43,200 --> 04:24:47,000
The thing assemblies were not 
perfect democracies, they 

4770
04:24:47,000 --> 04:24:51,100
excluded women, thralls, and in 
many cases people without 

4771
04:24:51,100 --> 04:24:54,800
sufficient property. 
But they were for their time and

4772
04:24:54,800 --> 04:24:58,800
place remarkably open systems 
and the tradition they 

4773
04:24:58,800 --> 04:25:02,100
established in Iceland has 
endured in one former another 

4774
04:25:02,100 --> 04:25:05,900
for over 1,000 years. 
The North Stars, are another 

4775
04:25:05,900 --> 04:25:08,900
Legacy worth considering because
they represent something 

4776
04:25:08,900 --> 04:25:13,100
genuinely unusual in the 
medieval literary, landscape the

4777
04:25:13,100 --> 04:25:16,100
sargas along details, realistic 
narrative. 

4778
04:25:16,100 --> 04:25:19,600
Often based on historical events
or real people. 

4779
04:25:19,600 --> 04:25:23,000
Written in Old Norse between 
roughly the 12th and 14th 

4780
04:25:23,000 --> 04:25:25,800
centuries. 
They are not myths or Legends, 

4781
04:25:25,800 --> 04:25:28,700
though, they sometimes 
incorporate mythological 

4782
04:25:28,700 --> 04:25:31,700
elements. 
They are in many ways closer to 

4783
04:25:31,700 --> 04:25:35,300
what we would Now, call novels 
or historical fiction, and they 

4784
04:25:35,300 --> 04:25:37,400
are a remarkable for their 
psychological depth. 

4785
04:25:38,100 --> 04:25:41,500
Their attention to character and
they're unflinching willingness 

4786
04:25:41,500 --> 04:25:44,000
to portray human beings in all 
their complexity. 

4787
04:25:45,100 --> 04:25:47,000
The Icelandic sagas in 
particular. 

4788
04:25:47,000 --> 04:25:50,300
Are considered masterpieces of 
world literature by Scholars who

4789
04:25:50,308 --> 04:25:53,400
have studied them carefully and 
they deserve that reputation. 

4790
04:25:54,700 --> 04:25:58,100
They portray nor Society with a 
frankness and a Nuance that is 

4791
04:25:58,100 --> 04:26:00,500
rare in any era of literary 
history. 

4792
04:26:01,300 --> 04:26:03,200
Characters are not heroes or 
villains. 

4793
04:26:03,200 --> 04:26:06,800
They are people flawed and 
complicated and sometimes 

4794
04:26:06,800 --> 04:26:10,200
surprising navigating a world 
that does not always make sense.

4795
04:26:10,200 --> 04:26:15,500
The sargas are funny, 
occasionally very funny in a dry

4796
04:26:15,500 --> 04:26:18,000
and understated way. 
That feels remarkably modern 

4797
04:26:18,800 --> 04:26:23,100
They are so sad and violent and 
tender sometimes all within the 

4798
04:26:23,108 --> 04:26:26,900
same paragraph. 
What makes them relevant to a 

4799
04:26:26,900 --> 04:26:30,200
discussion of Norse Legacy is 
that they represent a tradition 

4800
04:26:30,200 --> 04:26:33,600
of Storytelling and record 
keeping that shape house 

4801
04:26:33,600 --> 04:26:37,900
subsequent Generations, 
understood the Norse world many 

4802
04:26:37,900 --> 04:26:41,600
of the things we know about 
Viking age Society its Customs 

4803
04:26:41,600 --> 04:26:45,500
its values and its daily 
rhythms, come from the sagas 

4804
04:26:46,600 --> 04:26:49,700
They are not perfectly reliable.
Historical sources of course, 

4805
04:26:50,500 --> 04:26:53,000
They were written centuries 
after many of the events they 

4806
04:26:53,000 --> 04:26:56,900
describe and they reflect the 
perspectives and biases of their

4807
04:26:56,900 --> 04:26:59,400
authors. 
But they are extraordinary 

4808
04:26:59,400 --> 04:27:02,500
documents and they demonstrate 
that the north took their own 

4809
04:27:02,500 --> 04:27:04,400
story. 
Seriously enough to write it 

4810
04:27:04,400 --> 04:27:09,200
down with care and skill. 
The cultural Legacy extends into

4811
04:27:09,200 --> 04:27:12,900
Art and Design as well Norse. 
Decorative art with its 

4812
04:27:12,900 --> 04:27:16,600
intricate interlocking patterns 
and stylized animal forms 

4813
04:27:16,600 --> 04:27:21,100
influence, the art of every 
culture, the Norse touched, you 

4814
04:27:21,100 --> 04:27:24,200
can see Norse influence in the 
illuminated, manuscripts of 

4815
04:27:24,208 --> 04:27:28,100
Irish English monks in the 
carved, doorways of Scandinavian

4816
04:27:28,100 --> 04:27:32,000
churches and in the metalwork 
and jewelry of medieval Europe 

4817
04:27:32,000 --> 04:27:36,100
more, broadly, The style 
traveled with the Norse wherever

4818
04:27:36,100 --> 04:27:39,900
they went and it left traces, 
that persisted long after the 

4819
04:27:39,900 --> 04:27:42,700
north themselves and blended 
into the population's around 

4820
04:27:42,700 --> 04:27:45,900
them. 
There was a geographical Legacy.

4821
04:27:45,900 --> 04:27:49,200
That is easy to overlook. 
Place names across the British 

4822
04:27:49,200 --> 04:27:52,900
Isles, particularly in areas 
where North settle as lived in 

4823
04:27:52,900 --> 04:27:55,700
significant numbers of Norse 
origin. 

4824
04:27:56,500 --> 04:27:59,800
In the north of England in 
Scotland in Ireland and of 

4825
04:27:59,808 --> 04:28:01,900
course in Iceland. 
And the other North settle 

4826
04:28:01,900 --> 04:28:05,700
lands, the landscape itself 
carries the imprint of Norse 

4827
04:28:05,700 --> 04:28:10,900
presents in the name of towns, 
Rivers, Hills and Farms These 

4828
04:28:10,900 --> 04:28:14,500
names are fossils linguistic, 
traces of a people who lived in 

4829
04:28:14,500 --> 04:28:17,800
these places are 1000 years ago 
and who left their mark on the 

4830
04:28:17,800 --> 04:28:21,000
land in a way that no amount of 
subsequent habitation has 

4831
04:28:21,000 --> 04:28:25,500
erased. the word Friday, for 
instance, derives from the Norse

4832
04:28:25,500 --> 04:28:30,200
goddess frigg The word Wednesday
comes from Odin known in Norse 

4833
04:28:30,200 --> 04:28:32,600
as woden. 
Thursday is Thor's day. 

4834
04:28:33,500 --> 04:28:36,500
These connections are well 
known, but they're worth stating

4835
04:28:36,500 --> 04:28:39,800
plainly because they illustrate 
how thoroughly Norse culture 

4836
04:28:39,800 --> 04:28:43,100
woven itself into the fabric of 
everyday life in northern 

4837
04:28:43,100 --> 04:28:45,400
Europe? 
You cannot get through a single 

4838
04:28:45,400 --> 04:28:48,300
week without using words that 
Trace back to Norse mythology 

4839
04:28:48,300 --> 04:28:51,400
and Norse language. 
And then there is the matter of 

4840
04:28:51,400 --> 04:28:55,300
exploration, which is perhaps 
the Norse Legacy that has 

4841
04:28:55,308 --> 04:28:58,800
received the most attention. 
Even if the attention has often 

4842
04:28:58,800 --> 04:29:03,200
been focused on the wrong aspect
of it, The Norse reached North 

4843
04:29:03,200 --> 04:29:06,100
America roughly 500 years before
Columbus. 

4844
04:29:07,200 --> 04:29:10,600
Establishing a settlement at a 
place called Vinland, which is 

4845
04:29:10,608 --> 04:29:13,000
now believed to have been 
located on the island of 

4846
04:29:13,000 --> 04:29:14,900
Newfoundland in what is now 
Canada. 

4847
04:29:16,000 --> 04:29:19,700
The settlement known from 
archaeological evidence at a 

4848
04:29:19,700 --> 04:29:22,200
site called loso. 
Medos did not last long. 

4849
04:29:23,400 --> 04:29:27,100
The Norse abandoned it within a 
few decades, likely due to 

4850
04:29:27,108 --> 04:29:30,400
conflicts with the indigenous 
peoples of the region and the 

4851
04:29:30,400 --> 04:29:32,900
difficulty of maintaining a 
settlement so far from their 

4852
04:29:32,900 --> 04:29:36,000
Homeland. but the fact that they
got there at all is 

4853
04:29:36,000 --> 04:29:39,400
extraordinary, It was not the 
result of a grand Expedition 

4854
04:29:39,400 --> 04:29:42,900
organized by a king or funded by
a wealthy sponsor. 

4855
04:29:42,900 --> 04:29:46,100
It was the result of North 
settlers in Iceland and 

4856
04:29:46,100 --> 04:29:49,200
Greenland, hearing stories about
land visible to the west and 

4857
04:29:49,200 --> 04:29:52,900
then sailing out to find it. 
The Norse reached North America 

4858
04:29:52,900 --> 04:29:57,200
not through heroic determination
but through the same quiet habit

4859
04:29:57,200 --> 04:29:59,900
of following the water that had 
driven their expansion for 

4860
04:29:59,900 --> 04:30:03,300
centuries. 
They saw an opportunity, they 

4861
04:30:03,300 --> 04:30:05,600
had the skills to take it and 
they did. 

4862
04:30:06,500 --> 04:30:09,300
The settlement at Vineland did 
not change the course of world 

4863
04:30:09,300 --> 04:30:12,500
history in the way that 
Columbus's voyages did the 

4864
04:30:12,500 --> 04:30:15,100
North, did not establish a 
permanent presence in North 

4865
04:30:15,100 --> 04:30:18,600
America and their contact. 
With the continent did not lead 

4866
04:30:18,600 --> 04:30:22,500
to sustained exchange between 
the old world and the new But it

4867
04:30:22,500 --> 04:30:26,100
does tell us something important
about the north character about 

4868
04:30:26,100 --> 04:30:29,900
their restlessness, their 
curiosity, and their willingness

4869
04:30:29,900 --> 04:30:33,200
to sail, into the unknowns 
simply because the unknown was 

4870
04:30:33,200 --> 04:30:34,900
there, and they had the means to
reach it. 

4871
04:30:35,800 --> 04:30:39,000
There was a thread connecting 
all of these legacies and it is 

4872
04:30:39,008 --> 04:30:40,900
worth naming before we let it 
go. 

4873
04:30:41,800 --> 04:30:45,100
The Norse shaped the world, not 
primarily through conquest or 

4874
04:30:45,100 --> 04:30:49,500
violence, but through contact. 
They touch so many cultures. 

4875
04:30:49,500 --> 04:30:53,500
So many places so many languages
and legal systems, and artistic 

4876
04:30:53,500 --> 04:30:58,000
Traditions, that their influence
spread like water finding its 

4877
04:30:58,000 --> 04:31:04,300
way through cracks in stone. 
slowly quietly persistently not 

4878
04:31:04,300 --> 04:31:08,100
always noticed not always 
acknowledged but always there 

4879
04:31:08,100 --> 04:31:12,200
the English words you use every 
day the Parliamentary Traditions

4880
04:31:12,200 --> 04:31:16,700
that Iceland still practice is 
The sargas remained masterpieces

4881
04:31:16,700 --> 04:31:20,200
of world literature. 
The place named a cross, the 

4882
04:31:20,200 --> 04:31:23,800
northern Landscapes of Europe. 
The knowledge that someone 

4883
04:31:23,800 --> 04:31:27,300
walked on the shores of North 
America 1000 years before the 

4884
04:31:27,300 --> 04:31:28,600
history books. 
Say it happened. 

4885
04:31:29,500 --> 04:31:32,900
These are not the legacies of 
conquerors, they other legacies 

4886
04:31:32,900 --> 04:31:35,400
of a people who were 
extraordinarily good at being in

4887
04:31:35,400 --> 04:31:39,400
the world at moving through it, 
a connecting with the people and

4888
04:31:39,400 --> 04:31:42,500
places they encountered. 
And at leaving something behind 

4889
04:31:42,500 --> 04:31:46,600
that lasted, there was a strand 
of cultural influence that 

4890
04:31:46,600 --> 04:31:49,000
connects the north to 
Traditions, many people 

4891
04:31:49,000 --> 04:31:52,000
celebrate today without 
realizing the connection. 

4892
04:31:52,800 --> 04:31:56,400
The midwinter Festival known as 
Yule which the north celebrated 

4893
04:31:56,400 --> 04:31:59,600
around the winter, solstice 
shared certain features with 

4894
04:31:59,600 --> 04:32:02,200
what would eventually become 
Christmas as it was practiced in

4895
04:32:02,208 --> 04:32:05,400
northern Europe. 
The Yule Log, the Gathering of 

4896
04:32:05,400 --> 04:32:07,900
family around a fire during the 
darkest time of year. 

4897
04:32:08,800 --> 04:32:13,600
Feasting and the storytelling. 
These were Norse Traditions long

4898
04:32:13,600 --> 04:32:16,500
before they were Christian ones 
and they Blended. 

4899
04:32:16,500 --> 04:32:20,400
So thoroughly into the fabric of
northern European culture that 

4900
04:32:20,400 --> 04:32:22,300
separating them is nearly 
impossible. 

4901
04:32:23,400 --> 04:32:26,600
Whether you celebrate Christmas 
or simply enjoy the idea of a 

4902
04:32:26,600 --> 04:32:29,900
warm fire and a family gathered.
Close on a dark winter night, 

4903
04:32:29,900 --> 04:32:33,800
you are participating in 
something that has Norse Roots 

4904
04:32:33,800 --> 04:32:37,300
even if the connection has been 
buried under centuries of other 

4905
04:32:37,300 --> 04:32:40,700
influences the NorCal. 
So left their mark on the way 

4906
04:32:40,700 --> 04:32:43,200
Northern Europeans thought about
the natural world. 

4907
04:32:44,800 --> 04:32:48,800
Norse mythology, populated the 
landscape with meaning rivers 

4908
04:32:48,800 --> 04:32:52,600
mountains. 
Forests and seas were not simply

4909
04:32:52,600 --> 04:32:56,400
physical features. 
They were inhabited in the north

4910
04:32:56,400 --> 04:33:00,900
of imagination by being's and 
forces that demanded respect and

4911
04:33:00,900 --> 04:33:03,800
attention. 
This way of seeing the world, 

4912
04:33:03,800 --> 04:33:08,099
which anthropologists sometimes 
called animistic, persisted in 

4913
04:33:08,099 --> 04:33:12,500
Scandinavian, folk belief long, 
after the official conversion to

4914
04:33:12,500 --> 04:33:16,500
Christianity, and it shaped the 
relationship between people and 

4915
04:33:16,500 --> 04:33:20,599
Landscape in ways that are still
felt in the cultures of Northern

4916
04:33:20,599 --> 04:33:24,200
Europe today. 
Tonight, as you settle into 

4917
04:33:24,200 --> 04:33:27,400
sleep, it might be worth 
carrying one last image with 

4918
04:33:27,400 --> 04:33:29,800
you. 
Not the Viking, on the warship. 

4919
04:33:29,800 --> 04:33:33,599
Not the burning Village. 
Not the axe raised in battle. 

4920
04:33:34,500 --> 04:33:38,200
Instead picture a Norse Trader 
on a river somewhere, in what is

4921
04:33:38,207 --> 04:33:41,800
now Russia? 
Sitting in a small boat at dusk 

4922
04:33:41,800 --> 04:33:44,500
watching the water, catch the 
last of the light. 

4923
04:33:45,099 --> 04:33:47,800
He has Goods to sell and a long 
way still to go. 

4924
04:33:48,800 --> 04:33:51,800
He is not thinking about history
or Legacy, or the shape of the 

4925
04:33:51,800 --> 04:33:54,099
world. 
He is thinking about the current

4926
04:33:54,099 --> 04:33:56,500
and the weather, and whether he 
will make it to the next 

4927
04:33:56,500 --> 04:33:58,900
settlement, before dark. 
He will make it. 

4928
04:33:58,900 --> 04:34:03,300
He is very good at this and 
somewhere, a thousand years from

4929
04:34:03,300 --> 04:34:06,300
now, a person speaking, a 
language, he helped to shape 

4930
04:34:06,300 --> 04:34:08,200
will use a word. 
He brought with him on that boat

4931
04:34:08,200 --> 04:34:10,400
without ever knowing where it 
came from. 

4932
04:34:11,099 --> 04:34:14,500
The river will still be flowing,
the water will still be catching

4933
04:34:14,500 --> 04:34:18,099
the light and the quiet work of 
connecting one place to another 

4934
04:34:18,099 --> 04:34:21,900
one person to another. 
And one idea to another will 

4935
04:34:21,900 --> 04:34:24,599
still be going on the way it has
been going on. 

4936
04:34:24,599 --> 04:34:27,300
Since the first North sailor 
looked out at the water and 

4937
04:34:27,300 --> 04:34:29,000
decided to see what was on the 
other side. 

4938
04:34:30,000 --> 04:34:33,500
Sleep. 
Well, the Viking's the real ones

4939
04:34:33,500 --> 04:34:44,599
have earned it and so have you 
the late 17th and early 18th 

4940
04:34:44,599 --> 04:34:49,099
centuries, France was a land of 
contrasts By candlelight in a 

4941
04:34:49,099 --> 04:34:52,300
grande chateau's garden, a 
curious, noblewoman, listens as 

4942
04:34:52,300 --> 04:34:55,099
a witty philosopher. 
Describes the stars above, he 

4943
04:34:55,099 --> 04:34:57,300
explains that. 
Those stars are Sons, like our 

4944
04:34:57,300 --> 04:35:01,300
own each perhaps circled, by the
worlds of their own a radical 

4945
04:35:01,300 --> 04:35:04,200
idea in an age, when questioning
the heavens could be dangerous. 

4946
04:35:05,200 --> 04:35:07,800
The scene could be lifted from 
Bernard de fontanel's 

4947
04:35:07,800 --> 04:35:12,400
conversations on the plurality 
of Worlds, 1686 a clever book 

4948
04:35:12,400 --> 04:35:15,000
where a lady and a scientist 
stroll nightly under the sky 

4949
04:35:15,000 --> 04:35:17,599
discussing copernicus's son, 
centered universe. 

4950
04:35:18,400 --> 04:35:20,900
Fontanel's Charming Pros made 
the latest scientific 

4951
04:35:20,900 --> 04:35:24,400
discoveries accessible to the 
labor person planting seeds of 

4952
04:35:24,400 --> 04:35:27,400
curiosity. 
Even as Louis the 14th strict 

4953
04:35:27,400 --> 04:35:31,400
rule, cast, Long Shadows, His 
ideas along with those of fellow

4954
04:35:31,400 --> 04:35:34,599
think of Pierre, Baal formed a 
foundation for what would soon 

4955
04:35:34,599 --> 04:35:37,900
be called The Enlightenment at 
the turn of the 18th century 

4956
04:35:37,900 --> 04:35:40,200
official. 
France was still firmly 

4957
04:35:40,200 --> 04:35:44,300
absolutist and devoutly Catholic
Louis the 14th, the Sun King had

4958
04:35:44,300 --> 04:35:46,300
revoked, the Edict of Nantes in 
1685. 

4959
04:35:46,300 --> 04:35:49,700
Driving Protestants like Bailey 
into exile? 

4960
04:35:50,400 --> 04:35:53,800
It even as the king insisted on 
religious unity, dissenting 

4961
04:35:53,800 --> 04:35:56,400
ideas. 
Quietly took root in his Safe. 

4962
04:35:56,400 --> 04:35:59,200
Haven abroad bail, wrote a 
skeptical historical and 

4963
04:35:59,200 --> 04:36:03,300
critical dictionary, 1697 the 
poked holes in dogma and 

4964
04:36:03,300 --> 04:36:06,700
advocated tolerance. 
These volumes printed in 

4965
04:36:06,700 --> 04:36:09,500
Amsterdam and London were 
smuggled over the borders in 

4966
04:36:09,508 --> 04:36:11,300
barrels of cloth and hidden 
compartments. 

4967
04:36:11,300 --> 04:36:14,200
Finding eager readers in Paris 
and Leo. 

4968
04:36:15,300 --> 04:36:18,200
A tradition was beginning. 
Forbidden ideas could not be 

4969
04:36:18,200 --> 04:36:21,400
easily extinguished. 
Bailey is called for a society 

4970
04:36:21,400 --> 04:36:24,599
of pluralistic views, a daring 
notion that people of different 

4971
04:36:24,599 --> 04:36:27,900
beliefs might live together in 
peace, resonated with a small, 

4972
04:36:27,900 --> 04:36:29,900
but growing circle of French 
Minds. 

4973
04:36:30,700 --> 04:36:33,500
Quietly. 
The suburb Monopoly of church 

4974
04:36:33,500 --> 04:36:36,400
and crown on Truth was being 
challenged by pamphlets and 

4975
04:36:36,400 --> 04:36:40,900
letters passed Hunter ham and 
After Louis, the 14th death in 

4976
04:36:40,900 --> 04:36:43,300
1715, the atmosphere in France, 
relaxed. 

4977
04:36:43,300 --> 04:36:46,300
Some what Allowing these early 
Sparks to flare up? 

4978
04:36:47,200 --> 04:36:50,000
In Paris coffeehouses and 
literary clubs buzzed with 

4979
04:36:50,000 --> 04:36:51,300
torque. 
One. 

4980
04:36:51,300 --> 04:36:54,300
Towering figure of this, early 
Enlightenment was Baron de 

4981
04:36:54,300 --> 04:36:57,900
Montesquieu a provincial 
nobleman with a dry wit and Keen

4982
04:36:57,900 --> 04:37:01,400
insight. 
In 1721 Montesquieu published 

4983
04:37:01,400 --> 04:37:04,400
the Persian letters a playful 
novel of letters in which two, 

4984
04:37:04,400 --> 04:37:07,099
fictional personal Travelers 
Lampoon French Customs. 

4985
04:37:07,099 --> 04:37:10,700
Nothing was sacred in its Pages 
Parisian High Society. 

4986
04:37:10,700 --> 04:37:14,099
The potentials of the king's 
court, the absurdities of the 

4987
04:37:14,099 --> 04:37:16,300
Catholic. 
Clergy all were held up to 

4988
04:37:16,300 --> 04:37:19,300
Gentle ridicule through these 
eyes of outside US. 

4989
04:37:20,000 --> 04:37:23,500
Readers were amused and 
intrigued beneath the satire, a 

4990
04:37:23,500 --> 04:37:26,200
serious critiques of absolutism 
and religious hypocrisy. 

4991
04:37:26,200 --> 04:37:29,599
The book though published 
anonymously created a stir. 

4992
04:37:30,200 --> 04:37:33,000
It was passed from Salon. 
To Salon read aloud in amused. 

4993
04:37:33,000 --> 04:37:36,200
Whispers France's own 
institutions were being examined

4994
04:37:36,200 --> 04:37:39,500
as if under a foreign lens and 
many found them wanting 

4995
04:37:40,400 --> 04:37:43,500
Montesquieu success in bold and 
others soon. 

4996
04:37:43,500 --> 04:37:46,900
He would take his analysis 
further retiring to his estate. 

4997
04:37:46,900 --> 04:37:50,200
He quietly toiled on a magnum 
opus about laws and governments 

4998
04:37:50,200 --> 04:37:53,200
around the world. 
By the 1730s, the term 

4999
04:37:53,200 --> 04:37:57,200
philosophy was coming into use. 
Not quite the same as 

5000
04:37:57,200 --> 04:37:59,900
philosopher. 
It meant a man or occasionally, 

5001
04:37:59,900 --> 04:38:03,099
a woman of ideas who applied 
reason to all areas of life. 

5002
04:38:04,099 --> 04:38:06,900
These Enlightenment thinkers saw
themselves as bringing light 

5003
04:38:06,900 --> 04:38:09,099
into the dark corners of 
ignorance and oppression. 

5004
04:38:09,099 --> 04:38:12,200
They drew inspiration from 
English writers, like John Locke

5005
04:38:12,200 --> 04:38:15,500
and scientists, like, Isaac 
Newton, whose Works were now 

5006
04:38:15,508 --> 04:38:16,900
circulating in French 
translation. 

5007
04:38:18,200 --> 04:38:20,800
In fact, a fashionable, young 
writer named Voltaire had 

5008
04:38:20,800 --> 04:38:24,200
traveled to England and 
returned, in 1729 bubbling with 

5009
04:38:24,200 --> 04:38:27,900
enthusiasm for Newton's physics 
and the English Spirit of free 

5010
04:38:27,900 --> 04:38:31,400
debate. 
He set about spreading both with

5011
04:38:31,400 --> 04:38:34,599
his vivacious lover, Emily duete
herself, a brilliant 

5012
04:38:34,599 --> 04:38:37,900
mathematician Voltaire explain, 
Newton's finding in French and 

5013
04:38:37,900 --> 04:38:40,400
praise England. 
As relatively liberal Society in

5014
04:38:40,400 --> 04:38:43,200
his letters on the English. 
Though, the French authorities 

5015
04:38:43,200 --> 04:38:46,099
condemned his book and briefly 
imprisoned, its author for it, 

5016
04:38:46,099 --> 04:38:49,900
the ideas could not be unread. 
The taste of intellectual 

5017
04:38:49,900 --> 04:38:52,000
Freedom abroad. 
Only sharpened French appetites 

5018
04:38:52,000 --> 04:38:55,700
for more. thus in the decades 
before the Revolution, the early

5019
04:38:55,707 --> 04:38:59,000
stirrings of Enlightenment 
thought took hold a handful of 

5020
04:38:59,000 --> 04:39:02,700
bold voices, fontanelle with his
Popular Science Baal with his 

5021
04:39:02,700 --> 04:39:06,000
skeptical area Edition, 
Montesquieu with his satire and 

5022
04:39:06,000 --> 04:39:10,300
Voltaire with his sharp pain 
prepared, the ground They're 

5023
04:39:10,300 --> 04:39:12,900
writing circulated in manuscript
and in Contraband, print 

5024
04:39:12,900 --> 04:39:17,700
fertilizing Minds from Paris to 
the provinces over supper tables

5025
04:39:17,700 --> 04:39:20,500
and University Halls, people 
began asking new questions. 

5026
04:39:20,500 --> 04:39:22,900
Could Reason Not tradition 
guide. 

5027
04:39:22,900 --> 04:39:26,300
Human Affairs must religious 
uniformity Trump individual. 

5028
04:39:26,300 --> 04:39:28,900
Conscience could a king's 
Authority have limit set by 

5029
04:39:28,900 --> 04:39:33,200
natural law these questions. 
So, in the early 1700s would 

5030
04:39:33,200 --> 04:39:36,800
Sprout dramatically as the 
century progressed, For now they

5031
04:39:36,800 --> 04:39:39,700
were still whispered but the 
enlightenment in France had 

5032
04:39:39,700 --> 04:39:43,600
begun Adorn of new thinking that
promised to chase away medieval 

5033
04:39:43,600 --> 04:39:47,900
shadows in the mid-18th century.
Some of the most radical ideas 

5034
04:39:47,900 --> 04:39:50,800
in France were not plotted in 
dark alleys but disgust over 

5035
04:39:50,800 --> 04:39:52,700
champagne and elegant drawing 
rooms. 

5036
04:39:53,500 --> 04:39:55,600
The Parisian Salon was a unique 
Institution. 

5037
04:39:56,600 --> 04:39:59,500
Part Social Club part 
intellectual seminar. 

5038
04:40:00,200 --> 04:40:03,600
Typically hosted by a wealthy or
aristocratic woman the salon 

5039
04:40:03,600 --> 04:40:06,900
near these gatherings brought 
together, writers, philosophers,

5040
04:40:06,900 --> 04:40:10,600
artists, and Statesmen under one
Chandelier on a given evening. 

5041
04:40:10,600 --> 04:40:14,000
You might find the sharp tongue 
and Voltaire trading barbs with 

5042
04:40:14,000 --> 04:40:17,700
a bishop or Jean-Jacques 
Rousseau Shailey unveiling, his 

5043
04:40:17,700 --> 04:40:20,200
latest essay to a circle of 
curious marquis's. 

5044
04:40:21,000 --> 04:40:24,100
Salons were private and By 
Invitation Only yet, they became

5045
04:40:24,100 --> 04:40:27,900
engines of public discourse. 
There was a democratic 

5046
04:40:27,900 --> 04:40:31,900
Cosmopolitan and tolerant 
atmosphere rare for the time 

5047
04:40:31,900 --> 04:40:36,300
time, Noble's bourgeoisie and 
even an occasional Artisan or 

5048
04:40:36,300 --> 04:40:40,500
foreign Savant, mingled politely
United by a love of wit and 

5049
04:40:40,500 --> 04:40:43,300
ideas. 
Here in lightning month, thought

5050
04:40:43,300 --> 04:40:46,900
took on a human face as diverse 
guests, debated Arts, science 

5051
04:40:46,900 --> 04:40:49,200
and politics late Into the 
Night. 

5052
04:40:50,000 --> 04:40:52,700
The women who ran these salons 
wield, his subtle power in a 

5053
04:40:52,708 --> 04:40:56,600
society that otherwise can find 
female influencer take Madame 

5054
04:40:56,600 --> 04:41:00,600
Jehovah, for example. 
Born Murray Terrace Rodriguez by

5055
04:41:00,600 --> 04:41:03,400
the 1740s. 
She had established herself as 

5056
04:41:03,400 --> 04:41:07,100
the premier Hostess of Paris. 
Every Monday, her well-appointed

5057
04:41:07,100 --> 04:41:10,200
home on the roof and Honore. 
Welcome the leading writers and 

5058
04:41:10,200 --> 04:41:12,900
philosopher. 
Wednesdays were reserved for 

5059
04:41:12,908 --> 04:41:16,500
artists with motherly charm 
Madame, jofran presided over the

5060
04:41:16,500 --> 04:41:20,200
conversation tactfully steering 
away from overly explosive 

5061
04:41:20,200 --> 04:41:21,900
topics. 
So as to keep the Gathering 

5062
04:41:21,900 --> 04:41:25,300
convivial, he even provided 
financial support to struggling 

5063
04:41:25,300 --> 04:41:28,000
men of letters quite quietly, 
paying debts, or buying 

5064
04:41:28,000 --> 04:41:29,600
paintings from her artist 
guests. 

5065
04:41:29,600 --> 04:41:32,900
The respect, she commanded was 
such that even the Crusty 

5066
04:41:32,900 --> 04:41:36,500
Voltaire deferred to her. in her
Salon, one had to follow certain

5067
04:41:36,500 --> 04:41:41,200
rules, which was appreciated, 
but vulgarity was not lively 

5068
04:41:41,200 --> 04:41:44,000
debate was welcome but shouting 
and personal attacks were 

5069
04:41:44,000 --> 04:41:48,500
frowned upon Under her Guidance,
the tone remained, civil clever 

5070
04:41:48,500 --> 04:41:52,800
and enlightening, a model of the
refinement of manners and speech

5071
04:41:52,800 --> 04:41:56,800
that salons originally aimed 
for. other ones adopted 

5072
04:41:56,800 --> 04:42:00,600
different styles Madame de due 
to defend and older contemporary

5073
04:42:00,600 --> 04:42:04,600
of Jeffrey, hosted Gathering 
From 1745 onward, but famously 

5074
04:42:04,600 --> 04:42:08,700
disdained, the more radical 
philosopher Voltaire whom she 

5075
04:42:08,700 --> 04:42:12,900
adored Her Salon favored, High 
Society gossip and classical. 

5076
04:42:12,900 --> 04:42:14,800
Letters over bold, new 
philosophy. 

5077
04:42:15,500 --> 04:42:18,700
In contrast the witty 
Mademoiselle, Julie de lesbianas

5078
04:42:18,700 --> 04:42:21,200
ran a more free-wheeling Salon 
in the 1770s. 

5079
04:42:21,200 --> 04:42:25,400
Julie had been tutored in the 
art by Madame du de fond until a

5080
04:42:25,400 --> 04:42:28,100
falling out. 
And with a small stipend from 

5081
04:42:28,100 --> 04:42:30,000
Madame Geoffrey struck out on 
her own. 

5082
04:42:30,000 --> 04:42:33,500
She innovated by opening her 
home almost every evening to a 

5083
04:42:33,500 --> 04:42:36,900
select but Mixed Company, young 
intellectuals, older Statesman 

5084
04:42:36,900 --> 04:42:40,200
and foreign visitors. 
Nibbles and wine were served 

5085
04:42:40,200 --> 04:42:42,800
nothing lavish but the talk 
flowed. 

5086
04:42:43,500 --> 04:42:48,200
One frequent guest, the writer 
Jean Francois Montell, Marvel at

5087
04:42:48,200 --> 04:42:51,800
Julia's ability to inspire Frank
discussion with he described her

5088
04:42:51,800 --> 04:42:55,600
as an astonishing compound of 
reason and wisdom with the 

5089
04:42:55,600 --> 04:42:57,800
liveliest mind and most Ardent 
soul. 

5090
04:42:59,300 --> 04:43:02,600
Under her edifice philosopher's 
from diverse, generation's 

5091
04:43:02,600 --> 04:43:05,900
convened and exchanged ideas. 
While even the poorest Scholars 

5092
04:43:05,900 --> 04:43:07,500
were welcome to express their 
thoughts. 

5093
04:43:08,400 --> 04:43:12,100
Such inclusion was unusual. 
Many sell ones rank in a tire, 

5094
04:43:12,108 --> 04:43:15,500
still mattered the Juliet Pinas.
Proved that intellectual 

5095
04:43:15,500 --> 04:43:18,600
passion. 
Could Trump pedigree Typical 

5096
04:43:18,600 --> 04:43:22,900
sale on evening, might unfold 
like this as dusk fell delivery.

5097
04:43:22,900 --> 04:43:26,100
Footman admitted guest to a 
candle lip parlor decorated with

5098
04:43:26,100 --> 04:43:28,600
art. 
Gentle music, played in the Next

5099
04:43:28,600 --> 04:43:32,400
Room, elegant women in silks, 
and men in embroidered, coats 

5100
04:43:32,400 --> 04:43:36,900
form, small clusters, exchanging
news and balls marks the hostess

5101
04:43:36,900 --> 04:43:40,000
circulated deathly. 
Introducing a young poet to a 

5102
04:43:40,000 --> 04:43:42,900
renowned scientist or drawing a 
shy scholar into a lively debate

5103
04:43:42,900 --> 04:43:46,300
about the latest play. 
conversation, was the main event

5104
04:43:46,300 --> 04:43:50,500
a Good Salon guests had 
something to bring to this 

5105
04:43:50,500 --> 04:43:53,300
conversation at the very least 
Whitten, elegant, French. 

5106
04:43:54,300 --> 04:43:56,600
Arising dramatist. 
Might recite a scene from his 

5107
04:43:56,600 --> 04:44:00,600
new comedy met with Applause and
gentle critique a visiting 

5108
04:44:00,600 --> 04:44:03,700
American like Benjamin Franklin,
might Regale the company with 

5109
04:44:03,700 --> 04:44:07,200
Tales of scientific experiments 
with lightning, Serious 

5110
04:44:07,200 --> 04:44:10,500
discussions could break out the 
merits of voltaire's, newest 

5111
04:44:10,500 --> 04:44:13,100
tracked, or Russo's, Etc, 
theories on education. 

5112
04:44:13,900 --> 04:44:17,200
But if tempers flared or someone
drowned on too long, the hostess

5113
04:44:17,200 --> 04:44:20,000
would smoothly change the 
subject or proposed a diversion,

5114
04:44:20,000 --> 04:44:23,600
perhaps a brief chamber, music 
performance or around of cards. 

5115
04:44:24,400 --> 04:44:27,200
The result was a peculiar mix of
ludic and learned. 

5116
04:44:27,900 --> 04:44:30,600
By evening, Zen and ideas that 
might have been seditious. 

5117
04:44:30,600 --> 04:44:33,700
In print could be bandied about 
safely in the salon, cushioned 

5118
04:44:33,700 --> 04:44:36,300
by flightless and mutual respect
the salon. 

5119
04:44:36,300 --> 04:44:39,000
Thus served as an incubator for 
Enlightenment ideas. 

5120
04:44:39,000 --> 04:44:42,100
It connected thinkers to 
Patron's many. 

5121
04:44:42,100 --> 04:44:45,000
An author found a publisher or a
financier, through Salon 

5122
04:44:45,000 --> 04:44:46,700
contacts. 
It allowed women. 

5123
04:44:46,700 --> 04:44:49,100
A rare opportunity to engage 
intellectual life. 

5124
04:44:49,100 --> 04:44:52,600
Will be as conveners rather than
professors with notable 

5125
04:44:52,600 --> 04:44:55,000
exceptions. 
Like Emily Duchess who though 

5126
04:44:55,000 --> 04:44:57,200
not to sell on. 
Are proved women could match men

5127
04:44:57,200 --> 04:45:00,400
in science. 
Salons also helped erode, class 

5128
04:45:00,400 --> 04:45:04,500
barriers if only slightly some 
hostesses pride of themselves on

5129
04:45:04,500 --> 04:45:08,300
Gathering a potpourri of talents
regardless of noble birth. 

5130
04:45:08,900 --> 04:45:11,800
There were limits, of course, 
peasants, and laborers, did not 

5131
04:45:11,800 --> 04:45:15,300
stroll into these parlors the 
salons primarily catered to the 

5132
04:45:15,300 --> 04:45:17,900
elite who were open to new 
talent and ideas. 

5133
04:45:17,900 --> 04:45:20,300
Not just those inherited from 
their lineage. 

5134
04:45:21,100 --> 04:45:24,100
In these candle at Rooms, the 
public sphere had a private 

5135
04:45:24,100 --> 04:45:27,000
cradle. 
Before newspapers could freely 

5136
04:45:27,000 --> 04:45:30,300
criticize, the king, or church. 
And before any elected assembly 

5137
04:45:30,300 --> 04:45:33,500
existed in France, the salons 
were training grounds for reason

5138
04:45:33,500 --> 04:45:36,700
to debate. they fostered, what 
one historian later called the 

5139
04:45:36,700 --> 04:45:40,300
Republic of letters, a community
of Minds that transcended, 

5140
04:45:40,300 --> 04:45:43,700
social ranks, and National 
borders, foreigners, like the 

5141
04:45:43,700 --> 04:45:46,800
Scottish historian, David Hume 
while the Italian economist 

5142
04:45:46,800 --> 04:45:50,600
cesare beccaria were featured at
Paris salons when they visited 

5143
04:45:50,600 --> 04:45:53,400
in turn French philosophers, 
built, networks of 

5144
04:45:53,408 --> 04:45:57,300
correspondence with thinkers 
abroad, The Cosmopolitan chatter

5145
04:45:57,300 --> 04:46:01,000
in Madame, geoffrin Salo had 
echoes in London Geneva or 

5146
04:46:01,000 --> 04:46:05,400
Berlin as ideas spread by the 
1770s and 1780s, even as 

5147
04:46:05,400 --> 04:46:09,000
economic troubles and political 
conflict in France, one could 

5148
04:46:09,000 --> 04:46:12,100
still find On Any Given evening 
a salon in full swing. 

5149
04:46:12,100 --> 04:46:16,100
A microcosm of an ideal 
Enlightenment Society where 

5150
04:46:16,100 --> 04:46:19,000
conversation flowed freely 
differences were bridge by 

5151
04:46:19,000 --> 04:46:22,800
Civility and a new rational. 
France was imagined in talk long

5152
04:46:22,800 --> 04:46:25,300
before it existed. 
In fact, by the middle of the 

5153
04:46:25,300 --> 04:46:28,600
18th century, the written word 
in France was undergoing and 

5154
04:46:28,600 --> 04:46:32,200
explosive proliferation and 
bustling Parisian print shops in

5155
04:46:32,200 --> 04:46:35,700
secret presses hidden in attics 
or across the border, printers 

5156
04:46:35,700 --> 04:46:39,500
turned out mountains of paper 
books, pamphlets journals 

5157
04:46:39,500 --> 04:46:43,800
broadside and insatiable reading
public had Arisen Hungary for 

5158
04:46:43,800 --> 04:46:47,100
everything from scandalous verse
to Serious treatises on 

5159
04:46:47,100 --> 04:46:51,700
philosophy, the statistics, tell
part of the story by the 1780s. 

5160
04:46:51,700 --> 04:46:55,600
Literacy had risen markedly 
roughly half of French men and a

5161
04:46:55,600 --> 04:46:58,800
quarter of women could read 
almost double the rates from a 

5162
04:46:58,800 --> 04:47:01,200
century early. 
More people reading met more 

5163
04:47:01,200 --> 04:47:04,000
demand for reading material, 
where the state or the church 

5164
04:47:04,000 --> 04:47:06,800
tried to censor or limit that 
material Enterprise in 

5165
04:47:06,800 --> 04:47:08,400
Publishers found ways to supply 
it. 

5166
04:47:08,400 --> 04:47:12,200
Regardless a veritable 
underground press emerged and 

5167
04:47:12,200 --> 04:47:15,000
with it, a new kind of 
intellectual Warrior, the hack 

5168
04:47:15,000 --> 04:47:17,000
writer and the clandestine 
Bookseller. 

5169
04:47:17,700 --> 04:47:20,600
Together, they would spread 
enlightenment ideas to every 

5170
04:47:20,600 --> 04:47:23,400
corner of France even as 
authorities scrambled to stem 

5171
04:47:23,400 --> 04:47:25,900
the tide. 
Officially the French Crown 

5172
04:47:25,900 --> 04:47:29,100
maintained strict censorship. 
All books were supposed to be a 

5173
04:47:29,108 --> 04:47:32,200
royal sensors and carry the 
sensors name. 

5174
04:47:32,200 --> 04:47:36,300
Hundreds of titles were outright
banned, the Catholic Church 

5175
04:47:36,300 --> 04:47:39,500
through the sorbonne faculty and
the infamous index librarian, 

5176
04:47:39,500 --> 04:47:41,800
prohibitorum index of prohibited
books. 

5177
04:47:41,800 --> 04:47:44,900
Also condemned Works, deemed 
heretical or immoral. 

5178
04:47:45,600 --> 04:47:48,600
Punishments were illegal 
printing, could be severe fines 

5179
04:47:48,600 --> 04:47:52,200
imprisonment, even The Gallows 
for repeater fenders but by the 

5180
04:47:52,200 --> 04:47:56,000
1770s enforcement was 
increasingly like plugging holes

5181
04:47:56,000 --> 04:47:58,400
in a sieve. 
The appetite for new ideas was 

5182
04:47:58,400 --> 04:48:01,400
too strong and the prophets to 
be made from satisfying it to 

5183
04:48:01,400 --> 04:48:04,000
tempting. 
Smugglers, carried, forbidden 

5184
04:48:04,000 --> 04:48:07,400
books into France By The Crate. 
Stashing them in false bottom 

5185
04:48:07,400 --> 04:48:10,000
wagons or floating them down 
Rivers at night. 

5186
04:48:11,000 --> 04:48:14,300
It was said that in some 
Frontier towns, nearly every 

5187
04:48:14,300 --> 04:48:16,000
custom was officer could be 
bribed. 

5188
04:48:16,000 --> 04:48:21,100
Meanwhile, within France, pirate
printers secretly duplicated, 

5189
04:48:21,100 --> 04:48:22,500
popular Works without 
permission. 

5190
04:48:23,300 --> 04:48:25,900
One way or another. 
What was officially banned off 

5191
04:48:25,900 --> 04:48:29,300
an ended up wide Lily red? 
A few examples illustrate, the 

5192
04:48:29,300 --> 04:48:32,700
cat and mouse game of publishing
in 1759. 

5193
04:48:32,700 --> 04:48:35,900
The Monumental project of the 
encyclopedie, the great 

5194
04:48:35,900 --> 04:48:39,700
Encyclopedia of Sciences arts 
and trades edited by Denny 

5195
04:48:39,700 --> 04:48:41,600
diderot was banned by King 
Louis. 

5196
04:48:41,600 --> 04:48:44,900
The 15th, after the first seven 
volumes under pressure from 

5197
04:48:44,900 --> 04:48:48,200
church authorities, who found 
its articles to Empires but 

5198
04:48:48,200 --> 04:48:51,900
diderot did not abandon it. 
Thanks to sympathetic, insiders,

5199
04:48:51,900 --> 04:48:53,600
not least, the enlightened sense
of Melcher. 

5200
04:48:53,600 --> 04:48:57,900
Dido continued the work in 
secret finishing 10 more volumes

5201
04:48:57,900 --> 04:49:00,600
of Articles and plates under a 
false imprint in Switzerland. 

5202
04:49:01,600 --> 04:49:04,500
Officially the encyclopedia was 
suppressed in reality 

5203
04:49:04,500 --> 04:49:07,500
subscribers received the 
remaining volumes clandestinely 

5204
04:49:07,500 --> 04:49:10,500
by 1765 as one contemporary 
quit. 

5205
04:49:10,500 --> 04:49:13,500
The authorities had winked. 
At the Enterprise, they 

5206
04:49:13,500 --> 04:49:16,800
pretended to shut it down to 
appease the church, but turned a

5207
04:49:16,800 --> 04:49:19,100
blind eye to its continued 
existence because it employed 

5208
04:49:19,100 --> 04:49:21,200
hundreds of workers and had 
powerful supporters. 

5209
04:49:22,000 --> 04:49:26,500
This delicate dance ban in name,
tolerate in practice typified. 

5210
04:49:26,500 --> 04:49:28,600
The later old regimes lacks 
censorship. 

5211
04:49:29,600 --> 04:49:34,400
By 1780 rows and cyclops East 
stood complete at 35, volume's 

5212
04:49:34,400 --> 04:49:37,400
and astonishing Trove of 
Enlightenment knowledge made 

5213
04:49:37,400 --> 04:49:41,300
available to the public, despite
all edicts to the contrary, in 

5214
04:49:41,300 --> 04:49:45,600
addition to the encyclopedie 
Geneva, Amsterdam London and the

5215
04:49:45,600 --> 04:49:47,400
Rhineland produced illicit 
literature. 

5216
04:49:48,400 --> 04:49:51,800
Scholars believe that around 600
prohibited books, circulated in 

5217
04:49:51,800 --> 04:49:55,200
France, before the Revolution. 
These included philosophical 

5218
04:49:55,200 --> 04:49:58,400
books, Scarlett's political 
pamphlets and censored novels. 

5219
04:49:59,100 --> 04:50:02,000
According to historian, Robert 
Danton several were forbidden 

5220
04:50:02,000 --> 04:50:05,400
bestsellers books to Filthy or 
seditious for the sensors. 

5221
04:50:05,400 --> 04:50:09,800
But eagerly read by everyone who
could Russo's Emil on education 

5222
04:50:09,800 --> 04:50:14,400
and the social contract were 
prohibited in 1762, but pirated 

5223
04:50:14,400 --> 04:50:16,000
volumes spread and made him 
famous. 

5224
04:50:16,000 --> 04:50:19,900
Obscene, leaflets criticizing 
the Royal Family's morals and 

5225
04:50:19,900 --> 04:50:22,600
crazy stories. 
About the king's ministers were 

5226
04:50:22,600 --> 04:50:25,200
other underground, best sellers 
grub Street. 

5227
04:50:25,200 --> 04:50:27,900
Writers hack authors living hand
to mouth in Paris. 

5228
04:50:27,900 --> 04:50:30,600
Who wrote Whatever sold 
specialized in LaBelle's 

5229
04:50:30,600 --> 04:50:33,800
liberalist pamphlets. 
To get money, such writers, 

5230
04:50:33,800 --> 04:50:36,900
might mock the king's mistress, 
one week composing natural 

5231
04:50:36,900 --> 04:50:39,500
rights tracked, the next, and 
spy for the police. 

5232
04:50:39,500 --> 04:50:42,400
The next Voltaire and diderot 
mock this literary. 

5233
04:50:42,400 --> 04:50:44,900
Underworld Voltaire called hack 
writers things. 

5234
04:50:44,900 --> 04:50:48,400
Ironically radical ideas, 
sometimes spread through these 

5235
04:50:48,400 --> 04:50:52,000
less recognized venues the 
hackers hungry and alienated 

5236
04:50:52,000 --> 04:50:55,200
from the previous regime, hated 
Authority and fueled the 

5237
04:50:55,200 --> 04:50:57,900
revolution. 
Prince circulation is immense. 

5238
04:50:58,700 --> 04:51:01,600
A recent police, inventory of a 
seized bookstore or the 

5239
04:51:01,600 --> 04:51:04,700
Bastille's confiscated shipment,
documents shows, thousands of 

5240
04:51:04,700 --> 04:51:07,600
illegal books. 
Popularly legal titles, have 

5241
04:51:07,600 --> 04:51:11,800
been republished many times. in 
the 70s, the Swiss underground 

5242
04:51:11,800 --> 04:51:16,100
publisher, Societe graphic, Dono
Chateau transported, tens of, 

5243
04:51:16,100 --> 04:51:19,700
thousands of volumes into France
from voltaire's philosophical 

5244
04:51:19,700 --> 04:51:25,900
fables, to prohibited novels, By
1796 20 sanctions pirated 

5245
04:51:25,900 --> 04:51:29,000
volumes of the Forbidden 
anti-colonial work history of 

5246
04:51:29,000 --> 04:51:32,700
the two Indies 1770 surface. 
Abbey, right? 

5247
04:51:32,700 --> 04:51:35,500
Now's history of the two Indies 
which boldly denounced slavery 

5248
04:51:35,500 --> 04:51:38,500
and tyranny was banned by the 
French government and exiled. 

5249
04:51:38,500 --> 04:51:41,500
While the clergy despised him as
one of the most seditious 

5250
04:51:41,500 --> 04:51:43,900
writers, which only peaked read 
as interest. 

5251
04:51:45,400 --> 04:51:48,200
Spiked the Embargo. 
The book was a best-seller, an 

5252
04:51:48,200 --> 04:51:51,100
influenced American colonists 
with its human rights advocacy. 

5253
04:51:52,300 --> 04:51:54,600
The Paradox of French 
Enlightenment publishing was 

5254
04:51:54,600 --> 04:51:57,100
that repression often increase 
the works, Fame and audience. 

5255
04:51:57,900 --> 04:52:00,100
Reading Revolution, sprayed 
outside the capitol. 

5256
04:52:00,900 --> 04:52:03,400
Provincial cities developed 
lending, libraries and reading 

5257
04:52:03,400 --> 04:52:06,300
societies where members pulled 
funds to buy books and 

5258
04:52:06,308 --> 04:52:08,100
newspapers. 
Under the watchful eye of a 

5259
04:52:08,100 --> 04:52:11,600
suspicious bishop or magistrate 
literature was available to many

5260
04:52:11,600 --> 04:52:13,700
residents and artists by the 
7080. 

5261
04:52:14,800 --> 04:52:17,900
Budget-friendly bibliotech Blue 
Book simplified Enlightenment 

5262
04:52:17,900 --> 04:52:20,600
ideals, fairy tales, and 
practical information. 

5263
04:52:21,500 --> 04:52:23,700
Peddlers sold chat. 
Books in local marketplaces 

5264
04:52:23,700 --> 04:52:28,200
spreading new ideas in a Tavern.
A peasant may hear a hot story 

5265
04:52:28,200 --> 04:52:30,800
about the king's mistress or a 
Voltaire joke. 

5266
04:52:30,800 --> 04:52:33,300
Of course not. 
Everyone liked this print Deluge

5267
04:52:33,300 --> 04:52:36,300
conservative voices, argued. 
That excessive reading 

5268
04:52:36,300 --> 04:52:39,800
especially forbidden materials 
was corrupting Ordinary People 

5269
04:52:39,800 --> 04:52:43,100
one booklet at a time. 
Some worry that Authority was 

5270
04:52:43,100 --> 04:52:45,400
losing respect, they were 
partly, right? 

5271
04:52:46,300 --> 04:52:49,700
Before 1789 printed words, 
affected for French public 

5272
04:52:49,700 --> 04:52:52,000
opinion. 
Pamphlet, Avalanche swayed 

5273
04:52:52,000 --> 04:52:55,000
public opinion after 
high-profile scandals or trials 

5274
04:52:55,000 --> 04:52:59,200
like the diamond necklace 
Affair. 1785 involving Queen 

5275
04:52:59,200 --> 04:53:02,700
Marie Antoinette in lighting and
authors and form in influence 

5276
04:53:02,700 --> 04:53:04,900
public opinion. 
They thought education and 

5277
04:53:04,900 --> 04:53:06,600
critical thinking could improve 
Society. 

5278
04:53:06,600 --> 04:53:10,800
It worked, but it high 
expectations and simmering 

5279
04:53:10,800 --> 04:53:14,100
discontent. 
A prison kiosk sold, a cheap 

5280
04:53:14,100 --> 04:53:17,500
Russo, leaflet on the eve of the
Revolution, stating man is Born 

5281
04:53:17,500 --> 04:53:21,200
Free and everywhere he is in 
Chains, a body song, mocking the

5282
04:53:21,200 --> 04:53:24,500
fat Archbishop or a broadsheet, 
celebrating America's successful

5283
04:53:24,500 --> 04:53:28,200
Uprising against its ruler of 
available rights, Liberty and 

5284
04:53:28,200 --> 04:53:31,800
equality formally discussed in 
salons, have permeated common 

5285
04:53:31,800 --> 04:53:34,900
consciousness. 
The future was printed on legal 

5286
04:53:34,900 --> 04:53:37,900
and unlawful presses. 
Despite their efforts, the old 

5287
04:53:37,900 --> 04:53:42,200
orders Guardians could not. 
The clatter of the printers type

5288
04:53:42,200 --> 04:53:44,700
and the rustle of secretly, 
turned Pages shook a changing 

5289
04:53:44,700 --> 04:53:48,200
France in a modest Paris 
apartment in the 1750s. 

5290
04:53:48,200 --> 04:53:51,400
Two brilliant, men, sit 
exchanging letters, not 

5291
04:53:51,400 --> 04:53:54,500
amicably, but as Rivals locked 
in intellectual combat. 

5292
04:53:55,500 --> 04:53:58,800
On one side is Voltaire, the 
most famous of the age. 

5293
04:53:58,800 --> 04:54:03,900
Now in his 60s polished, a bane,
a skeptic who relishes skewering

5294
04:54:03,900 --> 04:54:08,700
Folly on the other Jean, Jacques
Rousseau two decades younger. 

5295
04:54:09,500 --> 04:54:13,400
Tensley Earnest a loner who 
distrust the very Society of 

5296
04:54:13,400 --> 04:54:15,500
Voltaire. 
So, enjoy his, they rarely meet 

5297
04:54:15,500 --> 04:54:18,500
in person but across miles, they
trade barbs in print. 

5298
04:54:19,200 --> 04:54:21,900
Upon reading Russo's, latest 
work Voltaire. 

5299
04:54:21,900 --> 04:54:23,900
Cannot resist sending a 
withering reply. 

5300
04:54:23,900 --> 04:54:27,800
He I have received sir your new 
book against the human species 

5301
04:54:27,800 --> 04:54:31,900
and I thank you for it Voltaire 
rights with biting sarcasm. 

5302
04:54:31,900 --> 04:54:35,900
No one has ever employed, so 
much intelligence to make us all

5303
04:54:35,900 --> 04:54:38,800
stupid. 
Reading your book, inspires, a 

5304
04:54:38,800 --> 04:54:41,900
strong desire to take action, 
his words, drip, with mock, 

5305
04:54:41,900 --> 04:54:45,500
praise Rousseau's idealization 
of primitive, man. 

5306
04:54:45,500 --> 04:54:48,700
Voltaire implies is absurd, 
civilization. 

5307
04:54:48,700 --> 04:54:51,400
May be flawed, but it's far 
better than the Savage Life 

5308
04:54:51,400 --> 04:54:53,900
Rousseau. 
Extols this famous quip that 

5309
04:54:53,900 --> 04:54:57,000
Rousseau's philosophy is enough 
to make a man want to become a 

5310
04:54:57,000 --> 04:55:00,500
beast, epitomizes the clash 
between two towering 

5311
04:55:00,500 --> 04:55:03,800
Enlightenment thinkers, whose 
visions of human nature and 

5312
04:55:03,800 --> 04:55:07,500
Society were Worlds Apart, the 
enlightenment was not a singular

5313
04:55:07,500 --> 04:55:10,900
entity, rather it represented a 
multitude of diverse 

5314
04:55:10,900 --> 04:55:14,300
perspectives frequently engaged 
in intense debate. 

5315
04:55:15,300 --> 04:55:19,000
Voltaire and Russo's rivalry as 
legendary Voltaire championed 

5316
04:55:19,000 --> 04:55:21,000
reasons. 
Science and a certain 

5317
04:55:21,000 --> 04:55:24,300
Cosmopolitan elitism. 
He believed in lightened 

5318
04:55:24,300 --> 04:55:27,200
monarchs ideally, advised by 
philosophers, like himself, 

5319
04:55:27,200 --> 04:55:31,800
could gradually improve Society.
Religion to Voltaire was useful 

5320
04:55:31,800 --> 04:55:34,800
as a social glue that needed 
purging of superstition. 

5321
04:55:34,800 --> 04:55:39,000
A crusade land fam, crush. 
The infamous thing of 

5322
04:55:39,000 --> 04:55:42,000
fanaticism, he would famously 
declare of the churches. 

5323
04:55:42,000 --> 04:55:46,000
Abuses Rousseau by contrast 
distrusted the potentials of 

5324
04:55:46,000 --> 04:55:48,800
polite Society. 
He thought civilization had 

5325
04:55:48,800 --> 04:55:51,900
corrupted man's originally. 
Good nature in works like 

5326
04:55:51,900 --> 04:55:55,700
discourse on inequality. 
He argued that Arts and Sciences

5327
04:55:55,700 --> 04:55:58,600
had led not to progress, but to 
vanity and oppression. 

5328
04:55:59,300 --> 04:56:02,700
His ideal was a simpler life in 
harmony with nature and a 

5329
04:56:02,700 --> 04:56:04,600
political Community Based on 
genuine. 

5330
04:56:04,600 --> 04:56:06,800
Equality and the general will of
the people. 

5331
04:56:06,800 --> 04:56:10,400
As he later, outlined in the 
social contract to Voltaire, the

5332
04:56:10,400 --> 04:56:14,800
idea sounded naive at best 
dangerous at worst, their 

5333
04:56:14,800 --> 04:56:17,300
correspondence started 
courteously but soured over 

5334
04:56:17,300 --> 04:56:20,300
time. 
After the devastating Lisbon 

5335
04:56:20,300 --> 04:56:23,800
earthquake of 1755 Voltaire 
wrote a poem questioning 

5336
04:56:23,800 --> 04:56:26,500
Providence. 
How could a just God Slaughter 

5337
04:56:26,500 --> 04:56:30,700
innocence Russo, oddly rebuked 
Voltaire saying, people should 

5338
04:56:30,700 --> 04:56:34,300
not question God's plan and that
if men didn't live in cities, 

5339
04:56:35,200 --> 04:56:38,900
The Quake would do less harm. 
Voltaire privately scoffed at 

5340
04:56:38,900 --> 04:56:40,900
Rousseau wanted to send mankind 
backwards. 

5341
04:56:41,700 --> 04:56:45,000
One Longs in reading your book 
to walk on all fours, he geared,

5342
04:56:45,000 --> 04:56:48,600
stung, by Russo's critique. 
Rousseau for his part, grew 

5343
04:56:48,600 --> 04:56:51,300
increasingly convinced that 
Voltaire and his Clique were 

5344
04:56:51,300 --> 04:56:54,300
conspiring against him. 
Mocking him behind his back. 

5345
04:56:55,300 --> 04:56:57,500
By the 70s. 
Their relationship had fractured

5346
04:56:57,500 --> 04:57:00,100
complete. 
Rousseau even refused volta's 

5347
04:57:00,100 --> 04:57:02,100
offer of Refuge. 
When Rousseau was fleeing 

5348
04:57:02,100 --> 04:57:04,500
arrest. 
The Voltaire Rousseau split was 

5349
04:57:04,500 --> 04:57:10,900
not just personal. 
Full test stood for the party of

5350
04:57:10,900 --> 04:57:14,500
Reason progressed through 
enlightened Authority and sharp.

5351
04:57:14,500 --> 04:57:18,300
Criticism of tradition, Rousseau
became the voice of the party of

5352
04:57:18,300 --> 04:57:21,700
feeling valuing, emotional 
authenticity, and the wisdom of 

5353
04:57:21,708 --> 04:57:24,700
the Common Man over the Polished
salon sophisticated to create 

5354
04:57:24,708 --> 04:57:27,300
your quarrel highlighted 
contradictions. 

5355
04:57:27,300 --> 04:57:30,800
The enlightenment celebrated 
reason yet Rousseau accused 

5356
04:57:30,800 --> 04:57:34,100
reasons Apostles of being cold 
and elitist it preached, a 

5357
04:57:34,100 --> 04:57:37,600
quality Voltaire, privately 
disdained the uneducated masses 

5358
04:57:37,600 --> 04:57:40,400
and preferred benevolent 
despacito to democracy. 

5359
04:57:41,400 --> 04:57:44,300
In their ways, each was 
prophetic Voltaire of the 

5360
04:57:44,300 --> 04:57:47,800
liberal secular values that 
would shape modern Europe Russo 

5361
04:57:47,800 --> 04:57:50,800
of the Romantic Democratic and 
even revolutionary currents that

5362
04:57:50,800 --> 04:57:54,100
would soon erupt. 
Its fitting that both men died 

5363
04:57:54,100 --> 04:57:57,200
in 1778. 
A decade before the Revolution, 

5364
04:57:57,200 --> 04:58:00,500
almost, as if fate meant to 
clear the stage for the drama to

5365
04:58:00,500 --> 04:58:03,300
come Beyond this. 
Famous Duo, the enlightenment 

5366
04:58:03,300 --> 04:58:06,000
was Rife with intellectual 
rivalries, and collaboration's 

5367
04:58:06,000 --> 04:58:09,700
Darrow and delamere co-editors 
of the encyclopedie had their 

5368
04:58:09,700 --> 04:58:13,000
share of squabbles dalomba quit 
the project in frustration in 

5369
04:58:13,000 --> 04:58:16,900
1759 leaving Dido to slog 
through the remaining volumes 

5370
04:58:16,900 --> 04:58:20,100
largely alone. 
Did hero also fell out bitterly 

5371
04:58:20,100 --> 04:58:22,400
with Rousseau who had once been 
his close friend. 

5372
04:58:23,600 --> 04:58:26,700
Diderot and baron de holbach 
welcomed Rousseau as a kindred 

5373
04:58:26,700 --> 04:58:30,200
spirit in the 1740s. 
But as Russo's ideas, diverged 

5374
04:58:30,200 --> 04:58:33,300
in his paranoia grew, he came to
believe diderot had portrayed 

5375
04:58:33,300 --> 04:58:35,200
him negatively in a satirical 
play. 

5376
04:58:36,000 --> 04:58:38,700
Their friendship collapsed 
illustrating, how personal 

5377
04:58:38,700 --> 04:58:41,000
slights could fracture even 
those working for the same 

5378
04:58:41,000 --> 04:58:43,600
broad. 
Cause meanwhile, Baron de 

5379
04:58:43,600 --> 04:58:46,800
holbach, host of a famously 
irreverent, Salon of atheists 

5380
04:58:46,800 --> 04:58:50,900
published, the system of nature 
1770 a book denying, the 

5381
04:58:50,900 --> 04:58:55,300
existence of God outright This 
extreme materialism alarmed even

5382
04:58:55,300 --> 04:58:58,900
Voltaire who attacked Hulk's 
atheism as fanatical in its own 

5383
04:58:58,900 --> 04:59:01,500
way. 
Voltaire believed Society needed

5384
04:59:01,500 --> 04:59:04,300
belief in God. 
As a moral Bedrock, if God did 

5385
04:59:04,300 --> 04:59:06,600
not exist, it would be necessary
to invent him. 

5386
04:59:06,600 --> 04:59:08,900
He quit. 
Holdback and did hero. 

5387
04:59:08,900 --> 04:59:12,300
However, privately ridiculed 
voltaire's deers and as a lack 

5388
04:59:12,300 --> 04:59:15,900
of nerve to them reason pointed 
to a universe without need of a 

5389
04:59:15,900 --> 04:59:19,900
Divine being Thus, even among 
Phyllis Hoffs United against the

5390
04:59:19,900 --> 04:59:22,400
church's tyranny. 
There were deep fractures about 

5391
04:59:22,400 --> 04:59:26,100
religions role. 
Another poignant Clash involved,

5392
04:59:26,100 --> 04:59:29,400
Montesquieu and Rousseau's 
political Theory montesquieu's, 

5393
04:59:29,400 --> 04:59:33,400
the spirit of the laws. 1748 
argued for a balanced 

5394
04:59:33,400 --> 04:59:37,700
Constitution, like Britain's 
with powers separated among King

5395
04:59:37,700 --> 04:59:41,100
Parliament, and quartz a 
moderate Vision to prevent 

5396
04:59:41,100 --> 04:59:45,300
despotism. 
Rousseau social contract 1762, 

5397
04:59:45,300 --> 04:59:49,700
dismissed montesquieu's model as
two aristocratic instead 

5398
04:59:49,700 --> 04:59:53,300
Rousseau envisioned a republic. 
So egalitarian that in theory 

5399
04:59:53,300 --> 04:59:57,900
everyone would obey laws they 
themselves willed Voltaire found

5400
04:59:57,900 --> 05:00:00,800
Rousseau's political ideas, as 
impractical as his primitivism 

5401
05:00:00,800 --> 05:00:04,000
equipped. 
That Russo's ideal Republic was 

5402
05:00:04,000 --> 05:00:07,900
a city of ghosts and indeed 
Rousseau's notion that citizens 

5403
05:00:07,900 --> 05:00:11,100
be forced to be free. 
If they violate the general will

5404
05:00:11,100 --> 05:00:13,700
would trouble critics for his 
potential for tyranny. 

5405
05:00:14,500 --> 05:00:16,900
Yet these quarrels were not 
destructive in the long run 

5406
05:00:16,900 --> 05:00:19,800
rather, they enriched the 
enlightenment's Legacy by 

5407
05:00:19,800 --> 05:00:22,900
presenting contrasting ideas. 
That later generations could 

5408
05:00:22,900 --> 05:00:26,900
draw upon in the salon's an 
imprint of philosophy, might 

5409
05:00:26,900 --> 05:00:30,600
Lampoon's each other, but they 
also all contributed to the into

5410
05:00:30,600 --> 05:00:34,600
a broader movement questioning 
the status quo, Occasionally the

5411
05:00:34,600 --> 05:00:38,100
debate's got personal and nasty 
pamphlets full of character, 

5412
05:00:38,100 --> 05:00:41,500
assassination flew about. 
Voltaire was a master of The 

5413
05:00:41,508 --> 05:00:44,700
Artful insult When A pompous 
critic, The Abbey death on 10, 

5414
05:00:44,700 --> 05:00:49,100
Volta retaliated by portraying 
death ones as a criminal and a 

5415
05:00:49,100 --> 05:00:51,900
full in a biting satire. 
Effectively, destroying the 

5416
05:00:51,900 --> 05:00:56,200
man's reputation Rousso 2 lashed
out in his later years. 

5417
05:00:57,200 --> 05:00:59,500
He wrote withering letters, 
accusing former friends of 

5418
05:00:59,508 --> 05:01:02,200
treachery. 
Still, these human dramas had 

5419
05:01:02,200 --> 05:01:05,800
larger consequences, the sharp 
exchanges clarified differences.

5420
05:01:05,800 --> 05:01:08,200
And thought, what was the best 
form of government? 

5421
05:01:08,200 --> 05:01:11,800
The true foundation of morality 
what is the role of religion? 

5422
05:01:13,000 --> 05:01:16,000
Through argument the philosophy 
refined their positions by the 

5423
05:01:16,000 --> 05:01:18,300
70s. 
A new generation was emerging 

5424
05:01:18,300 --> 05:01:21,400
too figures. 
Like Condor, say a mathematician

5425
05:01:21,400 --> 05:01:24,400
and protege of Delon bare 
admired, both Voltaire and 

5426
05:01:24,400 --> 05:01:27,500
Rousseau trying to synthesize in
light and ideals with practical 

5427
05:01:27,500 --> 05:01:30,800
reforms, Condor set would 
advocate for the abolition of 

5428
05:01:30,800 --> 05:01:34,100
slavery and women's rights 
pushing the enlightenment of 

5429
05:01:34,100 --> 05:01:36,500
egalitarian logic further than 
his predecessors dead. 

5430
05:01:37,400 --> 05:01:40,600
Meanwhile, the Rifts among the 
older philosophers Edge splits 

5431
05:01:40,600 --> 05:01:43,700
in the coming Revolution 
aristocratic liberals versus 

5432
05:01:43,700 --> 05:01:47,300
radical Democrats. 
Deists vs atheists and 

5433
05:01:47,300 --> 05:01:51,000
pragmatists vs idealists. 
The enlightenment was not one 

5434
05:01:51,000 --> 05:01:54,200
son, but a constellation with 
Voltaire and Rousseau as two 

5435
05:01:54,200 --> 05:01:56,300
Bright Stars often in Eclipse of
each other. 

5436
05:01:57,000 --> 05:01:59,700
Their clashes bitter. 
Though they were gave the era 

5437
05:01:59,700 --> 05:02:02,900
much of its dynamism. 
The salon gossip about Voltaire 

5438
05:02:02,900 --> 05:02:05,300
versus Rousseau was the talk of 
intellectual Europe. 

5439
05:02:05,300 --> 05:02:08,400
Interestingly, when both 
Rousseau and Voltaire passed 

5440
05:02:08,400 --> 05:02:12,600
away in 1778, they received 
brief eulogies as if they had 

5441
05:02:12,600 --> 05:02:16,300
been complimentary Heroes. 
Within a few years, the French 

5442
05:02:16,300 --> 05:02:19,800
Revolution would enshrine them 
by entering both their ashes in 

5443
05:02:19,800 --> 05:02:24,400
the panteon in Paris Voltaire. 
And 1791, Rousseau and 94. 

5444
05:02:24,400 --> 05:02:27,600
Symbolically reconciling the two
in the Republic of posterity. 

5445
05:02:28,600 --> 05:02:30,200
France. 
It turned out would need both 

5446
05:02:30,200 --> 05:02:32,900
voltaire's razor wit and 
Rousseau's passionate Cry For 

5447
05:02:32,900 --> 05:02:34,600
Freedom as it hurtled toward a 
new age. 

5448
05:02:34,600 --> 05:02:37,600
The Palace of Versailles 
Courtyard was packed on a sunny 

5449
05:02:37,600 --> 05:02:41,000
September afternoon in 1783 with
eyes. 

5450
05:02:41,000 --> 05:02:43,700
Fixed on the sky. 
Two provincial Brothers. 

5451
05:02:43,700 --> 05:02:46,500
The montgolfier brothers were 
ready to attempt the first hot 

5452
05:02:46,500 --> 05:02:49,000
air balloon flight by the living
creatures in front of King 

5453
05:02:49,000 --> 05:02:51,400
Louis, the 16th and queen Marie 
Antoinette. 

5454
05:02:52,500 --> 05:02:55,300
A sheep duck and rooster were 
placed into a wicker basket 

5455
05:02:55,300 --> 05:02:57,500
under a tougher to balloon at 
the sound of a cannon. 

5456
05:02:58,200 --> 05:03:00,000
A second cannon. 
Fire announced release. 

5457
05:03:01,400 --> 05:03:04,500
As the balloon gracefully 
climbed 600 meters. 10s of 

5458
05:03:04,508 --> 05:03:08,200
thousands of people gasped, It 
carried its Barnyard, aeronauts 

5459
05:03:08,200 --> 05:03:11,500
through the heavens for 8 
minutes, Royal biology just 

5460
05:03:11,500 --> 05:03:14,900
quickly examine the animals 
which were alive and eating hay 

5461
05:03:14,900 --> 05:03:18,400
after it softly landed, a few 
kilometers away, the audience, 

5462
05:03:18,400 --> 05:03:22,500
applauded, the King was thrilled
or be at the inventors deathly 

5463
05:03:22,500 --> 05:03:25,300
of his suggestion. 
To use convicted felons as test 

5464
05:03:25,300 --> 05:03:27,400
passengers more than the 
amusement. 

5465
05:03:27,400 --> 05:03:30,500
This balloon flight symbolized, 
the enlightenment's faith in 

5466
05:03:30,508 --> 05:03:33,400
science and reason to expand the
conceivable. 

5467
05:03:34,100 --> 05:03:37,400
That moment even the ancient 
dream of flights impossible. 

5468
05:03:37,400 --> 05:03:41,100
Ingenuity and experimentation 
had turned imagination into 

5469
05:03:41,100 --> 05:03:44,900
reality before the French public
French Enlightenment Science, 

5470
05:03:44,900 --> 05:03:48,200
pervaded, Daily Life and great 
politics savants. 

5471
05:03:48,200 --> 05:03:51,500
Learned men and a few women who 
passionately studied, nature 

5472
05:03:51,500 --> 05:03:55,700
Rose in the 18th century. 
They studied chemistry anatomy, 

5473
05:03:55,700 --> 05:03:59,300
botany astronomy, and electrical
importantly, they sought 

5474
05:03:59,300 --> 05:04:02,700
practical social reforms. 
The former Royal Academy of 

5475
05:04:02,700 --> 05:04:06,500
Sciences in Paris was full of 
experiments and one of waza-air,

5476
05:04:06,500 --> 05:04:08,900
a rich Parisian tax. 
Officer who loved chemistry 

5477
05:04:08,900 --> 05:04:12,900
discovered Oxygen's role in 
combustion and established the 

5478
05:04:12,908 --> 05:04:17,200
idea of mass conservation. 
Levia and his wife Marie who 

5479
05:04:17,200 --> 05:04:20,600
illustrated and took notes 
measured gases and metals with 

5480
05:04:20,600 --> 05:04:24,000
astonishing Precision in their 
home laboratory, he proved that 

5481
05:04:24,000 --> 05:04:27,500
rusting metal games wait by 
mixing with Airborne oxygen 

5482
05:04:27,500 --> 05:04:31,900
disproving the flagship idea. 
Such work paved the way for 

5483
05:04:31,900 --> 05:04:35,000
Modern Chemistry. 
Navajo was a systematic, 

5484
05:04:35,000 --> 05:04:38,200
empirical, Enlightenment of 
knowledge should Advance 

5485
05:04:38,200 --> 05:04:41,000
Humanity. 
Outside the lab, he improved 

5486
05:04:41,000 --> 05:04:43,900
France's gunpowder industry, 
helping the military and 

5487
05:04:43,900 --> 05:04:45,900
agricultural research to boost 
yields. 

5488
05:04:46,600 --> 05:04:49,700
Science historically clashed 
with religious theology, but by 

5489
05:04:49,700 --> 05:04:52,100
mid-century many clergy were 
fascinated by it. 

5490
05:04:52,800 --> 05:04:55,600
After the Galileo, episode of 
century earlier, the church was 

5491
05:04:55,600 --> 05:04:59,800
cautious, Jesuit instructors, in
France, adjusted Cartesian and 

5492
05:04:59,800 --> 05:05:04,000
Newtonian principles. 
Still tensions, grew in the 

5493
05:05:04,000 --> 05:05:07,000
1770s. 
The Continuous form, the king's 

5494
05:05:07,000 --> 05:05:09,800
naturalist proposed that the 
world may be far older than the 

5495
05:05:09,800 --> 05:05:14,100
Bible, 6,000 years, paris's, 
faculty of theology forced him. 

5496
05:05:14,100 --> 05:05:17,100
To include a Pious disclaimer in
his book in Enlightenment 

5497
05:05:17,100 --> 05:05:20,300
science favored, natural 
explanation above magical ones, 

5498
05:05:20,300 --> 05:05:24,400
contrary to traditional beliefs,
many devout Christians or 

5499
05:05:24,400 --> 05:05:27,800
scientific findings. 
As proof of God's laws medicine 

5500
05:05:27,800 --> 05:05:30,400
and public health were West 
science and belief in sected, 

5501
05:05:30,400 --> 05:05:34,400
most the introduction of 
smallpox inoculation a 

5502
05:05:34,400 --> 05:05:38,000
predecessor to vaccination was 
noteworthy, Millions, including 

5503
05:05:38,000 --> 05:05:40,900
royalty Bindu, Ace or scarred by
smallpox. 

5504
05:05:41,900 --> 05:05:45,500
After Louis, the 15th died, 
brutally of smallpox in 1774. 

5505
05:05:45,500 --> 05:05:49,900
The new King Louis, the 16th 
decided to undergo inoculation a

5506
05:05:49,900 --> 05:05:53,400
risky purposeful infection to 
bestow immunity Maria, 

5507
05:05:53,400 --> 05:05:56,100
Antoinette supported it Parisian
Miller's. 

5508
05:05:56,100 --> 05:06:00,000
Produced, the poof Elinor, a 
hairdo with symbols of medicine 

5509
05:06:00,000 --> 05:06:04,000
and victory, a serpent in twined
Rod, arising Sun for the king 

5510
05:06:04,000 --> 05:06:07,100
and an olive branch for piece to
commemorate, the Royal 

5511
05:06:07,100 --> 05:06:10,800
inoculation success. 
Fashion and science were linked.

5512
05:06:10,800 --> 05:06:14,500
The poof made inoculation look 
cool and calm public worries. 

5513
05:06:15,300 --> 05:06:17,700
After the monarchy is 
high-profile sponsorship, what 

5514
05:06:17,700 --> 05:06:21,100
many considered a dubious 
possibly impose activity, 

5515
05:06:21,100 --> 05:06:24,500
deliberately infecting, someone 
gained legitimacy? 

5516
05:06:25,600 --> 05:06:29,300
it was the moment when empirical
knowledge inoculation success in

5517
05:06:29,300 --> 05:06:33,600
England and the Ottoman Empire 
Triumph Superstition, people's 

5518
05:06:33,600 --> 05:06:36,700
veins were filled with an 
Enlightenment Notions in 

5519
05:06:36,700 --> 05:06:39,900
lightning science, influenced 
common devices, and advances, 

5520
05:06:39,900 --> 05:06:44,400
the elite enjoyed mechanical and
scientific exhibitions salons 

5521
05:06:44,400 --> 05:06:47,700
had the electrical machines with
spinning glass globes that 

5522
05:06:47,700 --> 05:06:51,700
generated static electricity 
sparking and raising arm hair. 

5523
05:06:52,700 --> 05:06:55,400
These machines were novelty, but
important research tools. 

5524
05:06:56,300 --> 05:06:58,500
When American scientist, 
Benjamin Franklin showed 

5525
05:06:58,500 --> 05:07:02,000
lightning was electrical by 
harnessing it with a kite Europe

5526
05:07:02,000 --> 05:07:04,900
was enthralled. 
France, copied the experiment. 

5527
05:07:04,900 --> 05:07:07,700
Franklyn was a star in Paris as 
a revolutionary. 

5528
05:07:07,700 --> 05:07:10,700
Diplomatic scientist in his 
lightning rod creation was 

5529
05:07:10,700 --> 05:07:12,600
praised as a reason to defense 
against nature. 

5530
05:07:13,500 --> 05:07:16,500
By the 1780s even churches were 
putting lightning rods. 

5531
05:07:16,500 --> 05:07:19,700
Possibly recognizing that saving
a steeple from blowing up, was 

5532
05:07:19,700 --> 05:07:22,700
worth it. 
Some churchmen first, opposed 

5533
05:07:22,700 --> 05:07:25,000
them believe in that it was 
Blasphemous to meddle with the 

5534
05:07:25,000 --> 05:07:28,000
artillery of heaven. 
So science quietly challenged. 

5535
05:07:28,000 --> 05:07:30,800
The idea that disasters were 
divine will by treating them as 

5536
05:07:30,800 --> 05:07:33,800
mechanical issues. 
No subject was too obscure for 

5537
05:07:33,800 --> 05:07:36,300
the philosophers to probe in 
Enlightenment thinkers. 

5538
05:07:36,300 --> 05:07:39,400
Compared doctors discussions 
about the hearts to a state's 

5539
05:07:39,400 --> 05:07:42,300
circulation of Commerce 
philosophy considered 

5540
05:07:42,300 --> 05:07:45,500
classifying human civilizations 
like naturalist did species. 

5541
05:07:45,500 --> 05:07:49,200
The encyclopedia includes many 
scientific articles and images 

5542
05:07:49,200 --> 05:07:52,400
from anatomical, diagrams to, 
Windmill Improvement designs 

5543
05:07:52,400 --> 05:07:55,000
aiming to gather and disseminate
a central knowledge. 

5544
05:07:56,000 --> 05:07:59,100
To catalog and communicate. 
Practical information was an 

5545
05:07:59,100 --> 05:08:02,600
Enlightenment ideal knowledge, 
should not be hidden or Guild 

5546
05:08:02,600 --> 05:08:04,500
bound, but shared for the common
good. 

5547
05:08:05,400 --> 05:08:09,200
Dido published on Metallurgy 
music theory and other subjects 

5548
05:08:09,200 --> 05:08:11,900
because he believed nature and 
art might liberate minds and 

5549
05:08:11,900 --> 05:08:15,300
enhance life. during this era, 
the state often linked 

5550
05:08:15,300 --> 05:08:18,600
scientific development to its 
goals fostering a culture of 

5551
05:08:18,600 --> 05:08:22,800
enlightened absolutism Louis the
16th and his ministers wanted to

5552
05:08:22,800 --> 05:08:26,300
use science to improve 
armaments, maps and agriculture 

5553
05:08:26,300 --> 05:08:30,400
in the 1760s. 
The French government supported 

5554
05:08:30,400 --> 05:08:33,300
the enormous Meridian voyages to
estimate the Earth's form, 

5555
05:08:33,300 --> 05:08:36,900
reflecting Enlightenment 
curiosity and State pride. 

5556
05:08:37,700 --> 05:08:40,300
The Academy of Sciences 
researched ways to enhance 

5557
05:08:40,300 --> 05:08:43,500
navigation, and chronometers, 
and gave prizes for practical 

5558
05:08:43,500 --> 05:08:47,300
answers, nutritionists like 
polmanteer staged meals 

5559
05:08:47,300 --> 05:08:50,600
featuring potato dishes to 
convince aristocracy, it could 

5560
05:08:50,608 --> 05:08:53,800
prevent starvation. 
To promote potatoes. 

5561
05:08:53,800 --> 05:08:57,200
Polmanteer had a field guarded 
by troops, but let peasants 

5562
05:08:57,200 --> 05:09:00,200
steal from it at night. 
In urban living, the 

5563
05:09:00,200 --> 05:09:03,500
enlightenment provided new 
conveniences, paris's nightly 

5564
05:09:03,500 --> 05:09:07,000
Street illumination improved 
bringing Enlightenment, public 

5565
05:09:07,000 --> 05:09:10,600
places like the Jardin Dua. 
Now, Jada plant, offered 

5566
05:09:10,600 --> 05:09:13,800
Botanical Gardens and a small 
Zoo representing. 

5567
05:09:13,800 --> 05:09:16,800
The era's Natural Science, 
curriculum traveling lecturers 

5568
05:09:16,800 --> 05:09:20,400
demonstrated physics 
experiments, such as how an air 

5569
05:09:20,400 --> 05:09:23,000
pump, could smother a bird in a 
vacuum jar, ugly. 

5570
05:09:23,000 --> 05:09:27,500
But a dramatic lesson in air. 
Crowds watched these shows 

5571
05:09:27,500 --> 05:09:30,000
blurred the lines between 
education and spectacle. 

5572
05:09:30,000 --> 05:09:34,900
Science was trendy by the 1780s 
in clubs men debated, the ideas 

5573
05:09:34,900 --> 05:09:38,700
of Newton and Descartes, while 
aristocratic women will small 

5574
05:09:38,700 --> 05:09:41,900
lightning rods as jewelery. 
The Revolutionary idea of 

5575
05:09:41,900 --> 05:09:45,500
rationality, evaluating and 
Engineering Society, also Drew 

5576
05:09:45,500 --> 05:09:48,800
inspiration from science. 
The scientists sought natural 

5577
05:09:48,800 --> 05:09:51,300
rules for philosophers sought 
social laws. 

5578
05:09:52,100 --> 05:09:53,900
Scientists skill and describing 
the world. 

5579
05:09:53,900 --> 05:09:56,800
Encourage them to question 
whether social structures like 

5580
05:09:56,800 --> 05:10:00,700
the monarchy church and feudal. 
Privileges were logical or 

5581
05:10:00,700 --> 05:10:03,400
historical accidents. 
Why not redesign a kingdom. 

5582
05:10:03,400 --> 05:10:06,700
If a balloon could fly Science 
wasn't politically neutral. 

5583
05:10:07,400 --> 05:10:10,400
Some Enlightenment servants face
persecution and challenges, 

5584
05:10:10,400 --> 05:10:13,600
revolutionaries denounced 
Lavoisier for being a tax 

5585
05:10:13,600 --> 05:10:17,200
collector in 1794 despite his 
gunpowder and chemistry 

5586
05:10:17,200 --> 05:10:19,400
advances. 
Despite his scientific 

5587
05:10:19,400 --> 05:10:22,500
credentials Lavoisier face 
execution, when the public 

5588
05:10:22,500 --> 05:10:26,300
turned against experts with 
links to the onion regime, the 

5589
05:10:26,300 --> 05:10:27,800
Republic has no need of 
scientists. 

5590
05:10:27,800 --> 05:10:32,300
The judge allegedly declared 
rejecting, Mercy requests, The 

5591
05:10:32,300 --> 05:10:34,900
new Administration returned 
lavoisier's things to his widow 

5592
05:10:34,900 --> 05:10:38,100
with a note to the Widow of Love
waza-air who was falsely 

5593
05:10:38,100 --> 05:10:41,700
convicted a year after his 
execution acknowledging, his 

5594
05:10:41,700 --> 05:10:44,800
innocence and genius 
mathematically LaGrange mourned,

5595
05:10:44,800 --> 05:10:48,600
it took them only an instant to 
cut off that head and 100 years 

5596
05:10:48,600 --> 05:10:50,600
may not surface to produce 
another like it. 

5597
05:10:51,700 --> 05:10:54,300
The convergence of Enlightenment
science and revolutionary 

5598
05:10:54,300 --> 05:10:57,900
politics was fragile. 
Science permitted, Salon State 

5599
05:10:57,900 --> 05:11:00,300
policies and Street culture in 
Enlightenment France. 

5600
05:11:00,300 --> 05:11:04,600
It offered control over nature 
and reflected Society, people 

5601
05:11:04,600 --> 05:11:08,000
cooked healed, and illuminated 
their home's differently. 

5602
05:11:08,000 --> 05:11:11,100
It also influenced their 
Thinking by encouraging them to 

5603
05:11:11,100 --> 05:11:13,500
believe that empirical 
observation and reason could 

5604
05:11:13,500 --> 05:11:15,700
explain an improve the natural 
and human world. 

5605
05:11:16,500 --> 05:11:19,100
They would put this optimism to 
the test, but it held 

5606
05:11:19,100 --> 05:11:22,300
significant power. 
The montgolfier balloon soaring 

5607
05:11:22,300 --> 05:11:25,800
to cheers at Versailles. 
Showed how knowledge May lift 

5608
05:11:25,800 --> 05:11:29,800
Humanity. 
Once a place of gods and mystery

5609
05:11:29,800 --> 05:11:33,300
the sky today hosted, human 
achievement everything appeared 

5610
05:11:33,300 --> 05:11:36,800
possible currently and a social.
And political revolution was 

5611
05:11:36,800 --> 05:11:40,200
about to happen spurred in part 
by Enlightenment Sciences 

5612
05:11:40,200 --> 05:11:43,500
confidence, and inquisitive 
attitude to lose experience to 

5613
05:11:43,500 --> 05:11:45,300
horrible scene. 
That exemplified the 

5614
05:11:45,308 --> 05:11:49,600
enlightenment's fight against 
Injustice in 1762, the cruel 

5615
05:11:49,600 --> 05:11:52,500
wheel punishment, sentenced 
Protestant, Merchant, Jean 

5616
05:11:52,500 --> 05:11:54,400
collected, death, for the murder
of his son. 

5617
05:11:54,400 --> 05:11:56,600
He was reportedly converting to 
Catholicism. 

5618
05:11:58,300 --> 05:12:01,400
Calus came in Denison's, but 
anti-protestant, sentiment 

5619
05:12:01,400 --> 05:12:04,800
decided his fate, he suffered, 
and maintained his innocence, 

5620
05:12:04,800 --> 05:12:07,600
until death. 
Voltaire learned about this 

5621
05:12:07,600 --> 05:12:11,100
Injustice in his Fernie house. 
The famous philosopher was 

5622
05:12:11,100 --> 05:12:13,700
outraged. 
I believe it's in, everyone's 

5623
05:12:13,700 --> 05:12:16,400
interest to study this topic, 
which some may consider the 

5624
05:12:16,400 --> 05:12:20,500
apogee of fanaticism Voltaire 
wrote to ignore such a thing as 

5625
05:12:20,500 --> 05:12:24,000
to abandon Humanity. 
Voltaire pursued, classes 

5626
05:12:24,000 --> 05:12:26,700
Vindication and the diligent 
judges prosecution. 

5627
05:12:26,700 --> 05:12:29,400
He wrote to powerful people, 
authored A Treatise on 

5628
05:12:29,400 --> 05:12:33,500
tolerance, 1763 and stirred 
popular support for Religious 

5629
05:12:33,500 --> 05:12:36,100
Freedom. 
After years of struggle 

5630
05:12:36,100 --> 05:12:39,100
Voltaire, succeeded. 
In 1765. 

5631
05:12:39,100 --> 05:12:42,900
The king's Council in Paris, 
overturned, calluses sentence 

5632
05:12:42,900 --> 05:12:45,900
and exonerated. 
Him posthumously this victory of

5633
05:12:45,900 --> 05:12:48,800
Reason over bias was applauded 
by Europe and the age of 

5634
05:12:48,808 --> 05:12:51,300
Voltaire. 
The Colossal proved that the 

5635
05:12:51,300 --> 05:12:54,700
monarchs could be swayed to 
write or wrong and dancing, 

5636
05:12:54,700 --> 05:12:57,100
Enlightenment, religious 
tolerance, and legislative 

5637
05:12:57,100 --> 05:13:00,500
change voltaire's. 
A line, fam, crushed. 

5638
05:13:00,500 --> 05:13:05,300
The infamous thing inspired the 
philosophy Superstition, and 

5639
05:13:05,300 --> 05:13:08,800
Priests misuse of authority. 
Who his concerns not religion 

5640
05:13:08,800 --> 05:13:11,500
itself. 
Numerous examples in Rage. 

5641
05:13:11,500 --> 05:13:15,700
The philosophy 1766 saw the 
execution of 19 year old 

5642
05:13:15,700 --> 05:13:19,700
Aristocrat. 
Chevrolet for not removing his 

5643
05:13:19,700 --> 05:13:22,400
hat during a religious 
procession and defacing a 

5644
05:13:22,400 --> 05:13:24,800
crucifix. 
The Authority's fastened 

5645
05:13:24,800 --> 05:13:27,800
voltaire's philosophical 
dictionary to labar's Burning 

5646
05:13:27,800 --> 05:13:30,400
Body blaming Enlightenment 
principles for teenager, 

5647
05:13:30,400 --> 05:13:34,300
reverence. 
Voltaire outraged at Le bars 

5648
05:13:34,300 --> 05:13:37,600
execution, wrote harshly about 
the cruelty and stupidity of it.

5649
05:13:37,600 --> 05:13:41,100
These events led philosophies to
strengthen their attacks on the 

5650
05:13:41,100 --> 05:13:44,500
Catholic church and the absolute
monarchy with its nobility as a 

5651
05:13:44,500 --> 05:13:47,900
presses in lightening ideas held
the monarchy and religion 

5652
05:13:47,900 --> 05:13:51,000
accountable to reason justice 
and human rights. 

5653
05:13:52,200 --> 05:13:56,400
In the 70s old regime criticism 
previously, nuanced and 

5654
05:13:56,400 --> 05:13:59,600
typically articulated through 
satire or foreign Tales became 

5655
05:13:59,600 --> 05:14:02,700
bolder. 
Montesquieu questioned, absolute

5656
05:14:02,700 --> 05:14:04,800
monarchy by praising England's 
equilibrium. 

5657
05:14:05,500 --> 05:14:10,200
Some went further Russo's social
contracts 1762 opens with the 

5658
05:14:10,200 --> 05:14:13,800
Bold claim. 
Man is Born Free and everywhere 

5659
05:14:13,800 --> 05:14:18,600
he is in Chains attacking Royal 
and Noble, privileges Rousseau 

5660
05:14:18,600 --> 05:14:22,100
believed that sovereignty was 
with the people that laws should

5661
05:14:22,100 --> 05:14:25,500
represent the public will and 
that aristocratic titles were 

5662
05:14:25,500 --> 05:14:29,000
illogical secret copies of the 
band and destroyed book 

5663
05:14:29,000 --> 05:14:33,200
disseminated its ideas quickly. 
In later works Dedra focused on 

5664
05:14:33,200 --> 05:14:36,300
colonialism and slavery and 
suggested that a press people 

5665
05:14:36,300 --> 05:14:39,100
should rise up. 
Reynolds did Rose popular 

5666
05:14:39,100 --> 05:14:41,800
history of the two Indies 
predicts a slave Insurrection 

5667
05:14:41,800 --> 05:14:45,100
and the fall of European 
Authority overseas that 

5668
05:14:45,100 --> 05:14:47,800
conversation exploded, the 
French Crown. 

5669
05:14:47,800 --> 05:14:51,200
Spam does sense as tried to 
crush it, but they merely pushed

5670
05:14:51,200 --> 05:14:53,300
it underground where it became 
more appealing. 

5671
05:14:53,300 --> 05:14:57,100
Not all in lightning Figures 
were radicals, many favored, 

5672
05:14:57,100 --> 05:15:00,400
enlightened despotism which held
at a wise and sensible King 

5673
05:15:00,400 --> 05:15:04,200
could reform from Power. 
Voltaire courted, Frederick, the

5674
05:15:04,200 --> 05:15:05,800
great of Prussia and praised 
Emperor. 

5675
05:15:05,800 --> 05:15:08,900
Joseph, the second of Austria 
for religious toleration and 

5676
05:15:08,900 --> 05:15:12,600
serfdom reform, Enlightenment 
influenced, French ministers and

5677
05:15:12,600 --> 05:15:15,800
nobility included turgut. 
Who tried to deregulate grain 

5678
05:15:15,800 --> 05:15:18,700
trade and abolish forced labor 
and the Marketo. 

5679
05:15:18,700 --> 05:15:21,900
Condor say who promoted 
educational and judicial reforms

5680
05:15:21,900 --> 05:15:25,800
in aristocratic circles 
britannica.com britannica.com. 

5681
05:15:27,200 --> 05:15:31,100
These men attempted internal 
system reform in 1780 

5682
05:15:31,100 --> 05:15:33,900
mild-mannered, Louis the 16th 
prohibited torture in 

5683
05:15:33,900 --> 05:15:36,500
interrogations inspired by 
kesari. 

5684
05:15:36,500 --> 05:15:39,200
Beccaria's in lightning, and 
essay on crimes and punishments 

5685
05:15:39,200 --> 05:15:44,100
by providing Protestants civil 
rights in 1787, he advocated 

5686
05:15:44,100 --> 05:15:45,900
immunization and religious 
tolerance. 

5687
05:15:45,900 --> 05:15:49,700
The monarchy often fail to face 
opposition from existing 

5688
05:15:49,700 --> 05:15:54,200
interests, Nobles resisted Turks
reforms, dismissing him, the 

5689
05:15:54,200 --> 05:15:56,600
church leadership, actively 
opposed privileged reduction. 

5690
05:15:57,400 --> 05:16:00,000
French Catholic Church was a key
and Target. 

5691
05:16:00,000 --> 05:16:03,300
The church had long ruled. 
Education literature and 

5692
05:16:03,300 --> 05:16:06,900
dissenters were dements, great 
riches philosopher, mostly 

5693
05:16:06,900 --> 05:16:09,900
deists or agnostics, denounced 
Church, persecution. 

5694
05:16:10,900 --> 05:16:14,900
Voltaire proposed intolerance 
like their humble the church. 

5695
05:16:15,900 --> 05:16:19,700
Candide, his satirical tale 
attacked religious hypocrisy and

5696
05:16:19,700 --> 05:16:23,400
other flaws. 
In cannibals, d'idro subtly 

5697
05:16:23,400 --> 05:16:26,400
mocked European religious, 
communion by comparing Pacific 

5698
05:16:26,400 --> 05:16:28,800
island, accustomed to European 
religious communion. 

5699
05:16:29,600 --> 05:16:31,900
Baron holbach system of nature 
atheism. 

5700
05:16:31,900 --> 05:16:35,000
Depicts priests, as deceptive 
characters, who use hell to 

5701
05:16:35,000 --> 05:16:37,400
subjugate people. 
The words were provocative 

5702
05:16:37,400 --> 05:16:40,100
Toulouse. 
Experience to horrible scene. 

5703
05:16:40,100 --> 05:16:42,200
That exemplified the 
enlightenment's fight against 

5704
05:16:42,200 --> 05:16:46,800
Injustice in 1762, the cruel 
wheel punishment, sentenced 

5705
05:16:46,800 --> 05:16:49,700
Protestant Merchant Jean Chester
death, for the murder of his 

5706
05:16:49,700 --> 05:16:52,200
son, who was reportedly 
converting to Catholicism. 

5707
05:16:53,900 --> 05:16:57,000
Calus came in a sense, but 
anti-protestant, sentiment 

5708
05:16:57,000 --> 05:17:00,400
decided his fate, he suffered 
and maintained his innocent 

5709
05:17:00,400 --> 05:17:03,200
until death. 
Volta learned about this 

5710
05:17:03,200 --> 05:17:06,600
Injustice at his Fernie house. 
The famous philosopher was 

5711
05:17:06,600 --> 05:17:09,300
outraged. 
I believe it's in, everyone's 

5712
05:17:09,300 --> 05:17:12,000
interest to study this topic, 
which some may consider the 

5713
05:17:12,000 --> 05:17:15,500
apogee of fanaticism Voltaire 
wrote to ignore. 

5714
05:17:15,500 --> 05:17:17,200
Such a thing is to abandon 
Humanity. 

5715
05:17:18,200 --> 05:17:21,300
Voltaire pursued, classes 
Vindication and the diligent 

5716
05:17:21,300 --> 05:17:23,800
judges prosecution. 
He wrote to powerful people, 

5717
05:17:23,800 --> 05:17:28,500
authored a treaters on tolerance
1763 and stirred popular support

5718
05:17:28,500 --> 05:17:31,700
for Religious Freedom. 
After years of struggle 

5719
05:17:31,700 --> 05:17:34,700
Voltaire, succeeded. 
In 1765. 

5720
05:17:34,700 --> 05:17:38,400
The king's Council in Paris, 
overturned, calluses sentence 

5721
05:17:38,400 --> 05:17:41,500
and exonerated. 
Him posthumously this victory of

5722
05:17:41,500 --> 05:17:44,400
Reason over bias was applauded 
by Europe and the age of 

5723
05:17:44,400 --> 05:17:46,400
Voltaire. 
The kalash Scandal. 

5724
05:17:46,400 --> 05:17:49,700
Proved that the monarchs could 
be swayed to right or wrong and 

5725
05:17:49,700 --> 05:17:51,900
advancing Enlightenment, 
religious tolerance and 

5726
05:17:51,900 --> 05:17:54,400
religious native change 
voltaire's. 

5727
05:17:54,400 --> 05:17:57,900
A line fam, crushed. 
The infamous thing inspired the 

5728
05:17:57,908 --> 05:18:02,500
philosophy, Superstition and 
Priests misuse of Authority or 

5729
05:18:02,500 --> 05:18:04,700
his concerns. 
Not religion itself. 

5730
05:18:05,500 --> 05:18:09,900
Numerous examples in Rage. 
The philosophy 1766, saw the 

5731
05:18:09,900 --> 05:18:12,100
execution of 19 year old 
Aristocrat. 

5732
05:18:12,100 --> 05:18:16,300
Chevrolet for not removing his 
hat during a religious 

5733
05:18:16,300 --> 05:18:19,900
procession and defacing a 
crucifix, the authorities. 

5734
05:18:19,900 --> 05:18:22,600
Fastened voltaire's 
philosophical dictionary to 

5735
05:18:22,600 --> 05:18:24,700
labar's, Burning. 
Body blaming Enlightenment 

5736
05:18:24,700 --> 05:18:26,500
principles for teenage 
irreverence. 

5737
05:18:27,400 --> 05:18:31,500
Voltaire outraged at lavars 
execution, wrote harshly about 

5738
05:18:31,500 --> 05:18:35,200
the cruelty and stupidity of it.
These events led philosophies to

5739
05:18:35,200 --> 05:18:38,400
strengthen their attacks on the 
Catholic church and the absolute

5740
05:18:38,400 --> 05:18:42,200
monarchy with its nobility as 
oppressors in lighting ideas, 

5741
05:18:42,200 --> 05:18:45,600
held the monarchy and religion 
accountable to reason justice 

5742
05:18:45,600 --> 05:18:50,000
and human rights. 
In the 70s old regime criticism 

5743
05:18:50,000 --> 05:18:53,000
previously, nuanced and 
typically articulated through 

5744
05:18:53,000 --> 05:18:55,700
satire or foreign Tales became 
bolder. 

5745
05:18:56,500 --> 05:18:59,800
Montesquieu questioned, absolute
monarchy by praising England's 

5746
05:18:59,800 --> 05:19:03,000
equilibrium. 
Some went further Russo's social

5747
05:19:03,008 --> 05:19:06,700
contracts 1762 opens with the 
Bold claim. 

5748
05:19:06,700 --> 05:19:11,800
Man is Born Free and everywhere 
he is in Chains attacking Royal 

5749
05:19:11,800 --> 05:19:15,500
and Noble, privileges Rousseau 
believed that sovereignty was 

5750
05:19:15,500 --> 05:19:19,700
with the people that laws should
represent the public will and 

5751
05:19:19,700 --> 05:19:21,700
that aristocratic titles were 
illogical. 

5752
05:19:22,500 --> 05:19:25,500
Secret copies of the band and 
destroyed book disseminated its 

5753
05:19:25,500 --> 05:19:28,800
ideas quickly. 
In later works Deidre focused on

5754
05:19:28,800 --> 05:19:32,000
colonialism and slavery and 
suggested that oppress people 

5755
05:19:32,000 --> 05:19:35,200
should rise up. 
Reynolds did popular history of 

5756
05:19:35,200 --> 05:19:38,300
the two Indies predicts a slave 
Insurrection and the fall of 

5757
05:19:38,308 --> 05:19:42,800
European Authority overseas that
conversation exploded, the 

5758
05:19:42,800 --> 05:19:46,100
French Crown. 
Spam does tried to crush it, but

5759
05:19:46,100 --> 05:19:48,400
they merely pushed it 
underground where it became more

5760
05:19:48,400 --> 05:19:50,900
appealing. 
Not all in lightning Figures 

5761
05:19:50,900 --> 05:19:54,600
were radicals, many favored in 
lighting despotism, which held 

5762
05:19:54,600 --> 05:19:57,300
that a wise and sensible King 
could reform from Power. 

5763
05:19:58,200 --> 05:20:01,100
Voltaire courted, Frederick, the
great of Prussia and praised 

5764
05:20:01,100 --> 05:20:02,800
Emperor. 
Joseph, the second of Austria, 

5765
05:20:02,800 --> 05:20:06,700
for religious toleration of 
serfdom reform, in alignment, 

5766
05:20:06,700 --> 05:20:09,700
influenced French, ministers, 
and nobility included turgut, 

5767
05:20:09,700 --> 05:20:13,200
who tried to deregulate grain 
trade and abolish forced labor 

5768
05:20:13,200 --> 05:20:15,700
and the Marketo. 
Condor say who promoted 

5769
05:20:15,700 --> 05:20:18,900
educational and judicial reforms
in aristocratic circles 

5770
05:20:18,900 --> 05:20:24,200
britannica.com britannica.com. 
These men attempted internal 

5771
05:20:24,200 --> 05:20:28,400
system reform in 1780 
mild-mannered, Louis the 16th 

5772
05:20:28,400 --> 05:20:30,300
prohibited torture in 
interrogations. 

5773
05:20:30,300 --> 05:20:34,400
Inspired by kesari, Becca's, 
Enlightenment essay on crimes 

5774
05:20:34,400 --> 05:20:37,300
and punishments. 
By providing Protestants civil 

5775
05:20:37,300 --> 05:20:40,800
rights in 1787. 
He advocated immunization and 

5776
05:20:40,800 --> 05:20:44,200
religious tolerance, the 
monarchy often failed and faced 

5777
05:20:44,200 --> 05:20:47,800
opposition from existing 
interests, Nobles resisted Turks

5778
05:20:47,800 --> 05:20:51,000
reforms, dismissing him, the 
church leadership, actively. 

5779
05:20:51,000 --> 05:20:54,500
Opposed privileged reduction. 
The French Catholic Church was a

5780
05:20:54,500 --> 05:20:57,400
key and Target. 
The church had long ruled 

5781
05:20:57,400 --> 05:21:00,200
education literature and 
dissenters were to immense, 

5782
05:21:00,200 --> 05:21:04,500
great riches philosopher, mostly
deists or agnostics, denounce 

5783
05:21:04,500 --> 05:21:07,900
Church persecution. 
Voltaire opposed intolerance 

5784
05:21:07,900 --> 05:21:10,500
like the calus Scandal to Humble
the church. 

5785
05:21:11,500 --> 05:21:15,300
Candide, his satirical tale 
attacked religious hypocrisy and

5786
05:21:15,300 --> 05:21:19,000
other flaws. 
In cannibals, d'idro subtly 

5787
05:21:19,000 --> 05:21:22,000
mocked European religious, 
communion by comparing Pacific 

5788
05:21:22,000 --> 05:21:24,400
island, accustomed to European 
religious communion. 

5789
05:21:25,200 --> 05:21:27,500
Barren holback system of nature 
atheism. 

5790
05:21:27,500 --> 05:21:30,500
Depicts priests, as deceptive 
characters, who use hell to 

5791
05:21:30,500 --> 05:21:33,700
subjugate people. 
The words were provocative, the 

5792
05:21:33,700 --> 05:21:38,200
mathematician philosopher and 
liberal nobleman Marquis De 

5793
05:21:38,200 --> 05:21:41,600
Condor, say died in a dismal, 
Beulah range jail in August of 

5794
05:21:41,600 --> 05:21:44,400
1794. 
He fled from the extremists 

5795
05:21:44,400 --> 05:21:45,900
jacket regime that called him. 
A traitor. 

5796
05:21:45,900 --> 05:21:49,100
Condor say who championed human 
rights slavery. 

5797
05:21:49,100 --> 05:21:53,200
Abolition, and women's suffrage 
almost alone among his peers, 

5798
05:21:53,200 --> 05:21:56,800
was now a victim of the 
Revolution he supported His 

5799
05:21:56,800 --> 05:21:58,900
lifeless body was uncovered by 
guards. 

5800
05:21:58,900 --> 05:22:02,200
He may have died from disease, 
and exhaustion from Poison. 

5801
05:22:02,200 --> 05:22:04,900
He had when the guillotine 
approached the terrorists. 

5802
05:22:04,900 --> 05:22:07,100
Gloom killed one of the 
enlightenment's brightest 

5803
05:22:07,100 --> 05:22:09,700
lights. 
His demise typify, the tragic 

5804
05:22:09,700 --> 05:22:12,700
irony that Bethel many in like 
luminary's during the 

5805
05:22:12,700 --> 05:22:15,400
Revolutionary storm. 
Their promised progress had 

5806
05:22:15,400 --> 05:22:19,000
turned on them as previously 
mentioned the Waze a face 

5807
05:22:19,000 --> 05:22:21,800
execution, despite his claims 
that his scientific efforts 

5808
05:22:21,800 --> 05:22:25,700
benefited the nation, Madame, 
geoffrin daughter saw her Salon 

5809
05:22:25,700 --> 05:22:29,400
acquaintances scattered some 
executed as Gentile reform 

5810
05:22:29,400 --> 05:22:33,900
conversations gave way to mobs 
even after their deaths in 1793 

5811
05:22:33,900 --> 05:22:37,400
Voltaire and Rousseau were 
disputed by revolutionaries with

5812
05:22:37,400 --> 05:22:39,000
radicals. 
Favoring Rousseau's 

5813
05:22:39,000 --> 05:22:42,000
egalitarianism and moderates 
voltaire's tolerance, the 

5814
05:22:42,000 --> 05:22:45,000
enlightenment inspired the 
revolution, but the revolution 

5815
05:22:45,000 --> 05:22:49,100
tested it The French Revolution,
both upheld and undermined in 

5816
05:22:49,100 --> 05:22:51,400
Enlightenment values on one 
hand. 

5817
05:22:51,400 --> 05:22:54,800
It formalized, many philosophers
essential ideas, based on 

5818
05:22:54,808 --> 05:22:57,100
Montesquieu Voltaire Rousseau 
and Locke. 

5819
05:22:57,100 --> 05:23:01,500
The Declaration of the rights of
man and citizens 1789 had 

5820
05:23:01,500 --> 05:23:05,100
vacated freedom of speech and 
religion equality before the law

5821
05:23:05,100 --> 05:23:07,200
and the right to resist in 
Justice. 

5822
05:23:08,500 --> 05:23:11,000
The philosophers dream of a 
meritocratic society was 

5823
05:23:11,000 --> 05:23:15,200
realized on August 1789 when 
feudal privileges and tithes 

5824
05:23:15,200 --> 05:23:18,900
were abolished in one night. 
The constitution of 1791 

5825
05:23:18,900 --> 05:23:22,200
established a constitutional 
monarchy with a Montesquieu like

5826
05:23:22,208 --> 05:23:25,300
division of powers. 
The revolution fulfilled 

5827
05:23:25,300 --> 05:23:28,100
voltaire's calls for Toleration 
by seizing Church property in 

5828
05:23:28,100 --> 05:23:31,600
1790 and awarding full 
citizenship to Protestants and 

5829
05:23:31,600 --> 05:23:35,300
Jews and 1791. 
When Louis, the 16th was 

5830
05:23:35,300 --> 05:23:39,300
guillotined in 1793 Russo's 
vision of popular sovereignty, 

5831
05:23:39,300 --> 05:23:41,600
the people's will above Divine, 
Right? 

5832
05:23:41,600 --> 05:23:45,000
Kingship was most clearly 
confirmed however, the 

5833
05:23:45,000 --> 05:23:48,300
revolution's violent illiberal 
term, troubled, many The 

5834
05:23:48,300 --> 05:23:50,800
enlightenment sought to replace 
tyranny with reasoned 

5835
05:23:50,800 --> 05:23:53,600
conversation not crowd or one 
party power. 

5836
05:23:53,600 --> 05:23:57,000
The Committee of Public Safety 
murdered thousands of enemies of

5837
05:23:57,000 --> 05:24:01,600
the Revolution during the reign 
of terror 1793 to 4. a terrible 

5838
05:24:01,600 --> 05:24:05,000
inversion of Enlightenment ideas
reason gave way to another 

5839
05:24:05,000 --> 05:24:08,500
frenzy under Robespierre, the 
revolutionaries formed, a 

5840
05:24:08,500 --> 05:24:11,200
municipal religion of the 
Supreme Being and held deistic 

5841
05:24:11,200 --> 05:24:14,700
festivals, a guillotine enforced
version of Rousseau's civil 

5842
05:24:14,700 --> 05:24:19,300
religion, People executed under 
the guise of reason for being 

5843
05:24:19,300 --> 05:24:22,000
Aristocrats or moderate. 
Republicans would have horrified

5844
05:24:22,000 --> 05:24:24,700
Voltaire. 
The Tara exposed in an 

5845
05:24:24,700 --> 05:24:28,000
Enlightenment contradiction, the
confidence in a single truth 

5846
05:24:28,000 --> 05:24:30,700
rational or ideological can lead
to tyranny. 

5847
05:24:31,800 --> 05:24:35,400
Philosophers like to hold back 
and helvetius were as intolerant

5848
05:24:35,400 --> 05:24:38,200
of religious people. 
As atheists the revolution 

5849
05:24:38,200 --> 05:24:42,000
showed how abstract and like 
become dogmatism, no one shall 

5850
05:24:42,000 --> 05:24:44,400
spread Darkness on pain of 
death. 

5851
05:24:45,100 --> 05:24:47,800
Many Enlightenment thinkers did 
not want democracy. 

5852
05:24:47,800 --> 05:24:51,800
Voltaire favored, an enlightened
Monarch over an uninformed mob. 

5853
05:24:51,800 --> 05:24:54,500
Some intellectuals said, early 
revolutionary assemblies 

5854
05:24:54,500 --> 05:24:58,100
disarray showed Voltaire was 
right about the Canela rabble. 

5855
05:24:59,200 --> 05:25:02,900
Before his 1784 death deed drove
had become pessimistic. 

5856
05:25:02,900 --> 05:25:07,600
Arguing, that despotism might 
only cease when the last Monarch

5857
05:25:07,600 --> 05:25:10,500
was strangled with the last 
present, Trails, a dismal. 

5858
05:25:10,500 --> 05:25:14,400
Hyperbole the revolutionaries 
half-jokingly repeated diderot 

5859
05:25:14,400 --> 05:25:17,500
probably wouldn't have 
celebrated the 1793 masculinity 

5860
05:25:18,400 --> 05:25:21,400
Philosophers had not solved how 
to justly implement principles, 

5861
05:25:21,400 --> 05:25:24,400
this Gap existed, between theory
and practice. 

5862
05:25:25,300 --> 05:25:28,700
In lighting, the supporters 
face, social contradictions few 

5863
05:25:28,700 --> 05:25:31,400
addressed women's condition 
directly although they promised 

5864
05:25:31,400 --> 05:25:34,300
a quality. 
Though, a proponent of democracy

5865
05:25:34,300 --> 05:25:37,200
Rousseau believed, women should 
be educated exclusively to 

5866
05:25:37,200 --> 05:25:39,300
please. 
Men and stay at home country to 

5867
05:25:39,300 --> 05:25:43,500
Orlando and Condor say, who 
authored, an essay in 1790 

5868
05:25:43,500 --> 05:25:45,300
advocating for women's political
rights. 

5869
05:25:46,300 --> 05:25:49,000
After writing a declaration of 
the rights of woman, the 

5870
05:25:49,000 --> 05:25:52,000
Revolutionary Authority 
Guillotine de guzz, the 

5871
05:25:52,000 --> 05:25:54,600
enlightenment fraternity had 
excluded, their sisters from 

5872
05:25:54,600 --> 05:25:56,900
Universal rights. 
There was division among 

5873
05:25:56,900 --> 05:25:58,600
Enlightenment views on race and 
slavery. 

5874
05:25:59,500 --> 05:26:02,900
Some like diderot and condos. 
A strongly criticized slavery is

5875
05:26:02,900 --> 05:26:06,700
against natural law. 
The 1788 Society of Friends of 

5876
05:26:06,700 --> 05:26:09,100
the blacks founded by 
Enlightenment influence, men 

5877
05:26:09,100 --> 05:26:13,000
sort of volition others like 
Voltaire criticize. 

5878
05:26:13,000 --> 05:26:16,000
The slave trade in the abstract 
but made racist statements and 

5879
05:26:16,000 --> 05:26:18,900
invested in colonial 
corporations Enlightenment. 

5880
05:26:18,900 --> 05:26:22,900
Universal human nature battled 
with pseudo, scientific racism. 

5881
05:26:22,900 --> 05:26:27,100
Ironically a consequence of 
species classification the 

5882
05:26:27,100 --> 05:26:30,700
revolution abolished slavery in 
1794 after a massive slave 

5883
05:26:30,700 --> 05:26:35,800
Insurrection in Sandman Haiti, 
but Napoleon reinstalled it Deal

5884
05:26:35,800 --> 05:26:39,300
and reality differed 
relationship between intellect 

5885
05:26:39,300 --> 05:26:40,700
and emotional, was another 
tension? 

5886
05:26:41,500 --> 05:26:44,200
Rousseau noted that humans are 
not rational, but the 

5887
05:26:44,200 --> 05:26:47,200
enlightenment praise reason. 
The revolution showed that 

5888
05:26:47,200 --> 05:26:50,600
passions anger in Justice's 
desire for vengeance. 

5889
05:26:50,600 --> 05:26:54,100
Hope for Glory driver events, 
more than academic treatises 

5890
05:26:54,100 --> 05:26:58,500
Romanticism, a 19th century. 
Counter-attack accused the 

5891
05:26:58,500 --> 05:27:01,400
enlightenment of disregarding 
the heart, tradition and faith, 

5892
05:27:02,200 --> 05:27:05,300
Edmund Burke in England and 
Joseph de Maestro in France, 

5893
05:27:05,300 --> 05:27:08,800
held the Philosopher's unfairly 
responsible for the 

5894
05:27:08,808 --> 05:27:11,200
revolution's, Bloodshed by 
unmooring Society from 

5895
05:27:11,200 --> 05:27:14,900
traditional institutions, They 
said that the enlightenment's 

5896
05:27:14,900 --> 05:27:17,100
abstract, reasoning had 
dissolved Authority and led to 

5897
05:27:17,100 --> 05:27:22,200
chaos and Napoleon's rule. 
While this view is debatable by 

5898
05:27:22,200 --> 05:27:24,900
the early 1800s, the 
enlightenment was hailed for the

5899
05:27:24,900 --> 05:27:27,900
Declaration of Rights and 
scientific advancement but also 

5900
05:27:27,900 --> 05:27:31,700
accused of revolution. 
Long-term the French and 

5901
05:27:31,700 --> 05:27:33,900
Enlightenment left a deep and 
mostly good influence. 

5902
05:27:33,900 --> 05:27:37,500
It inspired the French American 
and later Independence movements

5903
05:27:37,500 --> 05:27:40,400
worldwide. 
Many Enlightenment goals were 

5904
05:27:40,400 --> 05:27:43,300
achieved in the 19th century. 
Including the abolition of 

5905
05:27:43,300 --> 05:27:48,000
slavery in European Empires, 
France, in 1848, Britain 1833, 

5906
05:27:48,000 --> 05:27:51,700
the spread of public education. 
The rise of secular States and 

5907
05:27:51,700 --> 05:27:54,500
the reduction of church. 
Temporal power, the gradual and 

5908
05:27:54,500 --> 05:27:58,100
uneven expansion of suffrage and
the advancement of Science and 

5909
05:27:58,100 --> 05:28:02,400
Technology without Dogma. 
The 1948, un Universal 

5910
05:28:02,400 --> 05:28:05,500
Declaration of Human Rights is 
based on Enlightenment ideas. 

5911
05:28:06,300 --> 05:28:09,100
Today we Echo voltaire's calls 
for press and conscience, 

5912
05:28:09,100 --> 05:28:12,000
freedom. 
Government site Montesquieu and 

5913
05:28:12,000 --> 05:28:15,000
creating checks and balances 
when protesters invoke. 

5914
05:28:15,000 --> 05:28:18,400
The will of the people Rousseau 
is followed, however, the 

5915
05:28:18,400 --> 05:28:20,800
enlightenment left more on 
certain legacies. 

5916
05:28:20,800 --> 05:28:24,500
The Scientific Revolution and 
industrial society were fueled 

5917
05:28:24,500 --> 05:28:27,200
by reason. 
But Romantics and later, 

5918
05:28:27,200 --> 05:28:31,000
existentialists criticized it 
for promoting technocracy and 

5919
05:28:31,000 --> 05:28:34,300
soulless rationality. 
Westerners defended imperialism 

5920
05:28:34,300 --> 05:28:38,100
as bringing civilization. 
An attitude oddly at conflict 

5921
05:28:38,100 --> 05:28:41,700
with the enlightenment's empathy
but facilitated by its aim 

5922
05:28:41,700 --> 05:28:45,800
Enlightenment, secularism 
allowed diversity to develop but

5923
05:28:45,800 --> 05:28:49,100
also left a spiritual hole that 
19th and 20th Century, 

5924
05:28:49,100 --> 05:28:52,800
ideologies, and nationalism, 
strove to fill, not always for 

5925
05:28:52,800 --> 05:28:54,900
the better. 
After Napoleon's. 

5926
05:28:54,900 --> 05:28:58,600
Collapse in 1815, France's 
monarchy re-established Church 

5927
05:28:58,600 --> 05:29:00,700
dominance and conservative 
Tendencies. 

5928
05:29:00,700 --> 05:29:05,000
Intellectual life had changed. 
Thus, the genie could not be put

5929
05:29:05,000 --> 05:29:07,600
back. 
French politics, alternated 

5930
05:29:07,600 --> 05:29:10,900
between liberal and conservative
in the midnight meeting Century.

5931
05:29:10,900 --> 05:29:15,200
But in Enlightenment ideas set, 
the standard even conservatives 

5932
05:29:15,200 --> 05:29:18,000
had to justify themselves in 
terms of logical, government and

5933
05:29:18,000 --> 05:29:20,500
National interest, not Divine 
Authority. 

5934
05:29:21,800 --> 05:29:24,700
France will officially divorce 
church and state in 1905, 

5935
05:29:24,700 --> 05:29:28,400
fulfilling the philosophies as 
aim of a secular Republic based 

5936
05:29:28,400 --> 05:29:32,900
on Liberty returnees in 
lightning principles. 

5937
05:29:32,900 --> 05:29:35,000
Filtered through revolutionary 
experience. 

5938
05:29:35,900 --> 05:29:39,200
The French Enlightenment did not
finish neatly in 1789. 

5939
05:29:40,100 --> 05:29:43,000
The Revolution was chaotic and 
its aftermath complicated, 

5940
05:29:43,000 --> 05:29:46,500
perhaps that emphasizes. 
The last Enlightenment lesson, 

5941
05:29:46,500 --> 05:29:49,900
the movement always understood 
that human Affairs are imperfect

5942
05:29:49,900 --> 05:29:53,100
and progress zigzags. 
D'idro observed. 

5943
05:29:53,900 --> 05:29:57,200
Ashrams are the only orators 
that always persuade conceding 

5944
05:29:57,200 --> 05:29:59,200
that reason, doesn't control the
world. 

5945
05:30:00,400 --> 05:30:03,400
Later in life Voltaire, tempered
his mockery with appeals for 

5946
05:30:03,408 --> 05:30:08,100
steady Improvement, not Utopia, 
even radical Rousseau caution 

5947
05:30:08,100 --> 05:30:10,600
that abrupt upheaval could lead 
to harsher despotism. 

5948
05:30:11,600 --> 05:30:14,200
Many Enlightenment thinkers 
realized, that Enlightenment 

5949
05:30:14,200 --> 05:30:15,800
would be a long-term tense 
project. 

5950
05:30:16,700 --> 05:30:19,200
Thus the enlightenment's 
Twilight transformed, rather 

5951
05:30:19,200 --> 05:30:21,400
than ended. 
People called themselves 

5952
05:30:21,400 --> 05:30:25,800
ideologues or intellectuals 
instead of philosophy in the 

5953
05:30:25,800 --> 05:30:28,400
19th century. 
But they inherited the 

5954
05:30:28,400 --> 05:30:31,400
enlightenment's, realm 
questioning Authority, demanding

5955
05:30:31,400 --> 05:30:34,300
reasoned answers, and claiming 
individual dignity, became 

5956
05:30:34,300 --> 05:30:35,600
entrenched in western 
civilization. 

5957
05:30:37,000 --> 05:30:40,200
When we read voltaire's, witty 
courageous, writing's Rousseau's

5958
05:30:40,200 --> 05:30:44,600
profound challenges DeRose, and 
cyclopedic labors or condor sets

5959
05:30:44,600 --> 05:30:47,100
prescient humanism. 
We are reminded of the 

5960
05:30:47,100 --> 05:30:48,600
enlightenment's, very human 
story. 

5961
05:30:48,600 --> 05:30:53,400
Salon Gathering and clandestine 
pamphlets, friendships and feuds

5962
05:30:53,400 --> 05:30:56,600
and people risking prison for a 
pamphlet or exile for a 

5963
05:30:56,600 --> 05:30:59,500
principal ideas. 
Could overthrow thrown in that 

5964
05:30:59,500 --> 05:31:02,000
age. 
Its Legacy lives on every time, 

5965
05:31:02,000 --> 05:31:04,300
an informed public holds a 
tyrant accountable. 

5966
05:31:04,300 --> 05:31:07,800
A youngster is taught science 
without Superstition, various 

5967
05:31:07,800 --> 05:31:11,000
individuals, sit down to talk 
and debate rather than fight and

5968
05:31:11,000 --> 05:31:14,400
we choose light over Darkness. 
The French Enlightenment was 

5969
05:31:14,400 --> 05:31:16,100
truly a turning point in human 
history. 

5970
05:31:23,000 --> 05:31:27,800
Born in 69 BCE Cleopatra. 
The seventh Philippa came from a

5971
05:31:27,808 --> 05:31:30,700
family that had controlled Egypt
for over 3 centuries. 

5972
05:31:30,700 --> 05:31:34,000
These were the ptolemies who 
were descended from a general 

5973
05:31:34,008 --> 05:31:37,400
under Alexander the Great. 
The ptolemaic empire was a 

5974
05:31:37,400 --> 05:31:41,000
peculiar hybrid, by the time 
Cleopatra was born a 

5975
05:31:41,000 --> 05:31:42,600
greek-speaking monarchy 
situated. 

5976
05:31:42,600 --> 05:31:46,800
Atop A deeply Egyptian Terrain. 
The dynasty itself was plagued 

5977
05:31:46,800 --> 05:31:51,200
by Family feuds political 
assassinations and tense truces 

5978
05:31:51,200 --> 05:31:55,600
with growing Roman Authority, 
despite the capital Alexandria 

5979
05:31:55,600 --> 05:31:58,100
being a global Center of 
scholarship. 

5980
05:31:59,200 --> 05:32:02,700
Tradition frequently, portrays 
Cleopatra's a captivating, Queen

5981
05:32:02,700 --> 05:32:07,300
who captivated influential men. 
However that portrayal disregard

5982
05:32:07,300 --> 05:32:10,800
her extensive education, 
linguistic proficiently and 

5983
05:32:10,800 --> 05:32:13,800
strategic savvy. 
She pursued studies in 

5984
05:32:13,800 --> 05:32:18,500
philosophy, astronomy medicine 
and Mathematics in the renowned 

5985
05:32:18,500 --> 05:32:22,000
Library of Alexandria. 
Cleopatra was raised in society 

5986
05:32:22,000 --> 05:32:25,600
that demanded Royals demonstrate
their abilities, as each 

5987
05:32:25,600 --> 05:32:30,500
prospective are faced the risk 
of being outwitted by cunning 

5988
05:32:30,500 --> 05:32:34,000
family members in a quart. 
Notorious for backstabbing 

5989
05:32:34,000 --> 05:32:37,200
mental acuity was just as 
important to survival as 

5990
05:32:37,200 --> 05:32:41,300
Birthright for a large portion 
of his rule her father Ptolemy 

5991
05:32:41,300 --> 05:32:43,900
the 12th. 
All these had to balance local 

5992
05:32:43,900 --> 05:32:47,800
unrest with Roman favor. 
Despite the ptolemies claims to 

5993
05:32:47,800 --> 05:32:52,200
Divine Heritage, Roman power 
actually Loom big to gain Roman 

5994
05:32:52,200 --> 05:32:56,500
political support. 
Athletes paid Hefty prices which

5995
05:32:56,500 --> 05:32:58,400
put Egypt's finance's in 
jeopardy. 

5996
05:32:59,700 --> 05:33:02,700
As she observe these discussions
clear Patra learned early on 

5997
05:33:02,700 --> 05:33:05,400
that money could purchase allies
but could never ensure true 

5998
05:33:05,400 --> 05:33:08,200
respect. 
She also saw how quickly a 

5999
05:33:08,200 --> 05:33:10,900
monarch may lose their position 
of authority if they made a 

6000
05:33:10,900 --> 05:33:13,000
mistake that alienated those in 
charge. 

6001
05:33:14,200 --> 05:33:17,300
When Cleopatra was a little 
girl, she traveled to Rome with 

6002
05:33:17,300 --> 05:33:20,400
alleys on diplomatic missions 
and saw civilization on the 

6003
05:33:20,400 --> 05:33:23,800
verge of enormous growth. 
She watched the Senate's 

6004
05:33:23,800 --> 05:33:26,300
operations there as well as the 
moves of powerful people like 

6005
05:33:26,300 --> 05:33:29,800
Julius, Caesar and Pompey. 
She had a first-hand Insight 

6006
05:33:29,800 --> 05:33:32,400
from these experiences that few 
Egyptian Royals had ever 

6007
05:33:32,400 --> 05:33:34,900
experienced. 
Cleopatra's route to the 

6008
05:33:34,900 --> 05:33:37,600
Egyptian. 
Throne was uncertain to maintain

6009
05:33:37,600 --> 05:33:40,700
the unity of the bloodline. 
Ptolemaic law, encouraged 

6010
05:33:40,700 --> 05:33:43,500
sibling, marriage Partnerships 
and her father had other 

6011
05:33:43,500 --> 05:33:46,600
children. 
An ancient Macedonian custom 

6012
05:33:46,600 --> 05:33:48,600
that the ptolemies had taken to 
extremes. 

6013
05:33:48,600 --> 05:33:52,600
This Behavior was startling to 
Modern ears as a result. 

6014
05:33:52,600 --> 05:33:55,100
Cleopatra's Destiny was 
intertwined. 

6015
05:33:55,100 --> 05:33:59,200
With her brothers, one of whom 
would at least in theory, share 

6016
05:33:59,200 --> 05:34:01,900
power with her. 
Everyone knew that a puppet 

6017
05:34:01,900 --> 05:34:04,200
sibling could be used to 
overthrow a more ambitious 

6018
05:34:04,200 --> 05:34:07,300
relative and the tension in the 
royal family was evident. 

6019
05:34:08,100 --> 05:34:11,200
History frequently reduces clear
Patrick to an exotic character. 

6020
05:34:11,200 --> 05:34:14,400
Who courted Roman rulers. 
But she was developing her 

6021
05:34:14,400 --> 05:34:16,200
diplomatic abilities from an 
early age. 

6022
05:34:16,200 --> 05:34:18,500
She acquired multi-lingual 
skills. 

6023
05:34:18,500 --> 05:34:21,600
In addition to Greek, she 
reportedly knew Aramaic 

6024
05:34:21,600 --> 05:34:25,700
Ethiopian and probably Hebrew 
well as well as an Egyptian, 

6025
05:34:25,700 --> 05:34:28,500
which most of her ptolemaic 
predecessors never tried to 

6026
05:34:28,500 --> 05:34:30,800
master. 
She was able to avoid having her

6027
05:34:30,800 --> 05:34:33,300
comments misinterpreted by 
interpreters by speaking to 

6028
05:34:33,300 --> 05:34:37,100
courtiers Merchants and foreign 
envoys in their own tongues. 

6029
05:34:37,800 --> 05:34:40,400
Her ability to communicate 
directly became one of her, most

6030
05:34:40,400 --> 05:34:43,600
powerful assets enabling her to 
bridge cultural gaps. 

6031
05:34:43,600 --> 05:34:47,700
The domestic politics of Egypt 
were very complicated as they 

6032
05:34:47,700 --> 05:34:51,000
had done for thousands of years.
Priesthoods held, considerable 

6033
05:34:51,000 --> 05:34:53,800
power. 
Careful supervision was required

6034
05:34:53,800 --> 05:34:57,500
of the surrogation system grain 
shipments, fueled the Kingdom's 

6035
05:34:57,500 --> 05:34:59,500
economy, by feeding both 
Egyptians and international 

6036
05:34:59,500 --> 05:35:02,000
markets. 
Cleopatra was aware of the 

6037
05:35:02,000 --> 05:35:03,900
fragility, underlying, the 
opulence of the Court, 

6038
05:35:03,900 --> 05:35:08,400
spectacles in ancient times, 
grain was valuable, and managing

6039
05:35:08,400 --> 05:35:10,600
the Niles. 
Resources, meant managing the 

6040
05:35:10,600 --> 05:35:14,100
money needed to survive to keep 
the Roman Bankers, happy the 

6041
05:35:14,100 --> 05:35:17,500
priest placated and the crops 
steady a wise ruler was 

6042
05:35:17,500 --> 05:35:20,300
required. 
However, when her father passed 

6043
05:35:20,300 --> 05:35:24,800
away in 51 BCE Cleopatra, was 
still a young woman, she and her

6044
05:35:24,808 --> 05:35:27,800
younger brother, Tommy. 
The 13th were designated as 

6045
05:35:27,800 --> 05:35:31,100
joint rulers in the will. 
This Arrangement was less about 

6046
05:35:31,100 --> 05:35:33,300
true balance and more about 
ceremonial tradition. 

6047
05:35:34,200 --> 05:35:36,100
Groups in the court. 
Tried to influence the young 

6048
05:35:36,100 --> 05:35:39,500
boy, King against his sister. 
Very immediately Cleopatra had 

6049
05:35:39,500 --> 05:35:42,600
to decide whether to submit 
these power struggles or to 

6050
05:35:42,600 --> 05:35:45,300
stand up for herself at the risk
of starting a civil war. 

6051
05:35:46,400 --> 05:35:49,600
Cleopatra's early life prepared,
her for her eventual, decisive 

6052
05:35:49,600 --> 05:35:52,600
actions, even though most people
only recall her later 

6053
05:35:52,600 --> 05:35:56,100
involvements with Mark Antony in
Julius, Caesar her background 

6054
05:35:56,100 --> 05:35:59,300
learning at the library, 
observing Roman politics and 

6055
05:35:59,300 --> 05:36:02,800
negotiating, a contentious Court
formed the foundation of her 

6056
05:36:02,800 --> 05:36:06,100
strategic perspective. 
She was adamant that ambitious. 

6057
05:36:06,100 --> 05:36:08,900
Romans should not use Egypt as a
prize or a province. 

6058
05:36:09,800 --> 05:36:12,600
Although, the road ahead was 
dangerous Cleopatra. 

6059
05:36:12,600 --> 05:36:14,200
Had been well prepared by her 
upbringing. 

6060
05:36:14,200 --> 05:36:18,000
She wasn't a passive character. 
She was already planning ahead 

6061
05:36:18,000 --> 05:36:20,700
and prepared to play a political
chess game, that would decide 

6062
05:36:20,700 --> 05:36:24,700
her Kingdom's destiny. 
Cleopatra who was 18 at the time

6063
05:36:24,700 --> 05:36:27,200
of Ptolemy, the 12th death found
herself. 

6064
05:36:27,200 --> 05:36:30,700
Sharing the kingdom with her 
brother Ptolemy, the 13th, he 

6065
05:36:30,700 --> 05:36:32,500
was only 10 or 11 years old at 
the time. 

6066
05:36:33,400 --> 05:36:36,200
Although they were classified as
equals in their official titles 

6067
05:36:36,200 --> 05:36:39,300
Cleopatra was aware of the 
covert pass structures and the 

6068
05:36:39,308 --> 05:36:42,300
Royal Court. 
The young King's advisors saw an

6069
05:36:42,300 --> 05:36:45,000
opportunity to marginalize her 
by portraying her, as an 

6070
05:36:45,000 --> 05:36:48,000
intrusive sister, who posed a 
danger to the boys legitimate 

6071
05:36:48,000 --> 05:36:51,300
Authority. 
Political scheming by a fiery of

6072
05:36:51,308 --> 05:36:54,800
courtiers, including the 
powerful Regional, Athena's and 

6073
05:36:54,800 --> 05:36:57,600
a general, by the name of 
Achilles soon, compelled 

6074
05:36:57,600 --> 05:37:01,600
Cleopatra, to leave Alexandria. 
Cleopatra was sent into Exile 

6075
05:37:01,600 --> 05:37:03,400
because she would not concede 
defeat. 

6076
05:37:04,100 --> 05:37:07,300
Instead of Disappearing Into 
Obscurity, she gathered a small 

6077
05:37:07,300 --> 05:37:09,700
troupe and set up camp east of 
the Nile Delta to wait. 

6078
05:37:10,600 --> 05:37:13,000
She made appeals to border 
troops who were devoted her 

6079
05:37:13,000 --> 05:37:16,200
father's Legacy Merchants, who 
were upset over the Mayhem in 

6080
05:37:16,200 --> 05:37:20,400
Alexandria and local allies. 
Cleopatra closely monitored 

6081
05:37:20,400 --> 05:37:22,300
roams internal conflicts during 
this period. 

6082
05:37:23,100 --> 05:37:25,300
Caesar's previous, Ally, the 
Roman general. 

6083
05:37:25,300 --> 05:37:29,000
Ganias Pompey was now losing a 
civil war against his urged, 

6084
05:37:29,000 --> 05:37:32,600
while comrade the alexandrian 
court made the tragic choice to 

6085
05:37:32,600 --> 05:37:35,400
have Pompey killed when he 
landed in Egypt in search of 

6086
05:37:35,408 --> 05:37:38,700
resources and safety. 
The Killing was likely done to 

6087
05:37:38,700 --> 05:37:41,400
appease Julius Caesar who was 
pursuing Pompeii. 

6088
05:37:41,400 --> 05:37:44,600
However the results of this 
heinous deed were not what they 

6089
05:37:44,600 --> 05:37:47,400
had hoped for. 
Caesar personally landed in 

6090
05:37:47,400 --> 05:37:49,800
Alexandria in the fall of 48 
BCE. 

6091
05:37:50,900 --> 05:37:54,000
Stable monarchy or at least a 
compliant Administration that 

6092
05:37:54,000 --> 05:37:56,900
would pay for his wartime. 
Expenses was what he hoped to 

6093
05:37:56,900 --> 05:37:59,700
discover. 
Instead, he found himself in a 

6094
05:37:59,700 --> 05:38:01,600
country that was embroiled in a 
fraternal war. 

6095
05:38:01,600 --> 05:38:04,900
With Tommy, the 13th Camp 
fighting for control of the city

6096
05:38:04,900 --> 05:38:08,700
in Cleopatra in Exile Caesar was
apparently horrified to learn of

6097
05:38:08,700 --> 05:38:11,500
his assassination since he had 
planted to capture Pompey, 

6098
05:38:11,500 --> 05:38:13,700
rather than have him killed by 
outside. 

6099
05:38:13,700 --> 05:38:17,300
As seeing her chance Cleopatra, 
came up with a bold scheme to 

6100
05:38:17,300 --> 05:38:19,000
meet Caesar in private and make 
a case. 

6101
05:38:19,800 --> 05:38:23,700
According to Legend to get past 
ptolemies, guards Cleopatra plan

6102
05:38:23,700 --> 05:38:26,600
to be smuggled into the palace 
rolled up in a carpet or bag. 

6103
05:38:27,400 --> 05:38:29,400
Although some historians 
disagree with the precise 

6104
05:38:29,400 --> 05:38:32,600
approach, everyone agrees that 
Cleopatra's first-hand meeting 

6105
05:38:32,600 --> 05:38:34,900
with Caesar was a persuasive 
Master stroke. 

6106
05:38:34,900 --> 05:38:37,600
She portrayed herself as a 
legitimate Queen whose brothers 

6107
05:38:37,600 --> 05:38:40,800
caught had turned treacherous 
rather than as a defenseless 

6108
05:38:40,800 --> 05:38:42,800
Exile. 
She knew Latin well enough to 

6109
05:38:42,800 --> 05:38:45,600
communicate directly with Cesar.
He was said to be as fascinated 

6110
05:38:45,600 --> 05:38:49,000
by her intelligence and humor as
he was by her royal demeanor. 

6111
05:38:49,600 --> 05:38:52,400
Caesar a master strategist. 
Believed that Cleopatra was a 

6112
05:38:52,400 --> 05:38:53,900
better Ally than her younger 
brother. 

6113
05:38:53,900 --> 05:38:57,300
In ensuring Egypt stability. 
The siblings must get back 

6114
05:38:57,300 --> 05:39:00,300
together and ruled together 
again, he said the counselors to

6115
05:39:00,308 --> 05:39:03,200
Ptolemy the 13th refused to obey
because they felt their 

6116
05:39:03,200 --> 05:39:06,800
Authority was in jeopardy. 
As tensions increased the 

6117
05:39:06,800 --> 05:39:10,800
alexandrian war broke out. 
Alexandria's streets and docks 

6118
05:39:10,800 --> 05:39:13,700
became battlefields when Seasons
Army engaged in combat with 

6119
05:39:13,700 --> 05:39:17,500
Ptolemy, the 13th supporters. 
Well though, reports differ on 

6120
05:39:17,500 --> 05:39:19,200
the extent and timing of the 
destruction. 

6121
05:39:19,200 --> 05:39:22,200
The renowned Library itself, may
have sustained some damage 

6122
05:39:22,200 --> 05:39:24,500
during this fight. 
Cleopatra. 

6123
05:39:24,500 --> 05:39:26,300
Remain calm in the face of 
chaos. 

6124
05:39:26,300 --> 05:39:29,800
She collaborated closely with 
Caesar providing local 

6125
05:39:29,800 --> 05:39:32,900
intelligence and resources. 
She understood that while she 

6126
05:39:32,900 --> 05:39:35,900
required Caesar's help. 
She also possess power because 

6127
05:39:35,900 --> 05:39:39,500
Caesar wanted a stable monarchy 
and control over Egypt's grain. 

6128
05:39:39,500 --> 05:39:43,200
Supply was vital, to Rome, They 
eventually routed Ptolemy, the 

6129
05:39:43,200 --> 05:39:46,200
13th Army. 
While attempting to escape, he 

6130
05:39:46,200 --> 05:39:49,500
himself perished in the Nile to 
maintain the illusion of a 

6131
05:39:49,500 --> 05:39:52,800
dynastic tradition, Cleopatra's 
younger brother, Ptolemy the 

6132
05:39:52,800 --> 05:39:55,500
14th was appointed as a nominal 
co-ruler. 

6133
05:39:55,500 --> 05:39:59,500
However, Cleopatra held the real
power, after the Civil War was 

6134
05:39:59,500 --> 05:40:01,500
done Cleopatra sided, with 
Caesar. 

6135
05:40:01,500 --> 05:40:05,100
And according to many fell in 
love with him caesarion. 

6136
05:40:05,100 --> 05:40:07,300
The child, they would have 
eventually have symbolized the 

6137
05:40:07,300 --> 05:40:10,300
marriage of Egyptian ancestry 
with Roman ambition. 

6138
05:40:11,200 --> 05:40:14,500
Nevertheless Cleopatra never saw
herself as a simple consort. 

6139
05:40:15,200 --> 05:40:17,300
Her goal was to bring her 
kingdom back to life. 

6140
05:40:17,300 --> 05:40:20,000
While juggling Roman interests 
and preserving some degree of 

6141
05:40:20,008 --> 05:40:22,400
autonomy. 
She lavish sees her with 

6142
05:40:22,408 --> 05:40:25,100
hospitality throwing lavish 
Feast that could only be 

6143
05:40:25,100 --> 05:40:28,400
supported by the Niles wealth. 
Beneath these extravagant 

6144
05:40:28,400 --> 05:40:30,500
outbursts. 
However she engaged in 

6145
05:40:30,500 --> 05:40:33,800
painstaking negotiations to 
secure her rules continuation 

6146
05:40:33,800 --> 05:40:35,500
after Seasons inevitable 
departure. 

6147
05:40:36,600 --> 05:40:39,200
Alexandria had been returned to 
Cleopatra at the end of this 

6148
05:40:39,200 --> 05:40:42,400
turbulent time, she was no 
longer the helpless fugitive. 

6149
05:40:42,400 --> 05:40:46,400
Instead, she had become Egypt's,
Undisputed Monarch will be at 

6150
05:40:46,400 --> 05:40:48,800
one who was closely associated 
with Roman Authority. 

6151
05:40:49,500 --> 05:40:52,200
She had forged a complicated 
alliance with the most powerful 

6152
05:40:52,200 --> 05:40:55,100
man in the Mediterranean, by 
navigating war and conspiracies.

6153
05:40:55,100 --> 05:40:58,800
There were new obstacles in the 
way primarily how to balance 

6154
05:40:58,800 --> 05:41:00,900
Egypt sovereignty with Rome's 
demands. 

6155
05:41:00,900 --> 05:41:04,200
However, Cleopatra had 
demonstrated that she was more 

6156
05:41:04,200 --> 05:41:07,100
than capable of skillfully 
navigating through situations 

6157
05:41:07,100 --> 05:41:08,900
that would shatter a less 
powerful ruler. 

6158
05:41:09,500 --> 05:41:12,900
Following the alexandrian war 
Cleopatra, oversaw a court that 

6159
05:41:12,900 --> 05:41:15,900
combined Roman and Hellenistic 
elements with old Egyptian 

6160
05:41:15,900 --> 05:41:19,700
customs, she reclaimed trade 
routes, vital to Egypt's growth 

6161
05:41:19,700 --> 05:41:22,200
and dispatched, envoys to 
negotiate border records to 

6162
05:41:22,200 --> 05:41:25,100
regain control over areas, lost 
during previous crises. 

6163
05:41:26,100 --> 05:41:29,900
Beyond politics Cleopatra, 
prioritized cultural patronage. 

6164
05:41:30,600 --> 05:41:33,900
She provided financial support 
for academic, Pursuits sponsored

6165
05:41:33,900 --> 05:41:36,800
building projects and made sure 
that Egypt's temples, 

6166
05:41:36,800 --> 05:41:39,800
particularly those, honoring the
Goddess Isis, whom she came to 

6167
05:41:39,800 --> 05:41:42,500
identifying increasingly with 
received Royal backing. 

6168
05:41:43,800 --> 05:41:46,100
She and Julius Caesar's 
relationship kept changing. 

6169
05:41:46,800 --> 05:41:49,400
Caesar attracted by Cleopatra's 
companionship as well as 

6170
05:41:49,400 --> 05:41:51,600
political motives stayed in 
Egypt. 

6171
05:41:51,600 --> 05:41:54,900
Longer than many Roman Senators 
thought was wise their well, 

6172
05:41:54,900 --> 05:41:57,200
known Nile Cruise which was 
later romanticized. 

6173
05:41:57,200 --> 05:42:01,300
Served two strategic purposes. 
Caesar learned about the areas 

6174
05:42:01,300 --> 05:42:04,400
resources and fortifications for
first-hand while Cleopatra, 

6175
05:42:04,400 --> 05:42:06,100
demonstrated the size of her 
Dominion. 

6176
05:42:07,100 --> 05:42:09,300
Though, some Alexandria's 
questioned, the expenditure 

6177
05:42:09,300 --> 05:42:13,100
Cleopatra recognized, the 
importance of spectacle and her 

6178
05:42:13,100 --> 05:42:15,600
Tales of sumptuous feasts on 
Royal boats. 

6179
05:42:16,500 --> 05:42:18,800
She wanted the Egyptians, and 
Romans to understand that the 

6180
05:42:18,800 --> 05:42:21,900
ptolemaic throne had not lost. 
Its Majesty in a time when the 

6181
05:42:21,900 --> 05:42:25,500
ability to Dazzle was frequently
used to gauge one's level of 

6182
05:42:25,508 --> 05:42:29,500
authority, Caesar and Cleopatra.
However, were unable to deny 

6183
05:42:29,500 --> 05:42:32,900
Rome's restlessness. 
After defeating pompey's allies 

6184
05:42:32,900 --> 05:42:36,500
Caesar solidified, his hold on 
Power and his status as dictator

6185
05:42:36,500 --> 05:42:38,000
was both admirable and 
vulnerable. 

6186
05:42:39,200 --> 05:42:42,300
He brought Cleopatra back to 
Roman 46, BCE, but not as a 

6187
05:42:42,308 --> 05:42:45,200
simple concubine. 
She successfully positioned 

6188
05:42:45,200 --> 05:42:48,100
herself on the Roman stage by 
arriving, with her retinue, 

6189
05:42:48,100 --> 05:42:50,200
which included the baby 
caesarean. 

6190
05:42:51,200 --> 05:42:54,300
Conservative Romans, who 
disapproved of her alien status 

6191
05:42:54,300 --> 05:42:57,400
and her alleged aspirations were
scandalized by this. 

6192
05:42:58,400 --> 05:43:01,400
Caesar gave Cleopatra privileged
position that no other foreign 

6193
05:43:01,400 --> 05:43:03,700
rule had. 
However, by letting her remain 

6194
05:43:03,700 --> 05:43:07,000
at a villa across the Tiber, 
Within the city's political 

6195
05:43:07,000 --> 05:43:10,500
circle's rumors circulated that 
Caesar made declare himself King

6196
05:43:10,500 --> 05:43:13,100
and Cleopatra. 
His Queen, a notion that was 

6197
05:43:13,100 --> 05:43:15,900
unappealing to Roman's who had 
Vivid memories of overthrowing 

6198
05:43:15,900 --> 05:43:19,300
Monarch centuries before. 
With xenophobic animosity and 

6199
05:43:19,300 --> 05:43:23,100
curiosity was stoked by 
Cleopatra's appearance, her 

6200
05:43:23,100 --> 05:43:25,600
attire and her Entourage of 
Egyptian, courtiers. 

6201
05:43:26,600 --> 05:43:30,000
In the meantime, she researched 
the tribunes the Senate and the 

6202
05:43:30,000 --> 05:43:33,000
network of patronage that 
connected aristocratic family in

6203
05:43:33,000 --> 05:43:35,700
Rome. 
She realized how shaky roams 

6204
05:43:35,700 --> 05:43:38,800
acceptance of her was 
nevertheless she engaged in 

6205
05:43:38,800 --> 05:43:41,900
diplomatic Outreach, establish 
and connections with powerful 

6206
05:43:41,900 --> 05:43:45,100
senators and their spouses 
giving presents and organising, 

6207
05:43:45,100 --> 05:43:48,900
cultural events that showcase 
Alexandria's refinement But 

6208
05:43:48,900 --> 05:43:51,600
Cleopatra's primary goal was to 
ensure the future of her 

6209
05:43:51,600 --> 05:43:54,000
Dynasty. 
From the Egyptian perspective, 

6210
05:43:54,000 --> 05:43:56,700
she desired cesareans 
recognition as his Heir. 

6211
05:43:56,700 --> 05:44:00,200
Even if it wasn't official. 
Caesar gave cesarean 

6212
05:44:00,200 --> 05:44:03,000
preferential treatment, even 
though he never legally declared

6213
05:44:03,000 --> 05:44:06,000
him, his son under Roman law, 
Caesars. 

6214
05:44:06,000 --> 05:44:08,200
Continuous success appeared to 
be the key to the Future. 

6215
05:44:09,200 --> 05:44:12,200
However, the tide of Roman 
politics was shifting and many 

6216
05:44:12,200 --> 05:44:14,600
were disturbed by Caesar's 
acquisition of awards and 

6217
05:44:14,600 --> 05:44:17,400
display of monarchical. 
Accoutrements Caesar was 

6218
05:44:17,400 --> 05:44:20,600
assassinated on the Ides of 
March in 44, BCE as a result of 

6219
05:44:20,600 --> 05:44:22,900
a conspiracy. 
Cleopatra. 

6220
05:44:22,900 --> 05:44:25,400
Shocked and exposed was in a 
dangerous situation. 

6221
05:44:25,400 --> 05:44:28,000
In Rome, she swiftly retreated 
amid. 

6222
05:44:28,000 --> 05:44:31,100
The confusion returning to 
Alexandria with cesarean and her

6223
05:44:31,100 --> 05:44:35,700
Ash According to some accounts, 
she thought about siding with 

6224
05:44:35,700 --> 05:44:38,200
Mark Antony or other groups in 
the ensuing power War. 

6225
05:44:38,800 --> 05:44:40,400
Cleopatra, however, was 
realistic. 

6226
05:44:40,400 --> 05:44:43,800
She understood that Romans would
fight for the Republic once more

6227
05:44:43,800 --> 05:44:47,200
and before making any dangerous 
agreements, she needed to know 

6228
05:44:47,200 --> 05:44:50,300
who would win. 
Securely established in Egypt, 

6229
05:44:50,300 --> 05:44:53,700
she concentrated on bolstering 
the economy and defenses of her 

6230
05:44:53,700 --> 05:44:56,800
realm while she awaited the next
Roman ruler to initiate contact.

6231
05:44:57,600 --> 05:45:00,300
She made a deliberate decision 
to stay out of Rome during this 

6232
05:45:00,300 --> 05:45:05,000
rough time. 
If she had stayed so mad, dum 

6233
05:45:05,000 --> 05:45:08,300
dum duh, one side or the other 
might have exploited her as a 

6234
05:45:08,308 --> 05:45:12,100
pawn rather she withdrew to a 
world in which she was truly in 

6235
05:45:12,100 --> 05:45:14,000
charge. 
She developed an image of 

6236
05:45:14,008 --> 05:45:15,400
herself at home as a 
conventional. 

6237
05:45:15,400 --> 05:45:18,900
Pharaoh, in addition to being a 
Hellenistic, Queen her picture 

6238
05:45:18,900 --> 05:45:22,000
with a diadem occasionally, with
subtle references to Egyptian 

6239
05:45:22,000 --> 05:45:24,100
iconography was featured on 
coins. 

6240
05:45:24,100 --> 05:45:26,800
Bearing her name To guarantee 
that the priesthood 

6241
05:45:26,800 --> 05:45:29,300
acknowledged. 
Her son cesarean as a prince to 

6242
05:45:29,300 --> 05:45:32,200
centered from God. 
She funded religious ceremonies 

6243
05:45:33,000 --> 05:45:35,800
Cleopatra cemented, her position
among her subjects by fusing 

6244
05:45:35,800 --> 05:45:38,800
traditional Egyptian devotion 
with classical Greek Elegance. 

6245
05:45:39,700 --> 05:45:41,600
Though, she was aware that 
Egypt's, Destiny would 

6246
05:45:41,608 --> 05:45:44,900
unavoidably be shaped by the 
next wave of Rome Civil War. 

6247
05:45:44,900 --> 05:45:47,900
She never cut off, contact with 
Roman politicians. 

6248
05:45:47,900 --> 05:45:51,600
Cleopatra's top objective amid, 
the chaos that followed Caesar's

6249
05:45:51,600 --> 05:45:54,200
murder, was to maintain her 
independence to the greatest 

6250
05:45:54,200 --> 05:45:57,000
extent feasible. 
Well though, she had already 

6251
05:45:57,000 --> 05:45:59,900
navigated the maze, the Roman 
stage was about to change. 

6252
05:45:59,900 --> 05:46:04,100
Again, bringing new performers 
who would test her wits She 

6253
05:46:04,100 --> 05:46:06,400
would have to carefully consider
her options now that she could 

6254
05:46:06,400 --> 05:46:10,300
no longer rely on Caesar's favor
forming alliances and battling 

6255
05:46:10,300 --> 05:46:12,700
for time in a game where the 
outcome could affect the 

6256
05:46:12,700 --> 05:46:15,400
mediterranean's future after 
Caesar's death. 

6257
05:46:15,400 --> 05:46:19,800
Rome fell into Civil War 
creating a power vacuum on one 

6258
05:46:19,800 --> 05:46:23,600
side with the Assassins led by 
Brutus and Cassius advocating 

6259
05:46:23,600 --> 05:46:25,500
for a return to Republican 
ideals. 

6260
05:46:25,500 --> 05:46:29,000
The second triumvirate brought 
together three important figures

6261
05:46:29,000 --> 05:46:34,500
Octavian, Caesar adopted son and
Heir Mark Antony a seasoned 

6262
05:46:34,500 --> 05:46:38,400
General and close Ally of Caesar
and lepidus whose influence 

6263
05:46:38,400 --> 05:46:41,100
quickly diminished. 
In the following two years. 

6264
05:46:41,100 --> 05:46:43,900
These factions fought for 
dominance from Alexandria 

6265
05:46:43,900 --> 05:46:46,200
Cleopatra. 
Observed knowing Egypt's. 

6266
05:46:46,200 --> 05:46:47,900
Wealth could become a bargaining
chip again. 

6267
05:46:48,900 --> 05:46:52,400
Mark, Antony had previously been
kind to clear, Patrick, he 

6268
05:46:52,400 --> 05:46:54,800
visited, Alexandria, during 
season's time and enjoyed the 

6269
05:46:54,800 --> 05:46:57,600
courts hospitality. 
As the triumvirate face. 

6270
05:46:57,600 --> 05:47:01,700
Brutus and Cassius Anthony 
required resources grain ships 

6271
05:47:01,700 --> 05:47:03,400
and money to strengthen his 
position. 

6272
05:47:04,700 --> 05:47:08,700
He called Cleopatra to Tarsus 
Asia Minor to negotiate terms. 

6273
05:47:08,700 --> 05:47:11,200
The summons was not just a 
polite request. 

6274
05:47:11,200 --> 05:47:16,100
Ignoring it could provoke Roman 
anger, Cleopatra recognized an 

6275
05:47:16,100 --> 05:47:19,300
opportunity negotiating from a 
strong position, could help her 

6276
05:47:19,300 --> 05:47:22,100
gain recognition for cesarean 
and assert her autonomy. 

6277
05:47:22,700 --> 05:47:26,400
Her arrival in Tarsus turned 
into a legendary tale rather 

6278
05:47:26,400 --> 05:47:29,700
than seeming like a beggar. 
She glided up the river sidna on

6279
05:47:29,700 --> 05:47:33,500
an ornate, barge the donned with
luxurious fabrics and fragrant 

6280
05:47:33,500 --> 05:47:35,700
sales musicians, played as 
clear. 

6281
05:47:35,700 --> 05:47:39,500
Patra adorned as the goddess, 
Aphrodite or Isis based on the 

6282
05:47:39,500 --> 05:47:42,900
source, invited Anthony to 
witness a display of opulence, 

6283
05:47:42,900 --> 05:47:46,300
akin to a royal Festival. 
Cleopatra recognized the 

6284
05:47:46,300 --> 05:47:50,000
significance of spectacle. 
A dramatic entrance overshadowed

6285
05:47:50,000 --> 05:47:53,700
rumors of Egyptian, subservience
and Tiny realized he was not in 

6286
05:47:53,700 --> 05:47:56,400
charge of a subordinate, but was
instead welcoming a king in full

6287
05:47:56,400 --> 05:47:59,100
splendor. 
He was impressed and accepted 

6288
05:47:59,100 --> 05:48:01,900
her invitation to dine on her 
vessel where her wit and 

6289
05:48:01,900 --> 05:48:04,400
cultural sophistication 
captivated him as much as the 

6290
05:48:04,400 --> 05:48:07,800
luxury is. 
And Alliance began political and

6291
05:48:07,800 --> 05:48:10,800
romantic that would shape the 
Eastern mediterranean's fate. 

6292
05:48:11,700 --> 05:48:15,600
Their relationship was complex, 
Antony aimed to gain Cleopatra's

6293
05:48:15,600 --> 05:48:18,400
loyalty, and resources, to 
tackle the ongoing challenges to

6294
05:48:18,400 --> 05:48:21,300
the triumvirate. 
Cleopatra, demanded, the return 

6295
05:48:21,300 --> 05:48:23,900
of Egyptian, territories lost 
under previous ptolemaic, 

6296
05:48:23,900 --> 05:48:26,500
rulers. 
She urged for formal, Roman 

6297
05:48:26,500 --> 05:48:29,800
recognition of cesarean 
significance, at least in Egypt.

6298
05:48:31,100 --> 05:48:33,900
What started as a tactical 
partnership, evolved into a 

6299
05:48:33,900 --> 05:48:36,500
personal Bond. 
Anthony spent the winter in 

6300
05:48:36,500 --> 05:48:39,300
Alexandria, enjoying the city's 
Lively culture. 

6301
05:48:39,300 --> 05:48:42,200
He took part in festivals and 
enjoyed hunts. 

6302
05:48:42,200 --> 05:48:45,100
Along the Nile and even created 
a drinking Society with 

6303
05:48:45,100 --> 05:48:49,900
Cleopatra, humorously called the
inimitable livers Cleopatra 

6304
05:48:49,900 --> 05:48:52,100
remained focused on her 
political goals, despite the 

6305
05:48:52,100 --> 05:48:55,400
distractions of revelry. 
She maneuvered through Court 

6306
05:48:55,400 --> 05:48:57,900
intrigues. 
Handled the Egyptian bureaucracy

6307
05:48:57,900 --> 05:49:01,300
and protected her throne. 
Despite rumors that Anthony was 

6308
05:49:01,300 --> 05:49:04,600
suing to her spell. 
These rumors extended Beyond 

6309
05:49:04,600 --> 05:49:07,700
mere gossip. 
In Rome, Octavian, identities, 

6310
05:49:07,700 --> 05:49:12,000
actions, wearily, Octavian ruled
the West while Antony managed 

6311
05:49:12,000 --> 05:49:14,000
the east as co-rulers of the 
Roman World. 

6312
05:49:14,000 --> 05:49:18,100
Antony is extravagant gestures 
toward Cleopatra, reinforced, 

6313
05:49:18,100 --> 05:49:21,100
the idea that he was abandoning 
Roman values for Eastern excess.

6314
05:49:21,900 --> 05:49:23,600
Cleopatra. 
Understood the gravity of 

6315
05:49:23,600 --> 05:49:26,700
octavian's propaganda. 
She had encountered Roman 

6316
05:49:26,700 --> 05:49:30,400
disdain previously. 
Now, the risks were greater loss

6317
05:49:30,400 --> 05:49:33,400
of Antony's favor and Rome could
jeopardize Cleopatra's position.

6318
05:49:34,300 --> 05:49:37,800
And his early campaigns in the 
East, had some success, he 

6319
05:49:37,800 --> 05:49:40,500
reaffirmed Roman Authority and 
rebellious areas and granted 

6320
05:49:40,500 --> 05:49:44,600
Cleopatra, land in for Venetia 
Cypress and pots of Crete and 

6321
05:49:44,600 --> 05:49:46,500
Syria. 
These grants in Hart's, Egypt's 

6322
05:49:46,500 --> 05:49:48,400
power and filled Cleopatra's 
Treasury. 

6323
05:49:49,200 --> 05:49:53,300
At the same time the triumvirate
unraveled lepidus was sidelined 

6324
05:49:53,300 --> 05:49:57,700
intensifying the Rivalry between
Antony and Octavian Cleopatra 

6325
05:49:57,700 --> 05:49:59,700
and Antony had children starting
with twins. 

6326
05:49:59,700 --> 05:50:03,300
And then another son who Anthony
acknowledged publicly children 

6327
05:50:03,300 --> 05:50:05,500
were given territories 
culminating in the notable 

6328
05:50:05,500 --> 05:50:09,800
donations of Alexandria ceremony
where Cleopatra and her 

6329
05:50:09,800 --> 05:50:11,700
children. 
Donde, regalia representing 

6330
05:50:11,700 --> 05:50:14,100
their rule over vast regions of 
the near East. 

6331
05:50:14,700 --> 05:50:17,500
Roman observers were shocked, 
the event, resembled the 

6332
05:50:17,500 --> 05:50:20,900
establishment of a new 
Hellenistic Empire at the cost 

6333
05:50:20,900 --> 05:50:23,700
of Rome. 
Cleopatra understood that her 

6334
05:50:23,700 --> 05:50:26,000
fate depended on Antony's 
military achievements. 

6335
05:50:26,900 --> 05:50:29,400
Anthony found himself 
increasingly conflicted between 

6336
05:50:29,400 --> 05:50:33,400
the East where Cleopatra, held 
Sway and the Roman Heartland 

6337
05:50:33,400 --> 05:50:36,400
were Octavian was turning public
sentiment against him. 

6338
05:50:37,400 --> 05:50:39,400
Cleopatra. 
Employed her diplomatic skills 

6339
05:50:39,400 --> 05:50:43,500
to secure local alliances in 
that if War arose, she could 

6340
05:50:43,500 --> 05:50:46,600
gather sufficient Egyptian 
Manpower and Naval power to be 

6341
05:50:46,600 --> 05:50:49,400
taken seriously. 
She noticed the cracks 

6342
05:50:49,400 --> 05:50:52,800
appearing. as Anthony embraced 
his Eastern identity by 

6343
05:50:52,800 --> 05:50:55,900
adopting, Greek customs and 
granting Grand titles to clear, 

6344
05:50:55,900 --> 05:50:59,700
Patrick hostility, and Roman 
intensified Octavian. 

6345
05:50:59,700 --> 05:51:03,000
Waited, patiently Gathering 
proof to label Antonia traitor 

6346
05:51:03,000 --> 05:51:07,100
influenced by an oriental Queen.
This delicate balance endured 

6347
05:51:07,100 --> 05:51:10,500
for years, lending Cleopatra's 
Reign, a sense of renewed 

6348
05:51:10,500 --> 05:51:12,700
Grandeur alongside looming storm
clouds. 

6349
05:51:13,500 --> 05:51:16,200
She had journeyed from uncertain
exile to commanding Queen. 

6350
05:51:17,100 --> 05:51:19,800
But the Horizon suggested a 
final confrontation that could 

6351
05:51:19,800 --> 05:51:23,700
overshadow all her previous 
struggles, by the mid-30s BCE 

6352
05:51:23,700 --> 05:51:26,800
tensions between Antony and 
Octavian, nearly insured. 

6353
05:51:26,800 --> 05:51:30,100
Another Roman Civil War to mend 
the Divide Anthony where 

6354
05:51:30,100 --> 05:51:33,500
octavians for her sister Octavia
while still maintaining his 

6355
05:51:33,500 --> 05:51:36,400
affair with clear Patra. 
He attempted to balance these 

6356
05:51:36,400 --> 05:51:40,200
conflicting responsibilities. 
However, the political Alliance 

6357
05:51:40,200 --> 05:51:44,400
is proved too weak and Octavian 
exploited, Antony's ongoing stay

6358
05:51:44,400 --> 05:51:49,000
in Egypt as proof of treachery 
in 32 BCE after Anthony 

6359
05:51:49,000 --> 05:51:52,600
divorced, Octavia, Octavian 
claimed that Anthony had turned 

6360
05:51:52,600 --> 05:51:56,900
into Cleopatra's puppet labeling
her as the master manipulator. 

6361
05:51:57,900 --> 05:52:01,200
Cleopatra, sensing Rome's, 
growing animosity prepared for 

6362
05:52:01,200 --> 05:52:03,400
battle. 
She strengthened the Egyptian 

6363
05:52:03,400 --> 05:52:06,300
Coast gathered grain and grew 
her Navy. 

6364
05:52:07,200 --> 05:52:10,900
Despite the strength of Egyptian
forces facing Rome's legionary 

6365
05:52:10,900 --> 05:52:13,300
machine, was intimidating 
Cleopatra. 

6366
05:52:13,300 --> 05:52:16,500
Thought that Victory, relied on 
Anthony skill in maintaining the

6367
05:52:16,500 --> 05:52:19,800
Loyalty of his Legions and 
uniting Eastern clients State's 

6368
05:52:19,800 --> 05:52:23,100
under his leadership. 
Has War approached, his support 

6369
05:52:23,100 --> 05:52:25,800
started to weaken. 
Several Allied Kings. 

6370
05:52:25,800 --> 05:52:29,700
Hesitated, Roman Senators, who 
once supported Anthony switched 

6371
05:52:29,700 --> 05:52:33,200
their allegiance to Octavian 
driven by fear or political 

6372
05:52:33,200 --> 05:52:36,000
strategy. 
The propaganda War intensified, 

6373
05:52:36,000 --> 05:52:40,300
Octavian depicted Cleopatra, as 
a foreign seductress aiming to 

6374
05:52:40,300 --> 05:52:44,100
enslave Rome, stoking xenophobia
among the Roman people. 

6375
05:52:44,900 --> 05:52:49,000
In 31 BCE the decisive, 
confrontation occurred off 

6376
05:52:49,000 --> 05:52:51,500
Greece's western coast near 
actium. 

6377
05:52:52,100 --> 05:52:55,900
Antony and Cleopatra gathered a 
significant Fleet but a gripper 

6378
05:52:55,900 --> 05:53:01,800
octavian's Admiral and 
outsmarted them historians. 

6379
05:53:01,800 --> 05:53:06,100
May argue over specifics but the
result is evident Antony's Navy 

6380
05:53:06,100 --> 05:53:09,000
became desperate, lacking 
supplies and troubled by 

6381
05:53:09,000 --> 05:53:13,400
grippers better Naval strategies
the climactic battle Cleopatra 

6382
05:53:13,400 --> 05:53:15,600
leading. 
Her Squadron suddenly broke away

6383
05:53:15,600 --> 05:53:18,400
and fled to Egypt. 
Antony, realizing she was 

6384
05:53:18,408 --> 05:53:21,900
leaving, gave up the fight to 
pursue her the fleet's Fate was 

6385
05:53:21,900 --> 05:53:24,200
sealed. 
Lacking unified leadership. 

6386
05:53:24,200 --> 05:53:28,000
Anthonys, Naval forces fell 
apart allowing Octavian to 

6387
05:53:28,000 --> 05:53:31,700
achieve a decisive victory. 
Rumors about Cleopatra's Escape 

6388
05:53:31,700 --> 05:53:35,000
circulated. 
Was it Panic strategy or 

6389
05:53:35,000 --> 05:53:38,400
pre-arranged plan? 
If the situation worsened, some 

6390
05:53:38,400 --> 05:53:41,600
accuser of betrayal While others
believe she realized the battle 

6391
05:53:41,600 --> 05:53:45,700
was lost and tried to salvage, 
what she could hacked severe 

6392
05:53:45,700 --> 05:53:48,600
blow to Anthony's cause 
afterward, clear, Patrick 

6393
05:53:48,600 --> 05:53:51,500
hurried to strengthen, Egypt 
hoping to rebuild defenses and 

6394
05:53:51,500 --> 05:53:54,400
negotiated diplomatic deal 
Octavian. 

6395
05:53:54,400 --> 05:53:57,000
Had the momentum on his side. 
He waited patiently, 

6396
05:53:57,000 --> 05:54:00,500
systematically restructuring, 
his forces, rejecting 

6397
05:54:00,500 --> 05:54:03,200
Cleopatra's, negotiation 
proposals, and they met his 

6398
05:54:03,200 --> 05:54:05,900
conditions Anthony and 
Cleopatra's relationship. 

6399
05:54:05,900 --> 05:54:09,200
Once adorned with Splendor 
faltered under the burden of the

6400
05:54:09,200 --> 05:54:12,400
Lost Antony experience. 
Shame in front of his troops, 

6401
05:54:12,400 --> 05:54:14,600
many of whom abandoned him, 
clear. 

6402
05:54:14,600 --> 05:54:17,400
Patrick confronted the truth 
that her meticulously built 

6403
05:54:17,400 --> 05:54:19,100
Eastern Empire was falling 
apart. 

6404
05:54:20,100 --> 05:54:23,100
She attempted to negotiate once 
more would Octavian. 

6405
05:54:23,100 --> 05:54:26,000
Allow cesarean to rule as 
co-regent, if she surrendered 

6406
05:54:26,000 --> 05:54:29,800
Antony Historical records 
indicate Cleopatra considered 

6407
05:54:29,800 --> 05:54:33,600
various Escape options yet. 
Octavian remained ruthless 

6408
05:54:33,600 --> 05:54:36,100
viewed. 
Clear Patra as a danger and aim 

6409
05:54:36,100 --> 05:54:39,800
to remove her from Power. 
Cesarean being seized as 

6410
05:54:39,800 --> 05:54:43,400
biological, son complicated, his
claim to Rome's Legacy. 

6411
05:54:44,000 --> 05:54:47,700
Removing both mother and child 
would pave the way for octavians

6412
05:54:47,700 --> 05:54:53,000
unchallenged dominance. 
In the summer of 30 BCE Octavian

6413
05:54:53,000 --> 05:54:56,800
launched, an invasion of Egypt. 
Antony's efforts to organize a 

6414
05:54:56,800 --> 05:54:59,700
defense crumbled, due to 
desertions and a superior Roman 

6415
05:54:59,700 --> 05:55:02,400
Force. 
According to Legend upon hearing

6416
05:55:02,400 --> 05:55:05,900
a false report of Cleopatra's 
death and he took his own life 

6417
05:55:05,900 --> 05:55:08,600
by stabbing himself mortally 
wounded. 

6418
05:55:08,600 --> 05:55:11,700
He discovered the queen was 
still alive and was brought to 

6419
05:55:11,700 --> 05:55:14,400
her. 
Their last meeting, marked a sad

6420
05:55:14,400 --> 05:55:16,000
end to a once glamorous 
partnership. 

6421
05:55:17,100 --> 05:55:20,100
Anthony passed away in her 
Embrace forcing Cleopatra to 

6422
05:55:20,108 --> 05:55:24,000
face Octavian by herself. 
Octavians victory was certain. 

6423
05:55:24,800 --> 05:55:27,700
Cleopatra's final Hope was to 
maintain a trace of her Dynasty 

6424
05:55:27,700 --> 05:55:30,300
or Escape The Shame of being 
displayed in Rome. 

6425
05:55:31,100 --> 05:55:33,800
She locked herself inside a 
mausoleum, she had constructed 

6426
05:55:33,800 --> 05:55:37,200
filled with her treasures and 
said to hold, concealed toxins 

6427
05:55:37,200 --> 05:55:41,300
Octavian aimed to capture her 
alive, likely planning to 

6428
05:55:41,308 --> 05:55:44,300
Showcase her in his triumphs as 
a trophy representing Rome's 

6429
05:55:44,300 --> 05:55:47,400
victory, over the east. 
Understanding the futility of 

6430
05:55:47,400 --> 05:55:50,500
resistance Cleopatra, raided 
herself for a final act that 

6431
05:55:50,500 --> 05:55:53,400
would echo through history, 
various accounts of her death 

6432
05:55:53,400 --> 05:55:57,100
exists, but the most well known 
as the tale of an ass sneaked 

6433
05:55:57,100 --> 05:56:00,100
into her Hideout. 
By biting her arm and bringing a

6434
05:56:00,100 --> 05:56:03,100
quick though. 
Painful demise some say she took

6435
05:56:03,108 --> 05:56:05,400
poison. 
She made the decision to face 

6436
05:56:05,400 --> 05:56:08,100
death on her own terms, rather 
than accepting it as the living 

6437
05:56:08,100 --> 05:56:10,900
Conquest. 
Cleopatra's death marked, the 

6438
05:56:10,908 --> 05:56:14,200
end of the ptolemaic dynasty 
leading to Egypt becoming a 

6439
05:56:14,200 --> 05:56:16,500
Roman province. 
Cesarean was captured and 

6440
05:56:16,508 --> 05:56:20,500
executed on octavian's orders. 
Removing any threat to his rise 

6441
05:56:20,500 --> 05:56:22,700
as Rome's first emperor. 
Augustus. 

6442
05:56:23,800 --> 05:56:27,100
Cleopatra's Reign ended, but her
Legend was just beginning. 

6443
05:56:27,800 --> 05:56:30,900
Destined to be recounted in ways
that often masked the woman 

6444
05:56:30,900 --> 05:56:35,000
behind the myth. 
After Cleopatra's death, Roman 

6445
05:56:35,000 --> 05:56:37,700
accounts, depicted her, as a 
cunning temptress, whose 

6446
05:56:37,700 --> 05:56:40,300
Ambitions LED Antony astray from
Roman virtue. 

6447
05:56:41,100 --> 05:56:44,100
Poets and historians aligned 
with Octavian who would become 

6448
05:56:44,100 --> 05:56:47,300
Augusta's reflected the official
narrative that Cleopatra 

6449
05:56:47,300 --> 05:56:51,500
represented the corrupt East. 
Her final stand, the Gilded 

6450
05:56:51,500 --> 05:56:54,400
Mausoleum and the tail of the 
ASP became material for 

6451
05:56:54,400 --> 05:56:57,500
moralizing treatises and 
Sensational storytelling. 

6452
05:56:58,300 --> 05:57:00,800
Despite the Romans of 
vilification, they could not 

6453
05:57:00,800 --> 05:57:03,900
deny her important. 
She was the final Monarch of the

6454
05:57:03,900 --> 05:57:07,400
once, Mighty Dynasty, and her 
full signified Rome's, clear? 

6455
05:57:07,400 --> 05:57:11,200
Dominance in the Mediterranean, 
Egypt transformed under Roman 

6456
05:57:11,200 --> 05:57:14,100
control, Cleopatra's 
administrative Frameworks, such 

6457
05:57:14,100 --> 05:57:17,600
as tax systems, Land Management,
and Temple, support remained, 

6458
05:57:17,600 --> 05:57:21,100
intact with Roman officials. 
Now at the helm Alexandria 

6459
05:57:21,100 --> 05:57:24,800
remained, a significant cultural
Hub, despite no longer being a 

6460
05:57:24,800 --> 05:57:27,700
royal capital. 
Cleopatra's memory in Egypt, 

6461
05:57:27,700 --> 05:57:31,100
became intertwined with the 
local folklore over time, some 

6462
05:57:31,100 --> 05:57:33,900
viewed her as a tragic figure 
aiming to safeguard the land 

6463
05:57:33,900 --> 05:57:36,700
from foreign control. 
Some swayed by Roman propaganda 

6464
05:57:36,700 --> 05:57:39,600
held her responsible for leading
the nation into war. 

6465
05:57:39,600 --> 05:57:43,300
The temples showcased images of 
ptolemaic rulers and fairy on a 

6466
05:57:43,300 --> 05:57:46,400
guitar reflecting. 
The hybrid World Cleopatra once 

6467
05:57:46,400 --> 05:57:49,600
ruled Rome gained a vast 
Province and a compelling 

6468
05:57:49,600 --> 05:57:52,300
narrative, the victory over 
Cleopatra, symbolized the 

6469
05:57:52,308 --> 05:57:55,300
Triumph of Roman discipline over
Eastern luxury. 

6470
05:57:56,000 --> 05:57:58,800
Augustus leveraged, this 
narrative to consolidate his 

6471
05:57:58,800 --> 05:58:00,700
power. 
He erected monuments to 

6472
05:58:00,700 --> 05:58:04,200
commemorate his conquest of 
Egypt minted coins, declaring 

6473
05:58:04,200 --> 05:58:07,800
peace restored and influenced 
the Roman mindset to see clear 

6474
05:58:07,800 --> 05:58:12,100
patra's downfall as unavoidable.
Behind the propaganda was an 

6475
05:58:12,100 --> 05:58:14,700
acknowledgment that Cleopatra 
was an extraordinary opponent. 

6476
05:58:15,500 --> 05:58:18,900
She matched Roman Statesman in 
diplomacy commanded resources 

6477
05:58:18,900 --> 05:58:21,400
and nearly forged a new 
political reality. 

6478
05:58:22,500 --> 05:58:24,900
If actium had unfolded 
differently, The Narrative of 

6479
05:58:24,900 --> 05:58:26,300
Rome could have changed 
significantly. 

6480
05:58:27,400 --> 05:58:30,600
Over the centuries Cleopatra's 
reputation changed, numerous 

6481
05:58:30,600 --> 05:58:34,100
times, Roman playwrights 
depicted her, as a witch 

6482
05:58:34,100 --> 05:58:38,100
captivating Antony with his 
potions and spells early 

6483
05:58:38,100 --> 05:58:40,800
Christian writers used her as a 
cautionary, tale about the 

6484
05:58:40,800 --> 05:58:45,000
dangers of lust and power 
emphasizing moral lessons. 

6485
05:58:45,000 --> 05:58:49,200
However, there were also more 
understanding perspectives 

6486
05:58:49,200 --> 05:58:53,100
chroniclers, particularly of 
Greek descent lauded her 

6487
05:58:53,100 --> 05:58:56,500
intelligence, multilingual, 
abilities and cultural 

6488
05:58:56,500 --> 05:58:59,400
refinement. 
Alternative accounts reveal her 

6489
05:58:59,408 --> 05:59:03,000
negotiations with local Elites 
philanthropic gestures to the 

6490
05:59:03,008 --> 05:59:06,400
alexandrian poor and efforts to 
maintain Egyptian autonomy. 

6491
05:59:07,700 --> 05:59:10,400
These insights provided an 
alternative to the prevailing, 

6492
05:59:10,400 --> 05:59:12,900
Roman story. 
In the medieval period. 

6493
05:59:13,700 --> 05:59:16,100
Much classical literature 
remained in monasteries. 

6494
05:59:17,500 --> 05:59:21,000
Cleopatra appeared occasionally 
in moral Tales or collections of

6495
05:59:21,008 --> 05:59:24,400
notable women frequently 
overshadowed by biblical 

6496
05:59:24,400 --> 05:59:27,400
figures. 
The Renaissance Revival of 

6497
05:59:27,400 --> 05:59:30,200
classical. 
Learning sparked new curiosity. 

6498
05:59:31,000 --> 05:59:34,000
Scholars found Greek. 
And Roman texts revealing clear 

6499
05:59:34,000 --> 05:59:38,100
Patra as a multi-faceted figure 
artist drew inspiration from 

6500
05:59:38,100 --> 05:59:42,200
her, dramatic life, creating 
paintings, plays and poems. 

6501
05:59:42,900 --> 05:59:45,400
Shakespeare's, Antony, and 
Cleopatra portrays her with a 

6502
05:59:45,408 --> 05:59:48,600
tragic grandeur. 
Shakespeare partly, followed 

6503
05:59:48,600 --> 05:59:52,500
Roman biases, portraying her as 
theatrical and manipulative yet.

6504
05:59:52,500 --> 05:59:55,600
He also revealed her depth. 
Showcasing the fiery 

6505
05:59:55,600 --> 05:59:57,300
intelligence that fueled her 
earlier. 

6506
05:59:58,100 --> 06:00:01,300
Subsequent centuries witnessed 
an additional reinterpretations 

6507
06:00:01,300 --> 06:00:04,500
Enlightenment thinkers. 
Debated, if Cleopatra was an 

6508
06:00:04,500 --> 06:00:08,200
enlightened ruler or a reckless 
Tyrant, the Romantic saw her as 

6509
06:00:08,208 --> 06:00:11,800
a symbol of passionate Defiance 
against a cold practical Empire,

6510
06:00:12,800 --> 06:00:16,700
In the 19th and early 20th. 
Centuries, European orientalist 

6511
06:00:16,700 --> 06:00:20,400
views transformed Cleopatra in 
to the symbol of the Exotic 

6512
06:00:20,400 --> 06:00:22,800
Allure. 
Painters depicted her in 

6513
06:00:22,800 --> 06:00:26,400
extravagant setting, focusing on
her beauty and wealth while 

6514
06:00:26,400 --> 06:00:29,200
overlooking her administrative 
skills and political acumen. 

6515
06:00:30,200 --> 06:00:33,600
Hollywood Embrace this image 
creating epic films that 

6516
06:00:33,600 --> 06:00:38,400
highlighted spectacle Grand 
sets, intricate costumes and a 

6517
06:00:38,400 --> 06:00:41,100
clear, Patra, who captivated 
famous Romans with the luring 

6518
06:00:41,100 --> 06:00:45,800
glasses, however, beneath these 
depictions historical research, 

6519
06:00:45,800 --> 06:00:50,300
dismantled the stereotypes in 
the 20th and 21st, centuries 

6520
06:00:50,300 --> 06:00:52,600
Scholars. 
Refocused on Cleopatra's 

6521
06:00:52,600 --> 06:00:56,600
intelligence linguistic, Sports 
skills her role as a living 

6522
06:00:56,600 --> 06:00:59,900
goddess in Egyptian tradition 
and her Adept rule during 

6523
06:00:59,900 --> 06:01:03,500
challenging, time's recent 
archaeological, discoveries and 

6524
06:01:03,500 --> 06:01:05,700
fresh interpretations of primary
sources. 

6525
06:01:05,700 --> 06:01:09,400
Portray her not just as a femme 
fatale but as a state's woman 

6526
06:01:09,400 --> 06:01:13,300
facing the mightiest Empire of 
her time, This change in 

6527
06:01:13,308 --> 06:01:16,100
Viewpoint, highlighted, the 
conflict between Cleopatra's 

6528
06:01:16,100 --> 06:01:20,300
real governance, managing taxes 
suppressing, uprisings directing

6529
06:01:20,300 --> 06:01:22,800
foreign policy, and the 
narrative crafted by those, who 

6530
06:01:22,800 --> 06:01:26,400
aim to rationalize her defeat. 
Cleopatra's reputation changed 

6531
06:01:26,400 --> 06:01:30,600
with agendas reflecting, 
cultural fantasies and fears. 

6532
06:01:30,600 --> 06:01:34,200
Her True Legacy, her efforts to 
preserve a sovereign Egypt 

6533
06:01:34,200 --> 06:01:38,100
against Rome's expansion, 
endures as a testament to her 

6534
06:01:38,100 --> 06:01:40,700
strategic prowess. 
Even if overshadowed, by the 

6535
06:01:40,700 --> 06:01:44,200
highlights of her, personal 
liaison's Cleopatra is a figure 

6536
06:01:44,200 --> 06:01:47,600
that urges us to see beyond 
stereotypes highlighting that 

6537
06:01:47,600 --> 06:01:50,300
the true complexity of history 
is often lost in the propaganda 

6538
06:01:50,300 --> 06:01:53,700
and entertainment of the era. 
Cleopatra's story still 

6539
06:01:53,700 --> 06:01:57,000
captivates in our Modern Age, 
she has become an icon that 

6540
06:01:57,000 --> 06:02:01,400
transcend her time, symbolizing,
female, power, political skill, 

6541
06:02:01,400 --> 06:02:05,300
cultural Fusion, and the tragedy
of lost sovereignty. 

6542
06:02:06,900 --> 06:02:10,400
To truly appreciate Cleopatra. 
One must view her not as an 

6543
06:02:10,400 --> 06:02:14,100
exotic siren or a mere footnote 
in Rome story, but as the 

6544
06:02:14,100 --> 06:02:17,300
Pinnacle of a unique Dynasty, 
navigating a rapidly changing 

6545
06:02:17,300 --> 06:02:20,000
world. 
Her important stems from the 

6546
06:02:20,000 --> 06:02:22,300
careful balance. 
She maintained from the moment 

6547
06:02:22,300 --> 06:02:25,600
she assumed power. 
Cleopatra forged alliances with 

6548
06:02:25,600 --> 06:02:27,700
Caesar and negotiated with Mark 
Antony. 

6549
06:02:28,600 --> 06:02:31,600
Expanded her kingdoms 
territories and maintained, the 

6550
06:02:31,600 --> 06:02:35,300
reverence of Egypt's priesthoods
orchestrating a precarious 

6551
06:02:35,300 --> 06:02:38,200
dance. 
She encountered a Rome shifting 

6552
06:02:38,200 --> 06:02:42,100
from Republic to autocracy, a 
superpower in transition and 

6553
06:02:42,100 --> 06:02:45,700
certain of its future Cleopatra 
understood that to protect 

6554
06:02:45,700 --> 06:02:47,900
Egypt. 
She needed to navigate Roman 

6555
06:02:47,900 --> 06:02:51,100
politics while embodying. 
The role of pharaoh, merging 

6556
06:02:51,100 --> 06:02:53,600
Greek and Egyptian Traditions, 
more effectively than her 

6557
06:02:53,600 --> 06:02:56,300
predecessors. 
Cleopatra's intellectual 

6558
06:02:56,300 --> 06:02:59,900
interests, deserve greater Focus
growing up in Alexandria's 

6559
06:02:59,900 --> 06:03:01,300
vibrant. 
Intellectual atmosphere. 

6560
06:03:02,300 --> 06:03:04,500
He gained both scholarly and 
practical knowledge. 

6561
06:03:05,300 --> 06:03:08,500
Sheard works on medicine 
cosmetics and possibly 

6562
06:03:08,500 --> 06:03:10,900
Linguistics. 
But these writings of now 

6563
06:03:10,900 --> 06:03:14,200
vanished, She communicated with 
the subject people's in their 

6564
06:03:14,200 --> 06:03:17,600
languages and ability that 
granted real legitimacy in the 

6565
06:03:17,600 --> 06:03:20,100
eyes of those unfamiliar with 
greek-speaking, ptolemaic 

6566
06:03:20,100 --> 06:03:22,900
rulers. 
Cleopatra, engages with Roman 

6567
06:03:22,900 --> 06:03:26,200
Elites and Greek or Latin and 
leads Egyptian ceremonies in the

6568
06:03:26,208 --> 06:03:29,700
local language, showcasing, her 
cultural fluency as a political 

6569
06:03:29,700 --> 06:03:34,100
asset Story highlights how 
quickly propaganda can distort a

6570
06:03:34,100 --> 06:03:38,200
legacy Roman accounts, depicted 
Cleopatra's, a seductive foreign

6571
06:03:38,200 --> 06:03:41,400
Queen overshadowing her 
contributions as a state's 

6572
06:03:41,400 --> 06:03:43,900
woman. 
The caricature persisted over 

6573
06:03:43,900 --> 06:03:47,300
the centuries influencing art 
and theater while reducing her 

6574
06:03:47,300 --> 06:03:50,200
complexity. 
By piecing together scattered 

6575
06:03:50,200 --> 06:03:53,800
evidence from coins with her 
profile to Greek historians 

6576
06:03:53,800 --> 06:03:57,500
descriptions. 
We Glimpse the real Cleopatra, a

6577
06:03:57,500 --> 06:03:59,800
determined Monarch making 
Monumental decisions. 

6578
06:03:59,800 --> 06:04:03,300
In a time of colliding, Global 
Powers their ultimate demise 

6579
06:04:03,300 --> 06:04:06,100
highlights, the weaknesses of a 
smaller State trapped among 

6580
06:04:06,100 --> 06:04:08,400
Roman. 
Factions Cleopatra's 

6581
06:04:08,400 --> 06:04:11,000
relationship with Anthony was 
both personal and practical yet 

6582
06:04:11,000 --> 06:04:12,800
in the competitive realm of 
Roman politics. 

6583
06:04:12,800 --> 06:04:16,700
It served as a tool for 
octavians Ambitions, the Empire 

6584
06:04:16,700 --> 06:04:19,900
needed new conquest to solidify 
its political Transformations 

6585
06:04:19,900 --> 06:04:23,400
and the idea of Cleopatra's 
conspiracy with Anthony gave 

6586
06:04:23,400 --> 06:04:25,500
Octavian. 
The moral pretext to march on 

6587
06:04:25,500 --> 06:04:29,100
Egypt, however, clear patronage 
to outsmart him. 

6588
06:04:29,100 --> 06:04:33,400
Engaging in covert negotiations,
until actium, irreversibly 

6589
06:04:33,400 --> 06:04:37,100
shifted, the balance, even 
clearer Patrick's death often 

6590
06:04:37,100 --> 06:04:39,200
recounted with melodramatic 
Flair. 

6591
06:04:39,200 --> 06:04:42,900
Reflects her refusal to be 
paraded as a captive in Rome. 

6592
06:04:43,600 --> 06:04:45,400
Like, choosing to die on her 
terms. 

6593
06:04:45,400 --> 06:04:47,900
She denied Octavian. 
A triumphant display. 

6594
06:04:48,800 --> 06:04:51,500
Ensuring her final image was one
of defiance and stead of 

6595
06:04:51,508 --> 06:04:55,000
submission. 
This act dramatized in art and 

6596
06:04:55,000 --> 06:04:59,000
theater embodies a political 
strategy Cleopatra ensured, she 

6597
06:04:59,000 --> 06:05:01,200
was remembered as a queen, not a
captive. 

6598
06:05:01,900 --> 06:05:04,700
After that final Act Egypt 
turned into Rome's. 

6599
06:05:04,700 --> 06:05:07,600
Bread Basket supporting an 
Empire that would rule Europe, 

6600
06:05:07,600 --> 06:05:11,900
North Africa, and the near East 
for centuries Alexandria 

6601
06:05:11,900 --> 06:05:14,200
continued to be a center of 
scholarship and trade 

6602
06:05:14,200 --> 06:05:17,400
maintaining Greek and Egyptian 
cultural influences. 

6603
06:05:17,400 --> 06:05:20,000
Even during Roman rule, 
Cleopatra's children with 

6604
06:05:20,000 --> 06:05:23,200
Anthony were taken to Rome and 
largely disappeared from 

6605
06:05:23,200 --> 06:05:25,600
history. 
Except for one daughter 

6606
06:05:25,600 --> 06:05:28,600
Cleopatra. 
Selene, who married into another

6607
06:05:28,600 --> 06:05:31,400
African Kingdom and preserved a 
fragment of her mother's Legacy?

6608
06:05:32,100 --> 06:05:36,300
Cesarean of Julius Caesar was 
executed to eradicate any rival 

6609
06:05:36,300 --> 06:05:39,000
to Rome. 
Thus the direct line of 

6610
06:05:39,000 --> 06:05:42,300
Cleopatra, ended brutally a 
testament to how Roman reel 

6611
06:05:42,300 --> 06:05:45,400
politic disdained potential 
threats, however, young or 

6612
06:05:45,400 --> 06:05:47,400
innocent. 
Interesting clear. 

6613
06:05:47,400 --> 06:05:50,800
Patrick continues. 
Over 2000 years later historians

6614
06:05:50,800 --> 06:05:53,800
discuss her strategies 
archeologists search. 

6615
06:05:53,800 --> 06:05:56,800
The Egyptian Coast for her 
burial site and filmmakers 

6616
06:05:56,800 --> 06:05:59,000
recreate her life in Grand 
Productions. 

6617
06:05:59,700 --> 06:06:03,200
Every retailing reveals as much 
about the Storyteller as it does

6618
06:06:03,200 --> 06:06:06,100
about clear Patra. 
Her character, reveals the 

6619
06:06:06,100 --> 06:06:09,400
complexities of power, the 
Dynamics of gender, and 

6620
06:06:09,400 --> 06:06:13,100
politics, and the resilience of 
a dynasty facing extinction. 

6621
06:06:14,000 --> 06:06:17,900
She Bridges worlds, Greek and 
Egyptian, a female leader and 

6622
06:06:17,900 --> 06:06:20,400
Roman Ally a scholar and 
politician. 

6623
06:06:21,100 --> 06:06:24,100
Cleopatra emerged as a leader, 
who would not allow her kingdom 

6624
06:06:24,100 --> 06:06:26,200
to be a mere Pawn in Rome 
strategy. 

6625
06:06:26,200 --> 06:06:29,900
She engaged in high stakes 
gameplay, experiencing both 

6626
06:06:29,900 --> 06:06:32,400
spectacular, victories, and 
devastating losses. 

6627
06:06:33,300 --> 06:06:36,400
She transcended the character's 
that defined her post-human 

6628
06:06:36,400 --> 06:06:39,300
image. 
The final Queen of the Nile 

6629
06:06:39,300 --> 06:06:42,200
remains an enigma who challenges
us to look deeper than the 

6630
06:06:42,200 --> 06:06:44,700
simple myths. 
Reminding us that history is 

6631
06:06:44,700 --> 06:06:48,000
often shaped by those who wield 
the pain and that a life as 

6632
06:06:48,000 --> 06:06:50,700
momentous as hers deserves 
constant re-examination