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When you are accused, criticized, or attacked, what is your first instinct? To defend yourself. To explain your intentions. To set the record straight. But Niccolò Machiavelli, the master strategist of power, would tell you this is a fatal error. Every word you spend on defense is a word that solidifies your position as the weak one, the one on trial. You are playing their game, on their terms, and you have already lost. In this brutally effective video, “NEVER Defend Yourself - Machiavelli’s Trick to Flip the Power Instantly,” we break down one of the most potent psychological tactics...

800 pages, thousands of entries, and almost a million words. The Domesday Book, England's earliest surviving public record. Amidst a grave crisis, William the Conqueror embarked on an extraordinary bureaucratic endeavor: the Domesday Book. Dr Stephen Baxter uncovers the immense scale of the 1086 survey, detailing who owned what across England down to the last pig. But why did William do it and what did it mean for the kingdom that he had just conquered? The Intriguing Mystery Of William The Conqueror's Domesday Book | 51:49 Chronicle - Medieval History Documentaries | 811K subscribers | 9,669 views | July 19,...

The first known serious flight attempt in world history occurred about a thousand years before the Wright brothers, in western England. Then, a young Benedictine monk leapt with a crude pair of cloth wings from a watchtower of a church abbey at the beginning of the 11th century. This monk, known to history as Eilmer of Malmesbury, covered a furlong--a distance of approximately 600 feet--before landing heavily and breaking both legs. Afterwards, he remarked that the cause of his crash was that "he had forgotten to provide himself with a tail." We know of Eilmer's attempt through the writings of...

Cats aren't what you would typically imagine when asked about law, let alone medieval law, but the history of Wales is full of oddities, and the medieval cat laws (Cyfreith Cath), are no exception. Here we find laws deciding on their value, their jobs, and what their appearance should be. Medieval Cat Laws - Laws for your Medieval Cat | 14:00 Cambrian Chronicles | 258K subscribers | 885,045 views | July 20, 2024 Chapters: 0:00 - Meow 0:39 - Assigning Monetary Value to Your Cat's Appearance 4:50 - Cat Products 7:06 - Cat Crime 9:00 - How to be a...

Cambridge scholars have finally cracked a 130-year-old medieval literary puzzle: the Song of Wade, a long-lost gem of English literature.Previously believed to be a monster-filled epic, new research reveals it was actually a chivalric romance -- a tale of knights, battles, and courtly intrigue.A few lines of text in an 800-year-old medieval sermon document stumped the literature scholars.The breakthrough came from correcting a long-standing misreading in a medieval sermon: the word "elves" was mistakenly transcribed by a scribe, and the correct word is "wolves.""Changing elves to wolves makes a massive difference. It shifts this legend away from monsters and giants...

Over 1,000 years ago, Norse explorers reached North America from Greenland, centuries before Christopher Columbus. Join historian Dan Snow as he explores how ancient Viking sagas about the discoveries of legendary Norse explorer Leif Erikson offer clues to where these intrepid adventurers may have landed. This clip is from The Vikings Uncovered (2016). What The Viking Sagas Reveal About Who Really Discovered America | 3:58BBC Timestamp | 853K subscribers | 68,830 views | July 8, 2025

Château de Brézé isn't just a castle – it's a medieval survival masterpiece hiding 3 kilometers of underground tunnels, rooms, and an entire troglodyte city carved into limestone. While most châteaux had cellars, Brézé went full underground with bakeries, stables, silk farms, and escape routes dating back to the 11th century. French Château Hides an Underground City - 3km of Secret Tunnels | Château de Brézé | 12:07 Saving Castles | 27.4K subscribers | 3,143 views | July 13, 2025 Chapters: 00:00 - The Castle With a Secret 02:30 - Inside the Grand Salons 05:45 - Descending Into the Underground...

The mystery of the missing sea is one that has personally intrigued me recently. Through all of the Welsh history I have covered on this channel, I have never encountered a phenomenon as mysterious as what I've dubbed as the "islands that aren't islands". Throughout a small valley in Wales, near the towns of Porthmadog and Tremadog, there are 10 hills that aren't called hills at all, but "islands", despite being completely away from the ocean, a phenomenon that is completely unique throughout the history of Wales. Wales' history is full of mysteries, and these islands that aren't islands, surrounded...

Welcome to Lostwithiel, a town where history is woven into the very fabric of daily life. In Lostwithiel, you walk through centuries of Cornish heritage. This isn't just a pretty place; it's a living, breathing testament to Cornwall's rich past, a place where the echoes of ancient tin miners and medieval lords still resonate. If you're looking for an authentic slice of history combined with genuine local charm, then Lostwithiel is waiting to be discovered. This truly significant historical location was once the county town of Cornwall and a major hub for the tin trade. A must-do is a visit...

The Medieval Kingdom that was Erased from History | 36:14 Cambrian Chronicles | 258K subscribers | 2,354,838 views | July 6, 2023 Chapters: 0:00 - Introduction 1:43 - Amwythig 4:26 - Caught in the Web 10:27 - Pengwern Ablaze 13:19 - The City of Virocon 17:18 - Know Your Enemy 20:48 - Powys 24:01 - The Cornovii 26:54 - The Usurper 32:00 - Pengwern

Although definitive evidence for the construction date of Sheffield Castle has long eluded archaeologists, a small patch of burnt ground has now helped unravel the mystery, according to a Miami Herald report. Researchers from Wessex Archaeology uncovered the deposit on the side of the motte, or artificial hill, where the original castle once stood. They believe that it was created when builders lit a fire during initial castle construction. With help from Museum of London Archaeology and the University of Bradford, the team relied on a cutting-edge method known as archaeomagnetic dating to date the fire and therefore the castle's...

Workers recovered a remarkable medieval sword during dredging of the Korte Linschoten River near Montfoort. According to a La Brújula Verde report, the three-foot-long double-edged blade dates to between a.d. 1050 and 1150. This was a time when the bishop of Utrecht held power in the region, but the counts of Holland and Flanders were growing increasingly more influential. Besides its exceptionally well-preserved condition, the weapon is noteworthy because of a pair of intricate designs etched into its surface. One side features a "sun wheel," a circular design divided by a cross that was a sacred symbol in medieval Europe...

Time Team uncovers Kenfig, a lost medieval town that has been buried under sand for centuries. Join the excavation as experts search for streets, homes, and a marketplace frozen in time. Could this be an archaeological treasure trove, or just a lot of digging through sand? Britain's Pompeii: The Medieval Town Perfectly Preserved Under Tons Of Sand | 47:43 Unearthed History - Archaeology Documentaries | 164K subscribers | 62,345 views | February 21, 2025

When archaeologists were called to investigate a sinkhole that opened up in the city of York, they were surprised to find traces of a medieval hospital, according to a report by The Independent. The team encountered walls hidden just beneath the city streets that they believe once belonged to the twelfth- or thirteenth-century St. Leonard's Hospital. The institution was built just after the Norman conquest and replaced the earlier St. Peter's Hospital, which was founded by the Anglo-Saxon King Aethelstan. Stretching from what is now York's Museum Gardens to the Theatre Royal, St. Leonard's was one of the largest hospitals...

A stunning gold ring lost at a medieval castle in Slovakia over 700 years ago has been rediscovered. The jewelry was likely worn by a bishop and includes an unusual Sri Lankan reddish-purple sapphire set in a band flanked by lions...Beljak Pažinová led a team of researchers in studying the ring, which was discovered at Zvolen Castle in central Slovakia. A treasure hunter found the ring in 2001, but archaeologists didn't receive it until March 2023...Although rings were common accessories for both men and women in medieval Europe, the discovery of a gold ring with a valuable gemstone is extremely...

Scholars have long debated the origins of the House of Piast, Poland's first royal dynasty, who ruled the nation from the tenth through the fourteenth century. Some believe they were Slavic nobles, others Moravian exiles, and still others say they were Viking warriors. The Conversation reports on new DNA analysis that has revealed shocking new information concerning the Piasts' genetic background that might potentially rewrite history. Researchers led by molecular biologist Marek Figlerowicz of Poznań University of Technology extracted DNA from 33 individuals, 30 men and three women, belonging to the Piast dynasty. Most of the deceased, who lived between...

The Dubrovnik Times reports that an archaeological team from the Dubrovnik Museums recently uncovered 4,000 years of human occupation in the Crno Jezero ("Black Lake") Cave. The 780-foot-long cavern snakes its way 300 feet underground near the village of Ponikve on the Pelješac peninsula. The excavations highlighted the different ways that local peoples used the cave from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages. During the second millennium b.c., the cave was mostly used for temporary or seasonal housing, especially during periods of conflict or inclement weather. From the ninth to the sixth century b.c., the space was transformed into...

Last year, excavations in Chichester's Priory Park revealed a masonry causeway and bridge that would have once led to the city's Norman-era motte and bailey castle. According to a statement released by the Chichester District Council (CDC), renewed archaeological work at the site has continued to illuminate this period in the city's history. A team recently uncovered the foundations of a stone tower, or barbican, that was built to help defend the Norman castle. It was previously thought that the castle was built solely from timber. The recent discoveries have shown that it was actually a much more substantial structure...

BBC News reports that a metal detectorist recently retrieved a rare and unique gold coin from a field in Norwich. The artifact was analyzed by numismatist Adrian Marsden of the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, who believes it dates to between a.d. 640 and 660 and may be the oldest Anglo-Saxon coin ever found in East Anglia. It was minted at a transitional time in English history when Christianity was beginning eclipse pagan beliefs, which is reflected in the coin's iconography. One side of the thrymsa, a type of early Anglo-Saxon shilling, features a dancing man who seems to be holding...

Archaeologists have cracked the code of 255 mysterious symbols carved into a rock in Canada more than 200 years ago. The writing was discovered in 2018 after a fallen tree revealed the square-shaped inscription near the town of Wawa, located about 155 miles from the nearest US border crossing in Michigan. Ryan Primrose, an archaeologist from the Ontario Center for Archaeological Education, has now revealed that the symbols form the Lord’s Prayer — a well-known Christian prayer — written in Swedish. He identified the characters as Nordic runes, part of an old alphabet once used in Sweden and other parts...