53. The Medici in Games and History

05/14/22 • 80 min

Immerse yourself in Renaissance Florence and with the aid of Assassin's Creed take a virtual historical tour through the remarkable lives and turbulent times of the Medici family.

For full details of references from this episode see www.theburningarchive.com

Immerse yourself in Renaissance Florence and with the aid of Assassin's Creed take a virtual historical tour through the remarkable lives and turbulent times of the Medici family.

For full details of references from this episode see www.theburningarchive.com

Previous Episode

52. Professions and Guilds in Games and History

When we play computer games, especially role play games like World of Warcraft or Skyrim, it is no surprise we don’t do our day job. Noone wants to play a night elf project manager in WOW or a Nord uber contract driver in Skyrim. In games, we see a different pre-modern world of work - of artisans, craft skills and guilds. Was this world ever real, and what does this fantasy world of work tell us of our collective memory of work and collective organisation? Join Jeff Rich on this fascinating tour of the history of work, guilds and unions, and the global transformations of ideas of work in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

More details on references in the show are at www.theburningarchive.com.

Next Episode

54. The Mafia, Blood Brotherhoods and Frail Societies

If you play Assassins Creed you might think the Mafia has its origins in similar medieval or early modern brotherhoods, who despite their dastardly deeds were true patriots and rebels at heart. That is also the story that Italian mafia organisations tell their own members. But is it true, or does the history of the mafia have more to do with Italian Risorgimento politics, prisons and the disruptions of the nineteenth century? And what does any of this have to do with a burning archive?

Thanks to Isaac and Ella for the listener question that began this show, and special thanks to John Dickie, Blood Brotherhoods: A History of Italy's Three Mafias (2014) for all the wonderful stories in this episode. Thanks too to Sigismondo Castromediano, Duke of Morciano and Marquis of Cavallino, Italian Patriot, for enduring his imprisonment in the jails of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, and then telling the true tale of the origins of the camorra.

Credits also to Assassin's Creed, 'Sounds of Florence' and Godfather 'Theme Song' - brief excerpts played during the show.