AGreatDivorce

ACOUP - Elective Monarchy and the Future of Westeros

Rounding out this trip through some Game of Thrones posts, we’re hitting up Bret’s short piece discussing the ending of the show (so spoilers ahead).
This time, we’ll cover Bret’s examination of the end of the show and the potential future of Westeros’ new government. Bret discusses the historical implications (and historical analogs) of Bran’s election to monarchy and what this move means for the future of the Six Kingdoms.
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, whose work you should absolutely support with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2019/05/20/new-acq...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of UnmitigatedPedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Qh3PIaAHA
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!

ACOUP - How Fast Do Armies Move?

This is a small supplement Bret added on to the Preposterous Logistics of the Loot Train Battle where he lays out the math of how historical rules of thumb for army movement speeds are determined. This is a short one, but I find it useful for anyone who is interested in knowing how the field has determined its general guidelines for measuring infantry and horse-based movement times. This one is text only as there were no pictures and a bit heavy on math.
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, whose work you should absolutely support with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2019/10/06/new-acq...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of UnmitigatedPedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcwTERx2gTQ
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!

ACOUP - The Preposterous Tactics of the Loot Train Battle (Game of Thrones, S7E4)

Following on from the previous post, this is the second part of Bret’s look at the Loot Train Battle. Here, he gets down to the ground level and examines the tactics of the Loot Train Battle, what is done, and what SHOULD have been done, on both the Lannister and Dothraki sides of the fight. He also lays down in his analysis something of a brief prequel for what would become the Dothraki series I covered already, looking at what the show’s treatment of the Dothraki means in terms of our understanding of real world horse nomadic peoples.
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, whose work you should absolutely support with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2019/10/11/collect...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of UnmitigatedPedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_sQJBRm1_8
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!

ACOUP - The Preposterous Logistics of the Loot Train Battle (Game of Thrones, S7E4)

This time, we’re taking a short side trip to a few Game of Thrones articles, starting with a pair covering the Loot Train Battle from season seven. Here, Bret tackles the logistics of the Loot Train itself and how doomed from the outset Jaime’s plan to deliver a grain supply to King’s Landing was. Note: this one gets math heavy!
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, whose work you should absolutely support with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2019/10/04/collect...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of UnmitigatedPedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM1OpCG8_1I
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!

ACOUP - How It Wasn’t: Game of Thrones and the Middle Ages, Part III

Here in the last post of the How It Wasn’t series, Bret looks at Game of Thrones’ medieval accuracy through a political and economic lens. Does the show reflect the political institutions and economic forces of the historical period it presents itself as?
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, whose work you should absolutely support with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2019/06/12/new-acq...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of UnmitigatedPedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ24lteZXJ4
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!

ACOUP - How It Wasn’t: Game of Thrones and the Middle Ages, Part II

Bret now moves to examine Game of Thrones’ “medievalism” in the areas of cultural norms, religion, and gender roles. As he notes, while this bag of topics may be mixed, they are interconnected aspects of medieval society. So how accurate to that historic reality is the show about dragons and ultraviolence?
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, whose work you should absolutely support with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2019/06/04/new-acq...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of UnmitigatedPedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNEmoNEHNBQ
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!

ACOUP - How It Wasn’t: Game of Thrones and the Middle Ages, Part I

Sorry for the long delay between series. I’m back and picking up where we left off before my hiatus by covering Bret’s Game of Thrones work. This time, I’m narrating his How It Wasn’t series, which analyzes how medieval Game of Thrones is. How accurately does it reflect the military, cultural, and social norms of actual medieval Europe? And, if not the medieval world, then what time period does it ACTUALLY resemble?
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, whose work you should absolutely support with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2019/05/28/new-acq...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of UnmitigatedPedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwK_esumbTg
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!

ACOUP - Meet a Historian: Michael Taylor on Why We Need Classics

I am still on an unusual schedule and so have not had the time to get a solid series recording yet. I promise I do have one of Bret’s series lined up to record once things settle. But in the meantime, Bret has hosted a new guest writer, and I want to provide as much of a signal boost to them as I can.
 
This time, the guest is Michael Taylor of SUNY Albany, writing a defense of Classics, the study of Mediterranean (especially Greek and Roman) antiquities. He highlights several specific places where Classics studies are vital for a complete education. I consider this a wonderful partner article to Bret’s own “Why We Need the Humanities” post that I started this series with. 
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, by guest writer Michael Taylor. You should absolutely support their work with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret or Michael, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2021/09/10/meet-a-...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of UnmitigatedPedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Dr. Michael Taylor’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/drmichaeljtayl1?l...
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD_Xvvyfx5o
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!

ACOUP - That Dothraki Horde, Part IV: Screamers and Howlers

We come now to the end of Bret’s analysis of the Dothraki Horde against the light of the real historical nomads of the Eurasian Steppe and North American great plains. Here, Bret takes a look at how Dothraki warfare compares to their real world parallels, both in terms of what they use to war (weapons and armor) and HOW they war (strategy, operations, and tactics). 
Finally, he closes out by asking, if the real cultures and histories of the Eurasian Steppe and Great Plains nomads were not what informed Martin’s descriptions of the Dothraki, then what WAS? And why does that matter?
I’ll be taking some time off after this to work on some other things I have going on. I’ll be back with new content once I’ve cleared the “to do” out a bit!
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, whose work you should absolutely support with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2021/01/08/collect...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnMB99KWtsM
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!

ACOUP - That Dothraki Horde, Part III: Horse Fiddles

Having deeply examined the subsistence system of the Dothraki, and the limited resemblance it bears to either Eurasian steppe nomads or Great Plains Native Americans, Bret now goes on something of a tour of cultural touchstones. How do the Dothraki stack up in music, social structure and inheritence, attitudes towards violence and murder? Is there ANY resemblance at all beyond: rides horse, is nomadic?  
The text for this recording is from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, the blog of history professor, Bret Devereaux, whose work you should absolutely support with your eyes, your clicks, and, if you are able, your bucks.
Anyone wishing to engage with Bret, check out these links:
Original post for this recording - https://acoup.blog/2020/12/18/collect...
Dr. Devereaux’s blog, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry - https://acoup.blog
Dr. Devereaux’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux
Dr. Devereaux’s Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096
Episode on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KhwOpnvlsM
 
And if you wish to support me, please like, share, and subscribe!