Adaneth - History&Politics

Italo Balbo (Quartesana, 6 giugno 1896 – Tobruch, 28 giugno 1940) è stato un politico, generale e aviatore italiano. Iscritto al Partito Nazionale Fascista dal 1920, fu prima squadrista e poi uno dei quadrumviri della marcia su Roma, diventando in seguito comandante generale della Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, quindi nel 1925 sottosegretario all'economia nazionale e poi alla Regia Aeronautica. Nel 1929 assunse l'incarico di ministro dell'aeronautica, veste in cui promosse e guidò diverse crociere aeree come la crociera aerea transatlantica Italia-Brasile e la crociera aerea del Decennale. Fu insignito del grado di Maresciallo dell'aria. Considerato un potenziale rivale politico di Benito Mussolini a causa della grande popolarità raggiunta, Balbo fu nominato nel 1934 governatore della Libia. Allo scoppio della seconda guerra mondiale organizzò voli di guerra per catturare alcuni veicoli del Regno Unito, e proprio durante il ritorno da uno di questi voli, il 28 giugno 1940, fu abbattuto per errore dalla contraerea italiana sopra Tobruch. La vedova di Balbo, Emanuela Florio, sostenne che la morte del marito fosse dovuta a un ordine giunto da Roma; l'insistenza nelle accuse portò Temistocle Testa, prefetto di Ferrara (dove la donna viveva), a sollecitare l'intervento del capo della polizia Bocchini «...perché si lascia andare a dichiarazioni compromettenti».

Antonio Sebastiano Francesco Gramsci (Ales, 22 gennaio 1891 – Roma, 27 aprile 1937) è stato un politico, filosofo, politologo, giornalista, linguista e critico letterario italiano. Nel 1921 fu tra i fondatori del Partito Comunista d'Italia, ricoprendone la carica di segretario dall'agosto 1924. Nel 1926 fu arrestato e incarcerato dal regime fascista. Nel 1934, in seguito al grave deterioramento delle sue condizioni di salute, ottenne la libertà condizionata e fu ricoverato in clinica a Roma, dove trascorse gli ultimi anni di vita. Considerato uno dei più importanti pensatori del XX secolo, nei suoi scritti, tra i più originali della tradizione filosofica marxista, Gramsci analizzò la struttura culturale e politica della società. Elaborò in particolare il concetto d'egemonia, secondo il quale le classi dominanti impongono i propri valori politici, intellettuali e morali alla società, con l'obiettivo di saldare e gestire il potere intorno a un senso comune condiviso da tutte le classi sociali, soprattutto quelle subalterne.

La strage dell'Heysel fu una tragedia avvenuta mercoledì 29 maggio 1985 allo stadio Heysel di Bruxelles, poco prima dell'inizio della finale di Coppa dei Campioni di calcio tra la società italiana della Juventus e quella inglese del Liverpool, in cui morirono 39 persone, di cui 32 italiane, e ne rimasero ferite oltre 600. Nei giorni successivi l'UEFA, su proposta del Governo di Londra e visti altri simili precedenti, come il disastro di Bradford, avvenuto soli 18 giorni prima, decise di escludere le squadre inglesi a tempo indeterminato dalle Coppe europee e il Liverpool per ulteriori tre stagioni (poi ridotte a una). Il provvedimento fu applicato fino al 1990, un anno dopo la strage di Hillsborough, che vide protagonisti i tifosi del Liverpool, una tragedia consumatasi non per aggressione di facinorosi ma per inadempienze dei servizi d'ordine. Juventus e Liverpool tornarono ad affrontarsi in una partita solamente nella UEFA Champions League 2004-2005, a vent'anni di distanza dai fatti dell'Heysel, quando il sorteggio le accoppiò nei quarti di finale. In seguito a questa tragedia, nel 1985 venne elaborata la Convenzione europea sulla violenza e i disordini degli spettatori durante le manifestazioni sportive, segnatamente nelle partite di calcio, attualmente ratificata da 42 Paesi. In seguito a un'altra strage, quella di Hillsborough nel 1989, vennero introdotte norme più severe per migliorare la sicurezza degli stadi, come le telecamere a circuito chiuso.

"La Storia siamo Noi" di Giovanni Minoli analizza, attualizzandoli, i grandi avvenimenti del passato: fatti, luoghi, personaggi, protagonisti e non della nostra storia. In questa puntata la storia del processo che portò alla fucilazione di alcuni gerarchi fascisti accusati di tradimento, l'11 gennaio 1944. Tra di loro anche il genero di Mussolini, marito di Edda, Galeazzo Ciano. Il processo di Verona fu un procedimento giudiziario avvenuto, dall'8 al 10 gennaio 1944, nell'omonima città veneta che, all'epoca, era sotto la giurisdizione della Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI). Il processo si tenne a Verona in Castelvecchio, nella sala da concerto degli Amici della Musica dove, nel novembre dell'anno precedente, aveva avuto luogo il I Congresso nazionale del Partito Fascista Repubblicano (PFR). Esso vide sul banco degli imputati sei membri del Gran consiglio del fascismo che, nella seduta del 25 luglio 1943, avevano sfiduciato Benito Mussolini dalla carica di Presidente del Consiglio. Le condanne a morte furono eseguite l'11 gennaio 1944 al poligono di tiro di forte San Procolo da un plotone di 30 militi fascisti comandati da Nicola Furlotti. Di tale esecuzione resta anche un filmato. Dei diciannove membri del Gran Consiglio del Fascismo accusati, soltanto sei erano presenti al processo: tra questi Tullio Cianetti, che, dopo aver ritrattato, venne condannato a 30 anni di reclusione. Gli altri cinque, vale a dire Galeazzo Ciano, Emilio De Bono, Luciano Gottardi, Giovanni Marinelli e Carlo Pareschi, furono condannati a morte e fucilati alla schiena. Gli imputati assenti, condannati a morte in contumacia, furono Dino Grandi, Giuseppe Bottai, Luigi Federzoni, Cesare Maria De Vecchi, Umberto Albini, Giacomo Acerbo, Dino Alfieri, Giuseppe Bastianini, Annio Bignardi, Giovanni Balella, Alfredo De Marsico, Alberto De Stefani ed Edmondo Rossoni; nessuno di loro venne catturato dalle autorità repubblichine e tutti sopravvissero alla Seconda guerra mondiale.

A 1998 Chronos Productions War Documentary narrated by Brian Matthews. This War Archive programs presents the most comprehensive and definitive archive of Germany's U-boats and their warfare strategies ever compiled as a series. These footage helps us understand the on-going battle between the hunter and the hunted beneath the cold gray waters of the North Atlantic. These programs depict the course of the U-boat's war throughout WW2 from footage taken by German cameramen. We look at the U-boat's important contribution to Germany's war effort, as the menace posed by these silent killers seemed insuperable. Volume 1: The outbreak of war between Germany and the United Kingdom in September 1939 found the submarine arm of the Kriegsmarine unready for conflict. As a former submariner in the Great War Karl Doenitz was the vocal champion of the building of a large U-boat arm in the new German Navy but had to watch as the bulk of actual and planned naval re-armament after 1933 was directed towards the construction of a large surface fleet. He remained convinced that only a powerful U-boat arm could defeat Great Britain, the numbers available to him to set about this task in 1939 was paltry. In the first part of the war Germany thus conducted its submarine campaign against the UK with a limited number of boats. Nevertheless, Doenitz's 'Grey Wolves' were still able to inflict substantial losses on vessels carrying Britain's lifeblood, especially after May 1940 when occupation of ports on the French Biscay coast transformed Germany's strategic position and gave the submarines direct access to the Atlantic shipping lanes. This film depicts the course of the U-boat war in it's initial phase in vivid images captured primarily by German cameramen with much being presented to the viewer for the first time. Aces such as Kretschmer, Prien and others are seen both at sea and being feted at home where they accorded the status of national heroes. Naval strategy, intelligence coups, tactics and equipment employed by both hunter and hunted, above and below the waves are examined in detail and also serves as a backdrop to coverage of the much wider U-boat war that emerged from late 1942. Volume 2: https://rumble.com/v4v6ufb-the-war-archive-the-grey-wolves-u-boats-1942-1943-volume-2.html

Volume 2: The first six months of 1942 saw the war assume a truly global dimension with the entry of the United States into the conflict. For the U-boat arm, the heavy coastal traffic off the eastern seaboard of the U.S. provided such fertile hunting ground that the high number of vessels sunk led this period to be christened by the submarine crews as the 'second happy time'. The belated introduction of convoy tactics by the US Navy saw U-boat victories off the U.S. coast sink to a low of just three in July 1942. While U-boat numbers had increased - 249 on operations and in training - this figure disguised a dispersion of effort with submarines in action in the Arctic, in the Mediterranean, in the South Atlantic. With the bulk of this total in training and many others in dock Doenitz still had the problem of having too few submarines actually on station in the decisive North Atlantic. He now set out to exploit the 'gap' in the mid-Atlantic where convoys were beyond the range and protection of long range allied aircraft. By 1943 with more boats available 'Wolf Packs' exploited this 'gap' to inflict heavy losses on the convoys with 120 ships sunk in March - the high point of the U-boat campaign in World War II. In volume two of the 'Grey Wolves' this story will be related with film covering the building of U-boat pens in France, the training of the new crews in the Baltic, 'Milch Cow' operations, Japanese subs in St. Nazaire and all the other elements that go to help understand the on-going battle between hunter and hunted above and beneath the cold, grey waters of the North Atlantic - the most decisive theatre of World War II. Volume 3: https://rumble.com/v4v6zzr-the-war-archive-the-grey-wolves-u-boats-1943-1945-volume-3.html

Volume 3: With the defeat at Stalingrad, the belated need for total mobilization was accepted by Hitler and the slack in German production capacity was taken up in an attempt to produce the equipment needed to service a wider and much longer war. For Doenitz, now Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine, the sea was now the U-boat war. A new program for increased production was introduced - 27 Type VII boats a month by the end of 1943 and is illustrated on this film by the activities of the Blohm and Voss yards. However, it was already too late for the U-boat arm, for the allies had moved to close the 'gap'. Large numbers of long-range aircraft, new radar, new weapons and new tactics served only to raise U-boat losses in the Atlantic after mid 1943. By the end of that year Doenitz had lost 237 submarines, 242 in 1944 and 151 in 1945. Increased production and expansion in training could not service such losses. Even investment in new technology -- the revolutionary Type XXI boat and adoption of the schnorkel device - all came too late to make any impact on Germany's declining military situation after late 1943. This final chapter of the 'Grey Wolves' war is told with fascinating footage covering all aspects of this story. It ends with film of the one man 'Biber' submarine - a last ditch weapon in the face of imminent defeat and the arrest of Doenitz in 1945 - as Hitler's nominated successor and Germany's last Fuehrer.

Episode 5: The Pantheon is one of the most famous buildings in the world. Thanks to its proportions, and the engineering with which it was built, it rightfully enters the history of architecture. A symbol of this is the dome with the oculus, the only opening through which light enters, which was the largest in history until Brunelleschi created the one in the Florence Cathedral. The architect was Apollodorus of Damascus, who in 118 AD. designed the Pantheon at the behest of the emperor Hadrian, who was also passionate about architecture, who wanted to build the temple following the destruction of the temple that Agrippa had built under the emperor Augustus. The history of the Pantheon and the neighborhood in which it is located, the Campus Martius, links these two emperors through a fascinating scenographic use of sunlight. But the Pantheon is not only linked to ancient Rome, the church has a long Christian tradition thanks to which it escaped the destruction of pagan temples. In the Renaissance, the charm and fame of the building was increased by the choice of the divine Raffaello Sanzio to be buried right inside the Pantheon. Episode 6: https://rumble.com/v4ucqul-seven-wonders-rome-piranesi-and-aventino-episode-6.html

Episode 6: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a great engraver and architectural theorist, achieved great European fame thanks to his famous Vedute di Roma (Views of Rome), influencing his contemporaries with his projects, drawings and treatises. In 1761 he dedicated the treatise On the Magnificence and Architecture of the Romans to the Venetian Rezzonico family. Three years later, Giovanni Rezzonico, who had become Roman Grand Prior of the Order of Malta, commissioned Piranesi with the restoration of the Church of Santa Maria del Priorato, the square, the villa and the adjacent gardens on the Aventine Hill. Piranesi carried out the works from 1764 to 1766, creating a splendid facade with an extraordinary iconographic apparatus and magnificent stucco decorations for the interior. The church was left to neglect for years, but after recent restoration works the Church has returned to its original splendor. The value of these buildings is inestimable, as they are the only ones ever built by Piranesi, who for the first time transformed the numerous drawings and projects into concrete objects. Episode 7: https://rumble.com/v4ucwkf-seven-wonders-rome-the-markets-and-trajans-forum-episode-7.html

Episode 7: Trajan, the optimus princeps, the emperor who led Rome to its maximum territorial expansion, had magnificent buildings built in the city, entrusting them to the brilliant architect Apollodorus of Damascus. Evidence of this is the Trajan's Market, a vast complex of buildings serving as an administrative centre, which stands out behind Trajan's Forum, on the slope of the Quirinal hill. Trajan's Markets take the circular shape of the exedra and are built with the opus latericium technique, Roman concrete covered with bricks. Opposite the Markets was the sumptuous Forum of Trajan, the largest of the Forums, built to celebrate Rome's victory in the Dacian War. In the Forum, the Basilica Ulpia, dedicated to the emperor's family, and Trajan's Column, an unsurpassed work of art of Roman bas-relief, stood out for their beauty. The imprint of the Trajan era in the Imperial Forums is also visible in other buildings such as the Temple of Venus Genetrix, the Basilica Argentaria in the Forum of Caesar. Trajan and Apollodorus, emperor and architect, created an exciting show that can be admired while walking along Via dei Fori Imperiali, one of the most beautiful and significant streets in the world.

Rome is the protagonist of the 2019 Sky Italia Rome TV Programme series "Sette Meraviglie" (Seven Wonders), which offers a journey through the beauties and most extraordinary places of the Eternal City. From fountains to catacombs, from imperial forums to ancient early Christian churches, passing through iconic places such as Castel Sant'Angelo and the Pantheon, accompanied by the narrative voice of Filippo Timi. Audio i Italian with English subtitles. Each episode is dedicated individual themes: the water of the ancient aqueducts and fountains; the fascinating early Christian churches; the treasures hidden underground: catacombs, mithraeums, columbaria; the grandiose Castel Sant'Angelo; the architectural miracle of the Pantheon; the splendor of the Aventine Hill and finally the Markets and Trajan's Forum, an evident demonstration of how the power of a brilliant and courageous emperor could have transformed the face of the capital of the empire. Episode 1: Founded on the banks of the Tiber, Rome has built its fortune on water since ancient times, so much so that it was nicknamed Regina Acquarum, the Queen of Waters. Thanks to the extraordinary monumental aqueducts in the City, numerous public and thermal baths arose, such as those of Trajan and the grandiose ones of the emperor Caracalla. However, the use of the Spa stopped during the Gothic War - which pitted the Byzantine Empire against the Ostrogoths from 535 to 553 AD. - when Vitiges cut the Roman aqueducts, putting the thermal facilities out of use. Water once again became the protagonist in Rome with the Renaissance, during which new aqueducts and magnificent fountains arose in the heart of the city. From Nicola Salvi's Trevi Fountain, to Pietro Bernini's Barcaccia, from Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Fountain of the Rivers, to the Neoclassical style fountains of Piazza del Popolo. Powering these splendid sculptures is the Acqua Vergine, the sixth aqueduct of Rome, still active for centuries, testifying to an uninterrupted link between Rome, beauty and water. Episode 2: https://rumble.com/v4u8g35-seven-wonders-rome-the-paleo-christian-churches-episode-2.html

Episode 2: The Edict of Constantine of 313 AD put an end to the persecutions of Christians who, from that moment on, were able to erect buildings of worship. The first churches built in Rome, called Paleo-Christian Basilicas, survived the centuries hidden by sacred buildings of subsequent eras which incorporated them, protecting their ancient heart. They are twilight and fascinating churches like the Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano which, under its 12th century guise, hides the structures of the primordial church underground with splendid frescoes on the exploits of San Clemente, a warehouse and a Mithraeum. Equally astonishing is the church of Saints Cosma and Damiano, in the Fori Imperiali, the first built in the Fori area. On the Aventine there is the Basilica of Santa Sabina, one of the best preserved early Christian churches in Rome, built in the 5th century on the tomb of Santa Sabina, which later became, around 1220, the headquarters of the order of Domenico de Guzmàn, founder of the Dominican order. Episode 3: https://rumble.com/v4u8k1e-seven-wonders-rome-underground-rome-episode-3.html

Episode 3: The underground of Rome is a fascinating journey into a great variety of environments, some born underground, others buried and guarded for centuries, which tell the other half of the story of what happened on the surface. These secret places are the result of centuries of stratification, construction and reconstruction: tuff and pozzolana quarries, sumptuous buried buildings, such as Nero's Domus Aurea, temples of initiatory cults, labyrinthine Christian cemeteries. Underground Rome is a real time machine whose surface hides stories of common men and emperors, of saints and gods, of ancestral religions, of magical cults. You will see the most varied environments: from the intimate Colombario Di Pomponio Hylas, to the mysterious Nymphaeum of Via Livenza, to the sumptuous Barberini Mitreum. The journey can only end with the largest and most complex underground architecture of the capital: the Catacombs of San Callisto and those of Domitilla. Episode 4: https://rumble.com/v4u8pat-seven-wonders-rome-castel-santangelo-episode-4.html

Episode 4: Mausoleum, fortified bastion, papal residence, prison, museum: Castel Sant'Angelo is all this, an architectural body that over the centuries has changed its nature and function without ever losing its centrality in Rome. Going up its 7 levels - including prisons, lodges, courtyards, bathrooms and halls - it is possible to retrace some salient moments in the history of Rome, from its foundation almost up to the present day. Built in 128 AD. C. on the banks of the Tiber by Emperor Hadrian, the building became a crossroads between St. Peter's Basilica and the City. Thanks to its strategic position it took on the function of a fortress at the end of the 3rd century, and famous prisons were built inside it, from which the great sculptor Benvenuto Cellini escaped in the 16th century. During the Renaissance the building was transformed into a papal residence and began to be enriched with works of art and magnificent frescoes. In particular, thanks to the commission of Paul III, artists of the caliber of Perin del Vaga, Domenico Zaga and Pellegrino Tibaldi worked in the rooms of Castel Sant'Angelo. Episode 4: https://rumble.com/v4ucjsu-seven-wonders-rome-the-pantheon-episode-5.html

Le celebrazioni a Roma, lo storico discorso di Mussolini in piazza Castello a Torino, gli incontri con la folla a Milano, Forlì, Pavia, Brescia, Monza ed Ancona. Una produzione dell'Istituto Nazionale Luce del 1932, senza narrazione. Alcuni delle sequenze: - 16 ottobre 1932 - Roma, piazza Venezia - - Mussolini parla dal palco, alle sue spalle i quadrunviri: Emilio De Bono, Michele Bianchi, Cesare Maria De Vecchi e Italo Balbo, più in disparte Costanzo Ciano - 27 ottobre 1932 - Roma, Fori imperiali - prima interruzione - 23 ottobre 1932 - Torino - Mussolini giunge in piazza Castello, parte della folla in movimento per seguire il Duce - Mussolini sale sul palco preceduto da Rossoni e Starace, seguito da De Vecchi, dal governatore di Torino e da Ricci - seconda interruzione - riconoscimento alla città di Torino di personalità importanti per il fascismo tra cui lo stesso De Vecchi che viene chiamato eroe - terza interruzione - il discorso continua - 25 ottobre 1932 - l'inaugurazione dell'autostrada Torino - Milano - 25 ottobre 1932 - Milano - Mussolini, completamente vestito di nero, sale sul palco seguito da Starace, fa il saluto romano rivolto alla folla - prima interruzione della seconda cassetta - 26 ottobre 1932 - Milano - inaugurazione della scuola dedicata ad Arnaldo Mussolini - sul palco insieme a lui rappresentanti fascisti di Milano, Starace e Teruzzi - il possente edificio dei Sindacati Fascisti Industria . il palazzo dell'istituto per la maternità e l'infanzia - panoramica dall'alto verso il basso del nuovo palazzo della Borsa - 28 ottobre 1932 - Roma - Mussolini a cavallo, con la divisa della milizia, accanto Teruzzi ed un ufficiale di cavalleria, seguono altri cavalieri, percorre via del Corso - l'arrivo di Carlo Delcroix ed altre autorità dell'associazione invalidi - Mussolini sul balcone di palazzo Venezia insieme a Delcroix e Teruzzi, dietro di loro altri rappresentanti degli invalidi - seconda interruzione della seconda cassetta - 30 ottobre 1932 - Forlì - il monumento dedicato ai caduti della Guerra e ai martiri della rivoluzione fascista - Mussolini, accompagnato da Teruzzi e Balbo, scortato da camice nere e carabinieri, arriva al monumento - Mussolini si affaccia al balcone del palazzo del Podestà di Forlì, sul balcone le autorità fasciste locali, Teruzzi e Balbo - 31 ottobre 1932 - Pavia - la folla gremisce la piazza, Mussolini esce su un piccolo balcone seguito da Teruzzi, Starace e le autorità locali - 31 ottobre 1932 - Monza - 1 novembre 1932 -Brescia - la folla gremisce piazza della Vittoria, gli edifici che la circondano sono tutti di architettura tipicamente fascista, la sistemazione urbanistica della piazza è stata fatta da Marcello Piacentini - l'altissimo palazzo dell'Istituto nazionale delle Assicurazioni - il Duce sale sul palco, è l'Arengario in porfido rosso illustrante la storia di Brescia - opera di Antonio Maraini - terza interruzione della seconda cassetta - 3 novembre 1932 - Ancona - 4 novembre 1932 - Roma - Mussolini, in divisa con feluca, fa il suo ingresso al ministero dell'Aeronautica accompagnato da Balbo e Starace - 4 novembre 1932 - Roma - il Duce è accompagnato nella visita al Foro da Ricci, che indossa la divisa con la feluca, Balbo, De Bono e Starace - il Lungotevere non è completato davanti al monolite vi sono ancora prati ed alberi - panoramica dall'alto del Foro Mussolini - lo stadio dei Marmi gremito di folla

Un Programma RAI Speciale Storia del 2021, condotto da Cristoforo Gorno. Lucio Sergio Catilina (in latino Lucius Sergius Catilina, Roma, 108 a.C. – Pistoia, 62 a.C.) è stato un militare e politico romano, per lo più noto per la congiura che porta il suo nome, un tentativo di sovvertire la Repubblica romana, e in particolare il potere oligarchico del Senato. Negli ultimi anni della Repubblica, Roma presenta una scena politica particolarmente violenta. Le conquiste in Africa e in Oriente hanno sconvolto lo scenario sociale. Grandi quantità di schiavi sono affluite in Italia, provocando un crollo del costo del lavoro, l’impoverimento della classe media e lo sviluppo del latifondo. La battaglia politica tra la nobiltà, che controlla il Senato, e la plebe, che ha diritto di veto sulle leggi, si è fatta molto dura. Nel 63 a.C. questo scontro sfocia in un tentativo di colpo di stato. Il protagonista si chiama Lucio Sergio Catilina. A duemila anni di distanza, attraverso un’attenta ricostruzione dei fatti e un confronto con le fonti storiche, Cristoforo Gorno rilegge questa pagina di Storia in “Catilina, cronaca di una congiura”. Gli storici latini definiscono Catilina intelligente e audace, ma anche ma pieno di vizi, crudele e perverso. Anche se è di origine nobile, si è più volte candidato al consolato, la massima magistratura romana, per la fazione dei populares, ma le ripetute sconfitte, causate da brogli e accuse varie, lo spingono ad organizzare una rivolta armata contro l’ordine costituito. Il suo antagonista si chiama Marco Tullio Cicerone. Viene dalla provincia, ma si è distinto nei tribunali per la sua arte oratoria e ha fatto una brillante carriera politica che lo ha portato al vertice della Repubblica come console. Anche se non è nobile, è diventato l’alfiere della fazione dei patres, l’aristocrazia senatoriale. Con le sue mosse astute, le straordinarie orazioni e la forza delle legioni, Cicerone sventa la congiura di Catilina, che trova la sua tragica fine in una battaglia senza speranza. Cristoforo Gorno, muovendosi tra il Foro, la Curia, le Basiliche, i luoghi di Roma che fanno da palcoscenico alla storia, racconta la nascita della congiura di Catilina e il suo naufragio.

A 1994 BBC/A&E History Documentary, narrated by Brian Cox. One of the most controversial organizations in history, the Spanish Inquisition has been poorly understood by the general public. This period of religious persecution, which took place between 1478 and 1834, has historically been shrouded in myth and misconceptions. For despite popular belief, this organization was neither medieval nor exclusively Spanish in nature. In this brief presentation, "The Myth of the Spanish Inquisition" provides only an overview of the origins and debunking of the myths of torture and genocide. The documentary definitely succeeds in leaving the viewer hungry to know more. The long-held beliefs of the audience are sufficiently weakened by the testimony of experts and the expose of the making of the myth. The Inquisition began in 1480. Spain was beginning a historic reunification of Aragon and Castile. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile created a unified Hispania not seen since Roman times. Afraid that laws commanding the exile or conversion of Jews were thwarted by conversos, i.e. synagogue-going "Catholics," Ferdinand and Isabella commissioned an investigation or Inquisition. They began the Inquisition hoping that religious unity would foster political unity, and other heads of state heralded Spain's labors for the advent of a unified Christendom. The documentary clearly and boldly narrates the historical context, which intimates that the Spanish were not acting odd by their contemporary standards. The Inquisition Myth, which Spaniards call "The Black Legend," did not arise in 1480. It began almost 100 years later, and exactly one year after the Protestant defeat at the Battle of Muhlberg at the hands of Ferdinand's grandson, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In 1567 a fierce propaganda campaign began with the publication of a Protestant leaflet penned by a supposed Inquisition victim named Montanus. This character Protestant of course) painted Spaniards as barbarians who ravished women and sodomized young boys. The propagandists soon created "hooded fiends" who tortured their victims in horrible devices like the knife-filled Iron Maiden which never was used in Spain). The reason for the war of words: the Protestants fought with words because they could not win on the battlefield. The Inquisition had a secular character, although the crime was heresy. Inquisitors did not have to be clerics, but they did have to be lawyers. The investigation was rule-based and carefully kept in check. And most significantly, historians have declared fraudulent a supposed Inquisition document claiming the genocide of millions of heretics. The so-called witch hunt in Spain was far less intense that the “witch mania” taking place in the rest of Europe, although it lasted longer. The Spanish Inquisition was sparked by the widespread witch hunts that developed in Europe in the late 15th century. Through special access to the secrets of the Spanish Inquisition's own archives, a very different version of events from that of popular mythology is uncovered about the Inquisition. It was certainly not blameless and on occasion would be ruthless. However its actions pall in comparison with the scale of persecution in other European countries. In the 16th century for example, 10 times as many heretics were burned in England as in Spain. What is documented is that 3000 to 5000 people died during the Inquisition's 350 year history. Also documented are the "Acts of Faith," public sentencing of heretics in town squares. But the grand myth of thought control by sinister fiends has been debunked by the archival evidence. The inquisitors enjoyed a powerful position in the towns, but it was one constantly jostled by other power brokers. As the program documents, the 3,000 to 5,000 documented executions of the Inquisition pale in comparison to the 150,000 documented witch burnings elsewhere in Europe over the same centuries. The programme examines how and why the myth of the Inquisition developed. The approach is purely historical, and therefore does not delve into ecclesial issues surrounding religious freedom.

A 1997 History Documentary series narrated by Patrick Tull. History's most famous and infamous ocean stories, including the mutiny aboard HMS Bounty, the 1956 sinking of the passenger ship Andrea Doria and World War II's German U-boats. The series includes dramatic reenactments and interviews with historians. Episode 1: In the spring of 1789, British sailor Fletcher Christian and his band of accomplices staged a hostile takeover of the ship Bounty and its captain William Bligh. The account of what followed has been shaped as much by Hollywood creative screenwriters as it was by fact. When Bligh and his men set sail for Tahiti the stage had already been set for a turbulent voyage, but it would have been hard to envisage just how badly it would conclude. Bligh started his career as a reluctant sailor and his leadership qualities were weak at best. Many months of life on the high seas saw an almost fatal breakdown of morale that left the crew ripe for a mutinous rebellion. With Bligh's appalling, almost in-human treatment of his crew, it was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose. But what was the truth behind the fiction? Note: The Series is not complete because 2 episodes are missing. Episode 2: https://rumble.com/v4sx07k-sea-tales-blackbeards-reign-of-terror-episode-2.html

Episode 2: Blackbeard terrorized ships along the Atlantic Coast of North America and the Caribbean from 1716 to 1718. He raped, pillaged and plundered. He was as savage with his crew as he was with his prisoners. One crew member once said, "If he did not now and then kill one of us, we would forget who he was. This episode tells how the barbaric pirate piled his murderous trade until a substantial price was put on his head. A British Naval force led by Lt. Robert Maynard went after him. Maynard and Blackbeard engaged in a hand-to-hand fight on the deck of the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's ship. The bloody outcome remains one of the most legendary sea battles ever recounted. Episode 3: https://rumble.com/v4sx5e8-sea-tales-fatal-voyage-of-captain-cook-episode-3.html

Episode 3: In the age of the great sea-faring adventurers, one man stood above all the others as he fearlessly made his way around the world. Captain James Cook discovered Hawaii and New Caledonia and sailed to the Antarctic alone. He was driven by the search for knowledge, not the desire for conquest. But after meeting every challenge and earning international celebrity, he met his end in the most inglorious of ways. This episode follows the career of the great explorer through his own journals and the accounts of those who sailed with him, as well as expert commentary from the world's leading historians. Trace the incredible discoveries of his first two voyages, then batten down the hatches for his third, final trip. As recounted in the journals of his crew including the soon-to-be infamous William Bligh, Cook seemed dulled by time and carelessness, and quick to anger. It was this temper that caused him to explode over the theft of his launch and led to his violent death at the hands of Hawaiian natives while his stunned crew looked on. Episode 4: https://rumble.com/v4sxk9f-sea-tales-remember-the-maine-episode-4.html

Episode 4: When Teddy Roosevelt sent the USS Maine into Havana's harbor in 1898, he hoped that the show of force would help protect the lives and property of American citizens in the restless Spanish territory. But when the Maine mysteriously exploded and sank at anchor, the nation was shocked and demanded revenge. Ultimately, its destruction led to the Spanish-American War. But was the great ship really mined by Spanish forces, as newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst trumpeted in his tabloids? Journey back to the night of February 15, 1898 to unravel the enduring mystery. Examine the official navy report of the disaster which reached no conclusion and the tabloid accusations which made a frenzied but groundless case. Maritime experts and leading historians point to possible causes of the explosion which claimed 254 lives and examine its repercussions. Episode 5: https://rumble.com/v4sxqax-sea-tales-revolt-on-the-potemkin-episode-5.html

Episode 5: It all started with bad meat. When it was over, more than 5,000 had died and the pride of the Russian Black Sea Fleet lay beneath the waters, scuttled by her crew. Revolt on the Potemkin is a detailed account of one of the strangest incidents in maritime history. When his crew refused to eat soup made with tainted meat, Commander Giliarovsky treated their actions as mutiny, and ordered that a number of randomly selected crewmen be shot! When the shooters failed to carry out his order, Giliarovsky killed one himself, and a real mutiny ensued. Formerly classified documents, accounts from men who were there and interviews with maritime historians chronicle the chaos that followed. Giliarovsky and several other officers were killed, and when the ship docked in Odessa, rioting sparked by the display of the dead crewman's martyr-body claimed more than 5,000 lives. Eventually, the mutineers took the Potemkin back out to sea, where they scuttled the mighty ship. It's a riveting chronicle of one of the strangest chapters in the maritime history, the most famous mutiny since the Bounty. Episode 6: https://rumble.com/v4t32a8-sea-tales-the-deadly-arctic-expedition-episode-6.html

Episode 6: The commander was Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a celebrated polar explorer known for his ego as well as his exploits. The ship was the Karluk, a nineteenth-century whaler. The mission was arctic exploration. And the end was tragic. For sixty years, the true story of the Karluk expedition was unknown, but the complete tale is told here. With over thirty crewmen, the Karluk departed for the arctic in July of 1913. In less than two months, the aged, ill-equipped boat was trapped in the ice. In a stunning act of cowardice, Stefansson abandoned the ship and crew, saying he was hunting and would return shortly. Instead, he traveled the arctic for the next five years, a journey that would win him accolades. The Karluk was crushed in the ice, however, and in their desperate search for safety, 11 crewmen died. The Deadly Arctic Expedition draws heavily on a book written by William McKinlay, a scholar who was aboard the Karluk and survived the odyssey. Through his words, Stefansson's journals, archival material and expert commentary, the sad saga of the Karluk and her crew comes to life. Episode 7: https://rumble.com/v4t364c-sea-tales-the-sinking-of-the-andrea-doria-episode-7.html

Episode 7: She was the pride of her line, a ship unparalleled in grace, opulence and elegance, and to postwar Italy she represented the very spirit of the nation. But on her 51st Atlantic crossing, in a pea-soup fog shrouding Nantucket Sound, she was rammed by the Stockholm. Eleven hours later, she slipped beneath the black waters, and the Andrea Doria became the worst maritime disaster since the Titanic. The Sinking of the Andrea Doria features exclusive, never-before-seen footage of the tragedy taken by a seaman onboard one of the ships called to the liner's aid. Passengers and crewmen recall the horror and confusion of the disaster, and maritime experts examine the details looking for clues to what went wrong. Was Captain Calami who was so dedicated that crewmen had to beg him not to go down with the ship to blame, as many have asserted? Or did the Stockholm crew misread their radar? This is the definitive look at the tragedy that has earned a place as one of the darkest moments in maritime history. Episode 8: https://rumble.com/v4t38qh-sea-tales-the-halifax-explosion-episode-8.html

Episode 8: Some say it was the work of German spies. Others maintain that it was a tragic accident of unimaginable proportions. Whatever the cause, on a bitter morning in 1917 in the booming port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1,600 people were killed and 9,000 injured when a French munitions ship exploded after striking another vessel. The Halifax Explosion is a comprehensive examination of the tragedy. Eyewitness accounts capture the force and horror of the explosion the largest non-nuclear detonation in history! Rare photos and archival footage reveal the incredible destruction that led thousands of mariners from around the world to converge on the devastated port in a massive relief effort. World War I historians examine the theories that surround the disaster, while a detailed reconstruction shows how accident and error compounded to create tragedy. It's an intriguing look at one of the most incredible chapters in maritime history. Episode 9: https://rumble.com/v4t3h69-sea-tales-the-secret-of-the-u-110-episode-9.html