Difficult Damsels is an amateur podcast, brought to you by two ridiculous humans, that explores the difficult damsels throughout history who said “f💋ck this” and broke out of their preordained roles as meek and obedient to be their most authentic selves. Your hosts Rachel and Kat delve into what it means to be a difficult damsel and just how these women changed history only to be labeled witch, mad, crazy because they dared to rise against societal and patriarchal norms and change their world!
Hypatia was renowned in her own lifetime as a great teacher and a wise counselor in the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria. She was a prominent thinker, devoting herself to learning and teaching, leading the life of a respected academic at Alexandria's university. Ancient sources routinely depict Hypatia as a woman who was widely known for her generosity, love of learning, and expertise in teaching the subjects of Neoplatonism, mathematics, science, and philosophy.
Little is known of her life, but her dramatic death at the hands of Christian fanatics culminating from the escalating political feud between Alexandria’s religious faction and the governing body is well-documented. Her tragic and brutal murder sent shockwaves throughout the empire for centuries and many scholars cite her death as the end of the classical world.
Disclaimer: Hypatia was more intellectual damsel than difficult, and her story may have one of the most gruesome and tragic endings we have ever covered on our podcast. While we do not go into any sort of graphic detail, it is still very hard to hear. Listener discretion is advised.
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2 Nov 2023
62. Brunhild of Austrasia Part 3
Brunhild reigned as a Queen, Queen Mother and Queen Regent for a son, two grandsons and a great grandson for forty years. She attained a level of power in Medieval Frankia that few people—male or female—would ever achieve after her.
In our epic conclusion of Brunhild’s story, we come to the end of the bloody rivalry between Brunhild and Fredegund. But that wasn’t the end of Brunhild yet! She had two unruly, and dare we say, petulant grandsons to deal with. But, as with many of the women in our epic tales, Brunhild’s downfall would come about simply because of the menfolk who considered her womanhood a threat.
The men who followed in Brunhild’s wake tried their damndest to erase her from the history books and nearly succeeded. But we refuse to let her legacy be forgotten. This story has been absolutely insane right from the start. And it remains as such right up to the bitter, brutal end.
(Spoiler alert: it’s not a happy ending!)
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18 Oct 2023
61. Brunhild of Austrasia Part 2
While most Medieval Queens were generally expected to step aside for their young sons and disappear into obscurity within convent walls, Brunhild would prove to be the exception to the rule. Even after her son came of age to rule on his own, Brunhild still held an iron grip over the throne of Austrasia—much to the chagrin of the men around her.
In this episode, Brunhild faces off against threats both within and outside of her kingdom even as her rivalry with Fredegund escalates and assassins are the name of the game. Despite efforts made by her brother-in-law to undermine her relationship with her son and several failed assassination attempts against herself and her family, Brunhild proves to be a woman of iron will. And she’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
Rachel and Kat play a round of would you rather and Anya screams like the banshee she was born to be.
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/difficultdamsels/support (https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/difficultdamsels/support)
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Apple Podcasts (US)
3.8 / 5
27 ratings
Spotify
4.6 / 5
18 ratings
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