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13 Episodes 2011 - 2011
Episode 1
25 mins
Even making abstraction of the apocryphal versions, the two evangelists relating the Nativity hardly concur, writing for different audiences and probably long after Christ and largely aiming to confirm the Messianic prophecies from the Old Testament. The chronology -notably concerning Herod and the Roman Census- and various historical details are irreconcilable. Many traditional elements and characters, such as the 'toyal' magi, are later additions.
Episode 2
24 mins
Until and at the start of World War One, Adolf Hitler was a reserved Austrian who enlisted as patriot in the German army. Content to rise no higher then lance corporal, he was dutiful and reserved, accepting the poor conditions and risks at the front, where he was a dispatch runner. Injured during a poisoned gas attack, he was sent to a psychiatric ward, but his syndrome was then still considered a medical mystery at best, just cowardice at worst. It's argued that this trauma and neurological damage may have triggered his personality switch. Afterward, he became a political animal, extrovert and power-hungry, out for bloody revenge on the alleged enemies of the German people.
Episode 3
24 mins
An ample case is made fort doubting the veracity of the famous Marco Polo travel to China story. Even the existence of one such Venetian is unproven, as his alleged biography, which clashes with historical chronology and lacks corroboration by typically meticulous Chinese records. The story, not preserved in original version, was frequently elaborated and embellished with utter fables, while lacking descriptions one would expect, and is most likely the work of Rustichello da Pisa, famous medieval author of Italian fiction(alized) epics, including that of king Arthur, which is actually repeatedly and somewhat extensively quoted.
Episode 4
24 mins
Mystery Files investigates what happened to the body and tomb. Alexander the Great was one of the most famous military leaders in history. After his death, his body and tomb would be sources of great veneration. History, however, reveals few references to Alexander's body and tomb. Mystery Files speculates that the body was taken from its tomb in Alexandria to Venice where it is now passed off as the body of St. Mark the Evangelist.
Episode 5
Tue, Feb 3, 202624 mins
Fifth Mogul emperor Shah Jahan built the unsurpassed mausoleum in Agra for his beloved wife Mumtaz, who died in childbirth. The theory that he planned a black counterpart as his own tomb is examined. The elaborated mathematical design, including extensive gardens and water reflections, fits the Musil concept of paradise. His rivaling rebel sons seized his throne, locked him up and buried him beside Mumtaz.
Episode 6
24 mins
Isaac Newton has a brilliant and most prolific scientific career as pioneering academic mathematician and natural scientist, starring the discovery of the law of gravity, but also a revolutionary reflecting telescope and his analysis of light and the color spectrum. A conflict with Royal Society secretary Robert Hooke estranged him from the scientific establishment, withdrawing from public life, until his publication of the Principia Mathematica on nature's basic laws. He also worked secretly on more occult subjects, burning most of his manuscripts, from alchemy to Bible exegesis in search for the end of the world.
Episode 7
25 mins
Saladin's legend as a great fighter spanned Europe. His reputation as an honorable leader spanned centuries.
Episode 8
24 mins
* Captain Kidd yielded spectacular success as English privateer, i.e. captain of a ship licensed by the crown to practice piracy on enemy (notably Spanish) vessels and ports. When the war alliances changed, he continued targeting the same foreign preys. He hoped his powerful aristocratic investors, including the court, would protect him, but for party political purposes, they made him the scapegoat in a high-profile trial. Although their were valid charges, he was hanged mainly on the basis of documents clearing him of the main piracy charge which were declared missing, but actually found in the court archives by modern historians.
Episode 9
24 mins
A hot question mark in the disputed lists of Catholic popes is whether one of the (doubted) early-medieval Johns was in fact a cross-dressing Joan. Even if so, nothing would be known for sure. Shown is how it might have happened, and how little 'evidence' there is. Yet no definite answer can be given, merely why it would have been postulated, not crushed in the bud under Catholic supremacy and taken up after the Reformation divided Christian Europe.
Episode 10
24 mins
The Battle of Little Bighorn turned Sitting Bull into Public Enemy #1, even though he never set foot on the battlefield.
Episode 11
24 mins
Tudor queen Elisabeth I was in love with her ambitious favorite at court, earl Robert Dudley. He was married to insignificant Amy, who died officially from a fall down a staircase in their semi-modest home. The common theory that her end was too convenient for the royal lovers to be coincidence is tested with modern forensic methods, practically ruling out suicide or an accident. Still the coroner's official report and clues from historical documents plead against either lover being the murderer, so suspicion falls mainly on chief royal adviser William Cecil, who hoped to discredit his rival, or a misguided retainer without explicit instructions.
Episode 12
24 mins
The romantic story of Do De la Vega 'Zorro, the fox' and its Holywood variations were written by a novelist. However the character was plausibly inspired by a real 17th century colonial Mexico revolutionary, Guillem Lombardo. However the Irish, Madrid-schooled genius Wlliam Lamport, who Hispanized his name, was first a Spanish royal spy in the colony, then a revolutionary double agent. He lingered for years in the Inquisition jail on heresy and witchcraft charges, staged a brilliant escape but failed to flee timely and was captured again while distributing pamphlets, still to be executed.
Episode 13
25 mins
Immortalized by the Oscar-winning film, the real T.E. Lawrence is a polarizing individual who many believe was a fraud.