"Monumental Letters: Lesser-Known Correspondence Between Women That Changed Europe" is a 20-episode historical podcast and multimedia project that explores socially transformative letters exchanged between women (or from women to others) across 2000 years of European history. Each episode presents a dramatized and contextualized reading of one such letter, followed by in-depth historical narration and analysis. The project includes translated readings, original-language excerpts, geographic maps, visualized artifacts, and immersive soundscapes rooted in the time period of each letter.
To bring historically impactful but culturally underrepresented letters written by European (or Europe-connected) women into public awareness through engaging storytelling, historical scholarship, and high-quality audio/visual production.
- 20 Podcast Episodes
- Chronologically structured from ca. 1st century CE to 20th century
- Each features a single letter or letter exchange
- Supporting Website
- High-resolution scans or reconstructions of original letters
- Original-language texts and English translations
- Annotated historical timelines and reading lists
- YouTube Channel
- Audio episodes with dynamic subtitles and visual maps
- “Mini map” and “time-layered” animations for chapter intros
- Repository Assets
- Markdown research documents per episode
- Source metadata, citation index, curator contact dossier
- Visual asset style guide
- Fully navigable map files (SVG + high-res PNG)
All letters included meet the following criteria:
- Historical Impact: Each letter measurably influenced social, political, intellectual, or spiritual life in its time or shortly thereafter.
- Relative Obscurity: The letters are academically recognized but are not widely known in popular media or mainstream culture.
- Documented Authenticity: Surviving in manuscript, microform, or scholarly transcription, with traceable archival references.
- Geographic Breadth: Letters span the full extent of “Europe” as it was defined in its era, with at least one party in the exchange having European cultural or political ties.
- Chronological Range:
- 20 total letters
- 3–5 from before the rise of Islam (~7th c. CE)
- 3 before 1000 AD
- 3 before 1500 AD
- 6–7 from the last 500 years
- 5 from the last 100 years
monumental-letters/
├── episodes/
│ ├── episode-01_eangyth-boniface.md
│ ├── episode-02_...
│ └── ...
├── letters/
│ ├── originals/
│ │ ├── eangyth_letter.jpg
│ │ └── ...
│ ├── translations/
│ │ ├── eangyth_letter_en.txt
│ │ └── ...
├── audio/
│ ├── final_episodes/
│ ├── stems/
│ └── narration_scripts/
├── visual-assets/
│ ├── full-map/
│ ├── mini-maps/
│ ├── layered-timemaps/
│ └── styles/
│ └── asset-style-guide.md
├── metadata/
│ ├── curator-contacts.csv
│ ├── bibliography.bib
│ └── index.json
├── README.md
└── LICENSE
The mapping suite includes:
- Master Map: All 20 letters plotted chronologically/geographically
- Mini Maps: Static or animated maps per episode for YouTube intros
- Time-Layered Maps: Sequential or animated visualizations for marketing teasers and in-episode transitions
- Asset Style Guide: A design doc that governs iconography, lineart, color grading, and period-accurate embellishments
Each episode includes a bespoke soundscape that draws from:
- Period-instrument approximations (e.g., monochord, lyre, crumhorn)
- Authentic chant or regional musical fragments when possible
- Environmental audio appropriate to the letter's context (e.g., coastal wind, cathedral echo, battlefield noise)
- Original scoring for transitions and emphasis
- Original letters are preserved in their native languages (Latin, Old English, French, German, Russian, etc.).
- Professional or scholarly translations into English accompany each.
- Visualizations of the original texts are included where possible in website and YouTube versions.
- Letters sourced through collaboration with libraries, monasteries, academic archives, and digital humanities projects.
- Curator contacts and institutional links are included in the
metadata/curator-contacts.csvfile. - Citations are fully documented in BibTeX and Markdown formats for transparency and reference.
No license is given or implied.
Creative Director: [Your Name]
Historical Research Lead: [Historian/Researcher Name]
Lead Narrator & Producer: [Voice Talent Name]
Cartography & Visuals: [Designer/Animator Name]
Sound Design: [Composer/Editor Name]
Archival Advisors: Multiple international curators and institutions (see curator-contacts.csv)
Web Development: [Web Dev Team or Service Name]
"The women of the Church are more than weavers of alms. We name, we shape, we remember." — Abbess Eangyth of Kent, c. 720 CE