Sometimes the true GOATs are underrated because even though they were the best to do it, they weren't the first to do it. This was Simon Kezai's problem, writing a more enchanting and masterful chronicle just a few decades after Anonymus did the same, with more interesting myths and more feisty opinions.

In this episode, let's explore the prologues of two of my favorite books together. We'll leap from the pages of the winner of the 1938 Newbery Medal for children's literature to my middle school library. From there, we'll pour one out for one of my favorite Hungarian kings: Laszlo the Cuman, and the honored muse of Kezai's Gesta.

We'll then explore the dynamic world of medieval Europe and the rocky transformation of many societies from newly converted "barbarians" into kingdoms accepted among the rest of Christendom. Finally, we will unpack the strange accusation of terrible slander Kezai seeks to debunk in the opening pages of his Gesta — that Huns/Hungarians are the spawn of demonic incubi.

Apologies for the bad Latin, all my language learning braincells are used up on Hungarian lol.

Written by Turán Explorer and produced by Boss Moss. Follow on TikTok and Twitter @Turan_Explorer and support us on www.patreon.com/turan_explorer

Boss Moss Records on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-613649429