Unraveling History: The Art of Source Criticism

Dive into the intricate world of source criticism in this enlightening episode! Discover how historians critically analyze texts through external and internal scrutiny, akin to detectives unraveling a mystery. We explore the foundational ideas of 19th-century historian Leopold von Ranke, who viewed history as a fixed structure, and discuss the complexities of bias in eyewitness accounts. From the challenges of forgery to the concept of "glaubensunwilligkeit," join us as we dissect the methods historians use to piece together our past and understand the reliability of their sources.