The Vikings continue to fascinate us because their compelling stories connect with universal human desires for exploration and adventure. But recent advances in excavation and archaeological science, coupled with a re-evaluation of oral traditions and written sources, are furthering our understanding of the Viking Age.  In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis meets Dr. Davide Zori, Associate Professor of History and Archaeology in the Honors College at Baylor University. In his new book Age of Wolf and Wind: Voyages through the Viking World, he integrates history, archaeology, and n ..read more

The image we usually associate with a Crusader - of a dashing nobleman on a mighty steed heading out for Holy War - often obscures all of the other medieval people who went to the Holy Land, especially the countless women. In this edition of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega talks to Dr. Natasha Hodgson - author of Women, Crusading and the Holy Land in Historical Narrative - about the women who went everywhere that men went, and what our own expectations lead us to overlook in history.  This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg. Enjoy unlimited access to awar ..read more

The Mongol Empire that rose in the early 13th century was fractured and in crisis by the mid-14th. But then a new warlord arose who sought to rebuild what had once been the most powerful empire in the world.  Operating in Genghis Khan’s shadow, Tamerlane deliberately drew parallels between himself and his great precursor. And as a Muslim, Tamerlane waged wars as jihad and had a more powerful impact than those of any Muslim Mongol ruler before him. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis uncovers the full story with Professor Peter Jackson, author of From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane: T ..read more

Because of William the Conqueror’s victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Normans have remained a familiar and important name in British history. But who were they? And how did they come to change culture across the European continent? In this explainer episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Jannega tells the fascinating story of the rise of the Normans. This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg. Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 m ..read more

Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, was a great king who united what was once a collection of petty Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into one vast English domains. Having brought together rival polities with a history of fractious relations into a unified whole, Athelstan needed to centralise government if he was going to keep the crown on his head and hold England together. Anglo-Saxon rulers had often consulted their senior nobles and clergy in councils. With Athelstan’s rule came the emergence of a national form of this council, the Witan, an early precursor to Parliament, and one of the first for ..read more

The huge peninsula of what we today call Italy saw waves of invasions and sweeping changes over the course of the Medieval period, with huge differences between, say, Milan in the north stretching to Sicily in the south. They spoke different languages, had different rulers, and were settled by very different groups of people.  In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega tries to make sense of Italy’s complex history in the Middle Ages with Ross King, critically-acclaimed author of the new book The Shortest History of Italy, to sort out the Visigoths from the Vandals and the Papa ..read more

Six Plantagenet kings ruled between 1199 and 1399 - two centuries that witnessed civil war, deposition, the murder of kings and the ruthless execution of rebel lords. There was also international warfare, a devastating national pandemic, economic crisis and the first major peasant uprising in our history. Yet those two centuries and six kings were the blocks upon which the English nation was built. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Dr. Caroline Burt and Richard Partington, about the period as recounted in their acclaimed new book, Arise, England: Six Kings and the Making o ..read more

In Gone Medieval’s special series exploring some of Anglo-Saxon Britain’s most influential kingdoms, we reach Wessex - the last kingdom left to stand against the Great Heathen Army. Under the command of Alfred the Great, Wessex achieved what no other kingdom could before it: victory against the Vikings. In this episode, Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Rob Gallagher, a historian of early medieval Britain, to explore the key figures of the Wessex ascendency and the legacy the kingdom left behind. This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg. Enjoy unlimited access ..read more

In Gone Medieval’s special series examining some of Anglo-Saxon Britain’s most significant kingdoms, we arrive at the kingdom of Mercia, which once enjoyed supremacy over not only Wessex but all of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. At its peak, Mercia controlled what is now Birmingham and London, but it ceased to be a kingdom when Alfred the Great came to power. But its history did not end there.  In this episode, Matt Lewis speaks to Annie Whitehead, author of Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom, to discover the important role the Mercians - including such renowned characters as Penda ..read more

Accounts of the Crusades were usually commissioned by wealthy and influential people about themselves, to make their piety and righteousness known to others. But what about the less glamorous people who went on Crusades? And what was life like when they did so?  In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega finds out about ordinary crusaders and their experiences from Dr. Simon Thomas Parsons. This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg. Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get ..read more