Gone Medieval History Hit

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 Papal States from Pisa. 
This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.
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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 of the English State.
This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.
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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.
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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, Offa and Lady Godiva - played in the forging of the English nation.
This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg.
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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.
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From Hugh Capet to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Capetian dynasty considered itself divinely chosen to fulfil a great destiny. From an insecure foothold around Paris, the Capetians built a nation that stretched from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and from the Rhône to the Pyrenees, founding practices and institutions that endured until the French Revolution. 
In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis explores the Capetians’ dramatic rule and legacy with Professor Justine Firnhaber-Baker, author of House of Lilies: The Dynasty that Made Medieval France.
This episode was 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 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here.
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