What does a document written in 1215 in England have to do with the United States? Surprisingly a lot actually! The Magna Carta is thought to have influenced foundational documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But where did this inspiration come from? And why were America's founding fathers so influenced by a charter that King John broke almost immediately after signing it? In today's episode of Gone Medieval, we bring you an episode from our sister podcast American...
Jun 25, 2024•28 min•Ep. 328
Once connected to a busy and thriving hospital, Great St Bart's Church in Smithfield is not only a survivor of the Great Fire of London, but also has a fascinating foundation story. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis goes to get a closer look at London’s oldest surviving parish church with Father Marcus Walker. Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and edited by Ella Blaxill. The Producer is Rob Weinberg, the Senior Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcas...
Jun 21, 2024•28 min•Ep. 327
Out of the shadowy world of the medieval church, an extraordinary legend emerged of a woman who disguised herself as a man and remarkably, rose to become Pope. It's a story of secret identities, illicit affairs and a Church shaken by the unthinkable - a female pope giving birth in the midst of a sacred procession. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Professor Craig Rustici from Hofstra University NY, author of The Afterlife of Pope Joan: Deploying the Popess Le...
Jun 18, 2024•34 min•Ep. 326
The Crusader states in the Near East were created after the First Crusade in order to keep hold of the territorial gains made by those known in the region as the Franks - essentially Christians from Western Europe. What can the military activities of the many different factions in the region tell us about how and why those states rose and then fell? In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis finds out more from Dr. Nicholas Morton, author of The Crusader States and Their Neighbours: A Mi...
Jun 14, 2024•39 min•Ep. 325
One of the last kings of Anglo-Saxon England, Edward the Confessor regained the throne for the House of Wessex and is the only English monarch to become a Saint. But Edward the Confessor has also been blamed for causing the invasion of 1066―the last successful conquest of England by a foreign power. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega talks to Professor Tom Licence, author of Edward the Confessor: Last of the Royal Blood , about a compassionate and conscientious rul...
Jun 11, 2024•46 min•Ep. 324
The Anarchy is an intriguing and often forgotten period of history. There are fascinating characters and moments of deep political importance to England's development as a state. The involvement of women in the Anarchy is vital to understanding how it played out over almost two decades. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Sharon Bennett Connolly - author of Women of the Anarchy - in which she demonstrates how certain women were prime movers in a time of conflict and ...
Jun 07, 2024•38 min•Ep. 323
In the Middle Ages, animals were often the means for survival and the source of great wealth. No wonder then that in the medieval imagination, animals are not just animals. Animals were thought to have traits and characteristics that meant that they could be sorted into moral categories - good and bad, righteous and evil - that dominate the Christian imagination. Ants could be monsters and panthers could be your friend, dog-headed men were as real as elephants and whales were as s...
Jun 04, 2024•37 min•Ep. 322
If you are planning - or dreaming of - your next holiday, have you stopped to wonder whether our medieval counterparts did exactly the same thing? Why did people travel in the Middle Ages, and what was the experience like for them? Were there any similarities with travelling today? In this edition of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis talks to Anthony Bale. His book A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages invites the reader to journey alongside scholars, spies and saints, from western Europe to the...
May 30, 2024•37 min•Ep. 321
Did you know we have our medieval ancestors to thank for whisky? It wasn’t exactly a medieval invention but the process of making distilled alcohol and the idea that it might be fun to drink was. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega finds out more from whisky journalist Matt Chambers about how we got from desalinating seawater in the Ancient period to enjoying a dram or two today. This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Rob Weinberg. Enjoy unlimited access ...
May 28, 2024•37 min•Ep. 320
Dating from 1467-1603, the Sengoku or ‘Warring States’ period is known as the bloodiest in Japan’s history; an era of continuous social upheaval and civil war which transformed the country. Shogun-led authority was shattered and 150 years of murder and betrayal followed as fearsome warlords ruled local territories with unflinching ruthlessness. In the first episode of this series delving into the history behind the latest Assassin’s Creed game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows , Matt Lewis an...
May 24, 2024•36 min•Ep. 319
King Richard I of England - Richard the Lionheart - is one of those historical figures whose reputation stands out so much that the legends cover up the myriad of complex details that we have about their lives. After all, you don't get a name like Lionheart without a serious amount of artful effort, both on the battlefield and in the halls of power. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega talks to Dr. Richard Huscroft - author of Ruling England: 1042 to 1217 - about the tumultuous a...
May 21, 2024•39 min•Ep. 318
The supernatural in the Medieval world was always close at hand. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis pays a visit to the only two residents still at History Hit Towers at the witching hour - After Dark ’s presenters Dr. Anthony Delaney and Dr. Maddy Pelling - to regale them with some Medieval stories of the mythological and paranormal. Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month f...
May 17, 2024•41 min•Ep. 317
Do you know the difference between a church and a chapel? A bishop and an archbishop? An abbey and an abbess? In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by co-host Matt Lewis to chat all things churches. They will demystify church hierarchy, walk you through the basics of architecture, and answer questions you sent in about all that religious jargon that medievalists are constantly throwing around. This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg. Enjoy unlimited acces...
May 14, 2024•45 min•Ep. 316
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 bo...
May 10, 2024•32 min•Ep. 315
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. Th...
May 07, 2024•35 min•Ep. 314
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 Lew...
May 03, 2024•28 min•Ep. 313
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 Janega 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 documen...
May 01, 2024•44 min•Ep. 312
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 ...
Apr 26, 2024•41 min•Ep. 311
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 ...
Apr 23, 2024•40 min•Ep. 310
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, ab...
Apr 19, 2024•47 min•Ep. 309
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 ...
Apr 16, 2024•43 min•Ep. 308
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 ...
Apr 11, 2024•42 min•Ep. 307
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 ...
Apr 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 306
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-B...
Apr 05, 2024•36 min•Ep. 305
In a time of in-fighting and tribal warfare, what did it take to form the politically dominant, culturally rich and geographically vast kingdoms that led to the creation of England? This month, over four episodes of Gone Medieval, we explore the rise and fall of the key kingdoms of the Heptarchy: Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex, and the formation of an Anglo-Saxon government, the Witan. This week Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by historian, archaeologist and author Max Adams to delve into the stor...
Apr 02, 2024•41 min•Ep. 304
In medieval times, Britain was criss-crossed by pilgrim routes, that took in such world-famous sites as Canterbury and Lindisfarne as well as out-of-the-way locations along paths not so widely travelled. But why did people undergo pilgrimage? What were its benefits? And why did some send people in their honour? In this episode of Gone Medieval , first released in September 2021, Matt Lewis is joined by architectural historian Dr. Emma Wells as they discuss the practice that some might consider t...
Mar 29, 2024•36 min•Ep. 303
Prostitutes were everywhere in the streets and neighbourhoods of medieval cities. In one and the same building, there might be a school upstairs, while downstairs prostitutes plied their nefarious trade. But how did such a situation come to pass? And how could such a world exist within the theoretical holy confines of medieval Christendom? In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined Dr. Kate Lister, host of our sister podcast Betwixt the Sheets , to find out more about ...
Mar 26, 2024•40 min•Ep. 302
One of the pivotal figures in Medieval history, King Henry II centralised royal power, instituted legal reforms and established common law. His marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine expanded his influence, as he became the ruler of a far-reaching European empire. But his demise was just as dramatic as his ascendancy. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis tells the story of Henry’s rise to power and his fall brought about by his catastrophic relationship with Thomas Becket and his feud wi...
Mar 22, 2024•49 min•Ep. 301
In the Middle Ages, how did art - particularly Christian icons - serve to connect humanity with heavenly realms? How did such images spread from the Eastern Roman Empire to the rest of Europe? What did they represent and how could they sometimes be misused to justify war and imperialism? In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega explores these questions with art historian and theologian Professor Matthew Milliner, author of Mother of the Lamb: The Story of a Global Icon ....
Mar 19, 2024•43 min•Ep. 300
The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 was a public rebellion that sent revolutionary ripples across the entire medieval world. In a new video series for History Hit, Matt Lewis has been looking beyond the ancient propaganda to reveal the previously unknown stories of the ordinary folk of the Peasants’ Revolt. Matt has been working closely with investigative historians from the groundbreaking People of 1381 project. which has been uncovering the stories of individuals who were caught up in this revol...
Mar 15, 2024•36 min•Ep. 299
