Send us a text Genghis Khan was just wrapping up his campaign in Northern China when his caravan carrying silks and goods along the Silk Road suddenly met a hostile force in Central Asia. This episode follows the rise and terrible fall of a short-lived empire in the Middle East called the Khwarezmian Empire. Here we see Genghis Khan bring the entire wrath of the Mongols into the Middle East along with all the technology of the Chinese Siege Engines. What resulted was one of the most terrible atr...
Jul 17, 2025•58 min•Season 4Ep. 140
Send us a text In our third episode on the Mongolian mini series, we see exactly what Genghis Khan's army is capable of as he launches his first full-scale war against an outside empire. The Mongolians start the campaign as nothing more than a mighty Steppe army, but with the capture of Chinese cities and engineers, Genghis incorporates all of the Chinese technology into his army, making him the most feared and capable army on the planet. The JIN Dynasty will only be the first of many states to ...
Jul 03, 2025•59 min•Season 4Ep. 138
Send us a text In this episode, we see Temujin face off against two of his greatest rivals on his journey to becoming the Great Khan. And both of them were his allies from his earlier life, including his Blood Brother, and his father's best Friend. After this series of battles, Genghis Khan will have no more rivals in Mongolia and will be able to focus all of his efforts on attacking his enemies to the south... the JIN Dynasty of Northern China. The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the ev...
Jun 19, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 137
Send us a text In our very first episode on the Mongols, we leave our current narrative around the Empire in Nicaea and Constantinople, and we travel East. Crossing the Middle East, we discover the Mongolians completely annihilated their enemies and laid entire cities to waste. But where did it all begin? We go back in time to the very foundation of the Mongolians, to a small river north of the Eurasian Steppe, on the edge of the great Siberian forest and the northern mountains. In this frozen c...
Jun 05, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 136
Send us a text In our final episode on the trilogy of John of Brienne, follow his journey after the disappointing 5th Crusade, from the minor rivalry that grew into a war between Kings, Popes, and Emperors. We see how viciously Frederick treated his father-in-law and the treatment he bestowed upon the Princess of Jerusalem. However, the final battle in John of Brienne's magnificent life was not against his nemesis, Emperor Frederick II. Instead, his ultimate test came at the end of his life, whe...
May 22, 2025•47 min•Season 4Ep. 135
Send us a text We are going to take a small detour from the history of modern Greece to wrap up the story of the Fifth Crusade. When we left the Fifth Crusade, John of Brienne had returned to Europe to gather more men for the cause. But while he was trying to gain support, the crusader holdings in Egypt fell. And still the Holy Roman Emperor had not arrived, did he? Well, this crusade follows the story of the Roman Emperor Frederick II. Otherwise known as the 6th Crusade. The German Emperor fina...
May 08, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 134
Send us a text In our second episode covering the revival period of the Bulgarian Empire, we find out what happened to the man who replaced the dreaded Roman Slayer, and how a banished Prince gathered the aid of the Kievan Russ and came back with a vengeance, to rid the realm of his usurper cousin and deal a brutal blow to the Despotate of Epirus. The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the events from Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the fall of Constantinople in 1453, to the years und...
Apr 24, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 133
Send us a text As we return to the Empire in Nicaea, we follow the reign of Emperor John Vatatzes. After rebuilding the Byzantine Navy, he launched an invasion of Thrace and expanded Nicaea into Europe. While John spent most of his reign on the battlefield, his son Theodore grew up in the Empire in exile. Because of his prolific writing, we have an insight into his thoughts and ideas. We can see how he viewed the East as Superior to the West and thought of himself and all his friends, who grew u...
Apr 10, 2025•46 min•Season 4Ep. 132
Send us a text This is our second episode on the Despotate of Epirus, and after covering the amazing foundation of the state by Michael Komnenos Doukas, everyone thought the state would simply dissolve after its founder was assassinated. But, with the arrival of his Half-Brother, the despotate grew to greater heights. Theodore built up the power of the Despotate and sought to retake the capital city, Constantinople. In this episode, we follow Theodore as he fights to strengthen his kingdom while...
Mar 27, 2025•33 min•Season 4Ep. 131
Send us a text In our second episode of John of Brienne, the King of Jerusalem, we follow him on his adventures to Egypt. The Austrians and the Military Orders have followed him to the city of Damietta. This city, at the mouth of the Delta, was the key to gaining a foothold in the Delta Nile. Once the crusaders had control of Cairo, the entire Ayyubid Caliphate was doomed to collapse. But first they needed to wait for the Holy Roman Emperor to arrive with his mighty army. The History of Modern G...
Mar 13, 2025•41 min•Season 4Ep. 130
Send us a text We always love to slow down and go into greater detail whenever we find an interesting character from history. Well, this is one of those times. John of Brienne went from being a small-time lord in France to the King of Jerusalem, to the leader of the 5th Crusade, and ended up as the Emperor of the Latin Crusader Empire in Constantinople. What a record… what a life…. What a story. The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the events from Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the...
Feb 27, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 129
Send us a text Once it became clear that Baldwin was dead, his brother was crowned Emperor. Henry had a much more successful reign than his predecessor... that being said, there were many challenges facing the Latin Crusader Empire. When they first took Constantinople, they were the strongest military force in the region, but as time progressed, the Romans formed their own resistance states, and the Bulgarians conquered most of the Balkans... Emperor Henry became increasingly isolated and surrou...
Feb 13, 2025•47 min•Season 4Ep. 128
Send us a text After spending six episodes covering the events happening in the Roman renegade states, we finally get to see what happened inside the walls of Constantinople. The 4th Crusaders had to elect an Emperor... the first Latin emperor in over 700 years. The choice was narrowed down between two leaders, Baldwin of Flanders and Boniface of Montferrat. The election created a rift between the two that would never mend. This episode follows the short lives of these two men before they meet t...
Jan 30, 2025•49 min•Season 4Ep. 127
Send us a text After Alexios and David Komnenos succeeded in creating the largest and richest of the three Byzantine Successor states, their luck started to turn. Overconfidence, civil war, and an embarrassing hostage situation crippled any ambition of the Komnenos brothers to conquer the Capital city... Constantinople. However, the Empire of Trebizond maintained a strong force on the Black Sea, and this controlled the edge of the Silk Road and gave them the power to outlive not only their rival...
Jan 16, 2025•31 min•Season 4Ep. 126
Send us a text To tell the story of the third successor state that popped up after the Sack of Constantinople, The Empire of Trebizond, we must take a deep dive into the History of the Kingdom of Georgia. The reason for this is that the Kingdom of Georgia, under their leader Queen Tamar, financed and organized the two grandchildren of Andronicus into capturing the city of Trebizond. Georgia is a kingdom in the Caucasus Mountains... with fertile plains, rich mines, thick forests, and access to bo...
Jan 02, 2025•43 min•Season 4Ep. 125
Send us a text In this episode, we move a little north of Constantinople to Bulgaria. During the years of turmoil at the Capital, the Bulgarians rebelled against Isaac Angelov and broke away, forming the Second Bulgarian Empire. At first, it didn't look too promising, but then the third crusade happened, which bought the Bulgarians more time and freedom, and then the Fourth Crusaders sacked the capital. All these events allowed for the birth and growth of the Second Bulgarian to become the power...
Dec 19, 2024•58 min•Season 4Ep. 124
Send us a text In this episode, we visit the rouge imperial state that popped up in the Balkans after the conquest of Constantinople. This state is called the Despotate of Epirus, as it was the rightful inheritor of the Roman Empire. Michael Komnenos Doukas was a bastard cousin of the Emperor in Constantinople... but now he had the chance to really make a name for himself and carve out a piece of the old empire to form his new kingdom. In this episode, Michael goes from a puppet of the Latins to...
Dec 05, 2024•42 min•Season 4Ep. 123
Send us a text In this episode, we meet our first main character from Season Four. Theodore Laskaris started his career in Constantinople when he married the daughter of the Roman Emperor Alexios the 3rd. But after the city was sacked, the noble members of the Imperial fled in all directions. Theodore found himself in Nicaea, where he started a resistance against the Latins. After many successes, he was crowned the Emperor by the Patriarch and started the Empire in Nicaea. However, he was not th...
Nov 21, 2024•49 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Send us a text After the sack of Constantinople, the ousting of the Royal Family, and the occupation of the Ancient Roman Capital, the Greek world was turned upside down. The Latin Crusaders now ruled over the Greek capital, and three offshoot empires sprung up around the Imperial City. The Greek people were all but defeated, and the Turks, Latins, Bulgarians, and Venetians swallowed up all that was known as the Medieval Greek world and the Eastern Roman Empire. But the Eastern Roman Empire was ...
Nov 07, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 121
Send us a text In our 1st episode of the 4th season of The History of Modern Greece, we discuss what stood out from the third season, and the impact of the crusades on the Greek World. We talk about our favorite male and female characters, as well as the heroes of the Crusades, such as Saladin, Bohemond, and Richard the Lion Heart. However, we also discuss how the 4th Crusade really shattered the Greco-Roman world and kickstarted the foundation of the modern nation of Greece. But Greece is still...
Oct 24, 2024•35 min•Season 4Ep. 120
Send us a text Once the Venetians and the Frankish Crusaders breached the city walls, the greatest sacking of a Roman city took place in all their history. The atrocities committed against the citizens of Constantinople are one of the greatest crimes against humanity in the Western World. Artifacts over a thousand years old were stripped and melted down... giant statues older than the Roman Empire were destroyed, and countless thousands were raped and murdered in the streets and in their own hom...
Oct 11, 2024•30 min•Season 3Ep. 119
Send us a text For over a year now, a Latin Crusading Army has been camped outside of the Roman Capital City, Constantinople, and it quickly became apparent that there was no way they were going to leave. They hadn't the money to continue nor the support of the army to retreat in shame. The timer had run out, and the Crusaders were forced to turn against their Greek adversaries. The war had begun, and the Venetians and Franks attacked. The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the Greek people...
Sep 26, 2024•45 min•Season 3Ep. 118
Send us a text The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the Greek people's events from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Greek War of Independence in 1821-1832, through to the Greco-Turkish War from 1919 to 1922 to the present day. Website: www.moderngreecepodcast.com Music by Mark Jungerman: www.marcjungermann.com Check out our 2nd Podcast: www.antecedors.com...
Sep 12, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 117
Send us a text The Crusaders are lured away from their objective in Egypt by a tempting offer made by the son of the deposed Roman Emperor. If the Crusaders make a little side quest and restore the old Emperor to his throne, they will be rewarded with thousands of gold and silver coins, and all of their money troubles will be over forever. The only problem was Alexios was full of crap and unable to deliver on any of his promises. The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the Greek people's eve...
Aug 29, 2024•49 min•Season 3Ep. 116
Send us a text The 4th Crusade was called almost immediately after Richard the Lionheart's successes. Its intention was to deal a knock-out punch to the Ayyubid Dynasty and retake the Holy City of Jerusalem. But there is a problem: no one wants to go. When the Pope finally rallied enough Crusaders to go on Crusade, they spent all of their money on a fleet hired from the Venetian Republic, but the trouble with Venice, is that they also spent all of their money building the fleet, and they, too, a...
Aug 15, 2024•37 min•Season 3Ep. 115
Send us a text As King Richard and Saladin go head to head in the holy land, the invincible Sultan finally meets his match. Richard recovers the coastline for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but he fails to retake the holy land. Meanwhile, Saladin's endless conquests finally meet their match when they face Richard the Lionheart in battle. The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the Greek people's events from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Greek War of Independence in 1821-1832, through ...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 114
Send us a text King Richard and King Phillip left Western Europe for the long journey by sea to the holy land; they made a few stops along the way, including the casual conquest of the island of Cyprus. Meanwhile, back in Germany, the Holy Roman Emperor also decided to go on the Crusade, and he marched by foot through the Byzantine Empire and Anatolia... following the footsteps of the First Crusaders. One of the greatest military victories of the Third Crusade was carried out on the way to the h...
Jul 18, 2024•40 min•Season 3Ep. 113
Send us a text Saladin and his mighty army defeated the Knights of Jerusalem and the Knights Templar at the battle of Hattin and then conquered Jerusalem. The Holy Land had fallen, and so a third crusade was called. The first two to answer the call were Richard the Lion Heart, King Phillip of France, and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. For the first time in nearly one hundred years, a crusade was called to liberate Jerusalem. The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the Greek people's events fr...
Jul 05, 2024•32 min•Season 3Ep. 112
Send us a text The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the Greek people's events from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Greek War of Independence in 1821-1832, through to the Greco-Turkish War from 1919 to 1922 to the present day. Website: www.moderngreecepodcast.com Music by Mark Jungerman: www.marcjungermann.com Check out our 2nd Podcast: www.antecedors.com...
Jun 21, 2024•47 min•Season 3Ep. 111
Send us a text The Order of Assassins is an order that dates back to the end of the Fatimid Caliphate and had its headquarters in a castle high up in the northern mountains of Persia. These Assassins were a menace to both the Crusaders and the Turks during the era of the Crusades. We cover the origin of their founding and the mystical legend told by Marco Polo. The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the Greek people's events from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Greek War of Indepe...
Jun 06, 2024•43 min•Season 3Ep. 110
