Medieval History Podcasts

(Image: The Champion, 1824. Artist: Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, Birmingham Museums Trust)

“We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity — romantic love and gunpowder” - André Maurois

The millennium between the Romans and the Renaissance – the thousand years between 500 – 1500 – is often called the Medieval Age. This was a time of blood and castles, crusades and chivalry, tradition and adventure, when God was a dominating presence in everyday life. The Medieval Age is a time that continues to capture the imaginations of historians today.

At Travels Through Time we have often visited this Medieval world. From the holy sites of Jerusalem to the gates of Constantinople, from the scribes in their scriptoriums to the kings and queens setting out on Crusade – here is a vibrant selection of episodes featuring some of the world’s most eminent historians.

Thomas Penn.jpg — Ruthlessness and Richard III: Thomas Penn (1483)

The death of the ‘charismatic but unreliable’ King Edward IV at Easter 1483 set in motion an infamous sequence of events. Bestselling historian Thomas Penn guides us through some of the blackest weeks in English history
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Gutenberg’s Printing Press: Susan Denham Wade (1454)

Few inventions have reshaped human society like the printing press. In this absorbing episode the author Susan Denham Wade takes us back to the year 1454, to a little workshop in the city of Mainz, to witness a magnificent moment in technological history.
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The Seizure of Constantinople: Justin Marozzi (1453)

‘A beleaguered Christian island in an expanding Muslim sea’ – this is the travel writer and historian Justin Marozzi’s description of the city of Constantinople in the mid-fifteenth century, shortly before its capture by the precocious young Sultan Mehmet II.
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David Abulafia.jpg — The Oceans: Professor David Abulafia (1415)

In this episode we are taken on an invigorating tour of the ports, coasts and oceans of the world with Professor David Abulafia – winner of the 2020 Wolfson History Prize for his book, The Boundless Sea.
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Luke P.jpg — Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage to Mecca: Luke Pepera (1325)

The writer and broadcaster Luke Pepera introduces us to Mansa Musa, a dazzling figure in African history. Mansa Musa was the Emperor of Mali in the fourteenth century and we follow him as he embarks on his spectacular pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325.
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Daughters of Chivalry: Kelcey Wilson-Lee (1297)

Historian Kelcey Wilson-Lee takes us inside the fascinating court of the English King Edward I in 1297 to meet his daughters at a dramatic moment in their lives.
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Giles Gasper.jpg — A Dazzling Mind and Magna Carta: Professor Giles Gasper (1215)

In this thought-provoking episode we explore the fabled year 1215 with Professor Giles Gasper of the University of Durham. He explains some of the most significant political, religious and intellectual developments of the medieval period.
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Sara Cockerill.jpg — Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Matriarch: Sara Cockerill (1199)

Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the remarkable figures of the High Middle Ages. She lived a long life; was a queen of France and England and a mother to two kings. She was variously an heiress, a crusader, a prisoner, an eminence gris and a fierce protector of her children. Author Sara Cockerill explains all.
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Sultan Saladin and Jerusalem: Prof. Jonathan Phillips (1187)

For the Christian crusaders of the twelfth-century, Jerusalem was the ultimate prize. The holy city had been captured from the Muslims in 1099 as part of the First Crusade to the Holy Land. In 1187, the counter-crusade, led by the Sultan Saladin, was poised to wrest it back.
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Dan Jones.jpg — Crusaders: Dan Jones (1147)

Bestselling historian Dan Jones guides us back to 1147, the year the Second Crusade was launched. It involved some of the major names of the Medieval world: Louis VIII of France and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine; Bernard of Clairvaux, and Afonso Henriques I, remembered as a central character in the foundation of modern-day Portugal.
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Charles Spencer.jpg — The White Ship: Charles Spencer (1120)

Nine hundred years ago, a ship carrying the heir to the throne and his companions was wrecked off the coast of Normandy in one of the most shocking episodes in all English history. Charles Spencer tells us the full dramatic story.
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Ken Fo.jpg — The Evening and the Morning: Ken Follett (1002)

In this fascinating episode Ken Follett, one of the world’s best-loved historical novelists, takes us back to the beginning of the last millennium. After centuries of stagnation, English society was beginning to emerge from that gloomy period we today call ‘The Dark Ages.’
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Violet Moller.jpg — The Map of Knowledge: Dr Violet Moller (529)

Moller takes us on a picaresque tour of this significant year. In Constantinople we see the last great Roman emperor. In Athens a “Golden Chain” of learning is about to be severed after many centuries. And on a rocky hill in central Italy, a new monastic order that will have a spectacular future, is founded.
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The Road to Ravenna: Judith Herrin (500)

In 500 AD most Italian cities were sliding into decline. Rome had been violently sacked twice in the previous century and Milan, sometime capital of the empire, had suffered a similar fate. In stark contrast, Ravenna, a coastal city to south of Venice, was on the rise.
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Hypatia and The Darkening Age: Catherine Nixey (415)

Catherine Nixey, author of the international bestseller The Darkening Age, guides us back to the ancient city of Alexandria in the year 415. They talk about the simmering tensions between Christians, Jews and Pagans at that time. Among the characters they meet is the gifted, beautiful and powerful Hypatia of Alexandria.
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