A History of Europe Key Battles

The Almohads arrive in Spain from North Africa and threaten to overwhelm the peninsula. The greatest resistance comes not from the Christian kingdoms, but from a fellow Muslim known as 'El Rey Lobo' (The Wolf King), head of a kingdom based in Murcia, a city in its golden age www.historyeurope.net Picture: Muhammad ibn Mardanish. El Rey Lobo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...

The birth of the kingdom of Portugal, the Siege of Lisbon, and the Union of Aragon and Catalonia - the political map of the peninsula begins to form www.historyeurope.net Picture: Spanish town of Tortosa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before 1085 in Spain there was little question that it was the Muslims who had the upper hand in the balance of power. But after King Alfonso VI captured the city of Toledo in 1085, the Christians became much more confident and threatened to rapidly take over the whole peninsula. Why this didn’t happen can be explained for two reasons – firstly, the infighting between Christian rulers, and secondl...

A recent guest episode for the History of England podcast on the End of the Hundred Years War, in brief the years after Agincourt 1415, but focusing on the last four years from 1449-1453 and the Battles of Formigny and Castillon. In England the victories at Agincourt, Crecy and Poitiers are well known, but less so, the events around the end of the war, and how the French eventually drove the Engli...

King John of England in his first year or two of rule achieved some successes, but his lack of tact and diplomacy, plus poor decision-making lost him many allies in France. The focus of the escalating conflict between the Plantagenets and Capetians became Chateau Gaillard, a magnificent fortress in the key borderlands between Normandy and the French royal demesne around Paris. www.historyeurope.ne...

The sons of King Henry II of England, impatient for power of their own and encouraged by Louis VII and then Philip II Augustus of France, rebel against their father and end up damaging the cause of their dynasty, the Plantagenets. www.historyeurope.net Picture: Effigy of Richard I Lionheart, Church of Fontevraud Abbey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The story of France in the High Middle Ages, the reigns of Louis VI and Louis VII. As the twelfth century opened the kings of France barely controlled much land beyond Paris, but these two monarchs began to build the foundations for the French kings' great rise in power and prestige. www.historyeurope.net Picture: King Louis VII of France, coin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...

William the Conqueror's conquest of England in 1066 and the division of his lands between England and Normandy sowed the seeds for centuries of Anglo-French conflict. This episode covers the reigns of Henry I of England, the Anarchy (civil war over Henry's succession) and the formation of the Angevin Empire of France and England under Henry II www.historyeurope.net Picture: King Henry II of Englan...

When crusaders arrived at Constantinople in 1203 they gazed in wonder, having never imagined that there could be so fine a place in the world. The 'Queen of Cities', founded by Constantine The Great in the early fourth century, had become imbued over the centuries with legends and Christian myths that gave the place a spiritual aura to match its physical grandeur. Yet in 1204 the city would be vio...

In the year 1204, Constantinople, the largest and most splendid city by far in Europe was sacked, not by Muslims but by fellow Christians - and not only sacked but gutted by fire and indiscriminate violence. Part 1 describes the build-up and first steps of the crusade, including a history of early Venice. www.historyeurope.net Picture: Pope Innocen III. F resco mid 13th century - Monastery of Sacr...

After the disaster at Hattin in 1187 Saladin appeared on the verge of completely wiping out the Crusader States from the Middle East. Instead he was met by stubborn resistance at Tyre, and the Acre. And when the kings of France and England arrived at Acre the tide began to turn in favour of the Christians, who now set the sights on recapturing Jerusalem. www.historyeurope.net Picture: Siege of Acr...

The Battle of Hattin fought on 4th July between Saladin and a considerable Christian army was a major turning point in the history of the Crusader Stateswww.historyeurope.net Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The emergence of Saladin as preeminent Muslim ruler of the Levant, and the struggle for Egypt between Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. www.historyeurope.net Picture: Saladin coin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Second Crusade (1145-1449), triggered by the Fall of Edessa. Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France lead the military campaign to boost the Crusader States in the Levant www.historyeurope.net Picture: Raymond of Poitiers welcoming Louis VII in Antioch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first years of the Crusaders States between the First and Second Crusades. The Fall of Edessa in 1144www.historyeurope.net Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The army of the First Crusade arrives at the Holy City of Jerusalem www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope Picture: Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15th July 1099 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christian warriors from around Europe converge on the Holy Land to fight the First Crusade. Despite many challenges the campaign starts well at the siege of Nicaea before reaching Antioch. One group, led by Baldwin of Flanders splits off from the main army and captures Edessa www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeuope Picture: Baldwin of Boulogne entering Edessa in Feb 1098 Hosted on Acast...

Build-up to the First Crusade from the perspective of the Byzantine Empire, the Turks in Asia Minor and the Levant, the area about to be invaded www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope Picture: Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Build-up to the First Crusade. The Investiture Controversy between Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII, plus the growing influence of the Normans under Robert Guiscard, and the reasons behind the call to crusade by Pope Urban II www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope Picture: Henry IV begging forgiveness of Pope Gregory VII at Canossa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

The capture of Toledo, the capital of the old Visigothic kingdom, by Alfonso VI The Brave from the Muslims. Also the final days of El Cid www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope Picture: Alfonso VI conquers Toledo, May 1085 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The early Medieval Spain of El Cid. The story of King Ferdinand I of Leon and Castile and his sons Sancho and Alfonso, as depicted in the epic Hollywood film. Plus, the conflict between Aragon and Muslim Zaragoza, the arrival of crusaders from across the Pyrenees, and the Siege of Barbastro www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope Picture: Monument to El Cid in Burgos, Spain Hosted on A...

The golden age of Muslim Spain, the military dictatorship of Almanzor, the collapse of the caliphate into petty kingdoms (taifas), Sancho III El Mayor of Navarre, and the rise of Castile and Aragon www.historyeurope.net Picture: Almanzor, military leader and statesman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The History of early medieval Spain from the Islamic conquest in 711 to the establishment of the magnificent Caliphate of Cordoba, and the first successful Christian resistance which will ultimately lead to the reconquest, or Reconquista, of the Iberian peninsula www.historyeurope.net Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1071 the Byzantine Empire, weakened by the mismanagement of a series of weak emperors, suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Seljuk Turks, newly arrived in the region.www.historyeurope.net Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The newly crowned King of England, Harold Godwinson faced two invasions within days, firstly from the viking Harold Hardrada in the north, and then William Duke of Normandy on the south coast. This is the story of probably the most important battle ever fought on English soil. www.historyeurope.net Picture: Harold Godwinson, Bayeux Tapestry Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...