Byzantium And The Crusades

Although the Crusading spirit of the eleventh century had faded in Europe after the fall of Outremer in 1291, there was still enough interest in 1365 to launch one last Crusade to recover the Holy Land. It would be remembered for its particular destruction and brutality. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book th...

With Outremer destroyed in 1291, Christian Europe lost its final link with the original crusading ideology focused on the capture of Jerusalem. What then should happen to the three religious Military Orders which had been established to defend Outremer - the Templars, the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights? A particularly grim fate awaited the Templars, which has served as the inspiration for c...

The year is 1291. Outremer, as the Crusader states in the Middle East were called, has one last great battle to fight as a vast Mamluk army advances on Acre, the Crusader capital. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

The year is 1287. The final countdown to the destruction of the Crusader states in the Holy Land has begun. But there is a strange air of complacency among the last Crusaders as the final storm begins to build. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

In the 1280s, the age of the Crusaders was nearly over. But the Mongols, still the most powerful empire on the planet, were keen to unite with Christian Europe to defeat the Mamluks. So, what went wrong? Find out in this episode. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crus...

Baibars, the Mamluk Sultan, is on the verge of destroying the Crusaders. But there is one last hope of help from the West. The English King Henry III has vowed to go on crusade. Now an old man, he sends his son, Prince Edward, to the Holy Land to lead the Ninth Crusade. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book tha...

Having defeated both the Crusaders and the Mongols, the Mamluk leader, Sultan Baibars, wanted to destroy the Crusaders once and for all. In 1268, he attacked Antioch, one of the most strongly fortified Crusader cities. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

In 1260, the Mamluk victory over the Mongols at the battle of Ain Jalut saved Islam. Under the leadership of their new Sultan, Baibars, they now turned their attention to destroying the Crusaders.  Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

In 1258, the Mongols sacked Baghdad, possibly the largest city in the world at that time and the centre of Islamic culture. It seemed as if Islam was doomed. But the powerful army of the Mamluks in Egypt was mustering to confront the Mongols. A great battle was about to be fought. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War ,...

In the mid-thirteenth century, the Mongol Empire was the most powerful state on the planet.  In 1256, a huge Mongol army advanced into the Middle East. Its first major objective was Baghdad, one of the largest and most splendid cities in the world at the time. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describe...

The Seventh Crusade was the last major military effort by Western Europe to recover Jerusalem. Brilliantly successful to begin with, it met fierce opposition from the Egyptian Mamluk army, led by its brilliant general Baibars, who was poised to seize power in Egypt and establish a Mamluk empire that would ultimately destroy the Crusaders. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where...

In this episode, we hear how the last major Crusade - the Seventh Crusade - led by King Louis IX of France, achieved outstanding success initially only to fail along the banks of the River Nile. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

In the the first half of the thirteenth century, it seemed as if nothing could stop the Mongols. Their empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean. Yet hopes grew in Europe that they would convert to Christianity and unite with the Kings of Europe in the greatest of all Crusades. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzant...

The last fifty years of the Crusader states were dominated by two new emerging superpowers - the Mongols and the Mamluks. In this episode, we hear the extraordinary story of the man who created the Mongol Empire - Genghis (or Jenghiz) Khan. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the...

In this episode we reach a turning point in the history of the later Crusades, as the Crusaders face a devastating battle against Ayub, Sultan of Egypt. This marks not just the beginning of the end for the Crusaders but the start of the rise to power of the Mongols and the Mamluks, both of which will come to dominate the thirteenth century. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com whe...

In 1239, the Barons' Crusade arrived in Palestine to help the Kingdom of Jerusalem. But it achieved little and, in 1244, Jerusalem was captured and sacked by a group of Turkish nomads. It would be nearly 700 years before a Christian army regained the city.  Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that descri...

The Lombard Wars were a period of civil war in the Crusader states between the German Emperor Frederick II's Lombard troops and the Crusader barons in Cyprus and Palestine. Why did the Muslim states not attack the Crusaders when they were weakened by civil war? Find out in this episode. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine W...

The German Emperor Frederick II has achieved the impossible - the recovery of Jerusalem for Christendom. But is there rejoicing in the West? Not at all. For Frederick has been excommunicated and is reviled both in the West and in Outremer. The next events will reveal how superficial his victory has been. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of Th...

The German Emperor Frederick II was an unusual medieval monarch. He shocked contemporaries by keeping a harem in his court at Palermo, and was excommunicated three times by the Pope. Yet he was the only monarch to succeed in recovering Jerusalem. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins...

The Fifth Crusade is poised for victory in Egypt. But its final offensive ends in catastrophe. Find out what went wrong in this episode. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

The Fifth Crusade has struck at Egypt. Can its fanatical leader, Cardinal Pelagius, achieve the greatest victory since the First Crusade?  Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

The Fifth Crusade isn't as well known as it should be. It was actually one of the most significant military expeditions that set out to recover Jerusalem.  Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

This episode looks at one of the strangest episodes in the whole history of the Crusades when, in 1212, groups of children in France and Germany followed child preachers on a wildly unrealistic expedition to liberate Jerusalem. It provides a fascinating insight into the medieval mind, dominated by a belief in miracles and a yearning to seek a better life. Please take a look at my website nickholme...

How did the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade rule their new city of Constantinople and their lands in Greece? And how did the break-away Byzantine states oppose them? Find out in this episode. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

The Fourth Crusade was initiated as a plan to attack Egypt. But with the Crusaders short of money, and the emergence of a Byzantine pretender, claiming that he would help the Crusaders if they helped him, things started to develop somewhat differently. With the scheming Venetians in the background, the Crusaders looked east not to the Holy Land but to the glittering city of Constantinople. Please...