Fortune's Wheel: A Podcast History of Our Medieval Story

Donate: Buy Me A Coffee ! SEASON 9 : ARCHITECTS OF STABILITY EPISODE 213: A Very Curthose Thing to Do The First Crusade is over, but its reverberations are only beginning to be felt. As the 11th century comes to a close, we follow Robert Curthose on his long journey home and discover how the road back from Jerusalem changed the future of England forever. This is the story of how one century ends,...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 212: Ascalon: The Final Battle Jerusalem was firmly in crusader hands, but the Fatimids weren’t yet finished. On this episode, we see the final chapter in the story of the First Crusade. No More Paywalls! How? If you believe in what’s happening here – bringing our shared history to life, warts and all, free to the public with absolutely no more paywalls…ever…pl...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 211: Holy City, Unholy Slaughter Standing at the walls, a behemoth task was about to unfold: After four long years and thousands of miles traveled in some of the most hostile territory in the medieval world for Christians, could Jerusalem finally be recaptured? FAIR WARNING: This episode gets a bit graphic. Listener discretion advised. No More Paywalls! How? If...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 210: “Many Wept For Joy” The road from Arqa to Jerusalem was no stroll in the park, and soon the crusaders found themselves humbled at the sight of Jerusalem…at long last. The anonymous author of the Gesta Francorum wrote, “When they finally saw Jerusalem, many wept for joy.” Despite the great humility each pilgrim experienced upon seeing the city for the first...

SEASON 8: The First Crusade EPISODE 209: Ground Zero: Jerusalem This is the final offering from my archive—an episode I couldn’t leave behind. It became something more than a retelling; it became a reckoning with one of the most consequential places in human history. Because everything — everything — seems to lead back to Jerusalem. Long before crusaders fixed their eyes on its walls in 1099, this...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 208: A Crusade Divided Antioch had fallen—and with it, unity. Bohemond of Taranto claimed the city as his prize, but the greater question lingered: who, if anyone, could command the Crusade itself? Raymond of Toulouse would test that claim, pressing southward with visions not merely of victory, but of purpose. Yet between Antioch and Jerusalem lay more than dis...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 205: Antioch & the Gate to Heaven As Antioch grinds its besiegers down to the bone, whispers of salvation begin to circulate—quiet plans, private bargains, and a single gate that might open from the inside. Bohemond and Tancred step out of the mud and into the realm of cunning, where redemption is no longer earned by endurance but by nerve, secrecy, and tim...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 206: Antioch & the Harrowing of Hope The long siege of Antioch grinds on, and the crusaders are forced to endure more than a military struggle. Between disaster and miraculous deliverance, they fight not only for survival, but for meaning, as hope is beaten, tested, and harrowed by suffering. No More Paywalls! How? If you believe in what’s happening here –...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 205: Antioch & the Winter in Hell Winter descends on Antioch like a verdict. Starvation, disease, and desertion hollow out the Crusader camps while Ridwan of Aleppo and Duqaq of Damascus circle like patient predators, turning every foraging run into a blood tax. This episode lives in the season where faith freezes, hope thins, and survival becomes the only...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 204: Antioch & the Edge of Damnation The Crusaders reach Antioch in October of 1097 and begin the uneasy work of surrounding one of the greatest fortified cities in the eastern Mediterranean, probing its roads, rivers, and defenses to see where it might break. Over the ensuing weeks, camps harden into positions, violence escalates on both sides, and the sie...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 203: Before the Walls of Antioch What was Alexios and the Romans doing while the main army swept through Cilicia and the Taurus Mountains? This beef forming between Tancred and Baldwin…is it going to boil over or fizzle away? How is the main army doing as they approach the mighty walls of Antioch? Hey, where’s Baldwin go–? Can someone see what Baldwin’s up to n...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 202: Routes & Ruptures Steel meets panic at Dorylaeum in 1097, where the Crusade nearly collapses before clawing its way back from annihilation. From that chaos, Tancred and Baldwin peel off and barrel into Cilicia, turning the march southeast into a ruthless side-quest of ambition, betrayal, and opportunistic warfare. This episode follows the moment the ho...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 201: The Secret Drama of Treachery Nicaea. May – June, 1097. Anna Komnene writes about “the secret drama of treachery,” a hint as to how this formidable Seljuk capital of the new Sultanate of Rum would return to Roman hands. Would it fall by Western efforts…or by some other way? It’s a fascinating story about the opening salvos of the First Crusade, showcasing...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 200: God’s Mercs, Pt. 2 Last time, we introduced (or reintroduced) ourselves to Hugh of Vermandois, Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin of Boulogne, and, of course, the incomparable Bohemond and his lightning bolt of a nephew, Tancred. This time, we round out these introductions and end right at the beginning, the moment these armies meet and cross the Bosporus.  No M...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 199: God’s Mercs, Pt. 1 On this episode, we begin a two-parter laying out the principle leaders of the First Crusade. Who were they? What were their stories? What connections did they share? I can’t wait to unpack this part of the series.  No More Paywalls! How? If you believe in what’s happening here – bringing our shared history to life, warts and all, free t...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 198: Poor People’s Crusade A tidal wave of zealots, doomsday preachers, and broke knights surges across Europe in the so-called Poor People’s Crusade—burning bright, burning fast, and mostly burning down . From Emicho’s disastrous rampage along the Rhine to the ragged march of Walter Sans Avoir straight into the jaws of Kilij Arslan at Civetot, this is the Firs...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 197: The Fez Massacre This is an older Patreon episode about another Jewish pogrom taking place in Fez in modern Morocco decades before the Rhineland massacres during the Poor People's Crusade. This serves as a bonus episode and not a direct part of my research into the First Crusade. A new episode will be released in a couple days getting us back on track!...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 196: Blood on the Rhine The First Crusade hadn’t even started yet, so why was the Rhine flowing red?   No More Paywalls! How? If you believe in what’s happening here – bringing our shared history to life, warts and all, free to the public with absolutely no more paywalls…ever…please consider donating to my caffeine-mediated research and writing through the webs...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 195: Did God Will It? Where does a pope get off telling thousands of armed men to march across the known world with a promise of eternal salvation? This wasn’t a whim. It was centuries in the making. Welcome to the origin story of Christian holy war . No More Paywalls! How? If you believe in what’s happening here – bringing our shared history to life, warts and...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 194: Deus Vult! Clermont., France. November 27, 1095. Pope Urban II lit the match that set Europe ablaze. This episode dives into the conflicting accounts of that speech—where “Deus Vult” became both a prayer and a war cry. No More Paywalls! How? If you believe in what’s happening here – bringing our shared history to life, warts and all, free to the public wit...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 193: Eastern Rome on the Eve of Crusade On this episode, we hear from Dr. Warren Treadgold -- retired professor, historian, and author -- who has spent a decades-long career studying Byzantine history. In the show's first interview, we discuss Alexios Komnenos, differences between the Christian East and the Latin West, and whether the Crusades themselves we...

SEASON 8 : The First Crusade EPISODE 192: The World(view) Behind the First Crusade Let’s take a moment to survey Europe by 1095. What was the world like on the Eve of the First Crusade? What were the various political and economic ideas that flooded out of Western Europe and into the Holy Land? What kinds of technology were these westerners skilled in using, both militarily and in other parts of l...

Patreon Series: Book of Alexios Episode 191: The Pecheneg Problem NOTE: This is the last episode in our Patreon episodes covering the rise and early reign of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos! But his story continues well into the First Crusade...and beyond, so stay tuned, my friends! Alexios Komnenos' story is only beginning! Guiscard is dead, and the Byzantine Empire breathes a short-lived sigh of...

Patreon Series: Book of Alexios Episode 190: Chapter 8: The Wolf's Mouth Today, two future legends meet. Bohemond of Taranto meets the Byzantine living legend Emperor Alexios I—a moment that will ignite a complicated and world-shaping rivalry. It’s a tense encounter, but not all is war and scheming: somewhere nearby, a child is born. A girl who is destined to leave her own mark on history. No...

Patreon Series: Book of Alexios Episode 189: Chapter 7: Appointments, Penance, Delegation & Threats The purple robes are his, but the work has only begun. In his first month on the throne, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos must navigate a Byzantine Empire under siege—externally and internally. A divided capital, looming threats across the Bosporus, and guilt that whispers louder than any enemy… Welco...