Gone Medieval

The supernatural in the Medieval world was always close at hand. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis pays a visit to the only two residents still at History Hit Towers at the witching hour - After Dark ’s presenters Dr. Anthony Delaney and Dr. Maddy Pelling - to regale them with some Medieval stories of the mythological and paranormal. Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning origina...

​Do you know the difference between a church and a chapel? A bishop and an archbishop? An abbey and an abbess?  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by co-host Matt Lewis to chat all things churches. They will demystify church hierarchy, walk you through the basics of architecture, and answer questions you sent in about all that religious jargon that medievalists ar...

The Vikings continue to fascinate us because their compelling stories connect with universal human desires for exploration and adventure. But recent advances in excavation and archaeological science, coupled with a re-evaluation of oral traditions and written sources, are furthering our understanding of the Viking Age.  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis meets Dr. Davide Zori, Asso...

The image we usually associate with a Crusader - of a dashing nobleman on a mighty steed heading out for Holy War - often obscures all of the other medieval people who went to the Holy Land, especially the countless women. In this edition of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega talks to Dr. Natasha Hodgson - author of Women, Crusading and the Holy Land in Historical Narrative - about the women who w...

The Mongol Empire that rose in the early 13th century was fractured and in crisis by the mid-14th. But then a new warlord arose who sought to rebuild what had once been the most powerful empire in the world.  Operating in Genghis Khan’s shadow, Tamerlane deliberately drew parallels between himself and his great precursor. And as a Muslim, Tamerlane waged wars as jihad and had a more powerful...

Because of William the Conqueror’s victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Normans have remained a familiar and important name in British history. But who were they? And how did they come to change culture across the European continent? In this explainer episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega tells the fascinating story of the rise of the Normans. This episode was edited by...

Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, was a great king who united what was once a collection of petty Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into one vast English domains. Having brought together rival polities with a history of fractious relations into a unified whole, Athelstan needed to centralise government if he was going to keep the crown on his head and hold England together. Anglo-Saxon rulers had often...

The huge peninsula of what we today call Italy saw waves of invasions and sweeping changes over the course of the Medieval period, with huge differences between, say, Milan in the north stretching to Sicily in the south. They spoke different languages, had different rulers, and were settled by very different groups of people.  In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega tries to make...

Six Plantagenet kings ruled between 1199 and 1399 - two centuries that witnessed civil war, deposition, the murder of kings and the ruthless execution of rebel lords. There was also international warfare, a devastating national pandemic, economic crisis and the first major peasant uprising in our history. Yet those two centuries and six kings were the blocks upon which the English nation was built...

In Gone Medieval’ s special series exploring some of Anglo-Saxon Britain’s most influential kingdoms, we reach Wessex - the last kingdom left to stand against the Great Heathen Army .  Under the command of Alfred the Great, Wessex achieved what no other kingdom could before it: victory against the Vikings. In this episode, Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Rob Gallagher, a historian of early me...

In Gone Medieval ’s special series examining some of Anglo-Saxon Britain’s most significant kingdoms, we arrive at the kingdom of Mercia, which once enjoyed supremacy over not only Wessex but all of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. At its peak, Mercia controlled what is now Birmingham and London, but it ceased to be a kingdom when Alfred the Great came to power. But its history did not end there.&nb...

Accounts of the Crusades were usually commissioned by wealthy and influential people about themselves, to make their piety and righteousness known to others. But what about the less glamorous people who went on Crusades? And what was life like when they did so?  In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega finds out about ordinary crusaders and their experiences from Dr. Simon Th...

From Hugh Capet to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Capetian dynasty considered itself divinely chosen to fulfil a great destiny. From an insecure foothold around Paris, the Capetians built a nation that stretched from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and from the Rhône to the Pyrenees, founding practices and institutions that endured until the French Revolution.  In this episode of Gone Medie...

In a time of in-fighting and tribal warfare, what did it take to form the politically dominant, culturally rich and geographically vast kingdoms that led to the creation of England? This month, over four episodes of Gone Medieval, we explore the rise and fall of the key kingdoms of the Heptarchy: Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex, and the formation of an Anglo-Saxon government, the Witan. This week...

In medieval times, Britain was criss-crossed by pilgrim routes, that took in such world-famous sites as Canterbury and Lindisfarne as well as out-of-the-way locations along paths not so widely travelled. But why did people undergo pilgrimage? What were its benefits? And why did some send people in their honour? In this episode of Gone Medieval , first released in September 2021, Matt Lewis is join...

Prostitutes were everywhere in the streets and neighbourhoods of medieval cities. In one and the same building, there might be a school upstairs, while downstairs prostitutes plied their nefarious trade. But how did such a situation come to pass? And how could such a world exist within the theoretical holy confines of medieval Christendom?  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janeg...

One of the pivotal figures in Medieval history, King Henry II centralised royal power, instituted legal reforms and established common law. His marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine expanded his influence, as he became the ruler of a far-reaching European empire. But his demise was just as dramatic as his ascendancy. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis tells the story of Henry’s rise to...

In the Middle Ages, how did art - particularly Christian icons - serve to connect humanity with heavenly realms?  How did such images spread from the Eastern Roman Empire to the rest of Europe?  What did they represent and how could they sometimes be misused to justify war and imperialism? In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega explores these questions with art historian a...

The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 was a public rebellion that sent revolutionary ripples across the entire medieval world. In a new video series for History Hit, Matt Lewis has been looking beyond the ancient propaganda to reveal the previously unknown stories of the ordinary folk of the Peasants’ Revolt. Matt has been working closely with investigative historians from the groundbreaking People of...

When we think about women in the Middle Ages, we know about Eleanor of Aquitaine or Hildegard of Bingen, but we are a lot less likely to think about the alewives plying their trade in cities, or the noble ladies quietly running their estates, or even the nuns falling in love with each other and praising God.  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Jannega is joined by the best-selling...

For a thousand years, Italy’s cities have been magnets for everything that makes for great eating: ingredients, talent, money and power. Italian food is city food, and telling its story means telling the story of the Italians as a people of city dwellers. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis meets John Dickie, author of Delizia! The Epic History of Italians and their Food , in which he tr...

One of Medieval England’s most influential figures, Thurstan was the Archbishop of York from 1114 to 1140 who fought attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury to assert his primacy over York. Eventually, Thurstan was consecrated by the Pope instead. Now English Heritage has discovered evidence in a 15th century manuscript that Thurstan was considered for centuries afterwards to be a Saint. In this...

Court records of naked, murderous monks, tavern brawls, robberies gone wrong, tragic accidents and criminal gangs reveal how the English in medieval Ireland governed and politicised death.  In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis meets Dr. Joanna MacGugan, whose research focuses on how the English legal system in Ireland relied on collective memory, customary law, oral histories, common...

This episode contains strong language, graphic scenes of torture and sexual content   The chances are, when we think of William Wallace, we think of Mel Gibson in Braveheart , charging down a hill in a kilt with his face painted blue. Maybe we're fascinated in Wallace’s trial and grisly death and its influence on our understanding of war crimes?  But in this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr...

Preparing, serving and sharing food has always played a critical role in human history. But what did people in the Middle Ages like to eat and what did their food say about their social status? What was the haute cuisine of medieval Bagdad or Moorish Spain? Victoria Flexner and Jay Reifel have recreated classic dishes for their book, A History of the World in 10 Dinners: 2,000 Years, 100 Reci...