Gone Medieval

The popular BBC television series Villages by the Sea explores coastal life through the centuries. Its presenter Ben Robinson is an archaeologist with the fantastic job of exploring lost villages and uncovering their secrets, including those that give an insight into medieval life on the coasts of Britain.  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis is joined by Ben to talk about some of t...

Leprosy in the Middle Ages Medieval people were very concerned about how to deal with those in their midst who had leprosy, now called Hansen's disease. It's assumed today that sufferers were shunned from society, forced onto the margins, and generally hated. But in this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega finds out from Professor Carole Rawcliffe about what was it really like to live wi...

For more than 500 years, history has judged that the Princes in the Tower were murdered on the orders of their uncle Richard III. Until now there has been very little proof - it is quite simply history’s greatest cold case. But this episode of Gone Medieval reveals new and compelling evidence about what happened to King Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York in 1483. Philippa Langley - bes...

Burma – now Myanmar – was once a superpower playing a pivotal role at the crossroads of Asia. Located in one of the richest areas on the planet, it produced luxury goods, mediated trade and cultivated fantastic religious and urban landscapes, unlike anywhere else in the world. In today’s episode, Dr. Eleanor Janega visits a new exhibition at the British Museum with curator Dr. Alexandra Green...

From the fields of Norfolk to the royal court - via city commerce, local government, liberal education and numerous wedding bells - the Boleyns were just one of many newly prosperous and ambitious families seeking to make the best of a world that was being changed through famine, plague, revolt and civil war – but also opportunity. But while the Boleyns’ new-found wealth delivered power and s...

Denmark's King Harald Bluetooth was among the first Scandinavian rulers to officially embrace Christianity in the early 10th century. Norway followed later that century while Sweden's conversion occurred gradually in the following century.  But contrary to the common narrative of Europe's military and religious conquest and colonisation of the region, what if rather than acting as passive rec...

Olivia Swarthout prowls the web for little-seen snippets of medieval art and life, sharing it via the Weird Medieval Guys Twitter and instagram accounts, and podcast. Her new book, Weird Medieval Guys: How to Live, Laugh, Love (and Die) in Dark Times is a handy guide offering time-tested solutions for all of life's biggest problems, from becoming an irresistible suitor even though you can't joust...

Wales has a wealth of ghost stories, including fantastical animals, flickering death omens and unseen things that go bump in the night. Whether these tales are based on true events, or are the creations of active imaginations, is known only to those who have experienced them – but what is certain is that their power to delight and scare us remains undimmed.  In this episode of Gone Medieval,...

The Knights Templar have an enduring reputation―but not one they would recognise. Originally established in the twelfth century to protect pilgrims, the Order is remembered today for heresy, fanaticism, and even satanism. But the Templars were in fact dedicated peace-mongers at home, influencing royal strategy and policy, creating financial structures, and brokering international peace treaties. &...

Overseeing a rich and diverse kingdom, Ethiopia’s medieval monarchs consolidated their power by claiming descent from the Biblical King Solomon. But why did they pursue long-distance diplomatic contacts with Latin Europe?  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega meets award-winning historian Dr. Verena Krebs , who challenges the conventional narratives of African-European relati...

For the last several decades, Jonathan, Lord Sumption - former senior judge and medieval historian - has been crafting a monumental, five-volume history of the Hundred Years War, widely considered to be the definitive account of the conflict. The final volume, titled Triumph and Illusion, has recently been published. It tells the story of the collapse of the English dream of conquest and features...

On this special edition of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega pays a visit to our sister podcast Betwixt the Sheets to be the guest of its presenter Dr. Kate Lister. Eleanor of Aquitaine - probably the most powerful and wealthy woman in medieval Europe - needs little introduction to Gone Medieval listeners. But how true is what we know about her? Rumours abounded in her own time, and to this...

In the year 493, the leader of a vast confederation of Gothic warriors personally cut down Odoacer, the man famous for deposing the last Roman emperor in 476. That leader became Theoderic the Great, a warrior-king who ushered in decades of peace and stability in Italy as king of Goths and Romans. Theoderic transformed his roving “warrior nation” from the periphery of the Roman world into...

The University of Vienna is one of the oldest in the world. Founded by Rudolph IV Habsburg in 1365, it has been teaching students for centuries. But what can Vienna’s story tell us about the origins of medieval universities and what medieval people were actually taught? In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr Eleanor Janega visits Vienna to explore the university archives with Dr Nina Knieling. Toget...

Bede, whose name towers over early medieval English literature, is often referred to as the “father of English history.” He calculated the first tide-tables, played a role in the creation of the Lindisfarne Gospels, wrote the earliest extant Old English poetry and did the earliest translation of part of the Bible into English. Despite never leaving Northumbria, he also wrote a guide to the Holy La...

How did an obscure Swiss family grow in power to gain control of the Holy Roman Empire in the 15th century? How did they manage to then take in a large part of Europe stretching from Hungary to Spain, and from the Far East to the New World? In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega meets Professor Martyn Rady to find out the reasons for the Habsburg’s incredible endurance, founded in t...

In 1642, a Parliamentarian army smashed up Winchester Cathedral, including ten beautiful, 7th century mortuary chests, that housed the mortal remains of West Saxon kings, saints and bishops. In 2014, a team of forensic archaeologists, using the latest scientific methods, attempted to identify the contents, finding an elaborate jumble of bones, and making some surprising discoveries.  In...

Dr. Eleanor Janega continues Gone Medieval ’s special series exploring Medieval Queens with a look at Margaret of Anjou, who rose to become a figurehead, and even a military leader, when her husband King Henry VI suffered bouts of mental illness. She became one of the principal figures in the Wars of the Roses and at times personally led the Lancastrian faction, being praised for “her va...

Matt Lewis continues Gone Medieval ’s special series showcasing Medieval Queens with a look at Emma of Normandy, the Norman-born noblewoman who became the English, Danish, and Norwegian Queen through her marriages to Æthelred the Unready and the Danish King Cnut the Great. After Cnut's death, Emma continued to play an active role in politics during the reign...

Voltaire famously wrote that the "The Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.” But Dr. Eleanor Janega believes that literally everything about Voltaire’s statement is wrong - in the medieval context. In this explainer episode of Gone Medieval , Eleanor attempts to describe this important and powerful entity that lasted for around 800 years, stretching fr...

Where is the grave of King Arthur? What was the worst year in human history? Who were the most fractious royal siblings? What were the origins of humble pie? Which monsters pre-occupied Medieval minds? In this episode, Gone Medieval ’s co-hosts Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega delve into some of the big Medieval questions, obscure facts and bizarre stories featured in History Hit Miscellany , our...

Dr. Eleanor Janega continues Gone Medieval ’s special series of podcasts about Medieval Queens with a look at Queen Anne of Bohemia, the first wife of England’s King Richard II.  Eleanor is joined by Kristen Gaiman, lecturer at the University of Toledo, Ohio, to find out about Anne’s influence on English culture, how queens could work to mitigate the worst excesses of kings, and what chi...

In the Middle Ages, people made marks and concealed many objects in their buildings to protect themselves from harmful magic. Dead cats, horse skulls, hidden shoes, written charms and protection marks were all used widely as methods of repelling, diverting or trapping negative energies.  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis finds out more from Brian Hoggard, author of Magical House P...

Around the time of the start of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, and the Black Death was devastating tens of millions of people in Europe and Asia, waves of migration from Polynesia laid the foundations of the Māori society in Aotearoa - modern-day New Zealand.  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega traces the early history of this remarkable people with arch...

Matt Lewis kicks off Gone Medieval’s special series of podcasts about Medieval Queens with a look at Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians who ruled Mercia in the Midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith, and played a pivotal role in defending Mercia against Viking invasions and expanding its territory.  In th...