Gone Medieval

Join Matt Lewis and Professor Michael Livingston to unravel the legendary Battle of Agincourt. They cover the lesser-known strategic blunders to the haunting moral dilemmas and learn about the real events that shaped this historic clash. Perfect for history buffs and medieval enthusiasts, this episode dives deep into one of the most iconic battles of the medieval era, debunking myths and shedding...

Why are so many medieval castles left in ruins? Join Dr. Eleanor Janega as she steps through the rubble of these fallen stone giants to close our current series on the life cycle of castles. The technological advancements and changing comforts, such as chimneys, glass windows and not least privacy, made it challenging to maintain castles over time. Discover how societal shifts and changing fashion...

Gone Medieval continues to explore the life cycle of castles, today considering the role for which they were explicitly designed - as fortresses to protect those within - by focussing on the incredible Carlisle Castle. Matt Lewis speaks to Professor Jackson Armstrong about this frontier castle and the significance of its location on the border of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland....

**This episode contains some strong language** Few women had the luxury of writing down their thoughts and feelings during medieval times. But remarkably, there are at least four extraordinary women who did. Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic; Christine de Pizan, a widow; and Margery Kempe, a "no-good wife". What was life really like for them? Could they live independent lives? A...

Old Sarum was the earliest settlement of Salisbury in Wlitshire. While there are indications of a prehistoric settlement on the site from as early as 3000 BC, its importance in Norman England has slipped from prominence. Matt Lewis talks to archaeologist and TV presenter Alex Langlands, whose recent book - Tales of Two Cities: Settlement and Suburb in Old Sarum and Salisbury -...

All this month, Matt and Eleanor are ranging across England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland to discover the stories of our greatest castles. In this episode, Eleanor looks at one of the most iconic and strategically important fortresses. Over the centuries, Stirling Castle has reflected Scotland's changing political and cultural landscape. The early wooden structures gave way to stone fortifications...

Ireland has been known as the land of saints and scholars and once was the farthest reach of the known world. But it's also home to one of the densest selections of castles in Europe thanks to the bloody invaders, the Normans. Matt Lewis visits the immense fortress that is Trim castle to learn about how castles in Ireland were built as instruments of conquest and colonisation, to crush and contain...

Medieval churches are among our most enduring links with the Middle Ages. But it's not always easy to understand what parts of a church to look out for and what they can tell us about the people who built them. Dr. Eleanor Janega finds out how to achieve enlightenment through the very bricks and mortar of a medieval church from Andrew Ziminski, author of Church Going: A Stonemason's Guide to the C...

Castles in Medieval Britain didn't just serve a military purpose, they were central to the social and cultural life of society. In the second episode of Gone Medieval 's special series telling the story of castles, Matt Lewis looks at how castles were built by turning the spotlight on Conwy Castle in North Wales. Built as part of Edward I's campaign to consolidate his control over Wales, Conwy's u...

At the edge of the Gobi Desert, Dunhuang was once a bustling oasis on the famous Silk Road connecting China and the Mediterranean. For more than 1000 years, Dunhuang was an important pilgrimage site and a cultural melting pot where ideas, technologies and art flowed freely - encompassing multiple languages, faiths and cultures - and spanning literature, astronomy, medicine, politics and...

For the Plantagenets, family might be a curse as often as a boon. They could provide invaluable support, or dangerous rivalry. At the end of the 14th century, the relationship between two first cousins rocked England, ruptured the line of succession and had a long legacy. Helen Castor joins Matt Lewis to discuss the fascinating true story of cousins who became deadly rivals. Gone Medieval is prese...

Castles. For centuries they have held fast across the landscape of the British Isles. Like beacons on a hill they project power in stone and wood. But where did these quintessentially medieval strongholds come from? And how were they put to use? All this month on Gone Medieval, Dr Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis are embarking on a new six-part series exploring the story of Britain's great castles: h...

Bonfires of paperwork have accompanied human upheaval for centuries, eradicating, making space for rewriting. Imagine standing in the centre of Paris as revolutionaries sweep away the old ways along with the ashes of centuries of records and memories. Matt Lewis is joined by Professor Robert Bartlett to consider how much of what we might have known about the past has been consumed by the fires of...

If you’ve ever been to Prague, you’ll have noticed that there are many places and institutions that bear the name Charles - all of them because Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV was responsible for their creation. Furthermore, almost every great medieval building you’ve seen in Prague was commissioned by him. But Charles IV was also an incredibly skilled politician, and a devoted religious man who sou...

The stories often told and retold of the early medieval period are those of great kings, battles and daring deeds. But ordinary people can often be harder to get at. Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. Eleanor Barraclough to discuss how the once-lost little bits and pieces that survive - love letters carved into wood, combs and pots mainly from medieval rubbish dumps - provide windows into everyday Viking...

Vikings have long been depicted as that stereotype of the hairy, nameless warrior, leaping ashore from his longboat, ready to terrorise a hapless local population in a northern European country. But there were also seers, artisans, travellers, and writers, too whose stories can now be pieced together through the traces that they left behind. Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Alex Harvey to bring to...

For centuries, one English monarch basked in an almost unblemished, heroic reputation. But more recently questions have been asked about some of his actions. Was Henry V a great warrior king, or a vicious butcher - or both? Matt Lewis is joined by Dan Jones to fill the gap between the Plantagenets and the Wars of the Roses with an examination of the relatively newly divisive figure, Henry V. Clip...

One of the enduring mysteries of the Viking Age is the identity of two people buried in a spectacular blood drenched ship in southern Norway in the autumn of 834. Why the mystery? Because these remains were of women accorded the most lavish Viking burial ever discovered. Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Heather Pringle to discuss research that reveals how Viking women were warriors, traders, and le...

The Crusades still capture the imagination today, for all of their professed good intentions they were also bloody ideological wars. But have we misunderstood some of the key sources for the First Crusade? The letters on record are not only from popes and bishops but also written by crusaders who were actually on the campaign. Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. Thomas Smith, a leading historian of the Cr...

In the year 940 in North-Eastern France, a young peasant girl began to experience vivid visions that mirrored the brutal conflict engulfing her world. Flothilde's visions were written down by one of the era's most respected historians, creating a unique record of how 'smallfolk' experienced the violent power struggles around them.  Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Fraser McNair, whose tran...

For millions of Tolkien lovers around the world, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are more than just fantasy fiction. Their rich mix of sacred mythology and archetypal saga stories draw deeply into history and legend and profoundly resonate with universal human experience. But from where did Tolkien derive his inspiration? As with most things, Matt Lewis is determined to claim it as medieval,...

It’s summer, so let’s kick back, give our brains a break and indulge in a little fantasy. Hollywood, like us, ADORES the medieval period and has made some stonking entertainment based on this period. Our esteemed historian hosts assess the most fun, the most accurate and the most absurd films set in medieval times and choose their favourite guilty pleasures. Starring Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor o...

William Marshal was one of the most famous and influential figures in English medieval history, rising from a lowly start to becoming the knight at the right hand of five Kings - Henry II, his co-regent young Henry, Richard I, John and Henry III.  Marshal is the subject of the only known written biography of a non-royal to survive from the Middle Ages, extolled as being "the best knight in th...

On Gone Medieval we like to celebrate the best stories - and storytellers - of history, so today Dr. Eleanor Janega showcases the brilliant podcast History Daily . Host Lindsay Graham takes listeners back in time to explore a momentous event that happened ‘on this day’ in history and to tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world—one day at a time.  This episode is al...

Please be aware that this episode mentions sexual violence Amongst the countless crusaders who travelled to the Holy Land, there were undoubtedly some who believed they were doing the right thing for their God and King. Others though were gangsters, bandits and even worse, murderers and rapists, bringing horror and terror to the region. In fact, the real tensions stemmed not from religion but from...