Gone Medieval

How did a peasant girl go on to lead French armies at the age of 17? How did her visions of saving France from the English play a part in her life? Why was it significant that she wore men's clothes and led armies? And what is her legacy today? In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega pops across to our sister podcast Betwixt the Sheets to discuss the life of the formidable Joan of Ar...

Christians had a problematic relationship with Jewish populations as the Medieval period progressed. Jews were frequently persecuted, targeted and pushed out by societies across Europe. In England, Edward I first issued the edict of expulsion in 1290. It remained illegal to be Jewish in England for 350 years.  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis talks to Professor Ivan Marcus,...

Say Norman Conquests; think 1066 and William the Conqueror. But the massive success of the English conquest often overshadows the several other conquests across Europe which the Normans executed very successfully.  Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Levi Roach to consider how the Normans fared in 11th century Italy, how the papacy forced a rethink of war strategy and how stories of religious...

Cecily Neville was the matriarch of the House of York, the mother of two kings of England and an ancestor of every monarch since Henry VIII. Born in the year of Agincourt and at the centre of the Wars of the Roses; Cecily lived through some of the most tumultuous events in medieval English history. Matt Lewis is joined by Annie Garthwaite to celebrate this often overlooked woman, her dangerous riv...

Rollo was a Viking leader who became the first ruler of Normandy in the early 10th century. His descendants, the Normans, later conquered England and southern Italy, leaving a lasting legacy on European history. So how did a Viking outlaw became a respected Frankish Jarl and founder of a conquering dynasty?  In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega meets Mathias Dilys, cultural i...

Almost immediately after Thomas Becket’s murder, reports of miraculous healings and divine interventions spread like wildfire. Canterbury witnessed a huge influx of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over Europe, boosting the city’s wealth. In this final episode of our series about Becket, Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. John Jenkins to look at the cult of Becket, how it spread across the cont...

One of the most important of Holy Roman Emperors, Frederick II was revered and reviled in equal measures.  He was a scholar, an architect, a poet, a scientist and a composer. Yet rumours swirled that he was a pagan, a sensualist who kept a harem, even secretly a Muslim, who was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church numerous times. In this explainer episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor...

We don't often use the word 'Tudor' on Gone Medieval but we can't ignore how the Tudors have a sensational medieval story.  Henry VII was descended from the greatest Welsh princes and when word spread that he had a chance to sit on the English throne the Welsh prophecies, which foretold that one day one of their own would become king of the islands and would be crowned in London, looked to be...

Today on Gone Medieval we arrive at one of the most consequential events in English history; the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. A moment in time that is famed for its horrendous brutality, but from which it is impossible to look away. Across four special episodes, Gone Medieval is charting Becket's meteoric rise, his disastrous fall leading to his murder and the spectacular...

It's 1163; Thomas Becket has cast off the shackles of his working class roots to become King Henry II's right-hand man. He is appointed to the highest position in the land next to the Crown; Archbishop of Canterbury. But Church and state are at loggerheads, with Henry and Thomas at the centre of the storm.  Across four special episodes, Gone Medieval is charting Becket's meteoric rise, his di...

When you think of drama in the medieval period the appointment of bishops would not naturally come to mind. But the Investiture Controversy is one of those political storms that eventually embroiled almost all of Europe's leaders. Bishops were a big deal, carrying as much political heft as religious, so ceding ground on who picked them was as dangerous as you could get. This was a period when Pope...

Parliament is perhaps the single most significant institution in the United Kingdom. Like anything worthwhile, it's a medieval creation. But why did these meetings become settled in Westminster, where Parliament now has its home? Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. Hannes Kleineke from the History of Parliament Project to answer these questions. We also learn about the mischievous medieval practice of hoo...

"Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?!" These words supposedly uttered by a King over 800 years ago set in motion a chain of gruesome events, and sparked cult-like devotion across the world. This month Gone Medieval marks the 850th anniversary of King Henry II’s penance for the murder of Thomas Becket by recounting the events leading up to and following Becket’s martyrdom. Across four speci...

Two years after King John had agreed to the terms of Magna Carta, he reneged on his word, plunging England into war. The rebellious barons offered the throne to the French prince Louis and set off the chain of events that almost changed the course of English history. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis meets Catherine Hanley, author of 1217: The Battles that Saved England which char...

What does a document written in 1215 in England have to do with the United States? Surprisingly a lot actually! The Magna Carta is thought to have influenced foundational documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But where did this inspiration come from? And why were America's founding fathers so influenced by a charter that King John broke almost immediately after signi...

Once connected to a busy and thriving hospital, Great St Bart's Church in Smithfield is not only a survivor of the Great Fire of London, but also has a fascinating foundation story. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis goes to get a closer look at London’s oldest surviving parish church with Father Marcus Walker. Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and edited by Ella Blaxill. The Pro...

Out of the shadowy world of the medieval church, an extraordinary legend emerged of a woman who disguised herself as a man and remarkably, rose to become Pope. It's a story of secret identities, illicit affairs and a Church shaken by the unthinkable - a female pope giving birth in the midst of a sacred procession. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Professor Cra...

The Crusader states in the Near East were created after the First Crusade in order to keep hold of the territorial gains made by those known in the region as the Franks - essentially Christians from Western Europe. What can the military activities of the many different factions in the region tell us about how and why those states rose and then fell? In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lew...

One of the last kings of Anglo-Saxon England, Edward the Confessor regained the throne for the House of Wessex and is the only English monarch to become a Saint. But Edward the Confessor has also been blamed for causing the invasion of 1066―the last successful conquest of England by a foreign power.   In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega talks to Professor Tom Licence, a...

The Anarchy is an intriguing and often forgotten period of history. There are fascinating characters and moments of deep political importance to England's development as a state. The involvement of women in the Anarchy is vital to understanding how it played out over almost two decades.  In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Sharon Bennett Connolly - author of Women of th...

In the Middle Ages, animals were often the means for survival and the source of great wealth. No wonder then that in the medieval imagination, animals are not just animals. Animals were thought to have traits and characteristics that meant that they could be sorted into moral categories - good and bad, righteous and evil - that dominate the Christian imagination. Ants could be monst...

If you are planning - or dreaming of - your next holiday, have you stopped to wonder whether our medieval counterparts did exactly the same thing? Why did people travel in the Middle Ages, and what was the experience like for them? Were there any similarities with travelling today? In this edition of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis talks to Anthony Bale.  His book A Travel Guide to the Middle...

Did you know we have our medieval ancestors to thank for whisky? It wasn’t exactly a medieval invention but the process of making distilled alcohol and the idea that it might be fun to drink was. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Eleanor Janega finds out more from whisky journalist Matt Chambers about how we got from desalinating seawater in the Ancient period to enjoying a dram or two today....

Dating from 1467-1603, the Sengoku or ‘Warring States’ period is known as the bloodiest in Japan’s history; an era of continuous social upheaval and civil war which transformed the country. Shogun-led authority was shattered and 150 years of murder and betrayal followed as fearsome warlords ruled local territories with unflinching ruthlessness.  In the first episode of this series delvin...

King Richard I of England - Richard the Lionheart - is one of those historical figures whose reputation stands out so much that the legends cover up the myriad of complex details that we have about their lives. After all, you don't get a name like Lionheart without a serious amount of artful effort, both on the battlefield and in the halls of power. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Ja...