Gone Medieval

What can the contents of a medieval French woman’s handbag tell us about her life, her beliefs and the strange world she inhabited? When she was captured by the Inquisition, Béatrice de Planisolles revealed all the juicy details of her forbidden relationships and folk magic practices, and why one should always carry dried umbilical cords in one's bag. Is Béatrice the Medieval Lorelai Gilmore??...

Join Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega for a rigorous session of medieval myth-busting! Did William Wallace really shoot lightning from his backside? Did Pope Gregory IX cause the Black Death by ordering a cat genocide? And did King Alfred actually burn those cakes? And the biggest question of all; can Matt and Eleanor keep a straight face as they tackle history's most persistent fibs. MORE Wi...

In 1381, a highly organised civilian army marched on London, demanding an end to generations of unfairness. Matt Lewis and author A.K. Blakemore explore the human stories behind the Peasants' Revolt. They discover how Chaucer viewed the uprising from his home within London and uncover the forgotten women of 1381, including widows seeking the king's justice, who navigated the chaotic London...

Is 1066 just the Battle of Hastings? Far from it. The war for the English crown was a year-long apocalypse. Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega dissect history's ultimate succession crisis. Follow King Harold as he crushes a Viking armada at Stamford Bridge, only to face William the Conqueror’s brutal heavy cavalry just weeks later. From shattered shield walls to a Christmas coronation that lite...

What connects the Bayeux Tapestry and a Cheshire silk-producing town? Dr. Eleanor Janega makes a special visit to Macclesfield to uncover its medieval past as a royal borough associated with Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. To celebrate the Bayeux Tapestry's arrival in Britain, the community has crafted a stunning "Macclesfield Tapestry" using traditional Bayeux stitches and natural...

Did Shakespeare shape the way we remember England's Plantagenet kings more than history itself? How much of his plays Richard II and Richard III are fact, fiction, or Tudor propaganda? Professor Emma Smith joins Matt Lewis to separate the history from drama, and discover how Shakespeare balanced historical truth, theatrical brilliance and the political realities of writing under Elizabeth I, t...

Did Shakespeare teach us about England's greatest kings, or fabricate its greatest historical myths? How much of what you think you know about Henry IV and Henry V is actually true? Shakespeare's history plays continue to define our understanding of medieval England, the Plantagenets, the Hundred Years' War, and the rise and fall of England's warrior kings. But Dr. Eleanor Janega separates history...

How accurate is Hollywood's take on the Peasants' Revolt? It is 1381, and England is at breaking point. A civilian army of thousands stormed the capital, making demands of King Richard II. Now, Paul Greengrass’s new film, The Uprising , brings the revolt to the big screen, starring Andrew Garfield and Cosmo Jarvis. Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega give their review of the film and separate cinema...

"All hope, abandon ye who enter here." These words from Dante’s Divine Comedy may shape our modern vision of hell, but did you know that the Bible says surprisingly little about it? In fact, hell as we know it was constantly reinvented during the Middle Ages. Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Stephen Hopkins as they descend into the medieval underworld to uncover how apocryphal texts, localised...

Who first imagined King Arthur pulling a shining blade from solid rock? What do extraordinary Bronze Age discoveries reveal about the legend's deeper roots? Matt Lewis is joined by Amy Jeffs to uncover the surprising origins of the sword in the stone (and other Arthurian legends), tracing them from ancient Welsh poetry and Celtic folklore to medieval romance and Christian symbolism. MORE: King Art...

**Contains very strong language/Tavern talk ** Were runes really magical symbols used by Viking sorcerers? Or were they the everyday handwriting of merchants, lovers, pilgrims and children? From their mysterious origins and Viking Age memorial stones to medieval shopping lists, love letters and graffiti, runes recorded the lives of ordinary people across Scandinavia, Anglo-Saxon England, and beyon...

In July 1410, the formidable Teutonic Knights, rapacious crusaders clad in heavy plate armour, faced a massive Polish-Lithuanian alliance. After an insulting taunt involving two unsheathed swords, the Battle of Grunwald erupted into a bloody, day-long melee. Matt Lewis and Dr. Aleks Pluskowski to explore this epic medieval clash. MORE Teutonic Knights Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify The Last Pag...

In 12th-century Bohemia, every royal funeral sparked a civil war. Dr. Eleanor Janega discovers how Přemysl Otakar I survived backstabbing brothers, imperial betrayals, and a dodgy divorce to seize power. Find out how this 'spare' prince outmanoeuvred the Emperor to forge a powerful hereditary kingdom. MORE: Pope vs. Emperor: The Investiture Crisis Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Matilda of Canos...

From where did J.R.R. Tolkien get his ideas for the world of Middle Earth? For millions of readers, 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. As with most things, Matt Lewis is determined to claim Middle Earth was...

Why have wolves often been the villains of British history? What happened to them and some of the other remarkable creatures that once roamed medieval Britain? Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Lee Raye to explore Britain's lost wildlife and how extinct species survived long after their disappearance through medieval literature, folklore, religion and myth. MORE Fantastic Beasts of the Middle Ag...

What if you were proclaimed King of England but never sat on the throne? In 1066, Edgar Ætheling possessed the strongest bloodline claim to the English crown, yet this Anglo-Saxon prince became a mere footnote in history. Matt Lewis and Professor Levi Roach bring this forgotten heir out of the shadows. Discover his extraordinary seventy-year life of rebellions, Norman resistance, and Crusade explo...

How did medieval builders create monuments that still leave us awestruck? How were vast cathedrals, temples and cities constructed and embellished? From Canterbury Cathedral and the palaces of Great Zimbabwe and Venice, to Cambodia's Angkor Wat, some of the greatest achievements of the middle ages depended on extraordinary stonemasons. Dr Eleanor Janega is joined by Simon Warrack to hear the insid...

Was Henry III overthrown by England's first constitutional revolution? How did Simon de Montfort's rebellion change the course of history? In 1258, a revolutionary movement stripped Henry III of his authority, plunging England into a bitter crisis and a brutal civil war. As Henry fought to suppress an uprising in France, his queen Eleanor of Provence emerged as one of the most formidable political...

Was Queen Guinevere a traitorous adulteress who caused the tragic downfall of Camelot, or a complex political survivor? Was she even real? Dr. Eleanor Janega and Arthurian expert Dr. Mary Bateman explore the changing faces of King Arthur’s legendary wife. They discuss her early mythological Welsh roots, scandalous 'affairs' with Lancelot and Mordred, and how medieval queens used this powerful roma...

How did a nine-year-old boy save England from the brink of collapse? How did he transform a disastrous legacy into a remarkably stable reign? When King John died in 1216, civil war raged, barons invited a French prince to seize the throne, and the new monarch Henry III was just nine years old. Against all odds, the boy king navigated rebellion, rebuilt royal authority after Magna Carta, and laid t...

**WARNING: This episode contains explicit language and sexual content   How did prostitution become so visible in medieval towns? How could sex work flourish, sometimes in the very same buildings as schools, churches and markets? Prostitutes were a familiar presence in medieval cities, raising fascinating questions about morality, religion, law and urban life. Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. K...

Matt Lewis and guest Dr Eleanor Barraclough as they dive into the turbulent world of late 10th-century Scandinavia and the extraordinary life of Olaf Tryggvason. Exiled, enslaved, raider, and eventually king of Norway, Olaf was a force of nature in an age of shifting loyalties, pagan beliefs, and rising Christianity. From Kievan Rus to the British Isles, this episode traces his violent rise and hi...

How was folklore woven into the everyday life of medieval Icelanders? How did they make sense of the darkness of their world? During Iceland's endless nights, tales of trolls, ghosts, elves, hidden people and restless spirits were far more than entertainment: they explained an unpredictable existence, preserved history, and warned against unseen dangers. Dr Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Dagrún Ó...

What if “High King” in medieval Ireland was less a fixed office than a fiercely contested prize, won through ritual, lineage, and force? On the Hill of Tara, a would-be ruler climbs toward the Stone of Destiny, hoping for the legendary cry that marks him as chosen. Matt Lewis and Dr Seán Ó Hoireabhárd explore a world of multiple kings, turn-taking dynasties, cattle raiding, and shifting power...

What was life really like for working peasant women in the Middle Ages? How did family, marriage, work and social class shape their choices, joys and struggles? Taking a break from the usual queens, noblewomen and saints of the Medieval period, Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Catherine Hanley to explore the unsung experiences of mothers and daughters, wives, widows and women workers across med...