Gone Medieval

"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 special episodes Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis consider Becket's meteoric rise in status to becoming the Archbishop of Canterbury, his increasingly fractious relationship with King Henry II, the vicious murder itself and finally, how the cult of St Thomas of Canterbury spread across the European continent. But how did Thomas Becket first rise to power and prominence? Professor Michael Staunton, Associate Professor of History at University College Dublin joins Eleanor to unwrap the enigma and get to the heart of who Thomas Becket was, and whether his fate was truly inescapable.Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis. It was edited by Ella Blaxill, the producers are Rob Weinberg and Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.

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 charts the three key battles that would determine England's destiny. It's an epic story of medieval siege warfare, royal politics, and fighting at sea.Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and edited by Ella Blaxill. The producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.

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 signing it? In today's episode of Gone Medieval, we bring you an episode from our sister podcast American History Hit to answer all these questions and more. Don Wildman, host of AHH, is joined by our very own Eleanor Janega to explore the influence of this medieval document on the very fabric of the United States.Gone Medieval is presented by Eleanor Janega and edited by Joseph Knight. The producer is Joseph Knight, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.

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 Producer is Rob Weinberg, the Senior Producer is Anne-Marie Luff.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.

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 Craig Rustici from Hofstra University NY, author of The Afterlife of Pope Joan: Deploying the Popess Legend in Early Modern England. Together they try to unravel the threads of the scant historical evidence, the anti-papal agendas that may have fuelled the myth, and why the tale of a cross-dressing woman rising to the Throne of St. Peter continues to intrigue us more than seven centuries later.This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcastEnjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here >You can take part in our listener survey here >

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 Lewis finds out more from Dr. Nicholas Morton, author of The Crusader States and Their Neighbours: A Military History, 1099-1187.This episode was edited by Anisha Deva and produced by Rob Weinberg.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.

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, author of Edward the Confessor: Last of the Royal Blood, about a compassionate and conscientious ruler, whose reign marked an interval of peace and prosperity between periods of strife.This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Joseph Knight and Rob Weinberg.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.

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 the Anarchy - in which she demonstrates how certain women were prime movers in a time of conflict and how their strengths, weaknesses and personal ambitions swung the fortunes of civil war one way - and then the other.This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.

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 monsters and panthers could be your friend, dog-headed men were as real as elephants and whales were as sneaky as wolves. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Hana Videen, author of The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary to discuss animals, language, and how - when it comes to thinking about the animal kingdom - we actually have a lot in common with our Medieval ancestors. This episode was edited by Ella Blaxill and produced by Joseph Knight.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.