The Hussite Wars: Bohemia vs. Rome
Why would the execution of a single Czech priest spark decades of bloody revolution across Europe? In 1414, the outspoken reformer Jan Hus w...
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Society & Culture
Gone Medieval
From long-lost Viking ships to kings buried in unexpected places; from murders and power politics, to myths, religion, the lives of ordinary people: Gone Medieval is History Hit’s podcast de...
Episodes
20 of 572 episodesRoyal Witch: Eleanor Cobham with Philippa Gregory
In 1441, one of England's most powerful women was forced to walk barefoot through London's streets as a convicted sorceress. What drove Elea...
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt is remembered as the ultimate David versus Goliath victory, where King Henry V’s small, exhausted army unleashed a d...
Vikings vs. Pagans
Forget everything you know about the Vikings. Matt Lewis and Thomas Williams explore the forgotten era when Scandinavian warriors abandoned...
How to Win a Medieval Tournament
Step onto the dusty and dangerous fields of the medieval tournament with the only knightly teammates worth having: Dr. Eleanor Janega and Ma...
The Heretic’s Handbag: Folk Magic and Survival in Medieval France
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...
Did Alfred Burn the Cakes? & Other Medieval Myths
Join Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega for a rigorous session of medieval myth-busting! Did William Wallace really shoot lightning from his...
Inside the Peasants Revolt
In 1381, a highly organised civilian army marched on London, demanding an end to generations of unfairness. Matt Lewis and author A.K. Blake...
The Story of 1066
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 Janeg...
How to Make the Bayeux Tapestry
What connects the Bayeux Tapestry and a Cheshire silk-producing town? Dr. Eleanor Janega makes a special visit to Macclesfield to uncover it...
Richard II & Richard III: Shakespeare's Version
Did Shakespeare shape the way we remember England's Plantagenet kings more than history itself? How much of his plays Richard II and Richard...
Henry IV & Henry V: Shakespeare's Version
Did Shakespeare teach us about England's greatest kings, or fabricate its greatest historical myths? How much of what you think you know abo...
Peasants' Revolt on Film: The Uprising Reviewed
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 Invention of Hell
"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...
Sword in the Stone: Origins of Arthurian Legends
Who first imagined King Arthur pulling a shining blade from solid rock? What do extraordinary Bronze Age discoveries reveal about the legend...
How to Read Runes
**Contains very strong language/Tavern talk ** Were runes really magical symbols used by Viking sorcerers? Or were they the everyday handwri...
Battle of Grunwald: Defeat of the Teutonic Knights
In July 1410, the formidable Teutonic Knights, rapacious crusaders clad in heavy plate armour, faced a massive Polish-Lithuanian alliance. A...
The King Who Created Medieval Bohemia
In 12th-century Bohemia, every royal funeral sparked a civil war. Dr. Eleanor Janega discovers how Přemysl Otakar I survived backstabbing br...
Tolkien: Middle Earth and the Middle Ages
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...
Extinct Beasts of Medieval Britain
Why have wolves often been the villains of British history? What happened to them and some of the other remarkable creatures that once roame...