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...
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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 564 episodesHow 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...
Edgar Ætheling: The King Who Never Was
What if you were proclaimed King of England but never sat on the throne? In 1066, Edgar Ætheling possessed the strongest bloodline claim to...
Great Buildings of the Middle Ages
How did medieval builders create monuments that still leave us awestruck? How were vast cathedrals, temples and cities constructed and embel...
Henry III vs. Simon de Montfort
Was Henry III overthrown by England's first constitutional revolution? How did Simon de Montfort's rebellion change the course of history? I...
Guinevere: The Queen Who Broke Camelot?
Was Queen Guinevere a traitorous adulteress who caused the tragic downfall of Camelot, or a complex political survivor? Was she even real? D...
Henry III: England's Longest Reigning King
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...
Medieval Sex Work & Brothels
**WARNING: This episode contains explicit language and sexual content How did prostitution become so visible in medieval towns? How could se...
Olaf Tryggvason: Viking Warlord or Christian King?
Matt Lewis and guest Dr Eleanor Barraclough as they dive into the turbulent world of late 10th-century Scandinavia and the extraordinary lif...
Folk Legends of Iceland
How was folklore woven into the everyday life of medieval Icelanders? How did they make sense of the darkness of their world? During Iceland...