The First Crusade: The Road to Jerusalem

In 1095, Pope Urban II’s fiery sermon lit the fuse for a so‑called holy war in the Holy Land. In the first episode of a new series, Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis unpack the First Crusades, when this Christian armies fought against Muslim lords for possession of the arid deserts of the Holy Land. What spurred thousands upon thousands of medieval Christians, noble and poor alike, to abandon their homes and risk their lives? Find out how this blood-soaked epic reshaped the medieval world. MORE Women Crusaders Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Medieval Jerusalem Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds. Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to The First Crusade: The Road to Jerusalem online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The First Crusade: The Road to Jerusalem is an episode from Gone Medieval by History Hit.

This episode is 1:27:38 long.

This episode was published on Mar 3, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Gone Medieval when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.