Victorian Crusaders: Britons Who Fought for the Pope’s Army

Today, we’re really diving into an obscure niche. . . Rome in the 1860s — a decade of revolution, nationalism, and, oddly enough, British and Irish Catholics signing up to fight for the Pope. Our guest is historian Nicholas Schofield, author of Victorian Crusaders: British and Irish Volunteers in the Papal Army, 1860–70. It’s a story of faith, politics, and some very unlikely Redcoats in baggy Zouave trousers. The book is published by Helion and here is the link to buy - Special thanks to my good mate Dr Christopher Brice for conducting today’s interview. He is an expert in his own right and has written a number of books about Victorian military History - Sign up for my mailing list to receive your free eBook about the battle of Isandlwana - And come tour the Zulu War battlefields with me by signing up for a tour here -

You can listen to Victorian Crusaders: Britons Who Fought for the Pope’s Army online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Victorian Crusaders: Britons Who Fought for the Pope’s Army is an episode from The Redcoat History Podcast by Redcoat History.

This episode is 67:55 long.

This episode was published on Sep 23, 2025.

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

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Redcoat History Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.