Fortune's Wheel: A Podcast History of Our Medieval Story

SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 203: Before the Walls of Antioch

What was Alexios and the Romans doing while the main army swept through Cilicia and the Taurus Mountains? This beef forming between Tancred and Baldwin…is it going to boil over or fizzle away? How is the main army doing as they approach the mighty walls of Antioch? Hey, where’s Baldwin go–? Can someone see what Baldwin’s up to now? Every ball is in the air at this point in the First Crusade.

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 202: Routes & Ruptures

Steel meets panic at Dorylaeum in 1097, where the Crusade nearly collapses before clawing its way back from annihilation. From that chaos, Tancred and Baldwin peel off and barrel into Cilicia, turning the march southeast into a ruthless side-quest of ambition, betrayal, and opportunistic warfare. This episode follows the moment the holy army stops pretending it’s unified and starts revealing the knives behind the vows.

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 201: The Secret Drama of Treachery

Nicaea.

May – June, 1097.

Anna Komnene writes about “the secret drama of treachery,” a hint as to how this formidable Seljuk capital of the new Sultanate of Rum would return to Roman hands. Would it fall by Western efforts…or by some other way? It’s a fascinating story about the opening salvos of the First Crusade, showcasing Western cooperation, Seljuk ferocity, and Byzantine statecraft.

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 200: God’s Mercs, Pt. 2

Last time, we introduced (or reintroduced) ourselves to Hugh of Vermandois, Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin of Boulogne, and, of course, the incomparable Bohemond and his lightning bolt of a nephew, Tancred. This time, we round out these introductions and end right at the beginning, the moment these armies meet and cross the Bosporus. 

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 199: God’s Mercs, Pt. 1

On this episode, we begin a two-parter laying out the principle leaders of the First Crusade. Who were they? What were their stories? What connections did they share? I can’t wait to unpack this part of the series. 

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 198: Poor People’s Crusade

A tidal wave of zealots, doomsday preachers, and broke knights surges across Europe in the so-called Poor People’s Crusade—burning bright, burning fast, and mostly burning down. From Emicho’s disastrous rampage along the Rhine to the ragged march of Walter Sans Avoir straight into the jaws of Kilij Arslan at Civetot, this is the First Crusade’s explosive prologue. A movement born in frenzy ends in annihilation, leaving a smoking warning flare for the armies yet to come. 

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 197: The Fez Massacre

This is an older Patreon episode about another Jewish pogrom taking place in Fez in modern Morocco decades before the Rhineland massacres during the Poor People's Crusade. This serves as a bonus episode and not a direct part of my research into the First Crusade.A new episode will be released in a couple days getting us back on track!

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 196: Blood on the Rhine

The First Crusade hadn’t even started yet, so why was the Rhine flowing red?  

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 195: Did God Will It?

Where does a pope get off telling thousands of armed men to march across the known world with a promise of eternal salvation? This wasn’t a whim. It was centuries in the making. Welcome to the origin story of Christian holy war.

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 194: Deus Vult!

Clermont., France.

November 27, 1095.

Pope Urban II lit the match that set Europe ablaze. This episode dives into the conflicting accounts of that speech—where “Deus Vult” became both a prayer and a war cry.

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