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

SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 193: Eastern Rome on the Eve of Crusade

On this episode, we hear from Dr. Warren Treadgold -- retired professor, historian, and author -- who has spent a decades-long career studying Byzantine history. In the show's first interview, we discuss Alexios Komnenos, differences between the Christian East and the Latin West, and whether the Crusades themselves were a net positive or net negative.

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SEASON 8: The First Crusade

EPISODE 192: The World(view) Behind the First Crusade

Let’s take a moment to survey Europe by 1095. What was the world like on the Eve of the First Crusade? What were the various political and economic ideas that flooded out of Western Europe and into the Holy Land? What kinds of technology were these westerners skilled in using, both militarily and in other parts of life? What was trade like? There are endless avenues to go down, and it would behoove us all to do a once-over before proceeding into the epic that was the First Crusade! Oh, and I’ve earthquakes, comets, and even a tornado to mention…who knew?!

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Patreon Series: Book of Alexios

Episode 191: The Pecheneg Problem

NOTE: This is the last episode in our Patreon episodes covering the rise and early reign of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos! But his story continues well into the First Crusade...and beyond, so stay tuned, my friends! Alexios Komnenos' story is only beginning!

Guiscard is dead, and the Byzantine Empire breathes a short-lived sigh of relief. But from the north, a new storm brews. The Pechenegs, nomadic raiders of the steppes, have pierced the empire’s borders...yet again. Today, we follow Emperor Alexios I as he trades one crisis for another and marches north to face a threat that could unravel everything he’s barely been able to hold together thus far. Just another day in 11th-century Byzantium.

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Patreon Series: Book of Alexios

Episode 190: Chapter 8: The Wolf's Mouth

Today, two future legends meet. Bohemond of Taranto meets the Byzantine living legend Emperor Alexios I—a moment that will ignite a complicated and world-shaping rivalry. It’s a tense encounter, but not all is war and scheming: somewhere nearby, a child is born. A girl who is destined to leave her own mark on history.

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Patreon Series: Book of Alexios

Episode 189: Chapter 7: Appointments, Penance, Delegation & Threats

The purple robes are his, but the work has only begun. In his first month on the throne, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos must navigate a Byzantine Empire under siege—externally and internally. A divided capital, looming threats across the Bosporus, and guilt that whispers louder than any enemy… Welcome to the real beginning of his reign.

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Patreon Series: Book of Alexios

Episode 188: Chapter 6: April 4, 1081

NOTE: This is a repeat of Episode 132, but in the interest of the flow of this series, I've decided to include it for continuity.

The empire is on fire—figuratively and nearly literally—as Alexios Komnenos makes his bold play for the throne. With the capital in chaos, loyalties split, and Eastern Rome teetering, one man dares to seize it all. Welcome to the storming of Constantinople.

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Patreon Series: Book of Alexios

Episode 187: Chapter 5: Cheese Week

NOTE: This is a repeat of Episode 131, but in the interest of the flow of this series, I've decided to include it for continuity.

In this episode, we explore the dangerously creamy days leading up to the rise of Alexios Komnenos—because nothing says imperial coup like dairy. Before he seizes the throne of Eastern Rome, the empire simmers in chaos, conspiracy... and cheese. But not just any cheese—this is Cheese Week, the final stretch of indulgence before the Eastern Orthodox Great Lent begins. We’ll serve up a quick primer on this deliciously bizarre tradition, where meat is banned, cheese is sacred, and political plots thicken like a good béchamel. Come for the theology, stay for the treachery.

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Episode 186: Chapter 4: The Writing on the Wall

NOTE: This is a repeat of Episode 130, but in the interest of the flow of this series, I've decided to include it for continuity.

Emperor Nikephoros III watches his empire crumble like dry parchment. With rebellion brewing and a once-loyal general rising in fame, the old emperor can’t ignore the writing on the wall—literally and figuratively. In this episode, we explore the origins of that ominous phrase…before the pace picks up, fast.

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Patreon Series: Book of Alexios

Episode 185: Chapter 3: Alexios & the Erymanthian Boar

On this episode, we employ a comparison used by Alexios Komnenos’s daughter when describing her father. There is absolutely no doubt that Anna Komnene revered her legendary father, but the comparison she makes in this episode some would say is a bit over the top. That said, I encourage everyone to consider it. More than that, I encourage everyone to try to find a way to disprove Anna Komnene’s mythical comparison. 

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Patreon Series: The Book of Alexios

Episode 184: Chapter 2: Bryennios's Rebellion

NOTE: This is a repeat of Episode 129, but in the interest of the flow of this series, I've decided to include it for continuity.

Today, we watch Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates take the reins of a smoldering empire still reeling from the Bread Riots of 1078. But no sooner does he don the purple than the first coup slams into his rule like a battering ram. Who does he turn to? His golden boy, Alexios Komnenos. But this isn't Roussel de Balliol anymore—this is something darker, sharper, and far more dangerous. And it's only just begun.

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