Gone Medieval

Vikings are often depicted as fearless warriors, but they were not immune to the harsh realities of northern weather. They not only survived in countries such as Greenland and Iceland but thrived. How did they adapt to the unforgiving ice and snow? 

In this episode of Gone Medieval, first released in 2021, Dr. Cat Jarman is joined by James McMullen to explore elements of Viking settlement and winter survival - from insulating clothing, skating, and saga sources to social adaptations and housing.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit. To download, go to Android or Apple store.

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At this time of year, many of us will find ourselves singing about a royal personage who braves the snow on the Feast of Stephen – the Second Day of Christmas – so that he can distribute alms to a poor peasant. But who was the real Good King Wenceslas and was he as pious and saintly as the Christmas song suggests? 

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Cat Jarman is joined by Czech historian Dr. David Kalhous to learn about the tenth century Bohemian Duke, posthumously declared to be a king and patron saint of the Czech state. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

We've also been nominated for Best History Podcast and the Listener's Choice Award at the Signal Awards! We need your help though - it would mean so much to the whole Gone Medieval team if you followed this link to sign up and vote. Thank you!

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit. To download, go to Android or Apple store

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In recent weeks, cinema audiences have been enjoying The Lost King, which tells the story of the efforts of amateur historian Philippa Langley to find the remains of Richard III - lost for more than 500 years - beneath a social services car park in Leicester.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis meets Philippa to hear the story of this amazing discovery.

This episode was edited and produced by Elena Guthrie and Rob Weinberg.

We've also been nominated for Best History Podcast and the Listener's Choice Award at the Signal Awards! We need your help though - it would mean so much to the whole Gone Medieval team if you followed this link to sign up and vote. Thank you!

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

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Dr. Cat Jarman finds out more about a fragment of Old English poetry that depicts one of the defining conflicts of 10th century England - the Battle of Maldon. Its 325 lines immortalise the bloody defence by Earl Byrhtnoth and the Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings which took place on the banks of the River Blackwater in Essex in the year 991. 

Cat talks to Dr. Mark Atherton - author of The Battle of Maldon: War and Peace in Tenth-Century England - who describes the circumstances of the battle and examines how and why the poem encouraged readers to relive the experience for themselves.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

We've also been nominated for Best History Podcast and the Listener's Choice Award at the Signal Awards! We need your help though - it would mean so much to the whole Gone Medieval team if you followed this link to sign up and vote. Thank you!

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Christmas carols we sing each year share roots in medieval church music. But as Matt Lewis finds out in this episode, carols were not just for Christmas but could be sung in different settings all your round.

To find out the origins of carols, Matt talks to Micah Mackay, who is a doctoral candidate researching medieval carols at Balliol College, Oxford.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

We've also been nominated for Best History Podcast and the Listener's Choice Award at the Signal Awards! We need your help though - it would mean so much to the whole Gone Medieval team if you followed this link to sign up and vote. Thank you!

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to tradition, if it rains on Saint Swithun's bridge in Winchester on St. Swithun’s day — 15 July — it will continue for 40 days.  But who was the real Swithun?  And why has his historical importance as an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester been overshadowed by his reputation as a miracle worker?

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Cat Jarman finds out more about Swithun from Associate Professor Karl Christian Alvestad from the University of South-Eastern Norway.

This episode was edited by Matthew Peaty and produced by Rob Weinberg.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

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Medieval England’s relationship with the Jewish community was complex and, at times, brutally violent and cruel. In 1290, the entire population of some 3,000 Jews was expelled from the country by King Edward I. 

In this edition of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Dr. Dean Irwin, whose research into Jewish moneylending activities sheds a fascinating light on the life of Jews in Medieval England, and the outbreaks of persecution against them. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

For more Gone Medieval content, subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

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Humanity's relationship with the wilderness has been a theme of myths and legends for thousands of years. Such stories can offer a unique insight into the medieval mind and its concept of the wild.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Cat Jarman ventures out into ancient Selwood Forest in Wiltshire with Amy Jeffs - author of Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain - to reflect on our ancestors’ travels through fen and forest in the Middle Ages.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Crusades are well-known but only part of the complex history of the medieval Near East. During the same era, the region was completely remade by the Mongol invasions.  In a single generation, the Mongols upended the region’s geopolitics.  

In this edition of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Dr. Nicholas Morton, author of The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East, about the conquests that forever transformed the region, while forging closer ties among societies spread across Eurasia. 

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

For more Gone Medieval content, subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Growing from a few North German towns in the late 12th century, the Hanseatic League — a powerful network of merchant guilds and market towns — dominated trade across almost 200 settlements in seven modern-day countries. But how did it function and manage to become so successful over such a vast region?

In this edition of Gone Medieval, Dr. Cat Jarman finds out more about the Hanse from Dr. Justyna Wubs-Mrozewicz.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

For more Gone Medieval content, subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here >

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.