The Dark Ages Podcast

It has been almost exactly six months since the last time I posted an episode. I think we can agree that it has been too long, and that you all deserve an explanation.

This short announcement sums it up, but to put it even more briefly, flood, bad, long repair, school, kids, life.

Thank you to all of you who have kept up with the cast, and welcome to newcomers who may or may not know about the long absence.

See you tomorrow!

c. 500 to 590

"Bishops move diagonally. That's why they often turn up where the kings don't expect them to be."

- Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2025/05/05/58-bishops-gambits/

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music:

Additional Music:

Hildegard of Bingen, “Antiphon for St. Ursula”

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

516 - 548

One of the strongest of the early Merovingians, Theudebert built a powerful kingdom while squabbling with his uncles and carrying on a complicated personal life.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2025/04/16/57-the-life-and-loves-of-theudebert-i/

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

511-532

Out of the four sons of Clovis, not one of them was the type to stay at home, or to be content with what he had. In this episode, we’ll abandon chronological accuracy for the moment, to tell stories of each of these kings. Violence, mostly.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode:

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

c. 450 - c. 600

When Clovis, king of the Franks, died in 511, he passed on to his sons a huge territory, containing many millions of people. In this episode, we take a look at those people, how they made their livings, and how they organized society around them.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

https://www.museedestempsbarbares.fr/le-village-franc/

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2025/03/03/the-kingdoms-of-francia/

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Basque-ing in Glory

4000 BCE to c. 700 CE

The Western Pyrenees are home to the Basques, a mysterious community who speaks a unique language, and who have been there … for as long as anyone can tell. In this episode we’ll explore their history up through the seventh century, and their relationship to the people who have come and gone around them.

Webpage for this Episode https://darkagespod.com/2025/01/31/54-basque-ing-in-glory/

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Of Outstanding Goodness

586 to 601 CE

Reccared takes the throne and makes a momentous change. The Visigothic kingdom becomes unified under one religion and climbs to a new level of stability and security.

Webpage for this Episode

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

A Saintly Prince

578 to 586  CE

Religious differences lead to rebellion and murder, as a Visigothic prince becomes a martyr for Catholicism… or does he?

Webpage for this Episode https://darkagespod.com/2024/12/30/52-a-saintly-prince/

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

A strong king emerges in Visigothic Hispania, who moves to reform his kingdom and push to develop a new identity. 

Webpage for this Episode https://darkagespod.com/2024/12/16/51-liuvigild-and-the-search-for-unity/

Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Five Kings and Some Romans

513 to 552 CE

Putting on the afterburners to get through about fifty years of Visigothic history, as the Balt dynasty runs out into the sand, and uncertainty and internal division opens the door to outside powers.

Webpage for this Episode https://darkagespod.com/2024/07/21/50-five-kings-and-some-romans/

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/