Tink's Medieval Times is a good excuse for me, William Tink, a teacher who loves his history, to talk to you about the medieval period. It's a good excuse for you, the lucky listener, to learn a bit about the bizarre but strangely compelling world of the Middle Ages. This first episode of "Crusades O'Clock" takes a sweeping glance at the Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the decades leading up to the First Crusade in the late 1090s. It explores the incentives that drove Europe's Christians to go on pilgrimage or Crusade and debunks the myth that the Crusades were triggered directly by events affecting the city of Jerusalem. The narrative also examines the historic reasons for divisions between Catholic and Orthodox Christians, and those between Sunni and Shia Islam, which are fundamental to understanding the geopolitics of eleventh and twelfth century Byzantium.

I apologise in advance for the theme music, and I hope you enjoy it!

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