Welcome back folks - get ready to be amazed by Episode 3 of Tink's Medieval Times! The development of the eleventh century Papacy is yours to behold. Rising from lowly and somewhat embarrassing circumstances under the stewardship of teenage "party-Pope" Benedict IX, and a host of other inappropriate and inadequate pontiffs, the Papacy gets a rebrand under a host of reforming Popes. Join Leo IX, Nicholas II and the legendary Gregory VII on a journey cleaning up the Catholic Church, whilst all the while trying to lean less on the German monarchs who had helped them start the process. The showdown between Gregory and Henry IV, king of Germany, gets messy, but also sets the scene for Urban II, the Pope who called the First Crusade.

This episode finished with Urban's Council of Piacenza in 1095, where he dishes the dirt of his inveterate rival Henry. An episode not to be missed!

Episode 4 (on Clermont and the preaching of the First Crusade) will be released on Sunday 3rd September 2023.

#crusades #medieval #party #popes

Welcome back everyone. Yes, the cringy title music is still here, with the good news that you will be treated to a full and detailed explanation of the changing geo-political context of the mid-eleventh century Middle East. The rise of the Seljuk Turks and their elimination of their early Ghaznavid and Buyid opponents is examined, before we take a look at how their expansion affected the two great powers of the eastern Mediterranean: Fatimid Egypt and the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire. Tracking internal politics and the external concerns and activities of these two states and their numerous smaller tributaries and allies, we will discover why they were so roundly beaten by the Seljuk menace, and how they were able to survive. It should prove a treat!

The next episode will be released in a fortnight's time! (20/8/23)

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!

#crusades #medieval #byzantium