As Western knights and nobles ride toward Jerusalem, there are many other cities they must take along the way. Their first battlefield encounter with the Turks leaves a lasting impression on both sides, but they are soon occupied with besieging fortified cities. Heads are brandished on spears and bodies hang on display from the ramparts. The siege of Antioch comes close to ending the entire crusade on more that one occasion, with starvation, desertion, and enemy armies of much larger size. Heroic feats, cannibalism, and nearly miraculous escapes are all part of this gripping story.

The First Crusade became the stuff of legend soon after it finished. Western knights headed to Constantinople and ultimately to Jerusalem, to rescue pilgrimage sites from the control of Muslim invaders. The crusade involved close to 100,000 people from Western Europe heading east, in a journey that would cover thousands of miles, mostly on foot. It's often told as a struggle of East vs. West, and Christianity against Islam. The history is more complicated. What set so many knights off on this journey to the east? Why did so many ordinary people make the crusade? Find out in this episode.

Related episodes include:

The Great Schism

The Normans in Italy

The Camino de Santiago pilgrimage is exploding in popularity these days, but the modern travellers are part of a tradition that is over 1000 years old. How did the Camino begin? Why did medieval people go on pilgrimages anyway? From drinking wine used to wash skulls, to pilgrims in chains, this episode explores the world of medieval Christianity, and the surprising traditions around pilgrimage, including why the Camino is booming today. Support this podcast on Patreon at: patreon.com/evaschubert

The grandsons of Charlemagne slide into civil war, with thousands of Franks killing each other over the division of the empire. Though the Treaty of Verdun ends the bloodletting, Frankish troubles are far from over. Vikings sail up the Seine and sack Paris, finally leaving after being bought off by King Charles of West Francia. However Louis the German, King of East Francia, makes Viking raiders return what they stole from his territory, and collects tribute money from them. He may have been particularly disgruntled since his wife took a vow of chastity. This is the story of a king dubbed "Louis of the Iron Hands" for his extraordinary strength, and the distinctive culture he created in the lands that would become Germany.

Both the Germans and the French trace their origins to Charlemagne and the Franks. But who were the Franks, and how did they have such a powerful effect on the shape of Western Europe? This episode is a family drama gone wild, as the warriors of Charlemagne's family compete for land and status. Blindings, treachery and imprisonment follow. Our story will focus on one warrior in particular, known as Louis the German.

Roger II has played a high stakes game to secure his crown. Now a king, he must face the consequences of backing the wrong Pope. Rebellious barons, treacherous in-laws, and the loss of his beloved wife burden him as Roger continues to fight for his kingdom. Two emperors conspire to jointly attack him, and the Sicilian navy stages an audacious raid at the gates of Constantinople. Roger II defines himself as a ruler unlike any other in Western Europe. His borrowing of statecraft, scholars, and silk makers from the East has his enemies whispering that he has gone full sultan.

Roger II inherits his father's position as ruler of Sicily and begins to take over parts of Southern Italy as well. Along the way a daring plan leads Norman knights out of a desperate situation, and a Crusader king proposes marriage. Norman state-building in Sicily takes on a unique character, and Norman knights fight armies led by the Pope. When two popes are elected on the same day, Roger II must choose which Pope he will support in exchange for a crown.

The Vikings terrorised coastal Europe in their longboats, plundering and killing as they went. Some of them were offered a deal: they could accept land and settle in France, in exchange for defending the area from other raiders. These Vikings became known as Normans, and while the name changed, the game remained the same. They begin arriving in Italy, and soon become the most coveted military muscle for hire. The Pope himself becomes their hostage and the daughter of a Norman almost becomes the Byzantine Empress. This is a tale of the high Middle Ages, full of pilgrims and pillagers, popes, kings, battles and emperors.

This is the first episode in a series on the Normans in Sicily.

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The Peasants' War was the largest peasant uprising prior to the French Revolution. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people organise a labour strike and dare to demand a measure of fairness. They use the ideas of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation to do it. Luther wants nothing to do with the rebels, and supports the German nobles in killing these "mad dogs". The heavy cavalry and the landsknecht armies of the Swabian League are on the march, and this rebellion is about to turn into a war.