Where is the grave of King Arthur? What was the worst year in human history? Who were the most fractious royal siblings? What were the origins of humble pie? Which monsters pre-occupied Medieval minds?

In this episode, Gone Medieval’s co-hosts Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega delve into some of...

In the Middle Ages, people made marks and concealed many objects in their buildings to protect themselves from harmful magic. Dead cats, horse skulls, hidden shoes, written charms and protection marks were all used widely as methods of repelling, diverting or trapping negative energies. 

In this...

Dr. Eleanor Janega continues Gone Medieval’s special series of podcasts about Medieval Queens with a look at Queen Anne of Bohemia, the first wife of England’s King Richard II. 

Eleanor is joined by Kristen Geaman, lecturer at the University of Toledo, Ohio, to find out about Anne’s influence on...

Around the time of the start of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, and the Black Death was devastating tens of millions of people in Europe and Asia, waves of migration from Polynesia laid the foundations of the Māori society in Aotearoa - modern-day New Zealand. 

In this episode...

Matt Lewis kicks off Gone Medieval’s special series of podcasts about Medieval Queens with a look at Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians who ruled Mercia in the Midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith, and played a pivotal role in defe...

We tend to think that it was impossible not to subscribe to Christianity in the Middle Ages. But, as in any age, belief can wax and wane. But the chroniclers of the period largely ignored the voices of ordinary people, whose faith may not have been quite so devout as we have been led to believe.
...

The fourth son of William the Conqueror, King Henry I, is remembered as a harsh but effective ruler. He skilfully manipulated the barons in England and Normandy. He strengthened the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxation, with more institutions including the royal e...

Christianity's inroads into the pagan north of England began with the marriage of Æthelburh of Kent to King Edwin of Northumbria.  A condition of their marriage was Edwin's conversion to Christianity.  But most of the things we know about this period come from the Venerable Bede, which may hide m...

If one object stands out as synonymous with the Medieval period, it's probably the sword.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Dr. Robert W. Jones, author of A Cultural History of the Medieval Sword: Power, Piety and Play, in which he takes the sword beyond its functional role ...

Sex. It’s everyone’s favourite subject. But has it been that way since the Middle Ages? The repressive instincts of some medieval churchmen meant that the way that ordinary people experienced and enjoyed sex in medieval Europe was very different to how it is today. But despite the rules imposed b...

The grandson of Alfred the Great, Æthelstan the Glorious was the first King of England, reigning from 924 to 939. Æthelstan inherited the title King of Mercia from his father Edward the Elder, but was not immediately accepted as King of England. Shortly after his crowning he married one of his si...

Eleanor of Castile married King Edward I of England as part of a political deal to affirm English sovereignty over Gascony. But the marriage was a very close one. Eleanor travelled extensively with Edward, including on the Ninth Crusade. When she died in Nottinghamshire, her heartbroken husband e...

One of the most important documents ever written, Magna Carta was sealed by King John after negotiations with his barons and their French and Scots allies at Runnymede in 1215.

Magna Carta has inspired the way we view issues of justice and liberty, in both Britain and around the world, ever sinc...

 In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis welcomes his new co-host, historian Dr. Eleanor Janega. For her first episode, Eleanor and Matt kick off with a quick fire round about some of her favourite Medieval subjects, culminating in booze. How important was alcohol in the medieval world? Was ...

Nicholaa de la Haye’s strength and tenacity saved England at one of the lowest points in its history.

She remained loyal to King John to the very end, even after most of his knights and barons had deserted him.  She stood firm during a siege at Lincoln Castle - where she was constable - that las...

Throughout history, there have been plenty of hugely destructive, catastrophic moments. And yet somehow the human race managed to live on until today. So how did people in the Medieval period find ways to survive, for example, a siege of their city, or a natural disaster, or plague?

In this epis...

Is there a lost colony of Vikings somewhere in Greenland, shut off from the rest of the world?  For hundreds of years, that question has taxed many minds for a variety of reasons that often reflect changes in outlook.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Dr. Robert Rix who, in h...

It’s one of the most dramatic stories you might never have heard. Featuring a seaborne assassination, a vengeful manhunt and London Bridge in flames, the rebellion of Jack Cade in 1450 shook the English Crown to its very core, and lit the spark that began the Wars of the Roses.

In today’s episod...

Composed towards the end of the first millennium, Beowulf is the classic Anglo-Saxon epic poem that transcends its time to shed light on psychological and spiritual truths that still ring true today.

Seamus Heaney’s deeply felt interpretation - widely acknowledged as the greatest Beowulf transla...

What clothes would you have worn in the Middle Ages? What were the most fashionable hairstyles? How did your clothing denote social status? How did you wash your clothes?
In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis puts these questions to Sarah Grace Heller, associate professor in Medieval Frenc...

From the Baltics to the Balkans, from Prague to Kiev, Eastern Europe is more than the sum total of its annexations, invasions and independence declarations.  

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis meets Jacob Mikanowski, author of Goodbye Eastern Europe, to discuss what can be found out a...

There are few places more fascinating and evocative for Medieval enthusiasts than Saint George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis takes a special, out-of-hours tour around some of its extraordinary attractions with Michael Pitfield, Leadership Fellow at Wind...

Every historian dreams of hitting gold in the archives. Matt Lewis’s guest Dr. James Wade of Girton College, Cambridge has done just that.

James has uncovered a manuscript by cleric and tutor Richard Heege, which reports the routines of a medieval minstrel. It reads like a mixture of stand-up sc...

On this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Sir Tony Robinson — actor, author and presenter — who is now hosting his own podcast, Tony Robinson’s Cunningcast.

Sir Tony talks about how he has been making history fun, funny and accessible for decades, ranging across Black Adder, Time Tea...