1,900 miles west of South America and 1,250 miles from any other population centre, Easter Island - or Rapa Nui - is world famous for its monolithic stone statues. But new evidence indicates that the isle's infamous prehistoric 'societal collapse' may actually be a myth.

With the help of fresh t...

In 1216, at the adolescent age of nine, Henry became King Henry III of England. With his father, King John passing, right amid the First Barons’ War, Henry was left to inherit his mantle and all the chaos that came with it. But how did the young King rule the country? In this episode, Matt is joi...

Several large kingdoms were formed in the Viking-Age period, the best known settlements being in Ireland and York. Dublin became a thriving hub for western Viking expansion and trade. New discoveries of silver and other items show that traded commodities traveled vast distances, but how interconn...

The dynamics in everyday life in the Medieval period may seem drastically different compared to how we live today. From traditions, gender, power, and religion, advancements in the present seem rapid. But do we have more in common with those of the past than we realise? In this episode of Gone Me...

It's hard to imagine the familiar places around you disappearing forever. But all across Britain, there are once inhabited towns and buildings that disappeared under the sea, were decimated by plagues, or simply abandoned - leaving no trace of their existence. With discussions of the horrors of ...

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla has brought the Viking Age to life in stunning detail, and now the game is even being used as an educational tool!

Maxime Durand is World-Design Director at Ubisoft and the mind behind the hit franchise's Discovery Tour, which is a fun way to learn about history in the...

How would you rule an early medieval dynasty, knowing that every decision you make has consequences on entire societies for generations to come? Would you send your spymaster to dig around for secrets? Or champion honesty to keep your stress levels down? At least, with Crusader King III - an imme...

Missing manuscripts mean melancholy medievalists, mourning materials that might make mysteries manifest.

A gap in knowledge - both of stories and artefacts - provides a frustrating block when looking into the past. But, a new report, based on the use of statistics, is hoping to shine a light on ...

We've all heard epic tales of early medieval kings, but what about the queens? It doesn't get much more spectacularly brutal than Brunhild and Fredegund, two sixth century queens who fought a bloody civil war against one another that lasted no less than four decades.

The rival matriarchs also co...

24th of February 2022 marked the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This episode of Gone Medieval looks at the origins of its capital city, Kyiv, and how today it has become central to this ongoing conflict. Host Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. Olenka Pevny from the University of Cambridge. T...

The historic cathedral town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk may well be familiar to listeners to Gone Medieval - perhaps from our episode 'Saint Edmuntd: England's Lost King' or the town’s mention during our hunt for the 'Viking Great Heathen Army' on Dan Snow's History Hit. In its heyday, Bury St ...

1066 is a year carved into the history of western Europe. It radically transformed the cultural, political and built landscape of England in a way that is hard to overstate - and yet its immediate aftermath is often forgotten. By Domesday, just 20 years later, around 94 percent of England's land ...

Charlemagne is labelled by many as the most ambitious ruler in Europe prior to Napoleon - but what do we really know about him? A 46 year long rule beginning at the end of the 8th Century, responsible for a cultural and intellectual renaissance - what can we learn from the sources about Charlemag...

Throughout Medieval history, figures like Joan of Arc, Henry VIII, and William the Conqueror are commonly forefront when many think of the middle ages. However, some important figures and families are a mystery, and The Warenne Earls of Surrey are no exception. In this episode, Matt is joined by ...

Alfred the Great (r. 871-899) is without a doubt one of the best-known and most admired kings of early medieval England. We know quite a lot about his life, not least because he had a biography written about himself while he was still alive. However, we know very little about what happened to his...

Valentine's Day has become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love across the world. With the oldest surviving Valentine's letter confessing undying love being over 500 years old, we take a look at some extraordinary Valentine stories. In this special epi...

Justice; the principle that people receive that which they deserve. But what did this mean for women when dealing with Medieval Law? In today's episode of Gone Medieval, Cat is joined by historian and author Teresa Phipps as we draw upon legal records. Examining women's involvement in crime and t...

During the early hours of February 13 1322, disaster struck at the vast cathedral on the Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire, known now as the Ship of the Fens. At around three or four in the morning, the building's huge central tower collapsed with a mighty crash, falling where the monks had only rece...

To mark the US release of our very own Dr Cat Jarman’s incredible book River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads, sit back and relax as she takes us on a whistle-stop tour of her captivating Sunday Times bestseller.

From Sweden to Ukraine and from London to Con...

The Middle Ages were a period of exploration in medicine, but it didn't come without risk. The lack of understanding when it came to sanitation and cleanliness resulted in disaster and even death for many. But how far have we come? In this episode, Matt is joined by author Juliana Cummings who sp...

While Braveheart isn't known for its historical accuracy - there is one surprising fact it gets dramatically wrong. In the medieval period, the large foreboding horses often depicted riding into battle, were actually no bigger than a modern day pony. This week Cat is joined by Oliver Creighton an...

If you've watched a film or TV show about vikings recently, you may well have noticed a distinctive hairstyle featuring an undercut and a ponytail. But is this actually a realistic depiction? And, do we really know much about viking hair at all?

Luckily, we certainly know a lot about viking groo...

If you travelled back in time to the Medieval period this very second, do you think you would survive? The short answer is probably not. If you weren't wearing a hat, wore glasses on the street, or even laced your corset in the wrong way, things would go south for you very quickly. Luckily, this ...

The Kingdom of the Franks was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe, ruled by the Franks during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. But how did it fare against Viking attacks? From the changes in travel, early raids, exports, and trades, we look at this kingdom and its ...