With a history stretching back thousands of years, it’s about time that the Ancients started looking at the extraordinary Maya civilisation in Central America. Even with a range of sources that survive, many aspects of these ancient peoples remains debated and shrouded in mystery. This is especia...

Rome saw some of the most gruesome battles in the Late Republic as violence had gotten out of control, aided by the escapades of Titus Annius Milo and Clodius Pulcher. A feud of large portions, that ultimately lead to murder, but what were the events leading up to this brutal killing. And amongst...

People of a multitude of cultures, religions, and cultures around the world have long travelled vast distances as forms of pilgrimage. But why would people undergo a pilgrimage? And why do some send people in their honour? In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt is joined by Architectural Historia...

As the Nazi war machine rampaged across Europe it did not just take territory and resources from its conquests but also many thousands of pieces of art and other antiquities. Stolen from both galleries and individual victims of Nazi crimes allied troops discovered hidden caches of priceless artwo...

In September 1952 Mahmood Hussein Mattan became the last to be hanged at Cardiff Prison, but Mahmood had in fact been framed by the police and 45 years later his conviction was quashed. Mahmood had been a merchant seaman who had ended up settling in Cardiff and marrying a Welsh woman called Laura...

The tragic events of 9/11 left thousands dead and injured and the impact of that loss is still being felt twenty years later by the families. It was also a day of extraordinary escapes as thousands more fled the twin towers after the planes hit. In this podcast, we both remember those people who ...

On the morning of September 11th, 2001 terrorists flew planes into both the World Trade Centre towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington with a further plane crashing in Pennsylvania as the passengers onboard attempted to wrest control of the aircraft from the hijackers. This atrocity utt...

Witchcraft has a plethora of negative connotations attached to it. Being accused and found guilty of this in the Middle Ages could be fatal, but could it also be used as a political tool that even members of the royal family could not avoid? Matt is joined by author and Historian Gemma Hollman to...

Ragnor Lothbrook is a legendary Viking figure who straddled the line between myth and reality. His adventures and deeds appear in the Viking sagas, but there is little hard evidence for his existence and according to the different sagas he dies on multiple different occasions and in a variety of ...

We’ve covered bloody battles, we’ve covered stunning cities, we’ve covered civilisations far away from the ancient Mediterranean. But in some 120 episodes of The Ancients we hadn’t covered one of the most popular topics in the world: sex. That is, until now. In today’s episode, strap yourself in ...

A 23-carat gold coin, worth £12,000 in today's money. The leopard coin was part of Edward III's unsuccessful attempt to institute a gold currency. But did this coinage make more of an impact than we know? Matt is joined by Dr. Helen Geake, archaeologist and Finds Liaison Officer in Norfolk for Th...

In October 1919 President Woodrow Wilson suffered a massive stroke leaving him paralyzed and partially blind. In the face of this crisis of leadership the First Lady, Edith Wilson stepped in to conceal the extent of his illness. Edith acted as his gatekeeper deciding whom Woodrow Wilson saw, what...

It's often assumed that women played a passive role in Medieval society. But did women hold more power than we know? When a richly furnished grave at a Viking burial site was recently discovered to be the final resting place of a woman, not a man, it stunned many archaeologists and challenged the...

The Vikings are remembered fundamentally as seafaring people, and how could they be so if not for their ships? In this episode, Cat speaks to a world expert on Viking ships, Professor Jan Bill, who introduces us to the incredible remains of a Viking ship discovered in a field in Gjellestad, Norwa...

The Norman conquest of England in 1066 was one of the great milestones of English history but there were in fact many Norman invasions and their influence reached from Northern Europe through the Mediterranean and into the Middle East and North Africa. They were a phenomenon emerging in the tenth...

In 83/84 AD a battle was fought somewhere in Scotland between the Roman forces of Gnaeus Julius Agricola and the 'Caledonians' – the great climax to Agricola’s campaigns in Northern Britain. Details of the clash are few and far between, with our sole literary source for the event being the writin...

Do the 21st Century and the Middle Ages really share that much in common? Climate change, pandemics, technological disruption, interconnected global trade and networks may all seem like modern phenomena but according to historian and author Dan Jones, they were very part of the Middles Ages as we...

Churchill is one of the great figures of history and this totemic figure is often cited as one of the greatest British figures of all time. However, whilst his achievement during the dark days of the Second World War is unquestionable, much of the rest of his career had much more to do with failu...

On September 1 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland followed two days later by France and the United Kingdom declaring war on Germany and beginning the Second World War. This was the opening act in what would be the most devastating clash in human history. By its end Europe and much of Asia lay in ru...

With Christianity dominating Europe, the Church became one of the most powerful institutions in Britain during the Medieval period and its places of worship played a crucial role in the focal points of people's lives, from birth to death. But as populations declined in areas within the UK, so did...

Roman camps have now been discovered across the former empire, but Britain boasts a wealth of them. To discuss the different types of camps and how we can tell them apart, Tristan spoke to Dr Rebecca Jones of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Rebecca explai...

Vaccines have become a subject of great controversy in recent months but the requirement to have them is far from new. Almost since the earliest examples of inoculation and vaccination, they have been a requirement for different parts of society. Dan is joined by Dr Lindsay Chervinsky, a historia...

Many of us use Bluetooth technology every day, but know nothing or little of its namesake. And there is little to be known of the King of Denmark Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, except that he is credited with introducing Christianity to Denmark. In this episode, Søren Sindbæk explains what we do kn...

Over six decades John Simpson has been on the frontline of reporting bringing news from some of the most dangerous places on the planet to the television screens of millions of people. His work has opened the public's eyes to the terrible cost of conflict across the globe. Along the way, John has...