Medieval
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Exploring the Medieval Afterlife with Eleanor Janega
Ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night! Dr Eleanor Janega delves into the medieval phantasmic to find out what their restless dead can tell us about the worries of the living. Because if we want to understand what makes another society tick, it helps to take a look at what makes them...
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Saving Timbuktu's Manuscripts
For centuries the city of Timbuktu was famed as a golden metropolis situated on the southern fringes of the Sahara; tales of its immense wealth and its reputation as a key centre of learning obsessed travellers and adventurers for many hundreds of years. Timbuktu certainly has one of the most ill...
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The Vikings in the Vicarage
The Viking dig in the grounds of St Wystan Church in Repton is one of the most important Viking sites of modern times. Recently new research has brought to light new information which further elevates the significance of the site and redefines our knowledge of the Great Heathen Army. The Great He...
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Richard the Lionheart's Castle: Château Gaillard
Prof Michael Livingstone investigates Richard the Lionheart's medieval super fortress.
At the end of the 12th century, tensions between England and France were growing. The two kings, the ambitious Philippe II of France and the warrior Richard the Lionheart of England, had once been great allies...
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The Princes in the Tower: The Mystery of the Brothers York
Wars of the Roses historian Matt Lewis visits the Tower of London to talk through one of the building’s greatest mysteries: the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower. He talks through the possibility that the two young boys were not murdered on King Richard III's orders, but in fact survived ...
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Peasants' Revolt - Part Two: London's Burning
In part two we investigate the fiery and frenetic days following 13th June 1381. With huge numbers of peasants having gathered around London... things were about to turn violent.
We follow their footsteps as they cross London Bridge and enter the city. Destruction starts quickly as they begin t...
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Gwrych Castle: Catastrophe to Celebrity
Over November and December 2020, Gwrych Castle in North Wales is to become the most famous castle in the UK. It is in this castle that I'm a Celebrity is being filmed. But there is so much more to Gwrych than simply hosting the 20th series of I'm a Celebrity. The Castle's history is fascinating, ...
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Finding the Lost Battlefield of Brunanburh
The Battle of Brunanburh was one of the bloodiest and biggest battles of early medieval history. Fought 1100 years ago, Athelstan - the king of the English - opposed a coalition of Irish, Scots, Northumbrians and Vikings and won a decisive victory. The enemy shield wall was penetrated. Their troo...
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Temple Church and William the Marshal
Just east of where the Strand turns into Fleet Street in London, there is a small stone archway. Walking through it, one stumbles across a hidden world – one that is leafy, serene and historic. Most of the people who wind their way here don’t realise that the whole area was actually the stronghol...