Gone Medieval

History Hit

From long-lost Viking ships to kings buried in unexpected places; from murders and power politics, to myths, religion, the lives of ordinary people: Gone Medieval is History Hit’s podcast dedicated to the middle ages, in Europe and far beyond.

  • 45 minutes 3 seconds
    The Women Who Ruled Medieval Burgundy, and Europe

    What if the most powerful warlords in medieval Europe were women?

    From wine country to empire, Burgundy’s Duchesses brokered marriages, bullied rivals, made kings and emperors, and ruled vast lands in their own right. Dr Eleanor Janega is joined by Susan Abernethy to uncover the formidable women behind one of Europe’s wealthiest, most sophisticated courts.


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    The Two Hundred Years War

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    The Real Eleanor of Aquitaine

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Tim Arstall, the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    31 March 2026, 2:00 am
  • 1 hour 6 minutes
    A Complete History of Medieval Ireland

    What happens when a kidnapped teenager returns to the land of his captors to change it forever? Dr Eleanor Janega and James Hawes romp through medieval Ireland, as St Patrick’s mission unfolds against an Ireland of raiding Vikings, clashing warlords and coastal towns under siege, culminating in the thunderous showdown at the Battle of Clontarf. Dive into an age of monasteries, longships and Gaelic resilience to unpick a thousand years of Irish history.


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    Castle and Conquests of Ireland

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    Supernatural Medieval Ireland

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Dr Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    27 March 2026, 3:00 am
  • 51 minutes 33 seconds
    1066 New Discovery: The Myth of Harold's March

    What if one of the most famous stories in English history never happened? What if King Harold did not march his exhausted troops 200 miles before the Battle of Hastings?

    Matt Lewis is joined by Professor Tom Licence whose explosive research argues that King Harold’s legendary march never happened, revealing a far more sophisticated Anglo-Saxon military strategy than always thought. So how did Harold get to Hastings? And how does this discovery change our understanding of the Norman Conquest? 


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    Harold Godwinson

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    Battle of Hastings

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    24 March 2026, 3:00 am
  • 52 minutes 18 seconds
    Viking Scotland: The Siege of Dumbarton

    What happens when Vikings stop raiding and start laying siege to a mighty rock fortress on the Clyde?

    Matt Lewis is joined by Todd Ferguson to uncover the four-month Viking siege of Dumbarton in 870, exploring why this Brittonic stronghold mattered so much, how its fall reshaped Strathclyde, and how these events fed into the long, messy road towards a more unified Scotland


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    The Viking Great Army in Britain

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    What Caused the Viking Age?

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producers are Rob Weinberg and Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    20 March 2026, 3:00 am
  • 57 minutes 22 seconds
    Early Medieval Croatia

    What if everything you think you know about medieval Croatia is wrong?

    Dr Eleanor Janega is joined by Professor Florin Curta to uncover how Dalmatia’s coastal cities defied “Dark Age” collapse, why Slavic identity may have been a political invention, and how frontiers became homelands in a zone contested by Franks, Byzantines, Venetians and Hungarians. Discover the extraordinary archives, churches and cultures that made medieval Croatia uniquely complex.


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    The Hussite Wars: Crusades Against Bohemia

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    Teutonic Knights

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Tim Arstall, the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    16 March 2026, 12:00 am
  • 1 hour 36 minutes
    The Mongols and the Fall of the Crusaders

    In the mid‑13th century, the Mongols seemed unstoppable until a former slave‑soldier stood in their way. Mamluk Sultan Qutuz of Egypt defied an empire that had crushed Baghdad and Syria, and began the beginning of the end of the Crusader States.

    Matt Lewis and Nicholas Morton uncover how Mongol conquests shattered the Crusader world, set Louis IX’s doomed crusade in motion, and paved the way for the Mamluks to end the era of the Crusader states forever.


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    Mongol Empire

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    Genghis Khan's Pax Mongolica

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    13 March 2026, 3:00 am
  • 1 hour 21 minutes
    Crusaders in Crisis: The Rebel Emperor & the Siege of Constantinople

    Crusading in the 13th century was brutal, chaotic and transformative. Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by historian Dr. Tom Smith to uncover failed campaigns, papal ambition, the sack of Constantinople, and Frederick II’s extraordinary treaty for Jerusalem.


    Expect extraordinary battles, medieval flamethrowers, nunchucks and too much French wine – revealing a crusading movement tearing itself apart.


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    Emperor Frederick II: The Scourge of the Papacy

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    The Rise of Constantinople

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    10 March 2026, 3:00 am
  • 49 minutes 27 seconds
    How Islam came to Iran

    How did Islam first take root on Iranian soil? What did medieval Iran - or Persia - look like before and afterwards? How do those early encounters still echo through Iranian society today? 

    The roots of the present-day tensions in Iran are much deeper than just the last 47 years following the Islamic Revolution. To understand more, Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. Khodadad Rezakhani.


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    Medieval Europe's Encounter with Islam

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    Prophet Muhammad

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Audio editor is Tim Arstall, the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    8 March 2026, 3:00 am
  • 1 hour 8 minutes
    The Crusades: Battle for the Holy Land

    Today we dive into the Second and Third Crusades with major players Eleanor of Aquitaine, Saladin and the bold entrance of Richard the Lionheart. Matt Lewis is joined by Dr Natasha Hodgson to trace the twelfth century struggle for the Holy Land.


    They explore the wildly successful campaigns and disastrous battles such as the Field of Blood, royal marital struggles and pilgrims dragged into fighting with no more than a pot on their heads.


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    The Hospitallers: Warrior Monks

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    What Are The High Middle Ages?

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    6 March 2026, 3:00 am
  • 1 hour 27 minutes
    The First Crusade: The Road to Jerusalem

    In 1095, Pope Urban II’s fiery sermon lit the fuse for a so‑called holy war in the Holy Land. In the first episode of a new series, Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis unpack the First Crusades, when this Christian armies fought against Muslim lords for possession of the arid deserts of the Holy Land. 

    What spurred thousands upon thousands of medieval Christians, noble and poor alike, to abandon their homes and risk their lives? Find out how this blood-soaked epic reshaped the medieval world.


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    Women Crusaders

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    Medieval Jerusalem

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    3 March 2026, 3:00 am
  • 56 minutes 9 seconds
    Scotland's Medieval Queens

    Scotland’s history is filled with war, betrayal, political intrigue. At the heart of it were powerful Queens; from saintly rulers to strategic alliances, the women behind the throne were anything but passive.


    Matt Lewis is joined by historian Sharon Bennett Connolly to explore the remarkable life of Saint Margaret of Scotland, the political challenges faced by Queen Margaret of England, and the resilience of Elizabeth de Burgh, second wife of Robert the Bruce, who played a pivotal role in Scotland’s fight for independence.


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    The Real Lady Macbeth with Val McDermid

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    Women Crusaders

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    Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. It was edited by Amy Haddow, the producers are Rob Weinberg and Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

    Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 


    You can take part in our listener survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    27 February 2026, 3:00 am
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