Medieval churches are among our most enduring links with the Middle Ages. But it's not always easy to understand what parts of a church to look out for and what they can tell us about the people who built them.

Dr. Eleanor Janega finds out how to achieve enlightenment through the very bricks and mortar of a medieval church from Andrew Ziminski, author of Church Going: A Stonemason's Guide to the Churches of the British Isles.

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and edited by Jo Troy. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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Castles in Medieval Britain didn't just serve a military purpose, they were central to the social and cultural life of society. In the second episode of Gone Medieval's special series telling the story of castles, Matt Lewis looks at how castles were built by turning the spotlight on Conwy Castle in North Wales. Built as part of Edward I's campaign to consolidate his control over Wales, Conwy's unique construction and architectural innovations had an enduring influence on castle design across the whole of Europe.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. The producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Listen to the first episode in this series, The Rise of British Castles, here >

Matt Lewis's video series Castles That Made Britain is available to watch on History Hit. Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’

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At the edge of the Gobi Desert, Dunhuang was once a bustling oasis on the famous Silk Road connecting China and the Mediterranean. For more than 1000 years, Dunhuang was an important pilgrimage site and a cultural melting pot where ideas, technologies and art flowed freely - encompassing multiple languages, faiths and cultures - and spanning literature, astronomy, medicine, politics and art.

Dr. Eleanor Janega goes to the British Library and meets curator Mélodie Doumy to get a rare glimpse into life in Dunhuang in a new exhibition of manuscripts, documents and artworks which remained sealed for nearly 900 years. 

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. The editor is Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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For the Plantagenets, family might be a curse as often as a boon. They could provide invaluable support, or dangerous rivalry. At the end of the 14th century, the relationship between two first cousins rocked England, ruptured the line of succession and had a long legacy.

Helen Castor joins Matt Lewis to discuss the fascinating true story of cousins who became deadly rivals.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. The editor is Ella Blaxill and the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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Castles. For centuries they have held fast across the landscape of the British Isles. Like beacons on a hill they project power in stone and wood. But where did these quintessentially medieval strongholds come from? And how were they put to use?

All this month on Gone Medieval, Dr Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis are embarking on a new six-part series exploring the story of Britain's great castles: how they were built, how they survived assault and what they represented to the peoples that lived nearby.

In this episode Eleanor is joined by medieval historian and all-round castles expert Marc Morris to discover the origins of castles in the British Isles, unpack the anatomy of a typical medieval castle and encounter perhaps the greatest castle England has ever seen: Dover.

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and produced by Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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Bonfires of paperwork have accompanied human upheaval for centuries, eradicating, making space for rewriting. Imagine standing in the centre of Paris as revolutionaries sweep away the old ways along with the ashes of centuries of records and memories.

Matt Lewis is joined by Professor Robert Bartlett to consider how much of what we might have known about the past has been consumed by the fires of revolution and war, and how close we were to losing every word of Beowulf.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and edited by Ella Blaxill. The producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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If you’ve ever been to Prague, you’ll have noticed that there are many places and institutions that bear the name Charles - all of them because Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV was responsible for their creation. Furthermore, almost every great medieval building you’ve seen in Prague was commissioned by him. But Charles IV was also an incredibly skilled politician, and a devoted religious man who sought relentlessly to restore the glory of the Empire, and the papacy to Rome from Avignon.

In this explainer episode, Dr. Eleanor Janega tells the story of this man whose rise to power was a bit of a surprise, given his humble origins.

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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The stories often told and retold of the early medieval period are those of great kings, battles and daring deeds. But ordinary people can often be harder to get at.

Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. Eleanor Barraclough to discuss how the once-lost little bits and pieces that survive - love letters carved into wood, combs and pots mainly from medieval rubbish dumps - provide windows into everyday Viking lives as they were lived.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and edited by Max Carrey. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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Vikings have long been depicted as that stereotype of the hairy, nameless warrior, leaping ashore from his longboat, ready to terrorise a hapless local population in a northern European country. But there were also seers, artisans, travellers, and writers, too whose stories can now be pieced together through the traces that they left behind.

Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Alex Harvey to bring to light new research and challenge our conventional understanding of the Viking era, which may not be as accurate as we thought or as the sagas would have us believe.

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and edited by Max Carrey. The producer is Rob Weinberg, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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For centuries, one English monarch basked in an almost unblemished, heroic reputation. But more recently questions have been asked about some of his actions. Was Henry V a great warrior king, or a vicious butcher - or both?

Matt Lewis is joined by Dan Jones to fill the gap between the Plantagenets and the Wars of the Roses with an examination of the relatively newly divisive figure, Henry V.

Clip of Shakespeare's Henry V from the 2013 Globe Theatre production, with Jamie Parker as Henry V.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and edited by Rob Weinberg. The producer is Joseph Knight, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’

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One of the enduring mysteries of the Viking Age is the identity of two people buried in a spectacular blood drenched ship in southern Norway in the autumn of 834. Why the mystery? Because these remains were of women accorded the most lavish Viking burial ever discovered.

Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Heather Pringle to discuss research that reveals how Viking women were warriors, traders, and leaders, and how their lives have been long overlooked by history.

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and edited by Ella Blaxill. The producer is Rob Weinberg, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

You can take part in our listener survey here: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK