What could drive a pope to put a corpse on trial?

In 897, Rome staged one of the Middle Ages’ strangest spectacles: the Cadaver Synod, where Pope Stephen VI exhumed his predecessor and put his body on trial. Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Jessica Wärnberg to unpack the violent politics behind the outrage, the rival factions at stake, and why this gruesome event still fascinates today.

MORE

Conclave: Picking Popes

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. It was edited by 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 and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

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

How did a widowed mother transform loss, politics and misogyny into one of the most accomplished literary careers in medieval history?

From the Parisian court to contemporaneously telling the story of Joan of Arc, Christine de Pizan was Europe’s first professional woman writer and publisher. Matt Lewis is joined by Katherine Pangonis to explore her extraordinary life and uncover the story of one of history's most formidable writers.

MORE

Trial of Joan of Arc

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Julian of Norwich

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

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.

Did Constantinople’s fall in 1453 end the Byzantine Empire as neatly as we think?

Dr. Eleanor Janega and Dr. Laura Bolick unpack the Empire's dramatic final years and reveal a story far more complex than simple decline. Through the lives of Isidore of Kiev and Bessarion, they explore desperate diplomacy, church union, Ottoman expansion, and the political gambles behind the demise of Constantinople.

MORE

The Rise of Constantinople with Bettany Hughes

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

The Fall of Constantinople

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. 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.

Was Offa a tyrant whose reputation was forever tainted by the killing of his prospective son-in-law? Or a visionary ruler whose achievements have been overshadowed by legend?

Offa is largely known for murderous acts and building a dyke. But he was so much more: a great leader who reshaped Mercia into the dominant power in southern Britain, and pioneered new models of kingship that would influence generations.

Matt Lewis talks to Professor Rory Naismith, to rehabilitate Offa and challenge the way we understand power in early medieval England.

MORE

Rise of Mercia

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Rise of Wessex

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

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.

Who would pick a fight with the Pope?? Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega dive into the explosive clash between Pope Boniface VIII and Philip IV of France, a head of state who dared to challenge papal power. From taxes and excommunication to arrest and humiliation, this is a gripping story of ambition, authority, and the Avignon Papacy.

MORE

Pope Vs. Emperor: An 11th Century Crisis

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Holy Roman Empire

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

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.

Was Richard the Lionheart really England’s greatest medieval hero? Or is he one of history’s most successful myths, more heroic in legend than in life?

Over eight centuries, Richard has handled Excalibur, been celebrated in medieval romance, reinvented in novels and films, and even transformed into a character in Assassin’s Creed.

Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. Heather Blurton to dig into the myths of Richard the Lionheart and ask why they endured and what they reveal about the societies that needed Richard to be larger than life.

MORE

King Henry II

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

King John: Worst Medieval Monarch?

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producers are Joseph Knight and 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.

What's the best cure for a hangover? What's the most effective way to curse your enemies? How do you keep demonic powers at bay?

The medieval Celtic world was filled with magic which became absorbed and restructured within a Christian worldview, as saints, prayers, and sacred objects replaced earlier supernatural beings, incantations, charms and talismans.

Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Brigid Ehrmantraut to find out how people in the medieval Celtic world coherently integrated magic into their daily lives.

MORE

Lizard Shampoo, Potions and Remedies

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Prophecies of Merlin

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producers are Joseph Knight and 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.

What makes an Archbishop one of the most hated figures in British history? And does Thomas Arundel truly deserve to be branded the greatest villain of 15th-century Britain?

Matt Lewis and Professor Chris Given-Wilson explore the life, power, and legacy of a man whose influence reached deep into the politics, religion, and royal struggles of late medieval England, and ask whether he was truly a villain or a far more complex figure than history has remembered.

MORE:

Richard II vs. Henry IV

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Plantagenets at War: A Fight for the Throne

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

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.