Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEirene: The Monstrous Empress of Byzantium?
Season 1 Episode 126
In this episode, we’ll hear about one of the most chilling rulers of Byzantium – the empress Eirene. She was Byzantium’s only empress to take on the …
8 months ago
The Forgotten Heroes of Byzantium
Season 1 Episode 125
In the first half of the eighth century, Byzantium stemmed the Arab advance into Europe. Critical to this achievement were two emperors: Leo III and …
8 months, 2 weeks ago
Byzantium: The Empire That Refused To Die
Season 1 Episode 124
In this episode we turn east to consider Byzantium. We last spoke about the eastern Romans, or the Byzantines, in episode 113 when I described the em…
9 months ago
The Origins of the Holy Roman Empire
Season 1 Episode 123
The final political legacy of the Roman Empire in western Europe was the Holy Roman Empire.
Amazingly, this curious political institution lasted unti…
9 months, 2 weeks ago
The Vikings
Season 1 Episode 122
The Vikings transformed European history, impacted the worlds of both Byzantium and the Abbasid Caliphate, and even, some 500 years before Christophe…
10 months ago
The Fall of the Frankish Empire
Episode 121
Charlemagne created the largest empire in western Europe since the Romans. But it didn’t last. Within only a few decades of his death, it had broken …
10 months, 2 weeks ago
Charlemagne's Empire
Season 1 Episode 120
In this and the next episode, I want to look beyond the legend of Charlemagne to find the real man and his achievements and failings. His legend has …
10 months, 4 weeks ago
The Rise of the Carolingians
Season 1 Episode 119
In this episode, we explore how the Carolingians rose to become the dynasty that would claim to be the inheritors of Rome.
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11 months, 1 week ago
The Battle of Tours, AD 732
Season 1 Episode 118
In this episode, I’m going to focus on one of the most famous battles in history: the battle of Tours, or Poitiers as it’s sometimes called, in 732. …
11 months, 3 weeks ago
The Slow Death of the Merovingians
Season 1 Episode 117
In modern France, the Frankish king, Clovis, is often celebrated as the first French king. But Clovis’ Merovingian dynasty was in fact destined to fa…
1 year ago