Byzantium: The Empire That Refused To Die
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 emperor Leo III’s victory in the winter of 717/718 ov...
22 Nov 202521min
The Origins of the Holy Roman Empire
The final political legacy of the Roman Empire in western Europe was the Holy Roman Empire. Amazingly, this curious political institution lasted until Napoleon abolished it in 1806. In the eighteenth...
8 Nov 202526min
The Vikings
The Vikings transformed European history, impacted the worlds of both Byzantium and the Abbasid Caliphate, and even, some 500 years before Christopher Columbus, discovered North America. In this epis...
25 Okt 202526min
The Fall of the Frankish Empire
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 up and one half of it was fighting for its survival...
11 Okt 202526min
Charlemagne's Empire
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 made him into a symbol of power and authority as we...
27 Sep 202525min
The Rise of the Carolingians
In this episode, we explore how the Carolingians rose to become the dynasty that would claim to be the inheritors of Rome. mosaic: Exploring Jewish Issuesmosaic is Jewish Federation of Palm Beach Cou...
13 Sep 202525min
The Battle of Tours, AD 732
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. It’s famous because some historians think it stoppe...
30 Aug 202525min
The Slow Death of the Merovingians
In modern France, the Frankish king, Clovis, is often celebrated as the first French king. But Clovis’ Merovingian dynasty was in fact destined to fade and die. In its place, there arose a new dynasty...
16 Aug 202524min
