Episode 92: The Lion Kings
During the Middle Ages, lions were adopted as symbols of European royalty. Many monarchs also acquired nicknames related to lions. That included Richard the Lionheart. In this episode, we explore the ...
29 Mar 201751min
Episode 91: Traders and Traitors
During the Crusades, Christian forces and Muslim forces traded blows in the Holy Land. At the same time, Europeans and Arabs traded goods through an extensive trading network that passed through the ...
8 Mar 20171h 17min
Episode 90: Healers, Hospitals and Holy Wars
In this episode, we turn our attention to the Near East to explore the spread of Islam and the rise of Muslim science in the Middle Ages. This scientific and literary revolution in the Near East cont...
15 Feb 201759min
Episode 89: ‘I Before E’ and All That
During the Middle English period, scribes developed a variety of spelling innovations to distinguish the sound of the various vowels. Some of those innovations were borrowed from French, and some were...
23 Jan 201751min
Episode 88: The Long and Short of It
The Middle English document called the Ormulum is a goldmine for historical linguists because the text explicitly indicated how the vowel sounds in the text were to be pronounced. The text was writte...
4 Jan 201753min
Episode 87: The First Spelling Reformers
Following the Norman Conquest of England, the French-educated scribes encountered the English language used by the Anglo-Saxons. The new scribes discovered unfamiliar letters and strange spellings. Ea...
7 Des 201655min
Episode 86: Family of Rebels
The final years of Henry II’s reign were consumed with putting down rebellions. Those rebels included Henry’s sons and wife. In this episode, we explore Henry’s family of rebels. We also examine the ...
15 Nov 201649min
Episode 85: How to Run an Empire
The massive realm of Henry II extended from southern France through the British Isles. The administration of the so-called “Angevin Empire” required an extensive bureaucracy. In this episode, we exami...
24 Okt 201659min
