Medieval Madness
Episodes
14 episodes
Surviving Summer in the Middle Ages...
For the Medievals, summer was a time of celebration for all classes. Perhaps the best time of the year for social gatherings. But work still had to be carried out in the fields and summer was also a time of heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, plagu...
What Did Medieval People Think of UFOs & Alien Life?
In the West, the Middle Ages was a superstitious time, a time when what was real and unreal became blurred. Dragons, witches, basilisks, and zombies were just some of the beasts that offered an ever-present threat to Christian society.
Cats During The Medieval Times...
The Egyptians treated them with reverence and adoration having, first domesticated them 4,000 years ago. Since then the small, carnivorous mammals have played a major part in religion, folklore, art, and community health across the world. Howev...
The Medieval Robbery Your School Didn't Teach You About...
In 1303, Westminster was an important place. West from the City of London, it was protected by its own walls and gates. Westminster Palace was there, which was once the main residence of the kings of England. On the evening of the 12th of May, ...
The Medieval Blood Ritual You Didn't Learn About in School...
The 22nd of March 1144 was Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. Outside the city walls, the forester Henry de Sprowston was riding through Thorpe Wood on the outskirts of Norwich, England. Among other things, Henry was looking for thieves, who...
Surviving Life as a Woman of the Medieval Crusades...
Going on a Medieval Crusade was a male mission, a military enterprise in which only men could fight. Obviously, the women stayed home and did womanly things while their dashing, knightly husbands rode off and defended the Holy Land. Right? Wron...
The Most Feared Building of The Middle Ages...
The White Tower, as it was originally known, was a fortress-stronghold built by the first Norman king, William the Conqueror. It was intended to protect against foreign invasion and intimidate the citizens of London in equal measure. But the To...
Surviving Life During The Mongol Empire...
From an insignificant tribal clan, the Mongols seemed to come out of nowhere to rule over the greatest empire in the world, before disappearing just as quickly three centuries later. Their lands reached out across the Mediterranean to the Pacif...
The Medieval Welshman Who HATED The English...
Born in 1359, Owain was the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales and fought for 15 years against English rule. He led successful sieges and battlefield victories to establish an independent Welsh State, refusing to ever give u...
How to Survive The 'Battle of Bannockburn' as a Medieval Soldier...
It was a spectacular win for Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots, over the two days of the 23rd and 24th of June 1314. Just like the triumph of Agincourt, which was to follow 100 years later, the Battle of Bannockburn was a win for the underdog...
Surviving Life as a Medieval Princess...
We often think of Medieval princesses in terms of fairy tales - as beautiful young ladies waiting around, in their tall pointy hats, for some knight to come along and rescue them from a tower. But the reality was far less romantic. Let’s travel...
Medieval Palaces That Have Been Lost To Time...
There are many medieval ruins scattered throughout England and the landscape is full of crumbling abbeys that were left to deteriorate after Henry VIII’s reformation. But there are also quite a few, little-known palaces, that were once magnific...
Why You Wouldn't Survive 2 Minutes in a Medieval Prison...
For hundreds of years, for whatever reason, whether innocent or guilty, men, women, and children have found themselves in prison. Imagine travelling back to the Middle Ages and spending time inside one of those “unregulated, frequently packed ....
The Wonderful World of Alchemy During The Middle Ages...
The word alchemy conjures up images of the occult, of dark laboratories and secretive wizard-like figures hunched over bubbling cauldrons. As well as trying to discover the philosopher’s stone, said to be the elixir of life and immortality, the...