Medieval History Episodes

A guest episode telling the story of legendary Welsh figure: Llywelyn the Great.

Guest Episode: The Battle of Stamford Bridge (Cauldron Military History)

In this special episode I'm joined by Professor Emanuel Buttigieg from The University Of Malta! The Professor shares with me the fascinating story of The Siege Of Candia that took place over a whopping 21 years starting in 1648. The siege pitted The Knights Hospitaller against the…

"He bore the impending demise of his religion, culture and way of life" Boabdil had earned his bloody throne. But there was little time to celebrate. As the armies of Christendom camped outside the last Islamic stronghold in Spain, its citizens knew the end of their world would come soon. …

"Stop, stop! Don't kill him you fool, that's the Moorish King!" Boabdil's path to the throne had not been easy. He had been pressured into overthrowing his father by his mother and was captured during his first battle. After being forced to swear an oath of loyalty to The Christian King Fer…

"You cry like a woman, for what you couldn't defend as a man" Boabdil was heir to a dying kingdom. In the 15th century, Granada was the last Muslim state in Spain. For 250 years it survived, living in the shadow of the Christian kingdoms. But that all changed after the marria…

"In Spain's rich history, El Cid is remembered above all others". El Cid was down but not out! After sacking King Alfonso's lands he was in exile, barred from returning to his home and family. But, his deeds had made him famous and he soon found employment in the pay of al-Mu'taman, …

"...This man, the scourge of his time, by his appetite for glory, by the prudent steadfastness of his character, and by his heroic bravery: Was one of the miracles of God". -Ibn Bassam (11th Century Poet) on El Cid El Cid was a knight in 11th century Spain. Growing up in the borderlands bet…

"In this tiny mountain hamlet, history was about to be made." In 722AD a Muslim army marched into the frosty mountains of Asturias. They were searching for the last holdout of Christian resistance, led by a shadowy figure named Pelayo. Since the fall of his kingdom a decade earlier, Pelayo …

The Welsh have risen! Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion has swept across the the British Isles. As Welsh apprentices abroad down their tools and return home to heed the call, The Prince Of Wales secures an alliance with one of the most powerful Monarch's in Europe. Meanwhile, a charismatic English …

We tell the story of Owain Glyndŵr, a Welsh nobleman who sparked a rebellion against the English king in the late 14th century. Glyndŵr’s army was small, but determined, and they managed to win several key battles against the English. However, their ultimate goal was always to unite Wales and t…

Eric The Red was a Norwegian farmer in the 10th century. After finding himself incompatible with the rules of civilisation he sailed west looking for a new place to call home in the frigid wastes of Greenland. Now, the ruins of a tiny stone church are the only reminder of his colony that had onc…

After a humiliating defeat, Alfred retreats to the swamps of Wessex and desperately tries to pickup the pieces of his shattered kingdom. Meanwhile, Viking Warlord Guthrum recruits more Danes to help subdue the troublesome realm. The fate of England balances on the edge of a knife...

Alfred was the ruler of the Kingdom of Wessex in the 9th century. As the rest of England fell to Viking invaders he won a string of miraculous victories and pushed back the heathens. It seemed God stood with him, but for how long?

Abu Tahir was the leader of a mystical offshoot of mainstream Islam known as 'The Qarmatians'. He created a kind of 'proto-communist' enclave on the Arabian peninsula, and successfully defended it from the Abbasid Caliphate. But soon his hatred of Orthodox Islam would drive him to do somethin…