The stories often told and retold of the early medieval period are those of great kings, battles and daring deeds. But ordinary people can often be harder to get at.

Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. Eleanor Barraclough to discuss how the once-lost little bits and pieces that survive - love letters carved into wood, combs and pots mainly from medieval rubbish dumps - provide windows into everyday Viking lives as they were lived.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and edited by Max Carrey. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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Vikings have long been depicted as that stereotype of the hairy, nameless warrior, leaping ashore from his longboat, ready to terrorise a hapless local population in a northern European country. But there were also seers, artisans, travellers, and writers, too whose stories can now be pieced together through the traces that they left behind.

Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Alex Harvey to bring to light new research and challenge our conventional understanding of the Viking era, which may not be as accurate as we thought or as the sagas would have us believe.

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and edited by Max Carrey. The producer is Rob Weinberg, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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For centuries, one English monarch basked in an almost unblemished, heroic reputation. But more recently questions have been asked about some of his actions. Was Henry V a great warrior king, or a vicious butcher - or both?

Matt Lewis is joined by Dan Jones to fill the gap between the Plantagenets and the Wars of the Roses with an examination of the relatively newly divisive figure, Henry V.

Clip of Shakespeare's Henry V from the 2013 Globe Theatre production, with Jamie Parker as Henry V.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and edited by Rob Weinberg. The producer is Joseph Knight, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’

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One of the enduring mysteries of the Viking Age is the identity of two people buried in a spectacular blood drenched ship in southern Norway in the autumn of 834. Why the mystery? Because these remains were of women accorded the most lavish Viking burial ever discovered.

Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Heather Pringle to discuss research that reveals how Viking women were warriors, traders, and leaders, and how their lives have been long overlooked by history.

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and edited by Ella Blaxill. The producer is Rob Weinberg, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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The Crusades still capture the imagination today, for all of their professed good intentions they were also bloody ideological wars.

But have we misunderstood some of the key sources for the First Crusade? The letters on record are not only from popes and bishops but also written by crusaders who were actually on the campaign.

Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. Thomas Smith, a leading historian of the Crusades, to learn more about what we might have previously missed.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and edited by Ella Blaxill. The producers are Joseph Knight and Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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In the year 940 in North-Eastern France, a young peasant girl began to experience vivid visions that mirrored the brutal conflict engulfing her world. Flothilde's visions were written down by one of the era's most respected historians, creating a unique record of how 'smallfolk' experienced the violent power struggles around them.

Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Fraser McNair, whose translation of the Visions of Flothilde reveals the horror that she experienced as her community was torn apart.

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and edited by Ella Blaxill. The producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

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For millions of Tolkien lovers around the world, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are more than just fantasy fiction. Their rich mix of sacred mythology and archetypal saga stories draw deeply into history and legend and profoundly resonate with universal human experience. But from where did Tolkien derive his inspiration? As with most things, Matt Lewis is determined to claim it as medieval, with the help of today's guest, Tolkien scholar Dr. Chris Snyder.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’

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It’s summer, so let’s kick back, give our brains a break and indulge in a little fantasy. Hollywood, like us, ADORES the medieval period and has made some stonking entertainment based on this period. Our esteemed historian hosts assess the most fun, the most accurate and the most absurd films set in medieval times and choose their favourite guilty pleasures.

Starring Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine, a rabble-rousing Chaucer and a cockney King Arthur. We also hear what medieval people would have made of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega. The editor is Ella Blaxill, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’: https://historyhit.com/subscription

You can take part in our listener survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK