In this podcast Professor Rebecca Rist of the University of Reading provides an overview of medieval Europe and the Near East on the eve of the First Crusade.

In this podcast Professor Peter Frankopan, University of Oxford, looks at the causes of the First Crusade through Eastern sources (Greek, Syriac, Armenian, Arabic and Hebrew), rather than Western (Latin) sources. Professor Frankopan discusses the different interpretations these sources provide and highlights the key role of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and the rapid...

In modern times, occultists have spoken of a specifically western tradition of ceremonial magic, which has been continuously handed down through the millennia, in secret, from an original starting point in ancient Egypt. Although professional historians have become increasingly interested in the history of magic in general, there has not...

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, also called Five Dynasties, was an era of political upheaval in 10th-century imperial China. During this period, five states quickly succeeded one another in the Chinese Central Plain, while more than a dozen concurrent states were established elsewhere, mainly in south China. Traditionally,...

In this podcast Lance Pursey, Chen Xue and Jonathan Dugdale of the University of Birmingham look at the culture, influence and the significance of the Tang Dynasty (618-907)

In this podcast Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith gives an outline of events and causes of the First Crusade.

An HA Podcasted History of the Rise of an Islamic Civilisation featuring Dr Caroline Goodson of Birkbeck, University of London.

In this podcast Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith looks at the initial and long term effects of Crusades and examines how they have been treated by both western and eastern historians and thinkers over time.

In this podcast Dr Francois Soyer, of the University of Southampton, looks at the establishment of an Islamic Spain, the transmission of knowledge from the Islamic world to Latin Christendom and the Reconquista

In this podcast Dr Tom Asbridge of Queen Mary, University of London examines Saladin's rise to power, his motivations, his achievements and his legacy.

In this podcast Professor Jonathan Phillips of Royal Holloway, University of London examines the Frankish establishment of control of the coast, economic and political development of the Latin East, the Revolt of Count Hugh of Jaffa and Melisende, Edessa and the re-emergence of Jihad, Bernard of Clairvaux, motives for going...

In this podcast Professor Riley-Smith examines Antioch: the turning point of the Crusade, Edessa, the advance on Jerusalem, the use of modern warfare, the massacre of Jerusalem, ethnic cleansing, the consequences of the fall of Jerusalem and the creation of the Crusader States.

In this podcast Professor Riley-Smith looks at the epic nature of the First Crusade and how the crusade proceeded across Europe and Asia Minor.

In this set of podcasts Emeritus Professor Gerald Hawting of SOAS, University of London provides an introduction to the Umayyad (661-750) Caliphate.

In this set of podcasts Emeritus Professor Gerald Hawting of SOAS, University of London provides an introduction to the Abbasid (750-1258) Caliphate.

This podcast looks at the period 1204-1453 and discusses the political, but also cultural history of the Empire in this era with an emphasis on what Byzantium bequeathed to the early modern world - the Renaissance in Italy.

This podcasts looks at the two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Eastern Church and the temporal imperial hierarchy.

This podcast looks at the relations between the Papacy and the Patriarchate of Constantinople - between Schism and Union.

This podcast looks at the court, the Church and the army as well as social stratification in the Byzantine Empire.

From global to regional superpower, survival and revivalThis podcast looks at the period from 500-1204 charting the history of the Empire as it met with formidable enemies and had to adapt to change.