History of the World podcast

1346 - All of the male descedants of King Philip IV of France had died out, apart from one, King Edward III of England.  The French would find a way to avoid crowning Edward in favour of a cousin and this would cause Edward to raise a massive army and invade the north of France.

1337 - 1453 - The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France and their ruling dynasties, the Plantagenets and the Capetians.  This is a whistle-stop tour of the main events that shaped the conflicts.

1346 - 1353 - It was not the first time that the bubonic plague had hit Eurasia, but this time nobody could have expected the sudden and relentless wave of devastation that affected all of the nations of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

1314 - After the death of King Edward I of England, the Hammer of the Scots, the self proclaimed Scottish king, Robert the Bruce started a campaign of seizing Scottish castles garrisoned by the English.  When Stirling Castle was about to fall to the Scots, King Edward II of England had no choice but to act.

1290 - 1314 - A series of tragedies left the comparatively stable Scottish monarchy in disarray leading to the opportunistic King Edward I of England attempting to enforce overlordship on the Scots.  William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in particular looked to oppose this action.

1166 - 1216 - The events and actions of the reign of King John of England brought about the circumstances from which the highest members of English society sought to challenge the king's authority and lay down some legal terms that would limit the power of the monarch.

1230 - 1492 - The story of the last nation of Al-Andalus is the story of the Emirate of Granada. We determine how it was formed and the sequence of events that led to its destruction.

1340 - The Muslim taifas of the Iberian peninsula had all been reconquered apart from Granada.  A new threat now emerged from North Africa with ambitions of creating a foothold in the peninsula and taking control of the Strait of Gibraltar.

News about the next proper episode of the podcast and a catch up with some of the e-mails and reviews.

Another festive catch up and an opportunity to discuss the notion of Boxing Day and a bit about its traditional history.