History of the World podcast

A long awaited catch up with Chris on Christmas Day, with a little look into the whole tradition of Christmas Day and why it even exists as it does.

In this week's unscripted episode, we'll be discussing why there are unscripted episodes at all, we'll be answering History of the World podcast illuminati member, Corben Havener's question about when prehistoric tribes became big enough that not all individual members could know all others, and we'll be looking ahead at the final episodes of our journey through medieval Europe.

1212 - A new wave of powerful Berber Muslims called the Almohads controlled southern Spain.  Castilian raids into Almohad territory brought the Almohad army from Africa, and their aggression caused the Pope to call for a crusade which climaxed with this pivotal battle.

711 - 1102 - The Christianised Visigothic Kingdom was invaded and conquered by the Islamic Caliphate.  The remnants of the Visigoths went north into the mountains and began the process of reconquest (reconquista), to bring the Iberian Peninsula back under Christian rule again.

1176 - Since the days of the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto the Great, during the tenth century, Italy was the poorer brother of Germany.  A key factor within this relationship was the Papacy, and by the latter half of the eleventh century, with the support of the Pope, the Italians had had enough of being the Holy Roman Empire's whipping boys.

1191 - The Battle of Arsuf was the conflict between two of the most celebrated military leaders, Richard the Lionheart and Saladin of the Ayyubids.  The challenges of maintaining discipline in testing circumstances for both armies are highlighted well in this particular showdown.

1187 - After the situation settled down after the Second Crusade, the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt collapsed making way for the Muslim icon, Saladin, to become a national leader and an imperial warlord.  After bringing together a number of Muslim realms, the next target would be the infidels of Christian Outremer.

1099 - 1302 - After the conclusion of the First Crusade, four Christian nation states were established in the Levant.  These Crusader States would have to battle for their survival over the next two hundred years, and this episode focuses on that protracted battle.

1099 - The climax of the First Crusade sees the remainder of the Crusader armies attempt to take control of the Holy City from its newest owners, the Isma'ili Shia Islamic Fatimid Caliphate, with devastating consequences.

1095 - 1098 - The Crusade to the Holy Land was an ambitious undertaking when considering the distance to travel to fight enemies on their own soil.  We look at the motivating factors and the politics of the age to discover why so many people decided to make this dangerous pilgrimage.