History of the World podcast

715 - 987 - Early Medieval France was as important as any nation of Europe in its history. This episode deals with the rekindling of kingship through the Carolingians and their relationship with the Papacy, and how their succession tradition proved to damage the empire and make way for the fragmentation of the Frankish Empire.

732 - The Frankish expansion was impressive but the Umayyad expansion was intercontinental and seemingly unstoppable. It would fall on the shoulders of a man called Charles Martel to unlock the solution to the insatiable desires of the Muslims.

108 BCE - 208 CE - While trade and subjugation brings wealth, corruption and warfare brings expense, and The Han Dynasty's later years tells the story of this precarious balancing act and its consequences.

410 - 939 - From the abandonment of Britannia by the Romans, the island became a place of tribal warfare for many centuries, but from the chaos emerged the beginnings of a modern English nation.

1453 - Was the Fall of Constantinople a foregone conclusion, and is it correct to regard it as the fall of the once great city? The fascinating story of the city, the characters and the sequence of events that led to the dramatic end of Roman culture.