History Podcast

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Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi 2: On Egyptian Flora and Fauna

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We continue the Abd al-Latif series and dig into his observations on Egypt, its plants and animals, the hybrid banana and the terrifying sea horse.

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Prester John 10: The End is not the End

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It's the end of the Prester John story, or at least the end for now. The priest-king pops up in Tibet and dives into the world of fiction and comics, and the Dalai Lama makes an appearance.

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Prester John 3: The Fifth Crusade

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The crusaders make their way first to Acre and then to Damietta. Perhaps someone would be along to help them soon?

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Prester John 2.5: Papal Correspondence

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A shorter episode, on a letter from Pope Alexander III to Prester John.

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Prester John 2: Where From and What For

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On the many fantastic additions to the Letter of Prester John (Dragons! Strange Bakeries! Etc!), and on the theories around it.

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Prester John 1: The Letter

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The legend in its early forms: the arrival in Rome of a patriarch from the east, the chronicles of Otto of Freising, and that famous "letter."

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Abd-al-Razzaq Samarqandi 2: City of Victory

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Shah Rukh's ambassador to the Indian city of Qaliqut arrives at the heart of the Vijayanagara Empire, finding much to admire but also war, a usurper, and uncertainties about his own status. We visit Hampi, the centre of that late-medieval power, and we talk about elephants.

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Medieval Lives 1: al-Ghazāl

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This is a story about Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā ibn Ḥakam al-Bakrī al-Jayyānī, known also as al-Ghazāl (the Gazelle). It's the story of a 9th century poet on an embassy from the Emirate of Córdoba to a Viking ruler.

Sir John Mandeville 4: Of India and Medieval Monsters

Mandeville goes east into Greater India, and we go with him, following, as he follows the path of Odoric of Pordenone, into India, into the sea and its islands, and into a discussion of medieval hybrids and monsters, and what they mean. We'll find Amazons, the hand of St. Thomas, and people with neither noses nor eyes.

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Geoffrey's Crusade 4: Simon & the Seven Thieves

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This story takes place in the aftermath of the fall of Constantinople to the fighters of the Fourth Crusade. It’s what happened in the city once the bulk of the fighting was over. It’s something of a caper film, starring an intrepid party of Venetians.