Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Late Antiquity & Early Middle Ages

75 Episodes 19 Series 76 Figures 36 Events 205 Books 149 Authors

Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (roughly 3rd–10th centuries) are covered through several focused series and individual episodes examining political, religious and cultural change across Europe, the Mediterranean and beyond. Series include "12 (or 13) Days of Christmas" (events dated 25 Dec–4 Jan from early Christian history to later African modernization), a multi‑part Alfred the Great series on ninth‑century Viking pressures, governance and reform, a Baghdad sequence tracing late Umayyad decline and the Abbasid revolution, a Charlemagne trilogy from Merovingian collapse to the 800 coronation, and episodes on England’s ties with Denmark, Ukraine, Germany and Italy. Topics and episodes treat battles (Yarmouk, Tours), Heraclius’ campaigns, the Danelaw, the Umayyad–Berber wars, figures such as Arius, Theodora, Honorius, Harald Bluetooth and Theophano, and cite works including Procopius’ On Buildings, Palace in Split, Dominion and Dictionary of the Khazars.

Timeline Subway

Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 75

2025

6 episodes

RIHC: Corrupt US Presidents, Wartime Prime Ministers, and the Birth of Byzantium

This bonus episode reunites Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook for a Rest Is History club Q&A. They open by referencing …

RIHC: Irish Kings, Medieval Magic, and The Norman Invasion of Ireland

This bonus episode features historian Gillian Kenny discussing the social, legal and ecclesiastical world of Ireland be…

RIHC: The Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward the Confessor’s True Heir, and Vikings Abroad

This bonus Q&A episode of The Rest Is History features hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook answering listener quest…

The Golden Age of Japan: Secrets of the Imperial Court (Part 2)

The episode examines Heian-period Japanese court culture through two seminal literary works: The Pillow Book by Sei Shō…

The Golden Age of Japan: Lady Murasaki and the Shining Prince (Part 1)

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss The Tale of Genji as both a literary masterpiece and a historical window into…

The Road to 1066: Anglo-Saxon Apocalypse (Part 1)

The Road to 1066 · Part 1

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook introduce a multi-episode series on the Norman Conquest, centring on the dramat…

2024

6 episodes

Charlemagne: Return of the Kings (Part 1)

Charlemagne trilogy · Part 1

This episode inaugurates the hosts' Charlemagne trilogy by situating Charlemagne within the collapse of Merovingian pow…

Charlemagne: Emperor of the West (Part 3)

Charlemagne trilogy · Part 2

This episode examines the events and significance of Charlemagne's imperial coronation on Christmas Day 800 and places …

Charlemagne: Pagan Hunter (Part 2)

Charlemagne trilogy · Part 3

This episode of The Rest Is History (hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook) examines Charlemagne’s military and cultu…

Warlords of the West: Barbarian Heirs of Rome (Part 1)

Warlords of the West (The Franks)

This episode introduces the Franks and traces their transformation from frontier warbands to the rulers of Roman Gaul. …

Warlords of the West: Killer Queens (Part 2)

Warlords of the West (The Franks)

This episode examines the brutal, decades-long feud between Fredegund and Brunhilde in late-6th-century Merovingian Gau…

Warlords of the West: A Clash of Ice and Fire (Part 3)

Warlords of the West (The Franks)

This episode examines the Battle of Tours (c. 732/733) and its wider significance. Opening with Edward Gibbon's famous …

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Series in this era

19 series

Baghdad

4 episodes Aired: 2023-10-08 – 2023-10-09

12 (or 13) Days of Christmas

3 episodes Aired: 2021-12-25

Alfred the Great

3 episodes Aired: 2022-11-05 – 2022-11-16

Charlemagne trilogy

3 episodes Aired: 2024-12-16

Great World Cup Saga

3 episodes Aired: 2022-11-22 – 2022-12-13

Justinian and Theodora

3 episodes Aired: 2022-08-08

Vikings in the East

3 episodes Aired: 2022-02-07 – 2022-02-23

Warlords of the West (The Franks)

3 episodes Aired: 2024-12-09

Coronations

2 episodes Aired: 2023-05-04

Holidays

2 episodes Aired: 2022-08-10 – 2022-08-22

Historical figures

76 tagged

Alfred the Great (King of Wessex)

16 episodes

Æthelstan, King of England (Athelstan)

16 episodes

Constantine I (Constantine the Great)

15 episodes

Charlemagne (Charles I, King of the Franks / Emperor)

14 episodes

Justin I, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire

12 episodes

Muhammad

10 episodes

Theodora (Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire)

9 episodes

Edgar I of England (Edgar the Peaceable)

7 episodes

Saint Augustine of Hippo

7 episodes

Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

6 episodes

Historical events

36 tagged

Abbasid Revolution (c.747–750)

6 episodes

Arab conquests (7th century)

6 episodes

Crisis of the Third Century (3rd century AD)

6 episodes

Lindisfarne raid (793)

6 episodes

Battle of Tours (732, France)

5 episodes

Coronation of Charlemagne (25 December 800)

5 episodes

Baptism of Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 988)

3 episodes

Christianization of the Roman Empire (4th century)

3 episodes

Danelaw (Viking occupation of eastern England, 9th–10th centuries)

3 episodes

Nika (Nike) Riots (532 CE, Constantinople)

3 episodes

Books

205 tagged

In the Shadow of the Sword

Author: Tom Holland

7 episodes

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (standardized)

Author: Edward Gibbon

7 episodes

Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom

Author: Tom Holland

4 episodes

Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age

Author: Tom Holland

4 episodes

The Secret History

Author: Procopius (Procopius of Caesarea)

4 episodes

Dominion

Author: Tom Holland

3 episodes

Ladybird books

Author: L. Du Garde Peach (and various)

3 episodes

Quran (Koran)

Author: Traditional Attribution or Various

3 episodes

The Arabian Nights

Author: Traditional Attribution or Various

3 episodes

The Last Kingdom

Author: Bernard Cornwell

3 episodes

Authors

149 tagged

Tom Holland

21 episodes

Traditional Attribution or Various

17 episodes

Bernard Cornwell

7 episodes

Edward Gibbon

7 episodes

Procopius (Procopius of Caesarea)

4 episodes

Robert Graves

4 episodes

Anonymous

3 episodes

Einhard

3 episodes

Neil Price

3 episodes

Peter Brown

3 episodes