Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Late Antiquity & Early Middle Ages

77 Episodes 21 Series 77 Figures 36 Events 209 Books 152 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.

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Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 77

2024

8 episodes

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

Dec 09, 2024

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: A Clash of Ice and Fire (Part 3)

Dec 09, 2024

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 …

The World's First City

Dec 05, 2024

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Uruk (Warka), the ancient southern Mesopotamian city whose long occupation an…

RIHC: Medieval Women, Predicting the Future, and the Silk Roads

Nov 06, 2024

This bonus episode is a free-form visit to the British Library by Tom Holland with guest Tabby Syrett filling in for th…

History's Greatest Beards: From Egyptian Queens to Medieval Conquerors (Part 1)

Sep 08, 2024

Beards · Part 1

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the cultural, political and religious meanings attached to beards from …

St George: Dragon-Slayer

Jun 19, 2024

This episode examines the legend and cult of Saint George: its murky origins, how early martyr narratives coalesced int…

The Empress of the Apocalypse

Jun 12, 2024

This episode examines Theophano, a Byzantine princess who married into the Ottonian dynasty and profoundly shaped late …

Romans in Space: Star Wars, Dune and Beyond...

Jan 25, 2024

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the surprising ways Star Wars and other science-fiction/fantasy works d…

2023

4 episodes

This episode of The Rest Is History traces the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate and the rise of the Abbasids, focusing…

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Series in this era

21 series

Historical figures

77 tagged

Historical events

36 tagged

Books

209 tagged

Authors

152 tagged

Late Antiquity & Early Middle Ages

Episodes by year

2024

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

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

The World's First City

RIHC: Medieval Women, Predicting the Future, and the Silk Roads

History's Greatest Beards: From Egyptian Queens to Medieval Conquerors (Part 1)

St George: Dragon-Slayer

The Empress of the Apocalypse

Romans in Space: Star Wars, Dune and Beyond...

2023

Christmas: Pagan or Christian?

RIHC: History’s Top Sidekicks, Christian Frontier Battles, & the Quran

RIHC: Roman Emperors - Busts, Coins, and Mullets (Livestream)

Baghdad: Crossroads of the Universe (Ep 2)

Series in this era

Baghdad

12 (or 13) Days of Christmas

Alfred the Great

Charlemagne trilogy

Great World Cup Saga

Justinian and Theodora

Vikings in the East

Warlords of the West (The Franks)

Coronations

Holidays

London Week

The End of the Roman Empire

World Cup of Kings and Queens

Beards

Dawn of the Samurai

England Games at the European Cup (November 2021)

Historical Love Island

Iranian Revolution

Persian Wars

The Olympics

The Road to 1066

Historical figures

Alfred the Great (King of Wessex)

Æthelstan, King of England (Athelstan)

Constantine I (Constantine the Great)

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

Justin I, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire

Muhammad

Theodora (Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire)

Edgar I of England (Edgar the Peaceable)

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (Aethelflaed)

Æthelred II of England (Ethelred the Unready)

Bede (the Venerable Bede)

Charles Martel

Clovis I (King of the Franks)

Harun al-Rashid

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan

Abu Ja'far al-Mansur (Al-Mansur)

Abu al-Fadl Ahmad ibn Fadlan (Ahmad ibn Fadlan / Ibn Fadlan)

Diocletian (Roman Emperor)

Einhard

Gregory of Tours

Julian the Apostate (Flavius Claudius Julianus)

Otto I (Holy Roman Emperor)

Peter Brown

Theodoric the Great (king of the Ostrogoths)

Anastasius I (Eastern Roman Emperor)

Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus)

Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus

Gregory I (Pope Gregory the Great)

Harald Bluetooth (Harald Bluetooth of Denmark)

Heraclius (Byzantine Emperor)

Otto I (Otto the Great)

Procopius

Romulus Augustulus

Rurik

Saint Columba

Alcuin of York

Attila (Attila the Hun)

Belisarius

Charles the Simple (Charles III of West Francia)