Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Late Antiquity & Early Middle Ages

78 Episodes 20 Series 77 Figures 36 Events 214 Books 157 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 78

2024

9 episodes

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…

The World's First City

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

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)

Beards · Part 1

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

St George: Dragon-Slayer

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

The Empress of the Apocalypse

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

RIHC: Vikings, Last of the Mohicans, and Nuclear Ragnarök

This bonus Q&A episode of The Rest Is History features hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook (joined briefly by Tabby…

History's Greatest Monkeys

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook present a themed episode, "History's Greatest Monkeys," surveying notable prima…

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

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

2023

3 episodes

Christmas: Pagan or Christian?

On this Christmas-morning episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook investigate the claim that Christmas is fundamental…

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

This is an impromptu bonus episode recorded in a hotel lounge in Bath. Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook chat abo…

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

In this live episode Tom Holland (in naval-style jumper) and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Roman imperial image-making, foc…

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Series in this era

20 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

77 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

214 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

157 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