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 6 of 78

2021

6 episodes

Persia

Nov 27, 2021

Persian Wars · Part 3

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook welcome Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian studies, to argue for Persia/Iran's ou…

St Cuthbert’s Day

Nov 27, 2021

This special episode of The Rest Is History is devoted to St Cuthbert. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Cuthbe…

World Cup of Kings & Queens Preview

Nov 27, 2021

World Cup of Kings and Queens · Part 1

The hosts launch The Rest Is History's playful "World Cup of Kings and Queens," outlining a 16-contender tournament to …

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook celebrate their podcast-run "World Cup of the Kings and Queens of England" afte…

Page 7 of 7 (page size 12)

← Previous Show all

Series in this era

20 series

Historical figures

77 tagged

Historical events

36 tagged

Books

214 tagged

Authors

157 tagged

Late Antiquity & Early Middle Ages

Episodes by year

2021

Persia

St Cuthbert’s Day

World Cup of Kings & Queens Preview

King Arthur

The Norse Sagas

Æthelstan: OFFICIALLY England's Greatest Monarch

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

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

Zubaydah

Alcuin of York

Attila (Attila the Hun)

Belisarius

Charles the Simple (Charles III of West Francia)

Galerius

Guthrum

Hengist

Horsa

Kanmu (Emperor Kanmu of Japan)

Leo III (Pope)

Muawiyah I (Umayyad Caliphate)