Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

High & Late Middle Ages

96 Episodes 25 Series 109 Figures 62 Events 283 Books 196 Authors

Covering roughly the 11th–15th centuries, the High & Late Middle Ages era treats political consolidation, religious conflict, urban and commercial growth, and the expansion of empires. Series include "1066" (political turmoil and the Norman Conquest), "Amsterdam" (the city's development from a 13th‑century fishing village to a major financial centre), "Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade" (heresy and crusade in Languedoc), "Genghis Khan" (Temüjin’s rise and the Mongol Empire), and "Henry IV" (usurpation and contested kingship). Episodes cover Harun al‑Rashid and Baghdad, the Princes in the Tower, Macbeth’s historical basis, Anglo‑French truces and Exeter 1067. Discussed figures and works include Innocent III, Henry IV, Vlad the Impaler, Ibn al‑Haytham, The War on Heresy and Worlds of Arthur.

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Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 96

2024

8 episodes

RIHC: Medieval Martians, Samurai, and Mythical Mysteries

In this Rest Is History weekly bonus episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook chat informally about recent and upcomin…

RIHC: Medieval Monarchs, Historical Epochs and The Crown

This bonus episode features Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook answering listener questions and reflecting on recent and…

RIHC: Pointless Prime Ministers, The Rolling Stones and Medieval Giants

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

RIHC: Murder Mysteries, Historical Rebellions and Zombie Rome

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

The Murder of Richard II (Ep 3)

The Peasants' Revolt · Part 3

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook narrate the rise and fall of Richard II, tracing how his personality, favourites and …

The Peasants’ Revolt: London’s Burning (Ep 2)

The Peasants' Revolt · Part 2

This episode examines the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, focusing on the dramatic events around Blackheath, Mile End, London…

The Canterbury Tales (Ep 4)

This episode examines Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales as both a literary masterpiece and a vivid window onto …

The Peasants’ Revolt: England Erupts (Ep 1)

The Peasants' Revolt · Part 1

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the causes and early outbreak of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt. Placing the uprisin…

2023

4 episodes

The Mystery of the Pregnant Pope

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the legend of Pope Joan — a purported female pope said to have reigned …

RIHC: The Princes in the Tower, Fabricated Evidence and History in the News

In this on-the-road episode recorded in Adelaide, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook answer listener questions and discu…

Baghdad: The Golden Age (Ep 3)

Baghdad · Part 3

In this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine Harun al-Rashid and Baghdad at the height of the early Abbasi…

Baghdad: The Arabian Nights (Ep 4)

Baghdad · Part 4

This episode — the fourth in the hosts' series on Baghdad and the Islamic Golden Age — examines how medieval Baghdad be…

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Series in this era

25 series

1066

5 episodes Aired: 2025-04-06 – 2025-04-22

Joan of Arc

5 episodes Aired: 2026-01-05 – 2026-01-14

The Hundred Years' War (S2)

5 episodes Aired: 2024-08-25 – 2024-09-10

12 (or 13) Days of Christmas

4 episodes Aired: 2021-12-25

The Hundred Years' War (S1)

4 episodes Aired: 2023-04-03

The Road to 1066

4 episodes Aired: 2025-03-17

Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade

3 episodes Aired: 2023-02-06

Great World Cup Saga

3 episodes Aired: 2022-11-28 – 2022-12-13

The Peasants' Revolt

3 episodes Aired: 2024-01-29

Baghdad

2 episodes Aired: 2023-10-09

Historical figures

109 tagged

Edward III of England

25 episodes

William I of England (William the Conqueror / William, Duke of Normandy)

23 episodes

Richard II of England

20 episodes

Harold Godwinson (Harold II of England)

18 episodes

Henry V of England

18 episodes

Edward the Confessor

16 episodes

Henry IV of England (Henry Bolingbroke)

16 episodes

Harald Sigurdsson (Harald Hardrada, Harald III of Norway)

15 episodes

Cnut the Great (Canute)

13 episodes

Edward, the Black Prince (Edward of Woodstock)

13 episodes

Historical events

62 tagged

Hundred Years' War (1337–1453, Western Europe)

29 episodes

Battle of Hastings (1066)

18 episodes

Norman Conquest

14 episodes

Battle of Agincourt (25 October 1415)

13 episodes

Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066)

12 episodes

Battle of Crécy (26 August 1346)

11 episodes

Black Death (c.1347–1351)

11 episodes

Battle of Poitiers (19 September 1356)

10 episodes

Peasants' Revolt (1381, England)

10 episodes

Albigensian Crusade

7 episodes

Books

283 tagged

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Author: Traditional Attribution or Various

8 episodes

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

Author: Tom Holland

8 episodes

Holy Blood and the Holy Grail

Author: Michael Baigent; Richard Leigh; Henry Lincoln

6 episodes

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

Author: Tom Holland

5 episodes

The Canterbury Tales

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

5 episodes

The Da Vinci Code

Author: Dan Brown

5 episodes

Henry V

Author: William Shakespeare

4 episodes

The Last English King

Author: Julian Rathbone

4 episodes

1066 and All That

Author: W. C. Sellar & R. J. Yeatman

3 episodes

A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade and the Battle for Christendom

Author: Mark Gregory Pegg

3 episodes

Authors

196 tagged

Traditional Attribution or Various

24 episodes

Tom Holland

16 episodes

William Shakespeare

9 episodes

Dominic Sandbrook

7 episodes

Geoffrey Chaucer

6 episodes

Michael Baigent; Richard Leigh; Henry Lincoln

6 episodes

Dan Brown

5 episodes

Charles Dickens

4 episodes

Julian Rathbone

4 episodes

Snorri Sturluson

4 episodes