Echoes of Empires

In 1097, hordes of crusaders converged on Constantinople, the fabled city of gold that sat between Europe and Asia. The Byzantine emperor, Alexius Comnenus, had called for help to fight the Turks. But now he had tens of thousands of mailed knights riding to the imperial city, he wondered whether these crusaders provided an opportunity or a threat? In this episode, we look at the cunning strategy he used to harness the crusaders to fulfil his own goal of defeating the Turks.
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The First Crusade got off to a terrible start. The initial armies, referred to by historians as the 'People's Crusade' and the 'German Crusade' were little more than bands of brigands and discontented peasants and minor nobility. Indeed, the German contingents never made it anywhere near Constantinople, and instead conducted a ruthless attack on the German Jews in what has been called the 'First Holocaust.' Find out what happened in this episode.
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In this episode, we look at something called the Medieval Warm Period. This first came to our notice a long time ago in the writings of a medieval monk and historian called William of Malmesbury. Writing in around 1120, he surprised later historians with his flowing descriptions of a buoyant English wine industry. But were climatic conditions so benign elsewhere? The answer is a resounding no since it now appears that the Islamic world was pushed to the edge of collapse in the early Middle Ages by unprecedented drought and cold. And this was a critically important and until now, overlooked, feature of the Crusades.
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The Crusade present us with one of the greatest paradoxes in history. Why would Christianity, a peace-loving religion, condone such aggressive military operations in the name of God? In this episode, I want to examine why the First Crusade resonated so strongly with medieval men and women in the eleventh century. And to understand this, we need to examine the complex and conflicting forces within medieval feudal society where spirituality and the material world were closely intertwined. 
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In this episode, I tell you about my travels to Ancient Nicaea, a city that changed history from the famous First Council of Nicaea in AD 325, foundational for the Christian church, to the siege of Nicaea, a pivotal moment in the First Crusade.  
Discover the astonishing historical remains in the city that have survived to this day in my video accompanying this podcast, on my YouTube channel.
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For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com