Author: Charles River Editors
Narrator: Colin Fluxman
Unabridged: 1 hr 28 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 09/13/2023
Genre: History - Medieval
Few eras are easier to let the imagination run wild than the Middle Ages, which have often been coined the Dark Ages based on a perceived lack of progress and information. Indeed, we can say that it is not completely unfounded because we know less about that historical period compared to those that come after it. In addition, it is a period marked by a great number of deaths caused by plague epidemics, crusades, and inquisitorial persecutions. Often, researchers are not even sure how and why certain events happened, and these mysteries still occupy the attention of historians.
This era was very harsh, difficult, and often gloomy. In that greyness, burdened by various fears, people were looking for something that would light up their lives and bring them a feeling of beauty and joy. People experienced all things and events around them more intensely than people do today. They often exaggerated the events that happened, giving them a mystical and divine character. For this reason, medieval sources are taken with a grain of salt and are first carefully examined before believing.
At the same time, some historical mysteries about the era may never be solved, if only because the relevant excavated material has been lost or the archaeological site has been destroyed. In other cases, it is because new evidence is unlikely to emerge, or the surviving evidence is too vague to lead to a consensus. Of course, the lack of answers only makes these enigmas more intriguing.
Similarly, few stories have the power to mesmerize as much as unsolved mysteries, so codes and missing puzzle pieces fill people with excitement and intrigue. What did a source want to say with that coded message? What mysteries did they hide?
"Against the Infidels” is Fulcher of Chartres eyewitness account of Pope Urban II’s call-to-arms in 1095. This speech launched the First Crusade, but the several historical transcripts record it slightly differently. Fulcher’s acco...
Although many have heard of the Crusades and some of the more famous orders like the Templars, few know about the Livonian Crusade or the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. This organization was one of many Catholic military orders that sprung up duri...
In 1095, Pope Urban II delivered a powerful call-to-arms to begin the First Crusade. Robert the Monk, likely an eyewitness, recorded this speech years later, after the crusade had ended. In his account, Urban described horrific crimes committed agai...
The notable German historian and monk Ekkehard of Aurach was also a crusader. He wrote a comprehensive world history text, but upon returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1101, he rewrote his portion on the First Crusade. “On the Opening ...
In the time period between the fall of Rome and the spread of the Renaissance across the European continent, many of today’s European nations were formed, the Catholic Church rose to great prominence, some of history’s most famous wars o...
Looking into the past, the Crusades seem incomprehensible. What combination of religious fervor, hatred of people of different faiths, and gall led Europeans of 1100 AD to make their way thousands of miles to conquer the Holy Land? Why did they cont...
Werewolves have long been a staple of popular culture. In the 19th century and 20th century, there were countless books, plays, and films about people who turned into wolves or wolf like humanoids and went on rampages. The figure of the werewolf i...
Einhard served Charlemagne, king and Holy Roman Emperor, for 23 years. From that experience, combined with his in-depth research, Einhard penned this biography of Charlemagne in the style of Suetonius’ Lives of the Caesars. Because he felt ind...
Before the Mongols rode across the steppes of Asia and Eastern Europe, the Cumans were a major military and cultural force that monarchs from China to Hungary and from Russia to the Byzantine Empire faced, often losing armies and cities in the proc...