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Film: A short history of Islamic thought
Article
In his book of the same name, A short history of Islamic thought, Dr Fitzroy Morrissey provides a concise introduction to the origins and sources of Islamic thought, from its beginnings in the 7th century to the current moment.
In this talk he explores the major ideas and introduces the...
Film: A short history of Islamic thought
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Recorded webinar: Maya ruler King Pakal II of Palenque
Article
The discovery in 1952 of the tomb of King Pakal II of Palenque has been called the most important archaeological find in the history of the Americas. Protected by a magnificently sculpted stone sarcophagus depicting Pakal’s descent to the underworld and re-birth as the maize god lay the body of...
Recorded webinar: Maya ruler King Pakal II of Palenque
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Virtual Branch recording: The survival strategies of the Near Eastern powers facing Mongol invasion
Virtual Branch Film
The Mongol invasions into the Near East had a devastating effect upon many societies, sultanates, empires and kingdoms. For decades, wave after wave of armies swept across the area, defeating every army sent against them and utterly reshaping the area’s complex political ecosystem. Some powers fell in battle; some submitted...
Virtual Branch recording: The survival strategies of the Near Eastern powers facing Mongol invasion
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Virtual Branch Recording: Crusader Criminals
Article
The religious wars of the Crusades are renowned for their military engagements. But the period was witness to brutality beyond the battlefield. More so than any other medieval war zone, the Holy Land was rife with unprecedented levels of criminality and violence.
In the first history of its kind, Steve Tibble explores...
Virtual Branch Recording: Crusader Criminals
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The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
Chinese History
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, also called Five Dynasties, was an era of political upheaval in 10th-century imperial China. During this period, five states quickly succeeded one another in the Chinese Central Plain, while more than a dozen concurrent states were established elsewhere, mainly in south China.
Traditionally,...
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
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The Tang Dynasty
Chinese History
In this podcast Lance Pursey, Chen Xue and Jonathan Dugdale of the University of Birmingham look at the culture, influence and the significance of the Tang Dynasty (618-907)
The Tang Dynasty
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The Rift between the churches of Rome and Constantinople
The History of Christianity
This podcast looks at the relations between the Papacy and the Patriarchate of Constantinople - between Schism and Union.
The Rift between the churches of Rome and Constantinople
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The First Crusade: Eastern Sources and Different Interpretations
Medieval World History
In this podcast Professor Peter Frankopan, University of Oxford, looks at the causes of the First Crusade through Eastern sources (Greek, Syriac, Armenian, Arabic and Hebrew), rather than Western (Latin) sources.
Professor Frankopan discusses the different interpretations these sources provide and highlights the key role of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and the rapid...
The First Crusade: Eastern Sources and Different Interpretations
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The Abbasid Caliphate
Medieval World History
In this set of podcasts Emeritus Professor Gerald Hawting of SOAS, University of London provides an introduction to the Abbasid (750-1258) Caliphate.
The Abbasid Caliphate
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The Umayyad Caliphate
Medieval World History
In this set of podcasts Emeritus Professor Gerald Hawting of SOAS, University of London provides an introduction to the Umayyad (661-750) Caliphate.
The Umayyad Caliphate
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Iconoclasm
The History of the Byzantine Empire
This podcasts looks at the two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Eastern Church and the temporal imperial hierarchy.
Iconoclasm
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Decline and Fall of the Byzantine Empire
The History of the Byzantine Empire
In this podcast Dr Dionysios Stathakopoulos looks at the period 1204-1453 and discusses the political, but also cultural history of the Empire in this era with an emphasis on what Byzantium bequeathed to the early modern world - the Renaissance in Italy.
Decline and Fall of the Byzantine Empire
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Structures of power in the Byzantine Empire
The History of the Byzantine Empire
In this podcast Dr Dionysios Stathakopoulos looks at the court, the Church and the army as well as social stratification in the Byzantine Empire.
Structures of power in the Byzantine Empire
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Legacy of the Crusades
Medieval World History
In this podcast Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith looks at the initial and long term effects of Crusades and examines how they have been treated by both western and eastern historians and thinkers over time.
Legacy of the Crusades
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The Islamic conquest of Spain and the Reconquista
Medieval European History
In this podcast Dr Francois Soyer, of the University of Southampton, looks at the establishment of an Islamic Spain, the transmission of knowledge from the Islamic world to Latin Christendom and the Reconquista
The Islamic conquest of Spain and the Reconquista
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Saladin and the Third Crusade
Medieval World History
In this podcast Dr Tom Asbridge of Queen Mary, University of London examines Saladin's rise to power, his motivations, his achievements and his legacy.
Saladin and the Third Crusade
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The Second Crusade
Medieval World History
In this podcast Professor Jonathan Phillips of Royal Holloway, University of London examines the Frankish establishment of control of the coast, economic and political development of the Latin East, the Revolt of Count Hugh of Jaffa and Melisende, Edessa and the re-emergence of Jihad, Bernard of Clairvaux, motives for going...
The Second Crusade
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The First Crusade - Antioch, Edessa, the fall of Jerusalem and the Crusader States
Medieval World History
In this podcast Professor Riley-Smith examines Antioch: the turning point of the Crusade, Edessa, the advance on Jerusalem, the use of modern warfare, the massacre of Jerusalem, ethnic cleansing, the consequences of the fall of Jerusalem and the creation of the Crusader States.
The First Crusade - Antioch, Edessa, the fall of Jerusalem and the Crusader States
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The First Crusade - Development across Europe and Asia Minor
Medieval World History
In this podcast Professor Riley-Smith looks at the epic nature of the First Crusade and how the crusade proceeded across Europe and Asia Minor.
The First Crusade - Development across Europe and Asia Minor
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The First Crusade - Causes and Consequences
Medieval World History
In this podcast Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith gives an outline of events and causes of the First Crusade.
The First Crusade - Causes and Consequences
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The Rise of an Islamic Civilisation
Medieval World History
An HA Podcasted History of the Rise of an Islamic Civilisation featuring Dr Caroline Goodson of Birkbeck, University of London.
The Rise of an Islamic Civilisation
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A Historiography of the Crusades
Podcast
In this podcast Professor Andrew Jotischky of Royal Holloway University of London, discusses some of the key historians and interpretations of the Crusades. Professor Jotischky explores the influences and thinking that informed different historian's research, approaches and traditions and looks at how this has transformed the study and understanding of...
A Historiography of the Crusades
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The Fatimid Caliphate
909-1171
The Fatimid Caliphate also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. The Fatimids traced their ancestry to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima and her husband Ali, the first Shi'a imam.
Originating during the Abbasid Caliphate, the Fatimids initially conquered Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia and north-eastern Algeria). They extended their...
The Fatimid Caliphate
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The Fall of the Crusader States
Podcast
In this podcast Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) provides and introduction to the fall of the Crusader states from the Fourth Crusade to the fall of Jerusalem in 1291. Dr Morton illustrates how the Crusaders were able to regain control of Jerusalem in the early 13th century but lost it...
The Fall of the Crusader States
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Crusader Criminals
Podcast
Steve Tibble explores the hidden world of crime during the Crusades, revealing how violence and lawlessness—driven largely by dislocated young men—were more central to the chaos in the Holy Land than religious conflict.
Crusader Criminals
