Echoes of Empires

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. 
mosaic: Exploring Jewish Issues
mosaic is Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County's news magazine show, exploring...
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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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Alexius Comnenus is a well-known Byzantine Emperor not least because his daughter, Anna, wrote one of the greatest works of medieval literature about him called “The Alexiad.” It’s a cracking read, full of vivid character descriptions, battle scenes, back-stabbing politics and written in an epic style that echoes the Roman and Greek classics. 
It’s not just central to the history of Byzantium but also to the Crusades since she’s our main non-western commentator on the First Crusade and wrote some of the best descriptions of the fiery leaders of that Crusade, like Count Bohemond. It is of course, a tribute, or a hagiography to use that term, to her father who emerges as an Odysseus-like hero. She describes him thus:“His dark eyebrows were curved, and beneath them the gaze of his eyes was both terrible and kind. When he came into a gathering and began to speak, you were conscious from the moment he opened his mouth of the fiery eloquence of his tongue…”
Alexius has gone down in history as the man who saved Byzantium largely because that’s what his daughter has told us, but historians are now questioning whether that was true and, in this episode, I want to suggest his reign was failing by 1095, and his appeal to the Pope for help against the Turks was the result of weakness, and not because he was in a strong position to launch a counter-offensive against the Turks as proposed in the Alexiad. 

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The Battle of Manzikert in 1071 changed history. Not only was it the first step towards the end of the Byzantine Empire but it also established the foundation for modern Turkey. In western Europe, the growing threat of the Seljuk Turks would result in the First Crusade. And yet the the Byzantine defeat in the battle was far from inevitable as so many history books claim. Indeed, it was the opposite. It was the Byzantines who were winning until one of the most outrageous acts of betrayal in history snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. 
Find out what happened here!
mosaic: Exploring Jewish Issues
mosaic is Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County's news magazine show, exploring...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
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For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com