Stay ConnectedThe history of the rise and fall of the states founded by medieval Latin Christian crusaders.
Discover the tales of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Counties of Edessa and Tripoli, and the Principality of Antioch as well as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Assassins, the Byzantine Roman Empire, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, the Republic of Venice, and more!
Copyright: © Copyright 2021 Alejandro Martinez Montes
The siege of Antioch gets underway.
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The army of the cross surrounds Antioch as summer comes to an end.
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While the bulk of the army heads north, two contingents head through the Cilician Gates and into the lowlands, where they'll begin to insert themselves in the complicated morass of Armenian statelets.
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The languages of the army! How did Latin become the Romance languages? What was going on with the Germanic languages, Breton, Greek, and Armenian?
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The army of the cross sets off across Anatolia, but Kılıç Arslan is out there, waiting.
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Kılıç Arslan kinda forgot about the crusaders, but they didn't forget about him or the city of Nicaea.
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We dive into the social structure of the crusading army in June of 1097 at the outset of the Siege of Nicaea. Knights, the juventus, the clergy, and even (gasp) women!
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A recap of the start of the first crusade, from the Council of Piacenza in 1094 to the beginning of the siege of Nicaea in 1097. And some questions!
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The noble pilgrims have arrived in Constantinople and now, the Emperor of the Romans Alexios I Komnenos has asked them to swear the customary Latin oath. The only question is...what the heck does that mean???
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After the total breakdown of the Peasant's Crusade, the purple-clad Emperor of the Romans Alexios I Komnenos is once again forced to deal with crusader hordes as Hugh of Vermandois, Godfrey of Bouillon, and his old friend Bohemond of Tarento arrive at Constantinople.
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Albert of Aachen's account of Godfrey's voyage from Lorraine to the Byzantine Roman Empire by way of Hungary.
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Godfrey of Bouillon's going on crusade! And his army looks...kinda familiar.
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An English translation by Max Wickert of Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso, published in 1581.
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The first of a two-parter introducing the future first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Godfrey of Bouillon. We touch on the legendary figure that grew out of the man and his complicated family history.
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The Gesta Francorum's account of Bohemond's voyage from Italy to the Byzantine Roman Empire.
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We explore Bohemond of Tarento's arrival in the Byzantine Roman Empire and the the reason why our sources can't be trusted with regard to his motivations.
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We explore what future Prince of Antioch Bohemond of Tarento got up to between his invasion of the Byzantine Roman Empire and his decision to go "help them out".
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In November of 1095, Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse was king of southern France in all but name. Yet, just one year later, he had left that all behind him to seek his destiny on the road to Jerusalem. Today, we explore the origins and possible motivations of the man who would do his best to carve out his very own crusader state.
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In the 10th century, something started to change in Europe. The weather turned warmer, the population exploded, and the economy began to turn complex in new ways. These changes were the foundation for the aspects we commonly associate with medieval Europe to this day- including crusades.
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The Peasants' Crusade comes to an end. Turns out they've just been chasing geese to Jerusalem.
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It's summertime and the living's...frankly terrible. The Peasants' Crusade is Hung(a)ry like the wolf and about as pleasant to have around as they continue their pilgrimage east.
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Before the First Crusaders have even left the Rhineland in Western Germany, they're eager to bloody their hands by murdering their Jewish neighbors. Today's episode focuses on what the experience of Jewish communities in the Rhineland can tell us about the First Crusaders and late 11th century Western European society.
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The people of Latin Christendom are on the march to Jerusalem, they've been called to action by the preaching of a charismatic religious figure...and no, I'm not talking about Pope Urban II.
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On the 27th of November, 1095, in the city of Clermont, Pope Urban II delivered a sermon that would have tremendous consequences. But what exactly did Urban say that fateful day? And what did he think would happen? And (spoiler alert) does it even matter?
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It's 1095 and Pope Urban II is beginning to see the odds turn in his favor. At the Council of Piacenza, he will not only strike a huge blow against the German Emperor Henry IV and his antipope, Clement III, but a legation from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, will provide Urban with an interesting opportunity.
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EDIT! The original version of this episode stated that in 1095, Pope Urban II had fought tooth and nail for SEVENTEEN YEARS. Given he became Pope in 1088 and did not have access to the type of space travel which would cause time dilation to play a factor in his papacy...this is simply a case of me sucking at basic arithmetic. So, it's been edited and I've enrolled in my nearest kindergarten for a refresher.
How exactly did pilgrimage work in Latin Christendom of the 11th century? And how did it form the basis for what we think of as the First Crusade? We're figuring it all out through the lens of medieval Europeans like Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou.
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How did Latin Christianity evolve from a religion of peace to one of holy wars?
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What's going on with these 11th century Popes? And how are the Roman Emperors, Byzantine and/or Holy, involved?
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The Franks of the First Crusade and later the Outremer states were often portrayed as brutish barbarians. What truth is there to this image? And why were they called Franks anyway?
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What was it that happened between 1095 and 1099? And why?
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Sources! Footnotes! Me trying to pronounce Armenian and failing miserably!
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In March of 1095, envoys sent by the Roman Emperor Alexios I Komnenos arrived at Piacenza to meet with Pope Urban II. This meeting set off a chain of events that ended with the founding of Latin Christian states in the Levant. But why did Alexios send the envoys in the first place?
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History doesn't happen in a vacuum, the events of one era are built on the events that came before. The history of the Outremer states is no different. After Alexander is a podcast that tells the story of the Hellenistic world that was created by Alexander the Great and many of the events of that era still have consequences centuries later, such as the founding of Antioch!
The Fatimid Caliphate regains its footing under the rule of the Armenian viziers Badr Al Jamali and Al Afdal, at the expense of control over the Persian Ismailis, who orient themselves in a new direction under Hasan ibn Sabah. A direction that will lead them to become infamous in Western culture as the Order of the Assassins.
As always, maps and sources available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com and new episodes every other week.
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The Great Seljuk Empire reaches its peak and then shatters into civil war after the death of Malik Shah, just in time for the arrival of a band of Frankish pilgrims into the Levant.
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Robert "Guiscard" of Hauteville decides to bite off a bit more than even he can chew and take on the Byzantine Roman Emperor.
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The Roman Empire hits its lowest point yet, but out of the maelstrom of chaos (and repeat names) comes a new emperor to right the ship.
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In a post-Manzikert Anatolia, Suleyman ibn Qutlumush is using the Roman civil wars and his legitimacy as a member of the house of Seljuk to consolidate power and build his own Sultanate of the Romans, the Sultanate of Rûm.
As always, maps and sources available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com and new episodes every other week.
From 950 to 1071, the eastern Mediterranean was wracked by an increased number of droughts and freezes. How did these events shape the world as it was on the eve of the first crusade?
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It's the 11th century and the Italian merchant republics are on the rise.
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The Fatimid Caliphate goes the way of the Byzantine Roman Empire and as political legitimacy is lost, civil war and famine grip the land. The Armenian-led military dictatorship that arises out of this stew will not only be what the Crusaders encounter when they arrive at Jerusalem, but the fount from which foes like Saladin and the Mamluk Sultanate spring.
The crumbling Fatimid Caliphate will also make room for two Frankish forces- the Normans in Sicily and the Italian merchants of the Mediterranean.
As always, maps and sources available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com and new episodes every other week.
As the Byzantine Roman Empire crumbles Post-Manzikert, the Armenians begin to set up their own little petty kingdoms. More than any other group, these Armenians will be the closest native allies of the Outremer states.
As always, maps and sources available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com and new episodes every other week.
In 1071, the Roman Emperor Romanos Diogenes met the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan in battle outside the city of Manzikert. The result of the conflict would shape the history of the Anatolian peninsula to the present day.
As always, maps and sources available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com and new episodes every other week.
The Byzantine Roman Empire continues to crumble as the Macedonian Dynasty comes to an end and as foreign invaders start to rip chunks out the empire in both the east and the west, they end up turning to Romanos Diogenes in the hopes that he can defend them.
As always, maps and sources available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com and new episodes every other week.
At the beginning of the 11th century, the Abbasid Caliphate was shattered and rival forces like the Roman Empire and the Shia Islam Fatimid Caliphate were carving up the region that would one day house the Outremer States between themselves. Yet, within the century, a new group would arrive to unite nearly all of the Caliphate's possessions under the rule and deal such crippling blows to the Romans that they would be forced to call in Frankish allies to recover their lost territory.
In this episode, learn all about the origins of the Seljuk Turks in the Eurasian Steppe and their grand arrival into the Middle East.
As always, maps and sources available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com and new episodes every other week.
When the Crusades were called in 1096, the official reason for this venture that would result in the creation of the Outremer States was to assist the Byzantine Roman Empire in reclaiming lost territory in Anatolia. It was by far the most precarious military position the Roman Empire had been in since the Crisis of the Third Century! Yet, just 50 years earlier, the Empire had reached its greatest extent since the Muslim conquests. So then, what was the cause of this reversal of fortunes? And how did it shape the Roman Empire that will end up having a rocky relationship with the Franks?
In today's episode of History of the Outremer, we continue our century of background by examining the rise before the decline of the Roman Empire.
As always, maps and sources available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com and new episodes every other week.
In the 11th century, decades before the First Crusade, Norman mercenaries arrived in southern Italy. They would consolidate all of Southern Italy and Sicily into one kingdom. In doing so, not only did they wage war against the Byzantine Romans, the Pope, and Muslim Emirs in Sicily, but they drastically changed the nature of the relationship between all of these forces. They drove a wedge between the Byzantine Emperor and the Pope and later became the Pope's first military force. And for Muslims, the conquest of Sicily was the true First Crusade and the Kingdom of Sicily the first Crusader State!
As always, maps and sources available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com and new episodes every other week.
Our story starts in the year 1009, when the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim orders the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Not only do the Caliph's actions stir up the first rumblings of a possible Crusade in the West, but the eventual success of the Crusaders a century later will be predicated on the decline of Fatimid Egypt as a regional power.
So who were the Fatimids? What role did they play in the Levant? Find out on this week's episode of History of the Outremer. New episodes every other week. For more info, sources, and useful maps, visit historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com
In the 1090s, a horde of Latin Christians from western Europe undertook an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Along the way, their pilgrimage transformed into a mass migration and produced four Latin states thousands of miles away from their homeland- the kingdoms beyond the sea, the Outre-Mer states.
Why had the westerners gone east in the first place? How did their pilgrimage transform into what we now know as the First Crusade and how did it produce the Outremer states? Those are the questions we'll be answering in this first season of History of the Outremer- the Call from the East.
Maps and sources are available at historyoftheoutremer.wordpress.com. New episodes every other week.
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