A History of English & British Coronations

Genghis Khan is famous for launching the conquest of the largest contiguous empire the world has ever seen. And for fathering enough children that today nearly every person of Asian decent carries his DNA. But he might not have done any of it if not for the love he bore one incre ...  Show more

If you want to be a monarch, you need three things: ultimate power over your domain, a brilliant gold crown to impress the peasantry, and the best seat in the palace. The idea of giving the most important person in a given space a special place to sit is near-universal. Many anci ...  Show more

What was the most calamitous coronation of all time? Which ceremony does Tom think is the most boring topic he's ever discussed on the podcast? How will Charles III's big day compare to that of his ancestors? In the third and final episode, Tom and Dominic answer all these quest ...  Show more

The roots of the coronation ritual are fabulously ancient: certain elements of the ceremony are vestiges from the later Roman Empire, others have their origins in the Old Testament and ancient Egypt. The liturgy used can be traced back to the 10th century, and the very idea of ki ...  Show more

Throughout April, Gone Medieval is your perfect companion for the forthcoming coronation of King Charles III. In this episode, Dr. Cat Jarman asks what did kingship really mean in the first half of the medieval period? How and when did we start to have kings in what later ...

Elizabeth II. Henry V. William the Conqueror. All pretenders, according to our twitter poll to find England’s greatest monarch, which has been running over the last week. Dominic and Tom discuss those who fell at the final hurdle, as well as finding room for a rather queasy anecd ...  Show more