How the Crusades Worked

Viola Roseboro’ isn’t well-known today, but she played a big behind-the-scenes role in the careers of a lot of American writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, shaping what’s thought of as the American literary canon. Research: “4 New Features.” Washington D.C. Evening ...  Show more

This 2016 episode covers the May 30, 1948 flood that destroyed Vanport, Oregon. What really makes the story more than a historical footnote is how it ties into the racial makeup of both Portland and Oregon at the time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

In episode one of our series on the First Crusade, we consider how a landmark papal bull lit a fire under the idea of crusading, triggering a military machine that saw tens of thousands make an unprecedented journey into the unknown and face off against an unfamiliar enemy When ...  Show more

When we talk about the crusades today the mental images that spring to mind are as clear as they are striking – valiant crusader knights emblazoned with crosses and penniless pilgrims in search of salvation, perhaps even a brutal clash of civilisations. But, behind the popular my ...  Show more

In the call to crusade that ignited the idea of holy war in the minds of the western European populace, Pope Urban II painted a picture of evil “infidels” torturing and massacring the Christians of the Holy Land. However, when the armed pilgrims of the First Crusade crossed over ...  Show more

The Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos had asked the pope for a small crack team of western knights to aid him with his struggles in Asia Minor – a plea for help which had set crusading wheels into motion. But, he was shocked when waves of unruly crusaders began arriving in wav ...  Show more