THE ENGLISH HERITAGE PODCAST
Every object has a story to tell.
But how can one mystery item lead us on a journey through history, people and places?
In the English Heritage podcast, comedian and writer Amy Matthews brings you entertaining tales from unexpected places. Each week, we begin with a mystery item and with the help of English Heritage experts and special guests, Amy explores what our past can tell us about our present and perhaps our future.
Seeking Sanctuary: fleeing conflict in the Middle Ages
Throughout the ages, people have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict and instability and find refuge in another country - or a different part of their own country.
In this episode of the English Heritage Podcast, host Amy Matthews sits down with English Heritage historian Dr Will Wyeth and Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge Prof Bart Lambert to look at that phenomenon across the Middle Ages, in particular during the Wars of Independence in Scotland and the Hundred Years' Wars in France and the Low Countries. Together they discuss how during this period, refugees came from all social levels, from nobility, clergy and the political elite to the poor, especially women.
This episode reveals the everyday realities of seeking safe haven in the medieval world and challenges the common assumption that medieval people rarely travelled far from home.
Listen to the English Heritage PodcastRomans by the Sea
Did you know that Roman emperors had a weakness for English oysters?
The Romans arrived around 43AD and one of their first settlements was Richborough, in Kent, where they found oysters so good they sent them back home.
In the first of our special series on the English coastline, we go back to Roman times. It wasn’t just a military invasion, it was an influx of culture and people from across three continents. It shaped our country and our shores.
Today English heritage experts Dr Andrew Roberts and Dr Kathryn Bedford reveal more about what the Romans actually did for us.
All Episodes
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Speaking with shadows
When you’re wandering about a historic place, what voices do you hear echoing off the walls? Are they the ones you learnt about at school – or do you wonder about the shadowy, quiet voices that may have gone unheard?
Travel from 17th-century Northamptonshire, where we hear about the heroic servant who may have become Britain’s first black pub landlord, to wartime Essex, where Polish special forces soldiers trained in secrecy for life or death missions to their homeland.
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