History of the World podcast · Chris Hasler

The History of the World podcast magazine - 4th January 2025

·48 min·3 clips

Orban’s giant cannon is sold to the Ottomans after Constantine XI cannot afford it.

The History of the World Podcast presents a magazine episode built around the theme of History A to Z. This installment reaches the letter F and uses it to revisit earlier stories. The first major subject is the First Crusade. That campaign ran from 1096 to 1099. It was a major military campaign initiated by the Latin Church to reclaim the Holy Land from Islamic rule, in response to a request from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and with Pope Urban II's endorsement. The episode treats the campaign as a serious military effort, not a clean march toward victory. It then turns to the siege of Antioch. Antioch is described as a harder target than Nicaea because it was more self sufficient and less dependent on imported resources. The crusaders had already taken a beating on the hot summer march across Anatolia. Winter made things worse. The siege turns into a test of endurance. The city walls protect the population, but they also trap them. The crusaders are forced to send out a sizeable contingent to gather food. Turkish forces attack both the remaining besiegers and the foraging party. The strain grows severe. Some of the crusaders die. Others survive by resorting to cannibalism. Supplies do arrive from Europe, but they mostly prolong the suffering. Antioch does not look close to falling. The governor of Antioch, Yosean, persecutes the Christians and seems to do so to prevent rebellion and protect the city. Kerboa, the Atabeg of Mosul, approaches with a force to assist Antioch. He first turns toward Edessa, where Baldwin has become count, before moving on. The story also introduces Firuz, an Armenian who had converted to Islam and served Yosean. Firuz seems mistreated and has reason to betray him. The episode uses these details to show how siege warfare depends on hunger, fear, intelligence, and opportunism as much as force. Because the show is in magazine mode, the host does not carry every moment alone. Instead, the episode works as a curated return to a famous medieval conflict through commentary. The result is clear and measured. It keeps the listener inside the geography of the crusade while also showing the human cost of waiting, suffering, and trying not to break. The episode closes by pointing ahead to the next topic after the F section, but the core of the episode is the First Crusade and the siege of Antioch.

As heard by us

A letter-F magazine episode that lingers on the First Crusade and siege of Antioch without rushing past the hard parts.

This History of the World episode uses the letter-F frame to move back through earlier material before settling, for a long stretch, on the First Crusade and the siege of Antioch.

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Why you'd press play

You want a guided return through the First Crusade without losing the wider frame.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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