HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2026-04-02T09:42:08.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: It was medieval England's worst antisemitic massacre. Here's what happened next
items: Who won the crusades? The causes, death toll, and number of medieval holy wars explained
items: Saladin: a hero of Islam and scourge of the crusaders
items: Leper Crusaders: how disease-stricken knights forged an army in the Holy Land
items: Should we stop talking about the crusades?
items: Dark knights and crusading criminals
items: Saladin: life of the week
items: Crusader criminals: why medieval knights went rogue in the Holy Land
items: The crusade against the odds: how the First Crusade succeeded despite the obstacles
items: BONUS | The First Crusade: wrapping up the story

It was medieval England's worst antisemitic massacre. Here's what happened next
type: item
date: 2026-03-30T14:30:26.000Z
creator: Kavita Puri
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Column
subject: Crusades
subject: Death
subject: Judaism
subject: Medieval Life and Death
description: Kavita Puri explores York's long and complex Jewish history
encoded: On a cold, grey January day in York, I climbed the steps to Clifford’s Tower, continuing all the way to the top to enjoy panoramic views across the city. This structure was for many years a notorious prison, and housed a royalist garrison before being taken by the parliamentarians during the Civil War. Long before then, though, it was the site of one of the worst antisemitic massacres of the Middle Ages. Towards the end of the 12th century, peaking around the time of the Third Crusade, anti-Jewish hostility swelled in England. Antisemitic rioting broke out in London and across the east of the country. In spring 1190, as Jewish properties in York were looted or burned, concerned royal officers sheltered some 150 Jewish people inside a timber structure in York Castle that almost certainly stood on the current site of Clifford’s Tower, built perhaps 60 years later. Read more | “Some say that the first Jews sailed here on King Solomon’s ships”: Kavita Puri on India's long Jewish history A mob surrounded the tower and prepared to attack. On the night of 16 March, many of the Jews inside – seeing no safe way out of the situation – took their own lives, having set their possessions on fire, which ignited the tower itself. One of the aggressors reputedly offered an amnesty to any Jew willing to convert to Christianity – but all who left the tower to do so were murdered. However, that terrible incident did not mark the end of Jewish life in York. Within a few years, a new community was established, which endured in the city throughout the 13th century. Research from the University of York published in 2023 shows that a synagogue stood on Coney Street from 1205 to 1290 – the year when all Jews were expelled from England by order of Edward I. A commemorative plaque was unveiled at the site in 2024. Read more | The history of York: a northern powerhouse of many names Today, Coney Street is a busy commercial thoroughfare – as it was in the Middle Ages, when it was home to a clot…

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Who won the crusades? The causes, death toll, and number of medieval holy wars explained
type: item
date: 2025-11-24T17:30:10.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Crusades
subject: Historical people
description: Who won the crusades, how many were there, and what caused them? Medieval expert Rebecca Rist answers these major questions, exploring how centuries of religious conflict reshaped the medieval world
encoded: The crusades were a centuries-long sequence of era-defining medieval holy wars that transformed dynamics of power and religious ideas across Europe and the Middle East. But who won the crusades, and just how many crusades were there? Those are two of the questions answered by professor Rebecca Rist, an expert on the crusades and their broader medieval context. Speaking about the topic on an episode of the HistoryExtra podcast, Rist steps into the dust of medieval roads and the heat of besieged cities to explain why these campaigns erupted, what the major expeditions set out to accomplish, how those ambitions played out on the ground, and how the long arc of conflict finally came to an end. Who won the crusades? Overall, the Muslim forces won the crusades, and the Christians lost. However, as Rist explains, while that was the final state of play, the granular details were far from that simple. "The final bastions of the crusader states were lost in 1291 (having been founded originally in 1099) to Muslim forces. In that sense, obviously the Muslims won the crusades and the Christians were defeated. "However, the crusades span a very long period of time, starting with the First Crusade in 1095 and ending with the loss of Acre in 1291. There were many individual crusades within that period, some of which were won by the Christians – by the Western Franks, like the First Crusade – and others by Muslims. For example, the Muslim forces were successful in the Fifth Crusade in capturing Damietta." In other instances, Rist says there were greater degrees of complexity. "In some crusades, we have partial victories. If we take the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart was partially successful, in the sense that he was able to take and maintain Acre. But, of course, he didn't win back Jerusalem with a military victory." <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2020/06/GettyImages-1186332544-4f0a3d8-e1764009254971.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="Th…

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Saladin: a hero of Islam and scourge of the crusaders
type: item
date: 2025-02-28T10:19:35.000Z
creator: Emily Briffett
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Crusades
subject: Evergreen
subject: Historical people
description: In the West, he is most often depicted as the antagonist – if a noble and revered one – to the crusader king, Richard the Lionheart. From the other perspective, though, Saladin was a cultured sultan, a mighty leader and a Muslim hero. Emily Briffett, speaking to Jonathan Phillips on the HistoryExtra podcast, charts his rapid rise to dizzying heights of power and prestige
encoded: Who was Saladin? A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish descent, Saladin was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty (which ruled over modern-day Egypt and parts of Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Yemen) and was the first man at the time of the crusades to be sultan of both Egypt and Syria. Leading a confederation of territories, he inspired the Muslim military effort against the crusader states. In 1187, Saladin both defeated crusader forces at the battle of Hattin and captured Jerusalem after nearly nine decades of the holy city being in the hands of the Franks. He then repelled the resultant Third Crusade. On the podcast | Jonathan Phillips details the astronomic rise of Saladin Only six months after securing a truce with Richard the Lionheart, one of his most significant achievements, he died. Saladin was, and remains, a hero of Islam, and was praised by his enemies in the West for his military skills, his lack of vanity, and his generous and virtuous nature. What was Saladin’s full name? Saladin’s full name was Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub. He was known as Yusuf, a name he remained particularly fond of during his life since it had connotations to the Biblical figure Joseph (the Latinised version of Yusuf), who had been sent to Egypt as a slave but rose to be a powerful leader – a story that shared similarities to Saladin’s own career path. The name Salah ad-Din (westernised to Saladin) was actually a title, meaning ‘righteousness of the faith’. Ayyub was his father’s name, hence ibn Ayyub, meaning son of Ayyub. What was Saladin’s early life like? Born in either 1137 or 1138 in the city of Tikrit (now in Iraq), Saladin was raised in a prominent Kurdish family, with his father and uncle holding prestigious positions in the ranks of the Muslim Syrian rulership. As a boy, Saladin moved with his family to one of the great cities of the Near East: the wealthy and bustling Damascus, ruled over by the powerful Nur al-Din. With the growing sentiment of counter-crusade in the air, the young Sa…

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Leper Crusaders: how disease-stricken knights forged an army in the Holy Land
type: item
date: 2024-12-06T09:34:32.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Crusades
description: During the Crusades, one Christian order transformed from caring for those suffering from leprosy in Jerusalem to fielding an army of leper knights. Matthew Doherty explores the story of the the Lazarites
encoded: In the history of the Crusades, a number of military orders made their names with their exploits in the Holy Land. The likes of the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Teutonic Order all formed in the 12th century, in the decades after the First Crusade (1095-99) had captured the holy city of Jerusalem from Islamic control. Alongside the more prominent orders, however, was a small group called the Order of Saint Lazarus. Although formed with the sole purpose of caring for the sick, by the 13th century the Lazarites, adorned in white with a green cross, were among the ranks of crusader knights. But they were no ordinary fighters: the majority of them suffered from the dreaded scourge of leprosy. Read more | Crusader criminals: why medieval knights went rogue in the Holy Land Rise of the order The beginnings of the Order of Saint Lazarus can be found in a leper hospital in 12th-century Jerusalem, with the purpose of helping and caring for sickly pilgrims to the Holy Land. Leprosy appears to have been particularly prevalent in the Near East in the 12th and 13th centuries, at the same time as waves of Christian invaders descended on the region. In 1142, Fulk, the Christian king of Jerusalem, conceded to “the church of Saint Lazarus and the convent of the sick who are called miselli, an estate… which is between the Mount of Olives and the Red Cistern on the road which leads to the River Jordan.” Miselli can be roughly translated to “little wretched ones” and referred to leprous beggars. The land granted to this church was well situated, for it was on a key crossroads close to the Jordan, where those suffering from leprosy could bathe in its supposedly curative waters. Styling themselves ‘Lazarites’, the monks who cared for the afflicted were successful enough to buy more land two years later and expand their ministrations. Read more | Melisende of Jerusalem: the queen of a crusader kingdom A living death In the 21st century, it’s known that leprosy (also kn…

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Should we stop talking about the crusades?
type: item
date: 2024-11-20T07:30:00.000Z
creator: Emily Briffett
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Crusades
description: William Purkis explains how looking at the crusades from a different perspective might give us a truer insight into the medieval mindset
encoded: When you think about 'the crusades', you probably think of a series of military campaigns in the Holy Land, representing a great battle between the forces of Islam and Christianity. But is this actually a helpful way to view the subject? Speaking to Emily Briffett, historian William Purkis opens the lid on historical scholarship to reveal the wide and complex reality of crusading fervour in the Middle Ages – and considers how, if we look at it from a different perspective, we might gain a truer insight into the medieval mindset.

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Dark knights and crusading criminals
type: item
date: 2024-09-09T06:30:02.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Crusades
subject: Long reads (podcast series)
description: Steve Tibble reveals how the medieval Holy Land became a hotbed of lawlessness during the crusades
encoded: The crusades sparked centuries of violence and chaos, and not just on the battlefield. This Long Read, written by Steve Tibble, examines the surge in criminality, from petty theft to cold-blooded murder, that accompanied the warring armies to the Holy Land. HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the August 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.

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Saladin: life of the week
type: item
date: 2024-09-08T19:54:39.000Z
creator: Emily Briffett
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Crusades
subject: Life of the week (podcast series)
description: Jonathan Phillips details the astronomic rise of Saladin – who went head to head with crusading forces and was able to reclaim the holy city of Jerusalem
encoded: The name of medieval leader and military commander Saladin has gone down in history for unifying the Muslim Near East, capturing the holy city of Jerusalem and an iconic rivalry with Richard the Lionheart. But, is this extraordinary reputation just the product of his savvy PR team? Speaking to Emily Briffett, Jonathan Phillips charts the extraordinary rise of the Muslim leader, who usurped his patron before reaching dizzying heights – and questions how his legacy has changed across the centuries. View Green Video on the source website

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Crusader criminals: why medieval knights went rogue in the Holy Land
type: item
date: 2024-07-16T16:10:05.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Crusades
description: The crusades sparked centuries of violence and chaos – and not just on the battlefield. Steve Tibble describes the surge in criminality – from petty theft to cold-blooded murder – that accompanied the warring armies to the Holy Land
encoded: Modern statesmen live in the expectation of a metaphorical knife in the back from their political enemies. The situation in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem was similar, but the knives were far less metaphorical. Miles of Plancy, a powerful nobleman, was not popular with his peers. He could be rude. He could be arrogant. But his main failing, in the eyes of his fellow nobles at least, was that he was far too successful. Miles stepped in to become regent in July 1174, after King Amalric – who had ruled the crusader state since 1163 – died unexpectedly. Miles’s elevation to one of the most important roles in all of the Christian Levant was unwelcome to the older families. He was warned that conspiracies were in train. But instead of taking a more conciliatory stance, Miles appears to have made light of it. Read more | Crusaders: did they fight for God or gold? Events moved far more quickly than Miles expected, however. One day, “while staying at the city of Acre, he was stabbed on the public street just at dusk”, so William of Tyre, the famous chronicler of the crusades, tells us, and “died after suffering ignominious and shameful treatment”. The murder was ruthlessly carried out and the assassin was probably on a ship back to France or Italy within the hour. The brutal world of crusader politics moved on without skipping a beat. Bishop William of Acre appears to have made far fewer enemies than the ambitious Miles of Plancy. But that didn’t prevent him from meeting a similarly grisly fate two years earlier, in 1172. After hearing blood-curdling cries, William’s servants had broken into his room in the Byzantine city of Adrian- ople to discover his butchered body. An assailant had slashed at the highly respected bishop while he rested and recovered from his long, exhausting travels. It was an astonishing episode. Although it occurred during the crusades, William was a member of a peaceful mission travelling through the Byzantine empire, deep inside Christian territory. …

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The crusade against the odds: how the First Crusade succeeded despite the obstacles
type: item
date: 2023-12-04T11:44:09.000Z
creator: Emily Briffett
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Crusades
description: Chronic starvation, hostile landscapes, powerful foes – the First Crusade overcame seemingly insurmountable challenges. Emily Briffett speaks to expert historians to reveal how zeal, strategy and sheer luck secured military success for this ambitious campaign
encoded: After three long years, the campaign reached its climax. In June 1099, a crusader army arrived outside Jerusalem and stared up at its towering walls. From late 1095, men, women and children from western Europe had left their homes and set out east on a vast military expedition that would take them to the Holy Land. Now, after enduring lightning ambushes, desperate sieges and periods of near starvation, the jewel in the crown of Christendom was in their sights. But not yet within their grasp. Between the crusaders and the conquest of Jerusalem stood the city’s determined defenders. These troops of the Fatimid caliphate – a Shia Muslim empire spanning north Africa and parts of the near east, with its capital in Cairo – guarded a population of perhaps 20,000 Muslims, Jews and eastern Orthodox Christians massed within. At first, the defenders prevailed, resisting everything the increasingly frustrated crusader forces could throw at them. But then, after weeks of skirmishes and as a last resort, the nobleman Godfrey of Bouillon used a siege tower to gain a priceless toehold on the walls to the north of the city, and was able to open the nearest gate. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2023/11/GettyImages-463919331web-22dbb30.jpg" width="620" height="413" alt="A painting showing a melee on a battlefield in front of a city, with armoured men fighting and dying, and three horses dying." title="A scene from the First Crusade, as depicted in Les Passages d’Outremer, a 15th-century chronicle of the crusades. (Image by Sebastian Marmoret/Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector via Getty Images)" /> Hundreds of crusaders poured in. In the searing heat, simmering anger and frustration was unleashed, and a number of the inhabitants were slaughtered. When the dust settled, Godfrey was declared ‘Defender of the Holy Sepulchre’ – ruler in all but name. The holy city was finally in the hands of the crusaders. Read more | How the First Crusade captured Jeru…

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BONUS | The First Crusade: wrapping up the story
type: item
date: 2023-11-09T15:59:18.000Z
creator: Emily Briffett
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Crusades
subject: First Crusade podcast series
description: In this subscriber-only bonus episode, Emily Briffett brings back several historians from our First Crusade podcast series, putting the biggest questions surrounding crusading history to them and answering listener questions
encoded: How different would the late 11th century have been if the First Crusade hadn't happened? From muddled motivations to its impactful legacy, what are some of the biggest misconceptions about the crusades? In a special bonus episode available to HistoryExtra subscribers, Emily Briffett is rejoined by medieval experts Jonathan Phillips, Natasha Hodgson and Suleiman Mourad to unpick some of the biggest questions surrounding crusading history, and answer listener queries along the way. View Green Video on the source website

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