Medieval Madness

There are many famous mysteries from the Middle Ages that have kept us guessing. Such as the fate of King Edward II and the princes in the Tower, or the meaning of the Voynich Manuscript. Today we thought we would take you on a journey back to the Middle Ages to discover some more puzzles that have stumped the curious for centuries. Welcome to Medieval Madness.

00:00 Introduction
01:26 The Lost Book
03:42 The Lost Explorer
05:50 The Lost Tomb
07:19 The Lost Caliph
09:51 The Lost Origin

Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by James Wade
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Gertrude of Merania, Queen of Hungary, and Agnès Sorel, the first officially recognised mistress to a French king. One a ‘princess’, the other a minor aristocrat. What could these two young women born two centuries apart possibly have in common? Welcome to Medieval Madness!
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Thought to have been built sometime between 800 and 1100 AD, around 2,000 Erdstall tunnels can be found across central Europe, particularly in Bavaria, where there are over 700. With only one way in and one way out some of these claustrophobic tunnels have crawl spaces that are just over one foot wide. Could they be graves for the souls of the dead or have some other religious purpose? Maybe they are hideaways from raiding parties or pillaging soldiers or as some have suggested the relics of aliens who left hundreds of years ago. Let’s join the archaeologists who are examining the Erdstall tunnels to try and determine their real purpose.

00:00 Introduction
00:55 Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Europe?
02:40 Deeper Underground
04:28 Tunnels, Tunnels Everywhere
05:34 An Underground Superhighway?
07:42 Hide and Seek
08:59 No Way Out

Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by Jamit Productions
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When many people think of the Medievals, they imagine castles and knights on white horses saving damsels in distress, or perhaps superstitious, backward-looking peasants, who’s only thought is to toil in the fields and

serve their lord. It may come as a shock to discover that there were some great innovations in the Middle Ages, such as the mechanical clock, the printing press and coffee houses! But it is in construction, where we can see that the Medievals pushed their ingenuity to the limits. From bridges to cathedrals, and walls to cities, let’s travel back in time and take a look at some of these medieval feats of engineering. Welcome to Medieval Madness!

00:00 Introduction
00:56 “God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands”
02:17 Foreseeing the Flood – The Nilometer
03:45 The Earth Dragon -The Great Wall of China
04:48 A City Like No Other - Baghdad
05:55 A Wonderful Waterway– The Naviglio Grande
07:05 Piers & Arches – The Medieval Bridge
08:21 Harnessing Water – The Bazacle Dam
09:38 “A Gateway To the Divine” – Gothic Cathedrals

Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by Jamit Productions
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Today we thought we would travel outside of the Middle Ages and into the early modern period. But why? We hear you shout when you have 1,000 years of medieval history to go at. Well, the answer is easy. The Great Fire of London was one of the greatest catastrophes ever to befall the City and was a tale just too extraordinary not to be told. Over ffour days from Sunday 2nd to Wednesday 5th September 1666, London was over powered by the largest and fastest moving fire that it had ever faced.

Fanned by easterly winds, it spread quickly across the city, like a relentless predator, consuming everything in its path. When the wind eventually dropped and the flames finally guttered out, the devastation was clear to see, causing the famed diarist Samuel Pepys to state that it was “the saddest sight of desolation that I ever saw”. Welcome to Early Modern Madness.

00:00 Introduction
01:21 A Whole New World
05:25 Tick, Tick, Boom!
08:13 Baker, Baker, Great Fire Maker
12:43 Bows and Arrows Against the Lightning
14:53 Hell Fire!
18:25 Burn Baby Burn
24:23 Firestarter?
27:36 Rise Like A Phoenix

Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by Jamit Productions
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