The Dark Ages Podcast

542-543

In Belisarius’ absence, the Byzantine’s greed and incompetence create a space for the Ostrogoths to launch a comeback. Under their new leader, Totila, they enjoy stunning success in a series of battles and sieges that carries them to the walls of Naples, and all the way to the very southern corners of Italy.

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Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2026/05/18/67-totila-and-the-ostrogothic-resurgence/ 

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Logo Art by Jonas Lau Markussen @jonaslaumarkussen

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

540 to 541

We return to Italy, where Belisarius had the Ostrogoths on the ropes… until he didn’t. Leadership failures on both sides result in a renewal of conflict and the appearance of a new power among the Ostrogoths.

There’s merch now: darkagespod-shop.fourthwall.com

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2026/03/06/66-when-the-generals-away/ 

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Logo Art by Jonas Lau Markussen @jonaslaumarkussen

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

90% of the population of Europe was made up of rural peasants. By the end of Roman rule in the West, only some of those peasants had been fully Christianized. This episode is about the efforts by the Church to spread its message to the peasantry, and how it changed in the process.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2026/02/18/65-church-and-people/ 

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Logo Art by Jonas Lau Markussen @jonaslaumarkussen

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Additional music by Ensemble Organum

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

The process of fragmentation that followed the fall of the west affected the Church just as much as it did other parts of society, and there was a process of remaking. What emerged was not the behemoth we may imagine when we think of the medieval church, all under the control of the pope.  All the bishops and priests recognized that they were brothers in the same family, they would have been horrified at the idea of there being separate churches; but they would have equally been nonplussed at the idea that they were all subject to the central authority of the pope. This episode takes a stab at describing how the popes saw their role, and how very differently the church functioned in actual practice.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2026/02/11/64a-church-and-state/

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Logo Art by Jonas Lau Markussen @jonaslaumarkussen

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

584 to 612

Part three of a two-part series on the life and times of Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia sees the her emerge fully as a player in Frankish and European politics. Her influence is felt across three generations of leaders, though ultimately she comes to an unpleasant end.

Links: www.instagram.com/darkagespod

Webpage for this Episode: https://darkagespod.com/2026/01/27/63-slay-queen/ 

Buy me a coffee with ko-fi.com/darkagespod

Logo Art by Jonas Lau Markussen @jonaslaumarkussen

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

And https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/