Cover image of Human Circus: Journeys in the Medieval World

Human Circus: Journeys in the Medieval World

A narrative history podcast following the journeys of medieval travellers and their roles in larger historical events. Telling great stories, showing the interconnected nature of the medieval world, a... Read more

Ranked #1

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Salah ad-Din 1: The City Victorious

Salah ad-Din 1: The City Victorious

Salah ad-Din/Saladin part one, from birth into banishment to ruler of 12th-century Egypt. This is the story of the rise ... Read more

25 May 2019

48mins

Ranked #2

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The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 2: The Battle of Angora aka Ankara

The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 2: The Battle of Angora aka Ankara

Today, we'll follow Johann Schiltberger's journey under Bayezid's control. There will be an escape attempt, epic battles... Read more

3 Feb 2017

56mins

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Ranked #3

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Sir John Mandeville 1: To the Holy Land

Sir John Mandeville 1: To the Holy Land

Sir John Mandeville, a 14th-century figure who travelled/maybe travelled/almost definitely didn't travel from England to... Read more

28 Dec 2019

35mins

Ranked #4

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To See the Mongols 1: Giovanni Carpine Goes East

To See the Mongols 1: Giovanni Carpine Goes East

Giovanni Carpine starts off a new series and a new set of travellers in the surprisingly interconnected world of the 13t... Read more

2 Nov 2017

33mins

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Ranked #5

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The Book of the Wonders of India

The Book of the Wonders of India

Today's topic is the Kitāb ʻajāyib Al-Hind, or the Book of the Wonders of India, a 10th-century collection of wonders co... Read more

16 Nov 2019

36mins

Ranked #6

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Marco and the Polos 1: From Venice to the World

Marco and the Polos 1: From Venice to the World

The journey of Venice's most famous merchant and traveller begins today, but we won't see much of him in this episode. W... Read more

10 Mar 2018

46mins

Ranked #7

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The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 3: Timur the Conqueror

The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 3: Timur the Conqueror

Episode 3 is here, and it follows Johann Schiltberger on his merry way, after the Battle of Angora and into the life of ... Read more

17 Feb 2017

53mins

Ranked #8

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Thomas Dallam 1: Jenkinson and the Safavid Shah

Thomas Dallam 1: Jenkinson and the Safavid Shah

We begin the journey of Thomas Dallam, Elizabethan organ-maker and ill-prepared ambassador to the Ottoman Sultan. This f... Read more

19 Apr 2017

45mins

Ranked #9

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To See the Mongols 2: A New Khan

To See the Mongols 2: A New Khan

Giovanni Carpine returns, to the podcast, and to Lyon. This episode we hear about his journey to the kurultai, the great... Read more

16 Nov 2017

42mins

Ranked #10

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The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 4: The Journey Home and Other Things

The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 4: The Journey Home and Other Things

This is the 4th and final episode in my little series on Johann Schiltberger. Our wandering friend has come a long way a... Read more

4 Mar 2017

51mins

Ranked #11

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Geoffrey's Crusade 1: Venetian Appointments

Geoffrey's Crusade 1: Venetian Appointments

Using the the chronicles of two participants in the Fourth Crusade - the one a common knight, the other a leader involve... Read more

17 Aug 2018

41mins

Ranked #12

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Marco and the Polos 2: Of Assassins and Other Things

Marco and the Polos 2: Of Assassins and Other Things

The three Polos depart for the summer palace of Kublai Khan. There'll be Assassins, baked corpses, and papal elections a... Read more

4 Apr 2018

39mins

Ranked #13

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Marco and the Polos 3: Marco and the Great, Great Khan

Marco and the Polos 3: Marco and the Great, Great Khan

Marco Polo was a tremendous admirer of Kublai Khan and of his Genghisid legacy more generally. This episode, we explore ... Read more

24 Apr 2018

40mins

Ranked #14

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Thomas Dallam 2: The Anglo-Moroccan Relationship

Thomas Dallam 2: The Anglo-Moroccan Relationship

The prelude to Dallam's Ottoman adventure continues with Elizabethan England's trade and where it took them. Today, that... Read more

19 May 2017

52mins

Ranked #15

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Rabban Bar Sauma 1: The Monks of Kublai Khan

Rabban Bar Sauma 1: The Monks of Kublai Khan

First in a series on Rabban Bar Sauma, covering his life from miracle-baby through cave-bound monk and on to pilgrim, wi... Read more

24 Dec 2018

48mins

Ranked #16

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Halloween Mini Episode: The Stories of Walter Map

Halloween Mini Episode: The Stories of Walter Map

It's Halloween, and here are some medieval stories appropriate to the season. This mini episode is about the stories of ... Read more

31 Oct 2019

28mins

Ranked #17

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To See the Mongols 3: An Interregnum

To See the Mongols 3: An Interregnum

Today, a quick rewind into what it means to be a Mongol, some early reactions to the Mongol invasion, some King Louis IX... Read more

9 Dec 2017

36mins

Ranked #18

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Abu Zayd and the Ways East

Abu Zayd and the Ways East

The Accounts of China and India, covering the trade between the Persian Gulf and points east in the 9th and 10th centuri... Read more

25 Oct 2019

37mins

Ranked #19

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Marco and the Polos 5: The Echoes of the Wind

Marco and the Polos 5: The Echoes of the Wind

Marco Polo's story of "Zipangu," the secluded island kingdom, abundant with gold, and Kublai Khan's attempt to take it a... Read more

9 Jun 2018

51mins

Ranked #20

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To See the Mongols 4: A William Leaves Town

To See the Mongols 4: A William Leaves Town

We go east again this episode, in the company of a friar who carried a letter to the son of Batu Khan. Was he there on b... Read more

5 Jan 2018

37mins

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