History Hit Podcasts

Grace O'Malley, Ireland's Pirate Queen

She cut off her hair to sail the seas. She divorced her husband by locking him out of his own castle. And when her son was killed by the occupying...

The Knights Templar vs the Order of Assassins

During the crusades, there was a legendary rivalry between two extraordinary medieval orders: the Assassins and the Templars. Separating myth from...

The Romans and China

How did Roman silver travel from Egypt to China across monsoon seas, pirate waters, and bustling ports?

Tristan Hughes is joined by...

The Betrayal of Thomas Becket

"Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?!"

These words supposedly uttered by a King over 800 years ago set in motion a chain of gruesome...

The Truth About the Little Mermaid

What is a mermaid? Do sirens, selkies and Aquaman fit into this category? And how far back in history do they go?

Kate is joined by Diane...

Nat Turner's Rebellion

In 1831, a rebellion erupted in Virginia that sent shockwaves across the United States, and challenged the brutal system of slavery in a way that...

The Commanders: The Best of the Rest

For the final episode in our 'Commanders' series, we've drawn on your suggestions to pay tribute to the commanders who didn’t make our main...

Elizabethan Boy Actresses

Why were Shakespeare’s greatest heroines played by teenage boys? How did they learn their craft? On the Elizabethan stage, highly trained young...

The Victorian Era's Wildest Murder

It was one of the most gruesome crimes of the Victorian era... and it ended up in David Attenborough's garden! Kate Webster, a servant, killed and...

Judas Iscariot

**Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence, including suicide**

What really happened to Judas Iscariot? From shifting...

Inside the Brothels of New Orleans

Storyville was the red-light district in New Orleans, created in 1897.

What was it like in this neighbourhood, and inside the brothels...

What Are the Late Medieval Ages?

Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega dive into the chaos of the late Middle Ages; from the Great Famine and the Little Ice Age to plague, peasant...

What Is The Kennedy Curse?

Their name is synonymous with power, influence ... and tragedy. And with so much of the latter, many have taken to speculating - are the Kennedy...

Britain's First Dog

Fifteen thousand years ago, as the Ice Age loosened its grip on Northern Europe, humans returned to the previously inhospitable British Isles. But...

The Real Outlander

The book and TV series "Outlander" has introduced millions of fans to Scottish history and the story of the Jacobites.

One of those fans is...

How and Why the Crusades Started

This is your guide to almost two centuries of holy war - from start to finish. We untangle faith, politics and myth, and reveal how the Crusades...

When the Spanish Armada Reached Ireland

What happens when a fleeing armada meets an unforgiving coast? Shipwreck, slaughter and survival collide as Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and...

The Women Who Ruled Medieval Burgundy, and Europe

What if the most powerful warlords in medieval Europe were women?

From wine country to empire, Burgundy’s Duchesses brokered marriages,...

The Victorian Sex Trafficking Panic

Was there really a boom in sex trafficking at the end of the 19th century? What was 'white slavery'? And how often did the traffickers get...

The Trail of Tears | The Frontier

The Trail of Tears is one of the darkest chapters in American history: the forced removal of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral...

The Man Who Ate Everything

Listener warning: this episode contains a description of cruelty to animals

One of the strangest tales to emerge from Napoleonic France was...