Norman Centuries | A Norman History Podcast by Lars Brownworth
By Lars Brownworth
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Podcast Description
Lars Brownworth, author of "Lost to the West" and creator of the "12 Byzantine Rulers" podcast presents "Norman Centuries", a podcast on the Normans. While popular Norman history focuses on the regions of France and England, Norman Centuries covers the lesser known Italian Normans as well. Visit us at http://NormanCenturies.com/
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Episode 1 - Rollo and the Viking Age | They were the great success story of the Middle Ages, a footloose band of individual adventurers who appeared out of nowhere to blaze across the face of Dark Age Europe. In the course of two centuries the Normans launched a series of extraordinary conquests, transforming Anglo-Saxon England into Great Britain, setting up a powerful Crusader state in Antioch, and turning Palermo into the dazzling cultural and economic capital of the western Mediterranean. Their story, however, begins rather humbly in the fierce Viking Age, when a group of Scandinavian raiders came crashing into Charlemagne's empire. Join Lars Brownworth as he follows the ferocious warrior Rollo, the first Norman, who began life as a simple raider and ended it as a great lord of the West. | 9/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 2 - Richard the Fearless | With the death of Rollo and his son, Normandy seemed poised on the brink of disaster. Its nobles were in open revolt and the King of France had seized the capital of Rouen. The legitimate heir, Richard I, was only nine years old- and a captive of the crown- yet against all expectations he grew into one of early Normandy's most formidable Dukes. Along the way he acquired the nickname of Richard the Fearless, and is remembered chiefly as the man who put Normandy on the map. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the dramatic career of the first Norman Duke. | 10/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 3 - Richard the Good: Inventing the Past | At the start of Richard II's reign northern Europe was once again subjected to a wave of Viking attacks. The young Duke was faced with the question of what to do with his distant Norse brethren. Assist these pagans in their plunder and be labeled a pirate himself - or resist and become their next victim. His solution would intertwine the fate of Normandy with the kingdom of England, and lay the groundwork for the great conquest to come. In the process he would commission the first court historian and create a new identity for the Normans. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at both England and Normandy in the time of Richard the Good. | 11/19/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 4 - Magnificent Devil | The reign of Robert I began under the dark suspicion of murder and descended into chaos as the young Duke struggled for control. Dogged by rumors of fratricide and a papal excommunication, he carried on a whirlwind romance with the beautiful Herleve and attempted the first invasion of England. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the tempestuous career of Robert I whose own subjects could never quite decide if he was Robert the Magnificent- or Robert the Devil. | 1/13/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 5 - William the Conqueror | The young Duke William seemed destined not to survive his childhood. Orphaned before he was ten, he became a plaything of powerful nobles as one by one his guardians were killed off. Normandy descended into chaos as central authority disappeared and ambitious knights began to carve out their own independent kingdoms. The king of France, looking to exploit the situation, invaded the Duchy seizing castles and encouraging a general revolt. But against all these odds, William somehow triumphed, defying both king and nobility and stamping his authority over his Duchy as few others would. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the early career of Normandy's most famous Duke. | 3/26/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 6 - The Two Harolds | England on the eve of the Conquest was torn between the old King Edward the Confessor and the powerful house of Godwin. With no clear heir apparent chosen, a predatory Normandy and the terrifying Harald Hardrada of Norway waited for their chance to seize the throne, while Harold of England tried desperately to keep the peace. As the year 1065 drew to it's close a royal death started a chain of events that would drastically alter the political landscape. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the most famous date in English history and the three would-be kings who struggled for the crown. | 4/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 7 - After Hastings | King Harold wanted nothing more than a peaceful reign, but was destined to spend his time on the throne preparing for war. He had been crowned under the threat of a foreign invasion and had to fend of a major Viking attack in his first summer as king. Now as 1066 drew to a close he got word of the long-awaited Norman landing. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the Battle of Hastings and its aftermath. | 5/17/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 8 - William Iron-Arm | In Duke Richard II's Normandy an impoverished knight named Tancred de Hauteville struggled to provide for his twelve sons. The eldest of them - William - declined his inheritance and headed to southern Italy to seek his trade as a mercenary. He was the first of the Normans to set foot in Sicily and, under the service of a Byzantine general, he found fame and fortune beyond his wildest hopes. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at William Iron-Arm, the man who set the foundations of a family legacy that would one day outshine even the Duke of Normandy. | 5/28/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 9 - The Rise of Robert Guiscard | Robert Guiscard arrived in Italy as a simple knight, hoping to benefit from his brother's wealth and power. Instead he found his path blocked at every turn by petty jealousy and was sent off to rot in the most inhospitable place his sibling could think of. From these difficult beginnings, against the odds, Robert would build a base of power so formidable that not even the combined strength of a Pope and two Emperors could prevail against it. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the early career of the most brilliant general the Normans ever produced. | 7/22/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 10 - The Byzantine Wars | By 1071 Robert Guiscard had risen to the height of power in Italy. The grumbling Lombards had been forced to grovel before him, the proud Norman barons recognized him as their unquestioned lord, and one of the greatest medieval popes depended on him for protection. But Robert was still restless and his eyes turned across the seas to the greatest prize of all- Byzantium: Queen of Cities and the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at Guiscard's final campaign to seize the imperial throne. | 10/15/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 11 - The Great Count | Roger de Hauteville was a strange conqueror. The youngest of twelve sons he was the last to come to Italy and treated as the least capable of the siblings by a jealous Guiscard. His first raid in Sicily was a disaster that seemed to confirm the worst suspicions about him. But Roger persevered and over three decades he managed to carve out a kingdom that rivaled that of William the Conqueror's. Along the way he won one of the most spectacular battles in medieval history and managed to die with all of his vast conquests at peace. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the surprising life of the last Hauteville brother. | 12/18/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 12 - Rise of a King | Roger II was never supposed to inherit his father's possessions. He was the youngest of 18 children, and only five when the Great Count died. The nobility dutifully pledged their allegiance but there seemed little chance that his mother - an Italian foreigner in the Norman court - could hold the regency until he matured. And yet, against the odds Roger II emerged from his uncertain childhood as the most forceful personality on the Mediterranean stage. Under him Norman rule in southern Italy blossomed into its most brilliant flower. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the rise of Roger II, Sicily's first and greatest king. | 5/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Episode 13 - Rogerios Rex | In the Spring of 1133 the new Norman Kingdom of Sicily seemed about to be shattered. Roger II, its creator and first king had backed the anti-Pope Anacletus II to gain his crown and in the process earned the hostility of most of Europe. Ranged against him were the emperors of both East and West, the most powerful cleric in Christendom - Bernard of Clairvaux, and the rightful Pope. Secular and papal armies were already on the march and Sicily's very survival was at stake. Through a mixture of Norman daring and southern cunning, Roger managed to stay one step ahead of his enemies, triumphing to become the equal of any of his ancestors. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the conclusion of the career of Sicily's greatest king. | 12/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 13 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Lars Brownworth's triumphant return!
Of all the podcasts I've ever listened to, Lars Brownworth's "12 Byzantine Rulers" was undoubtedly my favorite. I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that he had begun another venture, and the first episode did not disappoint! This is sure to be another gem: give it a listen!
Great new podcast
Just as good as the Byzantine Empire podcast. Lars brings the subject of the Normans to life with an incredible amount of detail. I can't wait for the next one.
Beware!! You won't be able to resist listening to this whole thing, once you start!!
If you are not familiar with Mr. Brownworth's previous spellbinder podcast series on the Byzantine Emperors, you're going to be shocked to discover how enthralling his story-telling powers are upon these subjects, which you may have thought could never interest you so intensely (especially if you think you "don't like history"). Thank you, again Lars. And BRAVO for this encore!!!
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