Welcome to the History Extra Podcast, Fascinating Historical Conversations from the makers of BBC History magazine. 1217 is not one of the most famous years in history,

but with a major French invasion on the doorstep

and a brutal war that racked both towns and countryside,

this was a year that could have altered England's history beyond recognition.

So why aren't we more familiar with the events of 1217? Well Emily

Brifford spoke to the medievalist Catherine Hanley to find out.

Hi, Kath, thank you so much for joining me on the History Extra podcast.

I'm very glad to be here.

So we're going to be delving into the history behind your new book, 1217, The Battles that

saved England.

Now tell us, how pivotal was the year 1217 in English history?

Well the short answer to that is very. I mean probably it is pushing it slightly to say it's as important as 1066,

but in terms of years of English history,

I'd put it in the top 10.

The reason you don't know more about it

is that something very similar happened to 1066 in that a man came from France aiming to become king of England, but he actually didn't become the king of England and that's why you haven't heard so much about it but in fact

the events of that year were pivotal because if he had become the King of England

history as we know it, English history would have been

completely different. So I'm putting it in the top ten. You've really set the stage for it,

you've given it this big reputation now. I've got to live up to it now. So can you give us the

backstory behind it if we go back to say King John Magna Carter what happened in

the years preceding 1217. Okay, so King John, not very popular, one of England's

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