Welcome to the British History podcast. My name is Jamie, and this is episode 488, the year

1100. This show is ad-free due to member support, and as a way of thanking members for keeping

the show independent, I offer members-only content, including extra episodes and rough transcripts.

And you can get instant access to all the members' extras by signing up for membership at

the British History Podcast.com for about the price of a latte per month. And thank you very much to

Susan, Manhere, and Jade for signing up already. We did it. It's the year 1100. And that means it's time for us to take a moment and place

our story in the broader context of global human history. Now, as always, this won't be

exhaustive, nor ultra detailed. Our only intent here is to break the myopia that's inherent in any

history podcast and give you a little bit of a broader view. We do British history here,

but there are stories playing out that are just as complex, inspiring, disappointing,

and meaningful all over the globe. And in the year 1100,

humanity is entering a very interesting period of our history. I mean, we're about a century

before Magna Carta. We're about 250 years before Black Death. We're just under 400 years before Columbus

stumbles into the Caribbean. And just over 400 years before Martin Luther is all, hey guys,

is it just me or is this starting to feel less like a religion and more like a get rich quick scheme?

So our story, which has been really interesting and really unstable, is only going to get

crazier from here. And the pace of change has already been picking up.

I mean, if you think about it, a lot has changed for our

little island since our last check-in in the year 1000. First of all, the population of England,

and honestly populations throughout most of Europe, were growing steadily, and it was now starting to

show.

Some estimates suggest that the population was on a trajectory to double in size very soon.

...