Joanna: Eleanor of Aquitaine's Fierce Daughter

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The courageous life of Joanna Plantagenet extends far beyond her mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and her 'brave and heroic' brother Richard the Lionheart. She conquers the throne, escapes from a prison, is shipwrecked, goes on crusade, survives bullying brothers and husbands and essentially waits for no man. As Dr. Catherine Hanley puts it; "you don't become Queen and sit about eating chocolates, there's a job to do".

Matt Lewis is joined by Cath to celebrate the adventurous and tumultuous life of Joanna Plantagenet, who's resilience and resourcefulness is astonishing as she navigates political intrigue, personal tragedy, and battles for survival in a male-dominated world. She is a testament to the ways medieval women asserted power and agency in a time of limited control.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. It was edited by Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Hear Dr. Cath Hanley on Gone Medieval's Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3URgqZAWK25RBFbZrE8F40?si=oXtPW4FOQ8eNvQ72vQhmTg

For more on Joanna Plantagenet's family:

Eleanor of Aquitaine:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/67XsxIAKd8AwctFgFAlkXL

Richard the Lionheart:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vJVuLhSWVzisKBbbNVUqa

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis.
0:02.6	And I'm Dr. Eleanor Yonaga.
0:04.2	And we're just popping up here to tell you some insider info.
0:08.0	If you would like to listen to Gone Medieval ad-free and get early access and bonus episodes,
0:13.3	sign up to History Hit.
0:14.5	With the History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries.
0:20.6	Such as my new series on everyone's favorite
0:22.8	conquerors, the Normans, or my recent exploration of the castles that made Britain. There's a new
0:29.9	release to enjoy every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe, or find a link in the show notes for this episode.
0:45.1	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis. Welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the greatest
0:55.5	millennium in human history. We've got the most intriguing mysteries, the gobsmacking details
1:02.0	and latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the printing press, from kings to popes to the crusades.
1:08.9	We cross centuries and continents to delve into rebellions, plots and murders, to find the stories
1:15.6	big and small that tell us how we got here.
1:18.6	Find out who we really were of Gone Medieval. I'm Matt Lewis. One king has, for a long time,
1:39.1	been given a prominent position in the annals of medieval history. He's one of the few kings of
1:44.0	England after the conquest to have an epithet. He's one of the few kings of England after the
1:44.8	conquest to have an epithet. More recently, Richard the Lionheart has been the subject of much
1:50.2	debate and reassessment. In a manner, my guest may approve of, he's a side character in this
1:56.5	episode, which will focus on the life and career of one of his sisters, Joanna.
2:01.9	Catherine Hanley's latest book, Lioness Heart, The Life and Times of Joanna Plantagenet,
2:07.4	is a lively and thoughtful exploration of Joanna's life.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.