I've got a great podcast recommendation for you, as a history fan I reckon you'll love

Echoes of History, the podcast from Ubisoft, the people behind the famous video game series

Assassin's Creed. Through storytellers and historians, this podcast unravels epic mythologies

and relives the most important times of our history. To celebrate the launch of Assassin's

Creed Mirage, Ubisoft presents a new season of Echoes of History dedicated to the setting

of the new game, 9th Century Baghdad. In season 2, Figures of Baghdad, you'll discover

the stories of the extraordinary people who held influence over the Abbasid Caliphate.

Whether they were scientists, philosophers, merchants or artists, they all led rich lives

in the city of peace. So, if you're a fan of the game, or just want to be immersed in

the history of the Islamic Golden Age, I recommend you listen to Echoes of History now,

wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to this episode of Gone Medieval from History Hit. I'm Matt Lewis. Medieval Queens

often existed in the shadow of their husbands and sons. The period saw no female ruler

of England, but the roles played by Queens were central to the power politics of the Middle

Ages. I'm delighted to be joined today by Joanna Lainsmith, who is an expert on medieval

Queenship to talk about these fascinating women and the power that they held in their

hands. Thank you for joining us Joanna. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

Fabulous. So, I guess the first question I would like to ask is, was there a medieval

ideal of who and what a Queen should be? There was. It probably changed what certainly

did change to a certain extent over time, but she should be young and fertile when she

arrived at the King's side. She should very much be somebody who was going to support

and strengthen the King. So, in the early Middle Ages, there would be choosing women

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