The Black Death: A Global Apocalypse?
Gone Medieval
History Hit
4.5 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2026
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A plague of terrifying speed, mysterious symptoms and global reach, the Black Death transformed more than Europe alone.
Matt Lewis is joined by Thomas Asbridge to chart the medieval spread, from Caffa’s siege lines to Cairo’s crowded streets, from brutal medical experiments to self-flagellating penitents and a medieval world shaken to its core.
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Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From long-lost Viking ships and kings buried in unexpected places to tales of murder, |
| 0:07.7 | power, faith, and the lives of ordinary people across medieval Europe and beyond. |
| 0:13.2 | Join me, Matt Lewis, Dr. Eleanor Jarniger and some of the world's leading historians, |
| 0:18.0 | as we bring history's most fascinating stories to life only on |
| 0:22.3 | History Hit. With your subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries |
| 0:27.2 | with a brand new release every week exploring everything from the ancient world to World War II. |
| 0:33.6 | Just visit historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. |
| 0:40.2 | Hello, I'm Matt Lewis. |
| 0:42.1 | Welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the greatest |
| 0:46.5 | millennium in human history. |
| 0:48.8 | We've got the most intriguing mysteries, the gobsmacking details and latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings |
| 0:56.3 | to the printing press, from kings to popes to the crusades. We cross centuries and continents |
| 1:02.0 | to delve into rebellions, plots and murders to find the stories big and small that tell us |
| 1:08.4 | how we got here. Find out who we really were. |
| 1:11.6 | We've gone medieval. |
| 1:13.6 | Imagine the terror gripping your stomach. |
| 1:26.6 | The moment you feared, the moment everyone has feared, |
| 1:30.4 | has come. You've heard stories of the pestilence and how fast it spreads. You'd hoped, |
| 1:36.6 | beyond all hope, that it would pass your community by. Now, you can look upon its vicious and |
| 1:42.8 | fatal ravaging of the people you know. |
| 1:46.0 | The inky black swellings bulge beneath clothes, blood-stained lips and linen shirts. |
| 1:52.0 | The fear and pain etched on the faces of each body awaiting burial. |
... |
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