The First Crusade: The Road to Jerusalem
Gone Medieval
History Hit
4.5 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 3 March 2026
⏱️ 88 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1095, Pope Urban II’s fiery sermon lit the fuse for a so‑called holy war in the Holy Land. In the first episode of a new series, Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis unpack the First Crusades, when this Christian armies fought against Muslim lords for possession of the arid deserts of the Holy Land.
What spurred thousands upon thousands of medieval Christians, noble and poor alike, to abandon their homes and risk their lives? Find out how this blood-soaked epic reshaped the medieval world.
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Women Crusaders
Medieval Jerusalem
Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. 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. |
| 0:41.7 | Hello, I'm Dr. Eleanorianica, and welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, |
| 0:46.8 | the podcast that delves into the greatest millennium in human history. |
| 0:51.1 | We uncover the greatest mysteries, the gobsmacking details, and the latest |
| 0:57.0 | groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the Normans, from kings to popes, to the |
| 1:02.6 | Crusades. We delve into the rebellions, plots, and murders that tell us who we really were. |
| 1:10.8 | And how we got here. |
| 1:19.6 | The year is 1095. |
| 1:23.5 | The shade of winter is closing in. |
| 1:33.0 | And a council of great men has gathered at Claremont in the rugged heartlands of Francia. |
| 1:45.5 | Archbishops and abbots, noblemen and clergy, stand arrayed before wooden platform, wrapped in black cassocks and ornate vestments. |
| 1:49.5 | Banners strain against the wind. |
| 1:52.4 | The bustling crowd thickens. |
| 1:56.1 | The air is tense with expectation. |
| 2:07.6 | For this is no ordinary gathering, but a council freighted with consequence, called by the father of the flock, Pope Urban II. And he is about to launch a rallying cry that will echo across Christendom. |
| 2:15.6 | An urgent task belongs to both you and God. |
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