The Paston Letters with Helen Castor

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Matt Lewis and Helen Castor uncover the romantic entanglements and perilous struggles of the 15th-century Paston family, whose personal correspondences reveal intimate details of love, ambition, and survival during the Wars of the Roses. Through the incredible archive of letters we meet the indomitable matriarch Margaret and her sons John II and John III, as they navigate political turmoil, defend their home in a dramatic siege, and experience forbidden love. A rare glimpse into the past through thrilling stories of medieval romance and danger preserved through centuries.

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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 used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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Transcript

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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.
0:45.3	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis. Welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into
0:53.0	the greatest millennium in human history.
0:55.9	We've got the most intriguing mysteries, the gobsmacking details and latest groundbreaking research
1:02.4	from the Vikings to the printing press, from kings to popes to the crusades. We cross centuries
1:08.3	and continents to delve into rebellions, plots and murders, to find the
1:13.3	stories big and small that tell us how we got here. Find out who we really were with Gone
1:20.0	Medieval. Welcome to this episode of Gone Medieval. I'm Matt Lewis. If you have any interest in the Wars of the Roses, you might well have heard of the Paston Letters. If not, this episode is going to put you right. The letters are a gold mine of correspondence that shed light on a relatively but not entirely normal family from the 15th century. The people spring to life
1:48.7	from their pages. The stories range from the mundane to the dramatic, to the touching. I happen to
1:56.1	know that Helen Castor is very fond of the Pastons and their letters. Her 2005 book, Blood and Roses,
2:03.0	tells the family story from their letters. And recently, Helen has been focusing on the letters
2:08.5	in her substack, the H-Files. If you're not already subscribed, I highly recommend it. I've lured
2:15.6	Helen back to gone medieval with the promise of Pastons.
2:18.9	And fortunately, she's agreed to come and tell us why we should all love the pastons and their letters.
	...

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