The Rise of Genghis Khan

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Genghis Khan is still considered one of the most famous and most feared warrior kings in history. But his name still divides opinion. To some, he was the ruthless conqueror of great civilisations, for others a hero who united nomadic tribes and created an enlightened empire. But who was the real Genghis Khan? In today's episode, Matt is joined by historian and author John Man who takes us through the rise, character, and conquests of Genghis, delving into the life of one of the most recognisable names of the Middle Ages.

John Man, author of Genghis Khan: Life, Death, and Resurrection. Published by St Martins Pr (2005).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever wondered why one of Ruan Cathedral's towers is called the Tower of Butter, or what
0:06.2	animals have faced trials in courts for, or even how the black country got its name?
0:12.4	Well, you can find the answers to questions like these and hundreds more in our new book,
0:18.4	The History Hit Misscellanie. It's the perfect present for any history fan.
0:23.3	It's available to buy now from your favourite bookshop or by visiting historyhit.com forward slash
0:30.0	book. Welcome to this episode of Gone Medieval. I'm Matt Lewis.
0:38.9	Genghis Khan or Chinghis Khan is one of the most recognisable names of the medieval period.
0:44.6	He would force together disparate tribes to forge the largest contiguous land empire
0:50.0	in the history of the world. Asia and the steppes fell before the Mongol horde and European's
0:55.3	tremor at the stories they heard and the thought that the horde's spread might continue west.
1:01.1	But who was this man, a brilliant leader, an ambitious warlord, a brutal tyrant, or all of the
1:07.5	above? Well, I'm joined today by John Mann, Genghis Khan's biographer, to tell us all about the
1:12.6	life of this intriguing man. Thank you for joining us, John. Hi. First things first, I guess, I
1:18.2	alluded to in my intro there. Genghis or Chinghis is one of those right and one of them wrong?
1:23.6	Genghis is wrong. We got it wrong. English speakers got it wrong a couple of centuries ago.
1:28.9	The Mongolians call him Chinghis. Chinghis is fine, but Genghis is definitely wrong. So we have to
1:37.3	get used to having a soft G there. It's a continual battle because, as I say, we English speakers
1:43.6	for some reason got it wrong 150 years ago. It depends on how it came to us through what languages
1:50.3	and then we just have never corrected it. Well, we'll start trying that effort again now. We'll
1:55.3	stick with Chinghis while we're talking about him during this then. So what do we know about Chinghis'
2:00.4	early life when and where was he born and what do we know if anything about his parents?
2:05.7	Well, we know quite a bit about his youth because it was all recorded later after his death
	...

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