The Women Who Ruled Medieval Burgundy, and Europe
Gone Medieval
History Hit
4.5 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What if the most powerful warlords in medieval Europe were women?
From wine country to empire, Burgundy’s Duchesses brokered marriages, bullied rivals, made kings and emperors, and ruled vast lands in their own right. Dr Eleanor Janega is joined by Susan Abernethy to uncover the formidable women behind one of Europe’s wealthiest, most sophisticated courts.
MORE
The Two Hundred Years War
The Real Eleanor of Aquitaine
Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Tim Arstall, the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 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, 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. |
| 1:18.6 | If I say the word burgundy to you, |
| 1:21.5 | it's likely that the first thing that comes to mind is wine. |
| 1:25.9 | That's fine. |
| 1:27.1 | You should probably keep thinking that. However, for medieval |
| 1:30.7 | historians, Burgundy is more than just a great glass of red. It was one of the most powerful |
| 1:37.2 | duchies in the Middle Ages, and by the late medieval period, it managed to transform itself into what |
| 1:43.8 | many would argue was an actual empire. |
| 1:47.0 | The Burgundian throne was populated by the House of Valois, who you may remember as the cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty, and the rulers of France as well. |
| 1:57.0 | Indeed, many of the rulers of Burgundy are big names, who we've discussed on Gone |
| 2:02.1 | Medieval in the past. This includes people like Duke Philip the Bold or John the Fearless. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.