Vikings in Medieval Baghdad

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the ninth century, the Vikings earned a fearsome reputation by wreaking chaos on the coasts of western Europe. But what is perhaps less well known is that they also travelled eastwards. By sailing along the great rivers of north-eastern Europe, they reached Constantinople, the Caspian Sea and even Baghdad, the bustling heart of the mighty Islamic Abbasid Empire.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis welcomes Dr. Cat Jarman back to the podcast to explore why Viking raiders traded the frozen hinterlands of Northern Europe for the heat and hubbub of the Near East.

Senior Producer: Elena Guthrie

Assistant Producer: Peta Stamper

Scriptwriter: Peta Stamper

Editor: Joseph Knight

This was a special collaboration between Ubisoft and History Hit. The content and story was inspired by Assassin's Creed Mirage. To learn more about 9th century Baghdad and the historical characters in the game, listen to Echoes of History here.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	May I have your attention please you can now book your train tickets on Uber and get
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0:16.5	Trains now on Uber. T's and C's apply. Check the Uber app. Everyone leaves a legacy.
0:22.4	But a legacy can change over time as new generations re-examine old reputations.
0:28.0	From Wundery and Goalhanger Podcasts, I'm Afu Hirsch.
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0:44.8	Follow now, wherever you get your podcasts. The year is 820 a.D you've just stepped out from the shade of a side alley into the sunlit street.
1:02.0	This is one of the four main roads leading to the city
1:05.2	centre. On either side of the road a rows of merchant shops and bazaars. All around you can hear
1:11.4	people bargaining, laughing, children calling out to each other.
1:15.0	In the chaos of the street there are wealthy men and women dressed in fine silks.
1:20.0	There are merchants, scholars, slave traders and the enslaved.
1:24.7	You're in Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq and the bustling heart of the Islamic
1:29.5	Abbasid Empire. This is a place where people from Persia, Africa, India, Greece and beyond are all mixing together.
1:39.0	They're resting in tea shops, making deals under canopies, exchanging news and gossip on street corners, sharing scientific
1:46.4	theories in front of the mosques.
1:49.9	The crowd jostles you pass the shops and stalls, the smells of rich spices tingle in your nose.
1:55.8	You strain your neck above heads and shoulders to see what's on offer, ivory and precious metals
2:01.8	from Africa, porcelain and silks from China, furs from Europe.
2:07.2	And unlike any other city of this age, there are stalls overflowing with books. In a small pouch on your belt jingle a
2:16.0	handful of newly minted silver coins. They're dirhams inscribed with Arabic
	...

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