Dan Snow's History Hit

If you’re enjoying a glass of port during the festive period, you have the world’s oldest treaty to thank.Winston Churchill once described the Anglo-Portuguese alliance as ‘without parallel in world history.’ Forged in the backdrop of the Hundred Years War 650 years ago, the alliance is the oldest in the world.In this episode Dan explores the medieval roots of this diplomatic friendship, which has benefitted both nations politically, culturally, and commercially.Hear why John of Gaunt travelled to an unassuming town outside Porto to lay the foundations of the alliance in the 1300s, and find out how often the treaty’s been invoked in the six centuries since. From the hills of Porto to west London, Dan and the History Hit team uncover the incredible history of the world's oldest alliance.Produced and mixed by Mariana Des Forges and Charlotte Long. Special thanks to Portugal-UK 650 and the City Council of Vizela.Don’t miss out on the best offer in history! Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original do

In August, 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie led a rebellion that brought the Jacobite cause closer to seizing the throne than any other. He had landed with only a handful of his most trusted supporters, but a mixture of gold, charisma and old loyalties soon brought a large number of followers to his side as they attempted to overthrow the British crown. The rebellion grew in momentum with early successes on the battlefield and marched south reaching as far as Derby before turning back north. However, the noose around the Bonny Prince Charlie and the Jacobite rebels was tightening, and in April 1746 they were decisively defeated by superior British forces at the Battle of Culloden.Guiding Dan through the 1745 uprising is Professor Murray Pittock from the University of Glasgow. Murray provides a comprehensive overview of what the Jacobites wanted, the events of the revolt and the fate of its leader Bonnie Prince Charlie.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-re

What comes to your mind when you think of Pythagoras, the ancient Greek polymath? Some might think of the Pythagorean theorem, a foundational principle of mathematics. But he was also the enigmatic founder of Pythagoreanism, a mysterious secret society that strove to create a utopia on earth.Today Dan is joined by Kristen Ghodsee, an ethnographer and author of Everyday Utopia. Kristen delves into this ancient social experiment, and talks about other attempts at paradise in the millennia since.Produced by Mariana Des Forges and James Hickmann, and edited by Ella Blaxill.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trial.We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.You can take part in our listener survey here.

Where is the grave of King Arthur? What was the worst year in human history? Who were the most fractious royal siblings? What were the origins of humble pie? Which monsters pre-occupied Medieval minds?In this episode, Gone Medieval’s co-hosts Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega delve into some of the big Medieval questions, obscure facts and bizarre stories featured in History Hit Miscellany, our fascinating and entertaining new book published this month.The History Hit Miscellany was published on September 28, visit historyhit.com/book to order from your favourite book shop.This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Rob Weinberg.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trial.We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.You

It's that time of year when the beloved Santa Claus comes around once again. But the celebrated image of this prolific gift-giver is based on an even more fabled figure - that of Saint Nicholas, a 3rd century Christian bishop famed for his generosity and compassion. He was thought to be a miracle worker, and through his divine acts he became one of Christianity's most popular patron saints.His life is unsurprisingly shrouded in myth and legend, so help make sense of it all, Dan is joined once again by Eleanor Janega, co-host of the Gone Medieval podcast.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Ella Blaxill.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trial.We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.You can take part in our listener surve

The Second World War is remembered for its colossal battles in the air, on land and at sea. But perhaps the most terrifying were those waged UNDER the ocean, against an unseen enemy. By the end of 1941, cumbersome shipping convoys were Britain's only lifeline. Protecting them proved a difficult task, and German U-boats hunting in wolf packs sank merchant ships faster than they could be built. But into this loosing battle stepped the British naval officer and pioneer of anti-submarine warfare, Frederic 'Johnnie' Walker.Dan is joined by Angus Konstam, author of The Convoy, to take us through the remarkable story of Convoy HG-76, and explain how Captain Walker turned the hunted into the hunters.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Ella Blaxill.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for

On December 16th, 1773, a band of American patriots quietly boarded three ships in Boston Harbour, under the cover of night. Armed with axes and hatchets, they pried open the crates on board and poured their contents into the ocean. The crates contained tea; black-leaved Bohea and green tea from China. Some 92,000 pounds of it cascaded over the side in protest of British taxation in the American colonies.These men were known as the Sons of Liberty, and they had just lit a powder keg that would lead to the explosive American revolution, and shake the British Empire to its core. In this Explainer episode, Dan takes us through the twists and turns of this foundational event in American and world history.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign

By the age of just 7, Sara Forbes Bonetta had survived a West African war, lost her parents, been enslaved and finally, exchanged as a gift for a far-flung queen. When she arrived in the court of Queen Victoria in 1850, the monarch was immediately impressed by the determined, intelligent young girl. She took Sara under her wing as a royal protégée and goddaughter, setting in motion an extraordinary story of transformation and identity.Dan is joined by Joanna Brown, author of Bright Stars of Black British History, to discuss Sara's extraordinary life and what it can tell us about the British Empire.Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trial.We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@his

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of sexual behaviour which may not be suitable for children.Appointed by the Romans as king of Judaea, King Herod's reign was defined by great architectural projects and canny diplomacy. But he could also be cruel and paranoid, with scandal and family intrigue marring his rule. King Herod even appears as an unlikely and unlikeable character in the Christmas tale; the king who ordered the execution of children in an effort to kill Jesus. But did this really happen?Dan is joined by Seth Schwartz, professor of Classical Jewish Civilisation at Columbia University, to explore the life of this ancient king, and the Hellenistic world in which he ruled.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now

Did a Tudor prophetess correctly predict the English Civil War, the Crimean War, the sinking of the Titanic, World War One and the end of days? And what does she have to do with turning teddy bears into stone?Find out as Maddy and Anthony discuss Mother Shipton's life, legend and legacy.Written by Maddy PellingEdited and produced by Freddy Chick. The senior producer is Charlotte Long.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trial.We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.You can take part in our listener survey here.

Egypt was a vast kingdom of the ancient world. Its rulers were considered gods and wielded tremendous power and wealth. Egyptian scholars, astrologists and thinkers pioneered in their fields. Lasting for millennia, the kingdom's influence on culture, economics and politics was felt across North Africa and beyond, even centuries after it was gone.This episode tells you everything you need to know about Ancient Egypt - guided by Dr. Campbell Price, Curator of Egypt and Sudan at the Manchester Museum, Dan embarks on a whistle-stop tour of this iconic kingdom.Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trial.We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.You can take part in our listen

Today we find ourselves in 9th-century Baghdad, the beating heart of the Islamic Abbasid Caliphate. This was a vast empire that stretched from North Africa through the Middle East, and all the way to Central Asia. At the height of the Islamic Golden Age, it hosted profound cultural and intellectual advancements that laid the foundations for our modern world.Dan is joined by Ali A. Olomi, a historian of the Middle East and Islam. Ali is one of the hosts of Echoes of History, a podcast by Ubisoft and they've just released two brand new series, Baghdad Soundwalks and Figures of Baghdad. In this episode, Ali delves into the stories of the key figures who shaped the city's golden age and appear in Figures of Baghdad.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trial We'd

For over 500 years, the mysterious disappearance of two English princes has perplexed the world. Historians have long assumed that Edward V and Richard, Duke of York were murdered in 1483 by their uncle, Richard III. But Dan's guest today brings a dramatic new theory to the table.Philippa Langley played a crucial role in the discovery and exhumation of Richard's body in 2012. She has since turned her attention to the greatest mystery that surrounds his life; did he really kill his own nephews to seize the English throne? After delving into one of history's greatest cold cases, Philippa believes she has finally solved this royal mystery...Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trial We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.Yo

In Dan's long career as a broadcaster, he's come across all sorts of unexplained phenomena, myths and mysteries- from searching for the Nazi Gold Train in Poland to debunking the mummy's curse in Tutankhamun's tomb and looking for answers about ball lightning. History is full of the weird and wonderful and in this episode Dan is joined by polymath, author and fellow podcaster Dan Schreiber to talk about stories of lost treasure, curious relics and Edwardian superstitions.You can read up on the things mentioned in this podcast, and more, in the History Hit Miscellany book available now online and in bookshops.Dan Schreiber is the host of the We Can Be Weirdos podcast and the author of The Theory of Everything Else.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trial We'

The permanent home of the Parthenon Marbles, also known as the 'Elgin' Marbles, has been the subject of a heated, decades-long debate. That debate was reignited this week when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who had planned to raise the issue of returning the marbles to Greece in it.Currently housed in the British Museum, Greece has been proactively campaigning for their return since the 1980s. But how did this controversy start, why did the marbles end up in London and why are they so important?In this episode, Dan finds answers and solutions from Nick Malkoutzis and Georgia Nakou, two Greek journalists and contributors to the Macropolis.gr who provide the deep history of the marbles and how the two countries might resolve this dispute.Discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off y

This episode contains references to death and sexual assault.Hades is King of the the dead and the Underworld in Ancient Greek mythology. Dive into the shadowy underworld with host Tristan Hughes and guest Prof Sarah Iles Johnson of Ohio State University. Together, they unearth Hades' origin, define the enigmatic underworld, and what it reveals about Ancient Greek perceptions of life and beyond. Plus, delve into iconic myths like Orpheus & Eurydice, Achilles and the Trojan War and the Labours of Heracles.Senior Producer: Elena GuthrieAssistant Producer: Annie ColoeEditor: Aidan LonerganScriptwriter: Andrew HulseVoice Actor: Lucy DavidsonDiscover the past with exclusive history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians from History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up now for your 14-day free trialWe'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@histo

The legend of Rasputin's death goes that he survived poisoning, being shot in the head before being thrown through a hole in the ice in the Neva River, where he finally died by drowning. But Rasputin biographer Douglas Smith, Dan's guest today, says that isn't what happened. He's been to Russia to study the crime scene photos and the evidence and says things happened a little differently to the way the history is told...He joins Dan to dig into the life of Grigori Rasputin, the Siberian mystique whose charisma held the Romanov Tsar and Tsarina in a vice-like grip, securing his own influence over Russia's politics and church at the turn of the 20th century.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal PatmoreSign up to History Hit at historyhit.com/subscribe using code BLACKFRIDAYPOD at checkout, for $1/£1 per month for 4 months and you’ll get nearly £30 off our normal monthly price over your first 4 months.

Napoleon has become more than a man. His name is a concept, a way of being, a psychological term- the 'Napoleon' complex. Napoleon began working on his legacy during his exile on St Helena in the last years of his life, his journal- memoir 'The Memorial of Saint Helena' was Napoleon's own personal and political testament and served as the founding text of the cult of Napoleon and the ideology of Bonapartism that grew after his death in 1821.In the final episode of the series, Dan is joined by historian and biographer Lord Andrew Roberts to unpack the mythology of Napoleon. They delve into his final days, his lifetime achievements and failures and the commentary he gave throughout; the letters he wrote to rulers and lovers, the fiction he wrote, the political and military treaties he created and they try to answer the question- was he really a great man?Produced by Mariana Des Forges, Freddy Chick and edited by Dougal Patmore.Don’t miss out on the best offer in history! Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussions about sex which may not be suitable for children.Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the few commanders in history to be known for his capacity as a fierce fighter and a passionate lover. His romance with Joséphine de Beauharnais is one of the greatest in history and we know the intimate details about it because of the hundreds of passionate letters he sent to her over the years, some more explicit than others... In episode 3 of Dan's Napoleon series, he's joined by sex historian and host of Betwixt the Sheets podcast Dr Kate Lister to explore another side of the French commander- his complex attitude towards sex, his obsession with Josephine and the way their relationship coloured his emotional life.Meanwhile, Josephine was an incredible figure in her own right; she was a courtesan to rich men - glamorous and intelligent with an elegant figure and magnetic aura. When she met Napoleon in 1795, she was older than him and having had a number of strategic aff

During the Napoleonic Wars, 18th-century leaders in Europe quickly decided the best way to beat Napoleon Bonaparte was to retreat and not meet him on the battlefield at all. He was head and shoulders above the other commanders of the day. So why did it go so spectacularly wrong for him at Waterloo?In episode two of his series, Dan delves into who Napoleon was as a military commander- what made him so effective on the battlefield, as a leader of men and conqueror of lands. He's joined by military historian Dr Zack White, as they dissect the Siege of Toulon in 1793 in which Napoleon proved himself a commander of extraordinary promise. They assess his strategy and tactics at Austerlitz, his incredible relationship with his men on the battlefield, and how the later years of his life were mired by internal turmoil that soon clouded his once precise military reasoning.Produced by Mariana Des Forges, Freddy Chick and edited by Dougal Patmore.Don’t miss out on the best offer in history! Enjoy unlimited access to awar