Today we discuss the third major character of our series on the Crusades, the mighty Byzantine Empire.

Well...once mighty, that is.

For centuries, the Byzantines have been tied up in military skirmishes with foes such as the Persians, Franks, and Seljuk Turks.

Join us as Tom leads the gang through the highs and lows in the story of the Eastern Christian empire as we continue marching towards the dawn of the Crusades.

We're always proud to be your favorite podcast to do laundry to. Thanks for listening!

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Welcome to Islamic History for Chumps!

Wait a second, that's not right. *checks notes*

Welcome to week two of our long, loooong journey into the Crusades This week we'll discuss the second major character of this era, the Islamic armies.

As we'll discuss in the episode, it's not quite as simple as discussing one Islamic group, as they existed across a wide spectrum ethnically, theologically, and culturally. So we've got a lot of ground to cover.

Be sure to head back to Episode 110 to hear the first episode of our Crusades series if you haven't already.

And drop us a comment if you feel like being nice!

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OUR CRUSADES SERIES IS HERE.

They said we'd never do it. They said it couldn't happen. And they were almost right.

Today, we set the stage for the massive undertaking of exploring the Crusades. We begin with an exploration of one of the three major characters in the Crusades, the Western European church.

We'll begin with a quick recap of the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and blitz through a few hundred years up to the fateful call-to-arms made by Pope Urban II in 1095.

It's a doozy. But we're psyched to explore this with you guys.

And check us out on Youtube!

Buy us a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/chumphistory