Medieval to Early Modern World

05: The Enterprise of England | Elizabeth R

With the threat of war against Spain suddenly imminent, Elizabeth must place her faith in the strength of the navy, led by Sir Fr...

2: Cortes | Heroes and Villains

The Spanish adventurer Hernan Cortes is supposed to have taken the Aztec empire with a few soldiers and 16 horses. Can that be true?

6: First Contact | Civilisations

David Olusoga shows how art was always on the frontline when distant cultures met.

5: Age of Plunder | Andrew Marr's History of the World

Andrew tells the story of Europe's rise from piracy to private enterprise, starting with Columbus's discovery of America.

6: The Panama Canal | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World

The story of French engineer Ferdinand De Lesseps' scheme to build a canal across Panama.

2: Invasion, Invasion, Invasion | Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City

Simon Sebag Montefiore continues his history of Jerusalem by discovering the impact of Islam and the c...

1: Wellspring of Holiness | Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City

Simon Sebag Montefiore begins a history of Jerusalem by exploring how it came into being and how it became s...

Episode 3 | The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors

Rageh Omaar ends his series with a look at how the collapse of the Ottoman Empire created a legacy of tension and conflict...

Episode 2 | The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors

Rageh Omaar explores the contrasts between two very different Ottoman sultans, Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th centur...

Episode 1 | The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors

Rageh Omaar examines the history of the Ottoman empire. He starts by looking at the unlikely roots of the Ottomans, as nom...

2: The Cross and the Crescent | Africa's Great Civilisations

Henry Louis Gates Jr explores how the emergence of Christianity and Islam reshaped Africa over centuries.

The Crusades

Dr Thomas Asbridge re-examines the story of the Crusades. He traces the epic journey of the first crusaders as they marched from Europe to recapture the city of...

2: Clash of the Titans | The Crusades

Dr Thomas Asbridge examines the two figures who have come to embody Crusader war: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin.

1: Medicine and Religion | History File

Programme begins with looking at Ancient Greece, then the Roman Empire then looking at Muslim and Christian links.

1: Medicine, Religion and Natural Causes | History File

This programme looks at ancient Egypt, Hippocrates, Christianity and Islam.

24: 1979: God Fights Back | People's Century

Religion makes a comeback into people's lives in the Islamic world and elsewhere, as people seek guidance and spiritual sustenan...

Printing press | Science and Islam

Jim Al-Khalili looks at how the printing press shifted the centres of scientific research from East to West.

Time-keeping and prayer | Science and Islam

Jim Al-Khalili explains how Islamic prayer patterns encouraged the development of new methods of time-keeping.

Map-making | Science and Islam

Jim Al-Khalili explains why Al-Ma'mun, a medieval caliph, funded a programme of map-making.

Algebra | Science and Islam

Jim Al-Khalili describes the invention of algebra by medieval Islamic mathematicians.

Medieval Islamic Compassion | Science and Islam

Jim Al-Khalili talks about the enduring legacies of medieval Islamic medicine.

Islamic Medicine | Science and Islam

Jim Al-Khalili explains the importance of medical knowledge to medieval Islam.

Arabic, the language of God | Science and Islam

Jim Al-Khalili looks at how Islamic caliphs encouraged scientific research and made Arabic the official language of their vas...

Al-Khwarizmi's digit and numerical system | Science and Islam

Jim Al-Khalili explains how our numerical system spread to Europe through the work of the Arabic mathematician ...

Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem | Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City

Simon Sebag Montefiore investigates the extraordinary life of Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem.

4: The Shogun | Heroes and Villains

Drama-documentary about the Samurai general Tokugawa Ieyasu. He overthrew the governing dynasty of Japan and became the Shogun - the supr...

3: Mingei Pottery | Handmade in Japan

The Hamadas are a famous family of potters, and we see Tomoo at work, shaping his pots and firing them in a wood-fuelled kiln.

2: Kimono | Handmade in Japan

On Amami Oshima in the southern oceans, we follow the elaborate handmade production of a traditional Japanese kimono.

1: Samurai Sword | Handmade in Japan

On Kyushu, a family of Samurai sword makers continue a tradition their ancestors began 230 years ago.

Episode 2 | Japan with Sue Perkins

Sue Perkins enjoys a night out with Kyoto's geishas, goes free diving with some ama divers and visits Hiroshima. In Tokyo, she explores ho...

Ryan Gander: The Idea of Japan

Artist Ryan Gander explores Japanese visual culture through symbols including the Geisha, Samurai and cherry blossom to find what they tell ab...

Hokusai: Old Man Crazy to Paint

Biography of the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), most famous for his print The Great Wave. It focuses on Hokusai's work, life...

6: Richard the Lionheart | Heroes and Villains

Drama-documentary about Richard the Lionheart. Was he the heroic warrior of Robin Hood? Or was he just a thug who looted the H...

2: Invasion, Invasion, Invasion | Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City

Simon Sebag Montefiore continues his history of Jerusalem by discovering the impact of Islam and the c...

4: Destruction | Crusades

Terry Jones reports on how Richard the Lionheart set out to battle with Saladin and on rise of Muslim fanaticism as a mirror to Christian ferocity.

3: Jihad | Crusades

Terry Jones continues his history of the Crusades by describing how the Crusaders lost Jerusalem in 1144 to Zengi, the Arab leader. A second crusade fell...

2: Jerusalem | Crusades

Encased in armour, Terry Jones sets out on the walk to the Holy City - a journey that took the Crusaders two years and killed most of them.

1: Pilgrims in Arms | Crusades

Terry Jones explores the history of the Crusades, to discover exactly what happened when the Pope instigated a popular campaign to conquer Jer...

3: Victory and Defeat | The Crusades

Dr Thomas Asbridge reveals that the outcome of these holy wars was decided not on the hallowed ground of Jerusalem, but in Egypt.

2: Clash of the Titans | The Crusades

Dr Thomas Asbridge examines the two figures who have come to embody Crusader war: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin.

The Crusades

Dr Thomas Asbridge re-examines the story of the Crusades. He traces the epic journey of the first crusaders as they marched from Europe to recapture the city of...

The fall of Jerusalem | The Crusades

Thomas Abridge recounts the events of the brutal fall of Jerusalem.

Peter Bartholomew | The Crusades

Thomas Abridge tells the story of Peter Bartholomew and the fire.

The fall of Antioch | The Crusades

Thomas Abridge discusses the crusaders gruelling siege of the well guarded Antioch.

The Holy Lance | The Crusades

Thomas Abridge tells the story of Peter Bartholomew and the Holy Lance.

Crusaders versus the Elements | The Crusades

Thomas Abridge discusses the crusaders resilience against the hot weather of the Asia Minor.

Crusaders Meet the Turks | The Crusades

Thomas Abridge discusses the beginning of the Holy War, with the crusaders invading Nicea, in Western Asia Minor.

The Reality of the First Crusade | The Crusades

Thomas Asbridge investigates the experiences of the crusaders and visits Constantinople.

The Chronicle of the Crusades | The Crusades

Thomas Asbridge discusses the noblemen that joined the crusades, some of who sought to chronicle the events.

The Promise of redemption | The Crusades

Thomas Asbridge discusses the Pope's promise of redemption, which reconciled violence and faith in order to draw noblemen into the c...

Early Christianity | The Crusades

Thomas Asbridge investigates Medieval Christianity and the background to the concept of the crusade.

Pilgrimage to Jerusalem | The Crusades

Thomas Asbridge discusses the first crusade to Jerusalem.

3: The Age of Elegance & Sensibility | Howard Goodall's Story of Music

Howard Goodall looks at the age in which composers went from being the paid servants of princes and ar...

1: The Age of Discovery | Howard Goodall's Story of Music

Composer Howard Goodall traces the development of music from the religious 'Gregorian' chant to the growth of instr...

7: Radiance | Civilisations

Simon Schama starts his meditation on colour and civilisation with the great Gothic cathedrals of Amiens and Chartres. He then moves to 16th-cent...

5: The Triumph of Art | Civilisations

Simon Schama examines how traditions developed in the years following the Renaissances.

3: Picturing Paradise | Civilisations

Simon Schama explores the depiction of nature. Simon discovers that landscape painting is seldom a straightforward description of obser...

4: The Eye of Faith | Civilisations

Professor Mary Beard explores the controversial topic of religion and art. How, and at what cost, do different religions make the unseen ...

Episode 1 | The Silk Road

Sam Willis traces the story of the famous trade route. He explores Venice's Renaissance architecture and art before travelling to the beginning of ...

S2E6: Reach for the Stars: Trials of Galileo | Days That Shook the World

Galileo's ideas challenging views of the world.

Venice | Italy's Invisible Cities

Using the latest 3D scanning technology, Alexander Armstrong and Dr Michael Scott explore the watery wonderland of Venice.

Florence | Italy's Invisible Cities

Using the latest 3D scanning technology, Alexander Armstrong and Dr Michael Scott explore the romantic city of Florence.

3: Whose Renaissance? | A Very British Renaissance

Dr James Fox explores how tension between two cultures - one courtly and European, one home-grown and vital - helped bring...

2: The Elizabethan Code | A Very British Renaissance

Dr James Fox examines the Elizabethans' love of codes and complexity, and the cultural revolution sparked by an age of e...

1: The Renaissance Arrives | A Very British Renaissance

Dr James Fox traces the story of how the arrival of a few foreign artists in the 16th century sparked a cultural revo...