not much more to say. If you like learning about the crusades in great depth, with humor, and wonderful narration then this is the podcast fornyou

After 300+ episodes you are 4x the podcaster and putting out top quality history content. She is in the tier with Mike Duncan, Robin Pierson, Dan Carlin, and Paul Cooper. The few things that annoyed me when she started (like the way she used “Aaaaaand” to start every other sentence) she turned into a nice quirk. The awful, and I do mean awful, sound quality issues at first slowly got rectified. I actually think she added additional noise to her podcast at first. No mic/software combination on the planet could produce that much noise. Almost stopped listening it was so bad. Glad I didn’t. She got so interesting that I started binging it in 20 episode clumps a day. Got thru the entire series in about 2 months or so once I got to the good sound quality. She also got good at adding just the right amount of dry witty humor to the shows. It’s a hard thing to master. Aaaaaand, onwards to the Reconquista!

I loved listening to this as a kid and I’m giving it a relisten. Does a great job at making a historical topic feel very present and real, with very interesting stories throughout the podcast.

What a wonderful gift this show is! The narrator is so smart and tells the history like a fascinating story. Perfect! And thank you! Can’t wait to start RECONQUISTA!

The peaceful tone. The violent topic. The charming host. The enchanting music. I love this podcast.

Best podcast ever!!!

This is one of my favorite podcasts. I love Sharyn’s cadence and tone. I love how she sounds ever so slightly bored in the intro when she says “History of the Crusades.” Truly I adore it. The history is incredibly detailed, but easy to follow. I get tripped up in some other podcasts detailing medieval events, failing to remember the vast cast of characters as the timeline progresses. Sharyn does a good job of reminding us who everyone is along the way, and also tells the story in such a way that even if you forget who someone is, you can still easily follow events. I’m still listening to the 2013 episodes and I can’t wait to finish the series and listen to Reconquista!!

This is my soap opera. I listen in the shower and on the road and when I need to relax. I understands humanity better as well.

Love this podcast, one of my all-time favorites! I’ve listened to it a couple of times now and can say it’s great for repeat listens. Right now I’m re-listening to the episodes on the Cathars and loving it! This podcast is binge-worthy, entertaining and in depth. The host really pulls you into the medieval world and gives you a sense of the politics and everyday life of the era. Also, I highly recommend subscribing to the Patreon page for this podcast. The bonus episodes are just as great as the main narrative episodes and it’s only one dollar a month for the subscription! If you’re interested in medieval Europe and/or the Middle East, this is a must-listen-to podcast! 6/5 stars easily!

great writing, storytelling, and delivered with such a soothing voice

One of the best podcasts I have ever heard. Each episode takes a single topic in this historical epic and gives enough detail to understand the regional, political and religious factors of the armies and people involved, without losing the narrative in too much detail. If my college professors told history like this, I would have been a history major.

History of the Crusades podcast does an exceptional job at covering both the better-known crusades and the lesser known crusades like the business with the Cathars or the Northern Crusades. I am a student of history and have struggled finding information regarding the Teutonic Order. This podcast Introduced me to the sources of the show via the quotes that are stated and on the accompanying website. I have since purchased 4 of the sources she shared. I don’t want it to end 😂 Much respect to the author and all of her relentless work.

Lots of information delivered in the worst possible way.

This podcast is well researched and very informative!

Well-researched, informative, and entertaining!

I read some young adult book on the crusades, back in another lifetime. This has quenched my hunger for more on the Crusades. And Bonus! She then went on to crusades I had only barely heard of, in France, and then Lithuania & Poland. Looking forward to her next podcast - Reconquista after I finish catchign up on History of Europe,Key Battles ( which also dealt with the Polish crusades, but in a few hours, so more putting it into context with the flow of European history ). Totes recommend, as the kids say.

Christians/Catholics in a nutshell, why won’t you let us save you by letting us invade, rape, kill, and convert you. Christians literally massacred cities with no way to defend themselves.

I have to agree with the other review the first episode paints a dark picture of the church frightening people into pilgrimages as if the only thing these people believed in Was avoiding eternal torture.Yes people did believe they got would hold them accountable for repenting of sinAnd that one way of doing penance for serious and was pilgrimage but it’s presented in a very distorted way. Try to make this comment on the website but technical issues made that impossible

Love your podcast, already downloaded the Reconquista.

Great job on the podcast.

This lady finishes every single sentence as if it has a question mark at the end of it. It’s uncanny. I have never EVER heard anything like it. It’s so awful and bad I can’t ascertain how any human can listen to it. Her voice is so bad, that the EPA has officially labeled this podcast as pollution and has been made illegal in California because it is a known carcinogen. This is a steaming pile of dog _____.

She is just reading from a book or notes. No connection with the audience on the other side. You can simply go buy an audiobook on the topic.

I’m only a few episodes in but I already love this podcast. The history is amazing and I like how our host starts at the beginning. Well done and thank you.

I’m in love with Sharyn. Her dry humour will sneak in and make me laugh out loud, loudly and unexpectedly. I came for the Knights Templar information, ended up starting at the beginning, and will stay thru till the end. Brilliant.

What a lovely podcast! Well written and informative. Thank you for hours and hours of educational entertainment

You are doing some great work here that I, as an actual historian, appreciate. Pay no heed to the negative reviews, history is science, something often forgotten. Your sources are on point and your ability to retell them in a digestible fashion is incredible. The crusades were a pivotal event in human history that connected trade and cultures in a way that still exists. The fact that some leave these ignorant reviews only shows their need to listen more to your breathtaking podcast. Wish I was in Tas so I could buy you an ale, cheers love!

The quality of this podcast and the enjoyment I have gotten from it makes me reluctant to post a somewhat negative review but uh what the heck? The word Palestine to refer the lands of Judaea and Israel hadn’t been used when Herod lived and if you know anything about the history of the region you would know that that name was used as an eff you to the Jews after their many revolts. She may have corrected herself idk I’m posting this after listening but that’s a pretty silly mistake. It was probably done in ignorance but there are many subtle anti-semites out there. No matter what side you are on in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict don’t go retconning the titles of rulers long dead to suit your own views on current events. It’s incorrect most importantly but also calls into question your impartiality as a historian.

I’ve been listening to this series for a few months now and I love it! Also don’t listen to the bad reviews, the sound gets better later on and the religious keyboardists literally don’t know how to study history so just ignore them!

Now do one on Mohammad and his pedo tendencies.

I love listening to History of the Crusades all the time. It is a great, informative podcast and I listen to it when I draw.

I’ve been making my way slowly through this podcast. It’s taking a while because I only listen when I can be fully engaged with the lecture. Excellent content and detail presented with personality and a dry wit. Highly recommended listening.

I’m in the midst of listening through (almost done!) and am really enjoying it. This podcast’s section of the Middle East crusades especially is a great appetite-whetter for a burgeoning consumer of medieval history.

Complete and utter propaganda than only brainlets could enjoy. Anyone giving this a 4 or 5 star you can rest assured has an IQ sub-80. The only other reason would be they are subverters and inverters. Before you read any further know that the Crusaders were role models of how Christians should be today. If anyone disagrees that assessment you can tell that they are really just Churchians and have nothing to do with them. The narrator isn’t honest with you about the historical events as they happened and you can tell from a number of ways that she’s trying her best to put the black hat on the Crusaders and the white hat on the Muslims. Tone of voice, implying various things about the men that would have you start to believe they were evil. But when you read up on the men she’s trying to paint in a poor light you see that they were men of God. The author’s clear hatred of Christians and Christianity is on full display here and try as she might, she can’t hide it. Do a little research about her and you can see she’s anti-Western Civilization and anti-Christian. So you tell me, do you think you’re getting honesty from someone covering a subject that they have a hatred towards? Would a die-hard Yankees fan do justice in a podcast about the history of the Red Sox? Still think I’m the one with the bias? Ok, I ask that you DO NOT believe me. But research these men and her white hat Muslims(the good guys with 9 year old wives) that they were fighting against. Suggested reading: Seven Myths of the Crusades by Andrea and Holt

To say this podcast is not excellently researched and presented... is an understatement

Hello Sharyn: Have enjoyed the podcast since the early days and still do. Just wanted to wish you and yours a happy 2020. You have been in the car with me for over 200,000 miles. Paul (also a Patron).

Fascinating narration Sharyn. Great voice. Finished episode 321 and starting all over again with episode #1. ADDICTING! Thank you !!

The information is great but the inflection and dictation is absolutely irritating to the point that I can’t listen to it

She has a very quiet and boring voice that makes you want to fall asleep. Additionally, she has been doing the Baltic Crusades for so long, nearly 120 episodes of content, including 35 parts of the Samogitian Crusade. This started well with the First Crusade, but has since been very boring and unimformative.

This is an excellent podcast! Sharyn balances wit and detail. I highly recommend! I look forward to her next series.

Hi taking a minute to say I love this podcast. Informative in a straightforward way and also very funny... understated, wry humor, but actually very funny. Thank you. With 300 some podcasts, I have months of listening to go!

If I said I have learned a lot about Crusades through this podcast, “that would be an understatement.”

This is, in my opinion, the best podcast available. Sharon Eastaugh’s wit and delivery, her historical insights, have kept me riveted enough to begin working my way through, going back to the beginning episodes in 2013.

I challenge you to listen to this for 20 minutes without falling asleep. Amazing.

You can tell right away that this is loosely researched, and simply fulfills modern revisionist biases. I would ask the narrator to go back and research again. I have scoured, and unfortunately Hera is the only comprehensive podcast out there. Please a competent historian, or at least some one better versed on the subject matter release another podcast covering the Crusades soon

I listen to more than a dozen history podcasts, and I wish I hadn’t waited so long to give History of the Crusades a shot. Like all podcasters, it takes Ms. Eastaugh a few episodes to find her voice, but once she does she is clear, informative, and wryly funny. The episodes are well-organized and the narrative flows smoothly. And, as an American, I find her Australian accent charming and delightful Again, one of the very best podcasts and podcasters I have listened to, right up there with Mike Duncan and David Crowther

I’ve never head “understatement” used in the history of Latin Christian vocabulary as much as every episode. The monotone narrator makes me fall asleep :) I made it to episode 50!

I love love love this podcast. The narrator does a good job giving good information in an entertaining way. She describes a complicated situation in a common sense manner, with enough humor to emphasize the humanity of the participants. It's remarkable how much detail she can give without sounding dull. I am up to about episode 11 and the only quibbles are: (1) too many sentences start with "And . . ." and (2) the sound quality is uneven. To end on a postive note, I love the reading recommendations at the end of the episodes. In sum, a great podcast if you want to understand the crusades from the Western perspective.

Interesting material but the strange up and down way of speaking by the narrator caused me to switch to another podcast after about 10 minutes. It sounded to me like computer generated audio based on the scan of text.

This is one of the best podcasts and I have listened to many. I am now listening to it the second time!

For those who are interested in “Crusades Times”, please do not look any longer - you hit “bulls eye” with this one. This is monumentally informative, detailed, superb podcast presented without any bias or predigest (but I am sure we can always find a few people convinced that “... dark side of the moon has a overwhelming impact on global warming...”). Means of delivery (accent, voice clarity, intonation and sense of humor) is absolutely perfect. This podcast is truly a diamond between other ones. I am at the position to have a pretty long and first hand experience with diplomacy - Mrs. Eastaugh conclusions (side digressions and views) are right on the money. If you appreciate the right person doing right job with passion and impressive knowledge, subscribe and consider donation. Thank You Mrs. Eastaugh for job well done!