From the chroniclers seeing them as God’s punishment, to Tsarist historians trying to push them out of Russian history altogther, to Stalinists banning any mention of them other than as predatory parasites, this episodes looks at some of the ways Russian historians have struggled to come to grips with the Mongols.

Batu continues his western campaigns and brings about the end of Rus.

The Mongol Empire continues its campaigns of expansion. Chingis Khan has given his son Jochi the west, but first he must conquer it.

Word comes from the Polovtsi that there is a new force on the steppe. The Rus join them to fight them off.

Under pressure from Teutonic knights, Rus, and Poland, a new kingdom emerges from the Lithuanian tribes.

In this episode, we look at how the Teutonic Knights went from hospitals in the Holy Land to conquering Prussia.

Through the second half of the 12th century, the pieces start to fall into place for the conquests of the 13th century.

The Baltic crusades were not the only force driving German colonisation in the Baltic. In this episode we look at the rise of the Hanseatic League, a new commercial network across Northern Europe.