Please be aware that this episode mentions sexual violence

Amongst the countless crusaders who travelled to the Holy Land, there were undoubtedly some who believed they were doing the right thing for their God and King. Others though were gangsters, bandits and even worse, murderers and rapists, bringing horror and terror to the region. In fact, the real tensions stemmed not from religion but from young men - dislocated, disinhibited and present in disturbingly large numbers.

Matt Lewis finds out more about the shocking levels of criminality during the Crusades from Steve Tibble. They discuss those who used the cover of Holy War to commit a variety of crimes and how the clues are everywhere, even in the film Casablanca.

Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. The editor is Ella Blaxill, the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’: https://historyhit.com/subscription

You can take part in our listener survey here: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK