Dan Jones and David Musgrove delve into the age of the Franks, who revived a Christian, pseudo-Roman empire in the west. They trace the rise of the dynasties who carved Europe into Christian royal realms and look at the new forms of cultural ‘soft’ power that emerged around the turn of the first millennium. This episode also explores how monks and knights came to play such an important role in western society during the Middle Ages – and how the fusion of their two mindsets gave birth to the crusades.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.