The Turkish History Podcast

The English and the French arrive in the Levant to contest the rule of the Holy Land with the Ayyubid Sultanate.  The Third Crusade sees some of the most vicious fighting and brilliant generalship of all of the Crusades, resulting in a stalemate.  But though Richard the Lionheart and Saladin part on terms of deep mutual admiration and respect, the results of the Third Crusade are unsatisfying to all sides.  In Europe, the Pope declares a new Crusade.  But this Fourth Crusade is strapped for cash and, under the influence of the Venetians, takes a detour leading to Constantinople...

After being driven from Konya, Keyhüsrev flees to Constantinople.  The once and future Roman Sultan bides his time in the New Rome, marrying and fathering a child, while a great fleet sets sail in the West bound for the Queen of Cities...

The first reign of Keyhüsrev begins. But while the young Sultan struggles to hold Western Anatolia, his half-brother Sulayman II seizes the initiative in the East, driving Keyhüsrev from Konya. Sulayman then sets out to invade Georgia and reunify Anatolia... Ambitions whose rewards others will ultimately reap.

In the aftermath of the disaster of the march of the Third Crusade across Anatolia, the Sultanate of Rum falls apart.  The elderly Sultan of Rum is forced to wander across Anatolia seeking aid to return to the throne.  And we say goodbye to the Limping Lion, and bring to the throne the next Roman Sultan - the Sultan who will come to inaugurate the golden age of the Seljuks of Rum. 

The Holy Roman Emperor crosses the Dardanelles into Anatolia expecting to find a friend on the throne in Konya.  But while Sultan Kılıç Arslan II desires peace and alliance, the wild tribes and certain of his sons have other ideas...