Fatimid Dynasty: Descendants of Prophet Muhammad

About this episode

The episode explores the rise of the Fatimid Dynasty and its impact on power, culture, and women's authority in medieval Islam.

How did the Fatimids build one of Islam's most powerful medieval empires? What can the rise of this dynasty reveal about power, culture, tolerance, and women’s authority? Stretching across North Africa, Egypt, and parts of Sicily, Syria, Palestine and Arabia, the Fatimids created an empire renowned for prosperity, cultural brilliance and relative tolerance, one in which women were promoted to positions rarely seen elsewhere. Matt Lewis and Dr. Delia Cortese explore the Fatimid's remarkable origin story. MORE How Islam came to Iran Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Prophet Muhammad Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds. Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Matt Lewis

Guest: Dr. Delia Cortese

Topics covered

• Fatimid Dynasty
• Islamic Empire
• Cultural Tolerance
• Women's Authority
• Medieval History

Keywords

• Fatimid Dynasty
• Islam
• medieval empires
• cultural brilliance
• women's roles

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: History Hit

Books & works: Gone Medieval

Places: North Africa, Egypt, Sicily, Syria, Palestine, Arabia

More episodes of Gone Medieval

• The Queer Court of William Rufus · June 12, 2026 · 49 min
• Hildegard of Bingen - Prophetess, Composer, Mystic · June 9, 2026 · 1h 3m
• The Black Death: A Global Apocalypse? · June 5, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Seeking Sanctuary · June 2, 2026 · 1h 5m
• The First Troubadours · May 29, 2026 · 47 min
• Foolish Medieval Fatalities · May 26, 2026 · 1h 9m