Narrator John W. Vander Cook introduces the history of England and then tells how the Magna Carta came about in the reign of King John. Arthur, the son of John's elder brother, is held prisoner and killed, and the French lands of the Crown are lost. John's heavy taxes anger the people, and a dispute over the Archbishop of Canterbury brings the Pope's interdict on England. Robert Fitzwalter leads the barons who resist the king, and the episode ends with the barons and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, forcing John to put his seal to the charter at Runnymede in 1215. The series is We Came This Way, broadcast on the NBC University of the Air, and the episode's original air date is October 6, 1944.

With King John, Arthur, Robert Fitzwalter, Stephen Langton, Pembroke, Matilda, John W. Vander Cook.

Listen for: The scene where John has the barons' children seized as hostages and the scene at Runnymede where John is forced to sign the charter.

First aired on October 6, 1944.

Episode notes written with AI from the recording itself; the audio is the original broadcast.

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In medieval England, a peasant named Wat Tyler and the priest John Ball lead a revolt against serfdom and a poll tax. The series We Came This Way presents this chapter, part of a historical program on NBC's University of the Air, first broadcast on October 13, 1944. The story opens with a tax collector at a farmhouse and follows the growing anger of the common people as the young King Richard II struggles to raise money for a war with France. Tyler and his followers gather in the countryside and march toward London, where the king must decide how to respond to their demands.

With Wat Tyler, John Ball, Richard II, Earl of Salisbury, Sir Robert Hales, John Leg, Jack Straw.

Listen for: The poll tax proclamation read on the village green, and Wat Tyler's exchange with King Richard at Mile End.

First aired on October 13, 1944.

Episode notes written with AI from the recording itself; the audio is the original broadcast.

Free, complete and restored, no modern ads. A new episode every week: We Came This Way on Stupid Potato, every episode so far and the episode guide.

Stupid Potato restores classic radio and TV audio and runs 60 free 24/7 channels and 188 podcasts: old-time radio westerns, detectives, comedy, science fiction and suspense, vintage TV, Saturday-morning cartoons, Halloween and Christmas. No modern ads. Listen free at stupidpotato.com.

Anders, a runaway serf, and his wife Joanna flee their Flemish manor for the free city of Bruges around 1300. Anders becomes a weaver under Master Peter Koenig, dean of the weavers' guild, who explains how the city's patrician councilmen shut out ordinary craftsmen from power. When the guilds protest a new levy meant to pay for the French king's visit, Koenig is banished and Anders is left to lead the artisans. The episode is part of the NBC series We Came This Way, broadcast on October 20, 1944, with John W. Vander Cook as narrator.

With Anders, Joanna, Peter Koenig, John Bridell, Van Gelder, Jacques de Chateillon.

Listen for: Master Koenig's speech on how the city council keeps craftsmen without a voice in government, and the public meeting that leads to his banishment

First aired on October 20, 1944.

Episode notes written with AI from the recording itself; the audio is the original broadcast.

Free, complete and restored, no modern ads. A new episode every week: We Came This Way on Stupid Potato, every episode so far and the episode guide.

Stupid Potato restores classic radio and TV audio and runs 60 free 24/7 channels and 188 podcasts: old-time radio westerns, detectives, comedy, science fiction and suspense, vintage TV, Saturday-morning cartoons, Halloween and Christmas. No modern ads. Listen free at stupidpotato.com.