History Extra podcast
History Extra podcast
Immediate Media
Slavery on the medieval Silk Road
46 minutes Posted Jul 13, 2025 at 11:00 pm.
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Show notes

Slavery was a grim but omnipresent reality across the Silk Road during the Middle Ages. Speaking to Emily Briffett, Claire Taylor unpacks the complex networks of enslavement that spanned from Ireland to China, revealing how – and why – human lives were traded alongside silks and spices.


The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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