This time on Medieval Death Trip, we celebrate Black Friday weekend with some black magic in our belated Halloween anniversary episode. We look at a couple of quite different medieval witches, a Cornish wildwoman from the Life of St. Samson and the famous Witch of Berkeley, as well as a report of a night-hag from the 18th century.

Today's Texts

- William of Malmesbury. Chronicle of the Kings of England. Edited by J.A. Giles, translated by John Sharpe and J.A. Giles, George Bell & Sons, 1895. Google Books.

- The Liber Landavensis, Llyfr Teilo, or the Ancient Register of the Cathedral Church of Llandaff. Edited by W.J. Rees, William Rees, 1840. Google Books.

- Burnett, George. Specimens of English Prose-Writers from the Earliest Times to the Close of the Seventeenth Century, with Sketches Biographical and Literary, Including an Account of Books as Well as of Their Authors; with Occasional Criticisms, etc. Vol. I, Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1807. Google Books.

- Sprenger, James, and Henry Kramer. Malleus Maleficarum. Originally published 1486. Translated by Montague Summers, 1928. Sacred-Texts.com.

Audio Clips:

- The Tragedy of Macbeth. Directed by Joel Coen. Apple Studios, 2021.

- The Witch. Directed by Robert Eggers. A24, 2015.

- The Witches. Directed by Nicholas Roeg. Warner Bros., 1990.

- The Blair Witch Project. Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. Artisan Entertainment, 1993.

- Suspiria. Directed by Dario Argento. Produzioni Atlas Consorziate, 1977.

- Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones. EMI Films, 1975.

- The Wizard of Oz. Directed by Victor Fleming. MGM, 1939.

- Clash of the Titans. Directed by Desmond Davis. United Artists, 1981.

- Young Frankenstein. Directed by Mel Brooks. 20th Century Fox, 1974.

Additional Music Credit: Ludwig van Beethoven, Coriolan Overture, composed in 1807 (the same year Burnett published his Specimens of English Prose Writers), and performed by the Musopen Symphony (CC-PD).

Chapters

00:00:00: Introduction

00:04:54: Movie witchlore montage

00:10:12: Introduction, cont.

00:14:00: Text: from the Malleus Maleficarum

00:21:10: Introduction, cont.

00:23:24: Text: from The Life of St. Samson in the Book of Llandaff

00:27:44: Commentary

00:45:36: Text: from William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum

00:51:50: Commentary

01:04:21: Text: from George Burnett's Specimens of English Prose Writers

01:09:40: Commentary

01:11:38: Mystery Word: baggaged

01:17:03: Outro