Media-eval: A Medieval Pop Culture Podcast

Sarah is once again joined by guest Elizabeth Bonnemann—but for once NOT talking about Doctor Who! Join us as we delve into the medievalism of 1988 fantasy film Willow. Were there really possums in medieval Europe? Were criminals left to die in hanging cages? And did women like Bavmorda, Sorsha, and Elora reign as queens?

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Find Elizabeth on Twitter @lizziestrider and on Tumblr: https://shadow-academic.tumblr.com/

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Damned former host Ollie returns to talk about a movie that is far better than it's reputation(or lack thereof) would suggest.

Turns out if the devil wants your soul, you don't have a lot of options left!

Sarah's mom, Beth Greenfeld, is back to talk about 1955 film The Court Jester! Join us as we delve into the history of fools and jesters, the political challenges of infant monarchs, and how this film has better-developed women characters than many movies released in the 21st-century. 



CW: Discussion of some potential issues of ableism in the film


Learn more about the global history of jesters in Beatrice K. Otto’s Fools Are Everywhere: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo3615397.html.

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Find Beth on Twitter @bethg20904

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Sarah and returning guest Morgan Morales explore intellectual culture and interreligious strife in 2009 film Agora! Join us as we delve into the lives of Jews, Christians, and polytheists in late ancient/early medieval Alexandria and explore the reality and legend of the life of Hypatia of Alexandria. CW for conversations about sexual assault, slavery, and anti-Semitism, all based on depictions within the film.

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E-mail: [email protected]

Find Morgan at @morgansaysballs

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Media-eval ventures to Valholl as Sarah and returning guest Miti von Weissenberg tackle 2022 film The Northman! Join us as we explore masculinity, gender, slavery, race, and vengeance in the film and in the real Norse past. CW for discussion of sexual assault (which is not graphically depicted in the film but is thematically important) and for discussion of white nationalism (which is relevant to the audience response to the film and to attitudes toward the Vikings in general).


Want to learn more about the context for the film? 

Check out some classic Icelandic revenge sagas:

The Saga of the People of Laxardal and Bolli Bollason’s Tale. Transl. Keneva Kunz. London: Penguin Books, 2008 

1903 Translation into English: https://sagadb.org/laxdaela_saga.en2 

 

Njal’s Saga. Transl. Robert Cook. London, Penguin Books, 2008.  

1861 translation into English free and online: https://sagadb.org/brennu-njals_saga.en 

 

Read some excellent scholarship on the Vikings and Scandinavia:

 

Brink, Stefan, in collaboration with Neil Price. The Viking World. London: Routledge, 2012.  

Callmer, Johan, Ingrid Gustin, and Mats Roslund, eds. Identity Formation and Diversity in the Early Medieval Baltic and beyond : Communicators and Communication. The Northern World : North Europe and the Baltic, c. 400-1700 AD. : Peoples, Economics and Cultures: Volume 75. Leiden: Brill, 2017.

 

Clements, Jonathan. A Brief History of the Vikings (The Last Pagans or the First Modern Europeans?) London: Hachette, 2005.  

 

Duczko, Wladyslaw. Viking Rus : Studies on the Presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe. Brill, 2004.

Frank, Roberta. “The Invention of the Viking Horned Helmet” in International Scandinavian and Medieval Studies in Memory of Gerd Wolfgang Weber: Ein runder Knäuel, so rollt’ es uns leicht aus den Händen, ed. Michael Dallapiazza, Olaf Hansen, Preben Meulengracht-Sørensen, and Yvonne S. Bonnetai, 199-208. Trieste: Edizioni Parnaso, 2000. 

 

Jarman, Cat. River Kings. A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads. London: William Collins, 2021.  

 

Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir. Valkyrie. The Women of the Viking World. London: Bloomsbury, 2020.  

 

Price, Neil. The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2019.  

Price, Neil, Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, Torun Zachrisson, Anna Kjellstrom, Jan Stora, Maja Krzewinska, Torsten Guenther, Veronica Sobrado, Mattias Jakobsson, and Anders Gotherstrom. “Viking Warrior Women? Reassessing Birka Chamber Grave Bj.581.” Antiquity 93, no. 367 (February 1, 2019): 181–98. doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.258. 

Price, Neil. Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings. New York, Basic Books, 2020. 

Samson, Vincent. Les Berserkir. Les Guerriers-Fauves dans la Scandinavie ancienne, de l’Âge de Vendel aux Vikings (VIe-XIe Siècle). Villeneuve-d’Ascq: Universitaires du Septentrion, 2011.  

 

Weiss, Daniel. “The Viking Great Army.” Archaeology 71, no. 2 (2018): 50–56.  

Winroth, Anders. The Age of the Vikings. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014. 

 

Winroth, Anders. The Conversion of Scandinavia: Vikings, Merchants and Missionaries. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.  

Social Media:

Twitter @mediaevalpod

E-mail: [email protected]

Find Miti at @MvonWeissenberg

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Sarah and guest Peter Konieczny of medievalists.net delve into the layers of pre-modern history, late medieval historical fiction, and modern film in John Woo’s 2009 film Red Cliff. Join us as we get into interpretations of pre-modern history in China and the medieval novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

For more of Peter on Romance of the Three Kingdoms: https://www.medievalists.net/2018/10/which-translation-romance-three-kingdoms/

The works of Rafe de Crespigny, the leading English-language scholar on the period: https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/browse?type=author&authority=907b8620-2109-49aa-93b6-6e3f3a72b2c2

Video on the battle from Kings and Generals: https://youtu.be/a1n0yNDODJI

Outlander. The movie.

It's like Beowulf but there are aliens in it. This movie is actually pretty decent.

We all want to talk about Jamie and Claire and how some herbs are better than others but we will leave that for another time. enjoy!

Sarah and guest Miti von Weissenberg explore sanctity and voluntary poverty in 1989 film Francesco! Join us as we delve into the real lives of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi, the intertwined histories of the Franciscans and the Poor Clares, and the link between biopic and hagiography.

Learn more about Miti’s research and teaching: https://www.xavier.edu/history-department/directory/marita-vonweissenberg

Learn more about St. Francis of Assisi and his legacy:

Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. Edited by Regis J. Armstrong, J.A. Wayne Hellman, and William J. Short. New York: New City Press, 1999-2001 

Moorman, John R. H. A history of the Franciscan Order from its Origins to the Year 1517. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968

Vauchez, André, translated by Michael F. Cusato. Francis of Assisi : The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint. Yale University Press, 2012  

The Cambridge companion to Francis of Assisi. Edited by Michael J.P. Robson

Thompson, Augustine. Francis of Assisi : A New Biography. Cornell University Press, 2012. 

Appelbaum, Patricia. St. Francis of America: How a Thirteenth-Century Friar Became America’s Most Popular Saint. Chapel Hill: university of North Carolina Press, 2015. 

Learn more about St. Clare of Assisi:

 Mooney, Catherine M. Clare of Assisi and the Thirteenth Century Church: Religious Women, Rules, and Resistance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016. 

Mueller, Joan. The privilege of poverty : Clare of Assisi, Agnes of Prague, and the struggle for a Franciscan rule for women. University Park, Pa. : Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006.

Learn more about Franciscan spirituality:

Ahlgren, Gillian T.W. The Tenderness of God: Reclaiming our Humanity. Lanham: Fortress Press, 2017.  

Learn more about medieval sanctity:

Bartlett, Robert. Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things? : Saints and Worshippers from the Martyrs to the Reformation. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013. 

Vauchez, André. The Laity in the Middle Ages : Religious Beliefs and Devotional Practices. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993.

Vauchez, André. Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Social Media:

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E-mail: [email protected]

Find Miti at @MvonWeissenberg

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Sarah and guest Sara McDougall take on another of 2021’s highly anticipated medieval-inspired films: The Last Duel. Join us as we get into the myths and realities about medieval law and this fascinating 1386 trial, and our … struggles … with this film.

TRIGGER WARNING: The film includes graphic depictions of sexual assault, which we critique in depth on the podcast.

Read more from Sara on the Last Duel:

https://slate.com/culture/2021/10/last-duel-movie-historical-accuracy.html

https://slate.com/culture/2021/10/the-last-duel-hairstyles-historical-accuracy.html 


Social Media:

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E-mail: [email protected]

Find Sara at @SaraMcDougall2

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Finally, Media-eval tackles perhaps the most central text of medieval-inspired fantasy: The Lord of the Rings. Join Sarah and fellow medieval historian Paul Freedman, for a wide-ranging discussion about medievalism, food, gender, race, and more in the books and films.



Learn more about Paul and his work: https://history.yale.edu/people/paul-freedman 


Check out his article on food in The Lord of the Rings: https://raco.cat/index.php/ImagoTemporis/article/view/270936

Social Media:

Twitter @mediaevalpod

E-mail: [email protected]

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