This episode we explore two glimpses of the afterlife presented by the Venerable Bede and consider how they relate to the modern conception of the near death experience.

Today's Text:

Bede. Ecclesiastical History. In The Complete Works of Venerable Bede. Edited and translated by J.A. Giles, vols. II & III, Whittaker and Co., 1843. Google Books.

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction

00:12:37 Text: The Visions of Fursa from Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica

00:24:05 Commentary

00:29:59 Text: The Vision of Dryhthelm from Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica

00:43:34 Commentary. cont.

01:00:35 Riddle

01:02:09 Outro

This episode we finally enter the open ocean with the Uí Corra and their fellow pilgrims as they explore strange new lands, seek out new afterlives and new sects, and boldly go where many other saints and heroes of Irish legend have gone before.

Today's Texts

"The Voyage of the Hui Corra." Translated by Whitley Stokes. Revue Celtique, vol. 14, 1893, pp. 22-69. Internet Archive.

References

Breatnach, Caoimhín. "The Transmission and Structure of Immram Curaig Ua Corra." Ériu, vol. 53, 2003, pp. 91-107. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30008353

Dumville, David. "Echtrae and Immram: Some Problems of Definition." Ériu, vol. 27, 1976, pp. 73-94). JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30007669

In this episode, we embark on another Irish adventure with the first part (of two) of "The Voyage of the Uí Corra," in which we don't actually set sail until final paragraph.

Today's Texts

"The Voyage of the Hui Corra." Translated by Whitley Stokes. Revue Celtique, vol. 14, 1893, pp. 22-69. Internet Archive.

References

"Book of Fermoy." Royal Irish Academy, www.ria.ie/collections/manuscripts/irish-language-manuscripts/book-of-fermoy/

Breatnach, Caoimhín. "The Transmission and Structure of Immram Curaig Ua Corra." Ériu, vol. 53, 2003, pp. 91-107. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30008353

Dumville, David. "Echtrae and Immram: Some Problems of Definition." Ériu, vol. 27, 1976, pp. 73-94). JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30007669

McInerney, Luke. "Conchubhar Mac an Oirchinnigh and the Gaelic scribal tradition of County Clare." The Other Clare: Annual journal of The Shannon Archaeological & Historical Society, vol. 41, 2017, pp. 60-67. Clare Libraries.

Shaw, John. "What Alexander Carmichael Did Not Print: The 'Cliar Sheanchain', 'Clanranald's Fool' and Related Traditions." Béaloideas, Iml. 70, 2002, pp. 99-126. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20520795

Thompson, Chris, and Isolde Carmody. "Rowing Around Immráma 03: Immrám Uí Corra." Story Archaeology: Conversations on Irish Mythology, 5 July 2014, storyarchaeology.com/rowing-around-immrama-03-immram-ui-corra/

For this St. Patrick's Day, we finally present the last canonical text written by St. Patrick, his letter to Coroticus, completing the series we began in Episode 68 with the first half of Patrick's Confessio.

Today's Texts

Patrick. Epistola ad Coroticum. St. Patrick: His Writings and Life, edited and translated by Newport J.D. White, Macmillan, 1920, pp. 52-60. Google Books.

References

Kelly, David. "St Patrick's Writings: Confessio and Epistola." Saint Patrick's Confessio, Royal Irish Academy, 2011, www.confessio.ie/more/article_kelly#.

Audio Credit: Father Ted, "The Old Grey Whistle Theft," season 2, episode 4, written by Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews, 29 March 1996.

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction

00:08:10 Text: Patrick, Epistola ad Coroticum

00:21:00 Commentary

00:24:07 Mystery Word: húrla-hárla

00:25:11 Outro

This episode, we go into more depth with the legend of St. Kenelm (Cynehelm) and his jealous sister Quendrida (Cwenthryth). We also learn what it means to "crab the parson."

Today's Text

- "The Legend of St. Kenelm." Translated by John Amphlett in A Short History of Clent, Parker and Co., 1890, pp. 177-193. Google Books.

References

- Brand, John. Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar and Provincial Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, edited, revised, and expanded by Henry Ellis, vol 1, Henry G. Bohn, 1859. Google Books.

- Cross, Tom Peete. "Witchcraft in North Carolina." Studies in Philology, vol. 16, no. 3, Jul. 1919, pp. 217-287. Google Books.

- Rollason, D. W. "The Cults of Murdered Royal Saints in Anglo-Saxon England." Anglo-Saxon England, vol. 11, 1983, pp. 1-22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44510759

- Weiskott, Eric. "Saint Kenelm, Illustrated." Erikweiskott.com, 21 Nov. 2016, ericweiskott.com/2016/11/21/saint-kenelm-illustrated/

- Whitelock, Dorothy, editor and translator. "From the Report of the Legates to Pope Hadrian (786)." English Historical Documents: ca. 500-1042, vol. 1, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1955, pp. 770-774. Archive.org.

Image Credit: Detail of Kenelm with a bird at his ear from Bodleian Library, MS Douce 368 f. 80r (12th cent.).

Audio Credit: "6 Morceaux, Op. 85 - 3. Cavatina." Composed by Joachim Raff, performed by Benjamin Intartaglia. Musopen. Used under CC-BY 3.0 license.

Chapters

00:00:00: Introduction

00:09:01: Text: The Legend of St. Kenelm

00:24:03: Commentary

00:36:43: Brand and Ellis on "Crabbing the Parson" (1859)

00:42:21: Commentary

00:43:40: Riddle

00:44:53: Outro

We continue on from last episode's look at the Green Children of Woolpit with a further consideration of what it meant to wonder at a marvel in the middle ages, with additional illustration of some wondrous things from William of Malmesbury.

Today's Texts

- Gervase of Tilbury. Otia Imperialia. Edited and translated by S.E. Banks and J.W. Binns, Clarendon Press, 2002.

- Isidore of Seville. The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Translated by Stephen A. Barney, W.J. Lewis, J.A. Beach, and Oliver Berghof with Muriel Hall, Cambridge UP, 2006.

- 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.

Chapters

00:00:00: Introduction

00:09:48: Text: from Gervase of Tilbury's Otia Imperialia

00:13:29: Commentary

00:16:23: Text: from Isidore of Seville's Etymologies

00:21:02: Commentary

00:23:05: Text: from William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum

00:39:32: Commentary

00:43:23: Text: from Caroline Walker Bynum's "Wonder"

00:48:08: Commentary

00:48:26: Mystery Word: glop

00:54:15: Outro

This Halloween marks our 10th anniversary, and we observe it by hearing the earliest written accounts of one of the most well-known pieces of medieval weird history: the Green Children of Woolpit -- and also hear the other less famous prodigies their story was originally presented alongside.

Today's Texts:

Radulphi de Coggeshall. Chronicon Anglicanum. Edited by Joseph Stevenson, Longman & Co., 1875. Google Books.

William of Newburgh. The History of William of Newburgh. The Church Historians of England, vol. IV, part II, translated by Joseph Stevenson, Seeleys, 1856, pp. 395–670. Google Books.

Chapters

00:00:00: Introduction

00:06:32: Text: from Ralph of Coggeshall's Chronicon Anglicanum

00:15:36: Commentary

00:24:31: Text: Ch. 27 & 28 from William of Newburgh's Historia rerum Anglicarum

00:35:10: Commentary

00:58:25: Riddle

01:01:13: Outro

In this episode, we explore the tradition of contemptus mundi with a text all about how horrible it is to be a human being, On the Misery of the Human Condition, written by Pope Innocent III (when he was but Cardinal Lotario di Segni).

Today's Texts:

Lotario dei Contie di Segni [Pope Innocent III]. De miseria condicionis humane. The Latin Library, https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/innocent1.html

References:

Lothario Dei Segni [Pope Innocent III]. On the Misery of the Human Condition. Edited by Donald R. Howard, translated by Margaret Mary Dietz. Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1969. Archive.org.

Moore, John C. "Innocent III's De Miseria Humanae Conditionis: A Speculum Curiae?" The Catholic Historical Review, vol. 67, no. 4, Oct. 1981, pp. 553-564. JSTOR.

Chapters

00:00:00: Introduction

00:17:00: Text: from Book I of De miseria condicionis humane by Lotario di Segni

00:17:01: Preface

00:18:05: 1. On the Miseries of Humanity

00:20:48: 2. On the Vileness of Our Matter

00:22:42: 3. On the Manner of Conception

00:26:19: 4. On the Food by which the Fetus is Nourished in the Womb

00:27:22: 5. On the Weakness of the Infant

00:28:37: 8. What Fruit Does a Person Produce?

00:29:43: 9. On the Inconvenience of Old Age

00:31:58: 12. On the Various Pursuits of Human Beings

00:34:07: 13. On Various Anxieties

00:34:56: 14. On the Misery of the Poor and the Rich

00:36:55: 15. On the Misery of Servants and Masters

00:38:53: 22. On the Proximity of Death

00:40:11: 27. On the Various Types of Tortures

00:41:26: Commentary

00:47:13: Mystery Word: furcifer

00:51:35: Outro

We continue from our last episode into the years 1212-1214 in the Melrose Chronicle, where we come to the end of the interdict, and perhaps the prophesized end of King John's true sovereignty. Along the way, we also cover some of the more common ecclesiastical offices and check the accuracy of the chronicle's battlefield accounting.

Today's Texts:

The Chronicle of Melrose. Edited and translated by Joseph Stevenson, The Church Historians of England, vol. 4, part 1, Seeley’s, 1856, pp. 79-242. Google Books.

Ranulf Higden. Polychronicon. Vol. 8. Edited by Joseph Rawson Lumby, translated by John Trevisa, Longman and Co., 1882. Google Books.

Roger of Wendover. Flowers of History. Vol. 2. Translated by J.A. Giles, Henry G. Bohn, 1849. Google Books.

We return to the Melrose Chronicle with a notably nasty run of years from 1205 to 1211. We also consider why people -- medieval and modern -- are so captivated by bad news.

Today's Texts:

The Chronicle of Melrose. Edited and translated by Joseph Stevenson, The Church Historians of England, vol. 4, part 1, Seeley’s, 1856, pp. 79-242. Google Books.