It’s summertime and your friendly neighbourhood medievalist is taking a much-needed week off, so here's a blast from the not-so-distant past. This episode was recorded live at the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds in 2023 with everyone’s other favourite medievalist: Eleanor Janega.

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Although death is just a natural and expected part of life – especially in the Middle Ages – it’s also an event that forever alters the lives of those left behind. For medieval women, widowhood changed everything. This week, Danièle speaks with Anna Wainwright about what it was like to be an Italian widow in the fifteenth century, how widowhood and politics went together, and the rise of widows as popular writers.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

To picture the Middle Ages is to picture knights in shining armour. Custom-made, fashionable, and often beautiful, medieval armour was more than just practical: it was art. And in the late Middle Ages, a collection of talented artists captured the functional elegance of armour on paper. This week, Danièle speaks with Chassica Kirchhoff about armour as protection, art, and memorial in the Thun-Hohenstein Album.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

So often, we see the homes – and lives – of peasants represented as drab and empty. But the reality is bright, busy, fashionable, and colourful. This week, Danièle speaks with Luis Almenar Fernández about how peasants stored and cooked their food, how they used food culture to build relationships, and the beautiful, fashionable objects to be found in a medieval home.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

You can tell a lot about people by their spending habits. What do they buy for themselves? And what do they buy for other people? This week, Danièle speaks with Abigail S. Armstrong about royal financial records, what they can tell us about Margaret of France during Edward I’s last days, and what one incredible inventory reveals about royal relationships in England’s turbulent thirteenth century.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

It’s the local watering hole. The place where business is done, and moments are celebrated. And it’s the place where you can literally see a man about a horse. It’s the medieval pub. This week, Danièle speaks with Peter Dobek about the public houses of medieval Krakow, what they looked like inside and out, and what they actually had on tap.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the practices of ancient and medieval Celts, and how those practices were transformed and integrated into Christianity over time. Today, we’re shifting the lens eastward to investigate some of the last Europeans to accept Christianity. What did these people believe before the missionaries arrived? And how did their pre-Christian beliefs shape their eventual practice of Christianity, itself? This week, Danièle speaks with Francis Young about who the last pagan holdouts on the continent were, why Christian missionaries struggled to convert these regions, and how pagan traditions were integrated into this new faith.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

The medieval period is well known for several large-scale and horrific persecutions, especially ones based on religious grounds. One of these is a succession of expulsions of the Jews from one kingdom after another. Persecutions like these don’t just come out the blue. So, if we’re going to understand them – and hopefully prevent them – we have to dig deep into the cultural ideas and purported justifications that they spring from. This week, Danièle speaks with Rowan Dorin about what usury is, how changing ideas of sin and foreignness shaped Europe, and how mass expulsion went from unthinkable to acceptable in the late Middle Ages.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Have you ever wanted to put a curse on someone? How about ask a river goddess for some healing? Or maybe speak a charm that’ll make your life better? If so, today’s episode is for you. This week, Danièle speaks with Brigid Ehrmantraut about Celtic magic, druidic haircuts, and what Celtic curses have to do with The Lord of the Rings.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Just in time for his feast day on May 16, we’re looking at St. Brendan, an Irish saint whose holy encounters included island-sized whales, lava-slinging smiths, and rodents of unusual size. This week, Danièle speaks with Gordon Barthos about St. Brendan’s epic odyssey, his long-standing popularity, and just some of his incredible adventures.

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast