The Medieval Podcast

Whether it's an action movie or a romance novel, everyone loves a new story. But we also love having some idea about how it's likely to play out. Medieval authors also played with novelty and predictability, relying – as we do – on a device called type-scenes. This week, Danièle speaks with Dominique Battles about what type-scenes are, how medieval authors used them, and why we still love them.

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 one of the most well-known burial sites in the world, its treasures drawing thousands upon thousands of people to the British Museum each year, and its discovery the stuff of Hollywood. For over a millennium, the mounds at Sutton Hoo hid not just gold, but the secrets of early medieval shipbuilding. This week, Danièle speaks with Martin Carver about what was found at Sutton Hoo, what we know about the people buried there, and what we can learn from walking – or sailing – in their footsteps.

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

Earlier this year, we looked at the journey a pair of Eastern Christians made from their home near Bejing to Europe in the thirteenth century. Today, we’re investigating some incredible archaeological evidence of Franciscan missionary activity on the farthest shores of China. This week, Danièle speaks with Nancy Wu about a fourteenth-century Franciscan tombstone found in Quanzhou, what the religious community there was like, and what a tombstone can tell us about art, culture, and technique.

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

Last week, we took a look at the first hundred years of crusading, and the tactics involved in fighting in and around the crusader kingdoms of the Middle East. In this episode, we follow the crusaders as they shift their lens southward to Egypt, and make a bold attempt to capture one of the biggest prizes of the day. This week, Danièle speaks with Thomas Smith about why the Fifth Crusade targeted Egypt in the first place, how this campaign differed from the many that had come before, and just how close this crusade came to changing history as we know it.

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

If there’s one topic that continually draws people to the Middle Ages, it’s the Crusades. Templars, assassins, nomadic horse archers, in what is at times a very hostile environment makes for a history that regularly turns on a knife edge. But the story of the Crusades is much bigger, geographically, culturally, and politically than the same old stories would suggest. This week, Danièle speaks with Nicholas Morton about the wider world of the Crusades, the cultural and technological exchange it led to, and the importance of some forgotten individuals from this moment in history.

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

In this episode, we’re looking at a legendary figure who thought ruling England would be one more step in his quest to be the dominant power in the North Sea. His legendary prowess in battle was known from Sicily to Orkney, and his name was Harald Hardrada. This week, Danièle speaks with James Turner about Harald’s travels, his conquests, and his place in the wide world of the eleventh 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

Early medieval kings come to us in glimpses, with legends, a few chronicles, and some archaeological finds sketching faint portraits of figures who were larger than life in their own time. One of these kings left a literal impression on Britain that speaks to the power he had in the eighth century: Offa, King of the Mercians. This week, Danièle speaks with Rory Naismith about Offa’s life, his rule, and his impact on Early Medieval England.

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

While there was more violence in the medieval world than there is today on the whole, much of that was in the context of warfare. And even in medieval warfare, there were many people who felt the need for limits. This week, Danièle speaks with James Houlihan about medieval perspectives on warfare, attitudes towards noncombatants, and the steps one Abbot of Iona took to protect the innocent.

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

In the fifteenth-century, a woman named Jehanne reported a sexual assault to the city authorities of Dijon, setting in motion a detailed criminal investigation that has survived in the records. This week, Danièle speaks with Sara McDougall about what Jehanne's story can tell us about truth and lies, investigative procedures in fifteenth-century France, and contemporary attitudes towards survivors.

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

From gruesome visions of torment, to Sunday holidays from the flames, to absolutely epic images of Jesus freeing lost souls at the point of a sword, medieval people couldn’t get enough of their fire and brimstone. The question is: why? This week, Danièle speaks with Stephen C.E. Hopkins about where medieval people got their ideas about the afterlife, how they adapted these ideas across cultures, and why everyone was so obsessed with hell.

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