This week, Danièle is joined by Peter Konieczny to discuss The Merchant of Prato and the lives of Francesco and Margherita Datini. Their story from 14th century Italy comes from one of the richest document finds ever made! You can help support this podcast and Medievalists.net on our Patreon - go to https://www.patreon.com/medievalists
This week, Danièle tells the medieval story of The Three Caskets from the Gesta Romanorum, a tale more familiar to theatre and literature fans all over the world as a central plot device in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. You can also help support the podcast and Medievalists.net through our Patreon – go to https://www.patreon.com /medievalists to learn more.
The Fourth Crusade is best known for being the campaign that attacked the Byzantine Empire in 1204. In this episode, Danièle is joined by Peter Konieczny to talk about Robert de Clari, who wrote one of the accounts of this unusual crusade. What did this French knight say about how the crusaders went from wanting to attack the Holy Land to conquering Constantinople? You can find Danièle's Medieval Masterclass for Creators at https://medievalmasterclass.thinkific.com/courses/medieval-masterclass-f...
Medieval historians can sometimes study quirky things. For John Wyatt Greenlee it is researching eels in the Middle Ages. This week, Danièle speaks with Surprised Eel Historian about the impact of this fish on the medieval world - who was eating them, how they were eating them, and why they were sometimes a great way to pay the rent.
There’s talk in the news from time to time about the surprising efficacy of medieval medicine. Does it actually work? This week, Danièle speaks with emergency physician and wilderness medicine expert Dr. Joe Alcock about which medieval remedies really could work in a pinch, and why.
Marriage was an important part of many medieval women’s lives, but not all marriages followed the neat path that the church had laid out for them. This week, Danièle speaks with Dr. Bridget Wells-Furby about fourteenth-century heiress Lucy de Thweng and what her story can tell us about medieval marriage, adultery, and even annulment.
What happens when someone was murdered in the Middle Ages? This week, Danièle is joined by Peter Konieczny to take a look at the Coroner's Rolls from 14th century London. These records offer many insights into violent deaths, detailing the who, what, where, when and sometimes why of murders that took place within the city.
Did medieval princesses live that typical fairy-tale role? This week, Danièle talks with Kelcey Wilson-Lee, author of Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children of Edward I, to learn about how these English princesses actually lived during the Middle Ages.
From manuscripts to wash basins, medieval objects can tell us a lot about how people conceived of the world. This week, Danièle speaks with Dr. Jack Hartnell about what objects can tell us about the Middle Ages, medicine, and especially medieval bodies.
There are those who abuse the medieval past in order to promote ideas of racism, white supremacism, and other toxic ideologies. To counter these views, Amy S. Kaufman and Paul B. Sturtevant have written The Devil’s Historians: How Modern Extremists Abuse the Medieval Past. They join Danièle to talk about their work and how the Middle Ages was more diverse, compelling, and complex than is often portrayed in mass media.
What was life really like within a medieval monastery? This week we take a look at the Chronicle of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, by Jocelin of Brakelond, which tells the tale of an English abbey at the turn of the thirteenth century. It's a surprising story of money, power and gossip.
This week, Danièle recommends her favourite series of primary sources for those people who want to read the voices of the Middle Ages in friendly editions. From Latin sources, to Middle English, to modern English translations, these recommended series bring medieval writers to modern readers.
Many people seem to have the misguided idea that the medieval era was a time in which science and technology were all but forgotten. For the 75th episode of the podcast, Danièle talks with Peter Konieczny about ten medieval inventions that changed the world.
This week, Danièle explores the life of Margery Kempe: a 15th-century mystic said to be the first female autobiographer in English, and one of medieval Europe’s most colourful - and memorable - figures. Check out the other podcasts hosted by Medievalists.net Byzantium & Friends - https://www.medievalists.net/tag/byzantium-friends/ Scotichronicast - https://www.medievalists.net/tag/scotichronicast/...
Can you tell your Benedictines from your Franciscans and Dominicans? This week, Danièle gives a brief overview of the the backstory of some of the major monastic traditions, and how you can tell them apart.
Looking for a medieval chronicle that is a page-turning read? The 12th century account known as The Murder of Charles the Good is an action-packed tale of assassination, revenge and war. In this episode of The Medieval Podcast, Danièle is joined by Peter Konieczny to talk about this riveting chronicle.
What’s better - a Rose or a Violet? That is the question written about by Jean Froissart in the 14th century. This debate between plants - each with their own lawyer - tells us a lot about medieval culture and how writers from this period created allegorical poems.
This week, it’s medieval story time, with a tale that crosses over between fabliau and courtly love: The Ghost Knight. Danièle shares the story of how a knight manages to win his lady with a little supernatural sleight-of-hand.
Written in 14th century China, Romance of the Three Kingdoms can best be described as a historical novel. This week, Danièle is joined by Peter Konieczny to talk about this famous work of warriors, generals and rulers.
Although people love to read and learn about The Wars of the Roses, there’s one historical figure who is rarely found in the limelight: Henry VI. This week, Danièle speaks with Lauren Johnson about the somewhat forgotten “shadow king” Henry, his life, his illness, and his quiet but important legacy. The sponsor for this week’s episode is Skillshare – you sign up for a two-month free trial by going to www.medievalists.net/skillshare You can also help support the podcast and Medievalists.net throu...
This week, Danièle speaks with the host of the Byzantium and Friends podcast, Dr. Anthony Kaldellis, about Byzantium, its place in history and in academic departments, and why it’s an area of study that is definitely worth our time.
This week, Danièle speaks with Dr. Valerie Hansen to get a global perspective on the Middle Ages at the turn of the millennium, including how cultures were connecting in the year 1000, what goods people were trading, and just how far the trade routes went. Dr. Hanson's new book is The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World and Globalization Began. The sponsor for this week’s episode is Skillshare – you sign up for a two-month free trial by going to www.medievalists.net/skillshare You can ...
This week’s episode is about one of the places where art and memory, serious messages and playful doodles intersect: graffiti. Danièle interviews Matthew Champion to find out about what sort of images you can find on the walls of a medieval church, just who was tagging, and a little bit about pandemic graffiti. You can learn more about Matthew's work by visiting his website http://www.mjc-associates.co.uk/ or follow him on Twitter @mjc_associates The sponsor for this week’s episode is Skillshare...
We know for a fact that the medieval world was diverse, we know for a fact that civilizations outside of the major European nations were interesting, but at the moment, Medieval Studies is still a very white field. So why does this matter, especially in the current moment? Because black history matters. Black scholarship matters. And black lives matter.
This week, Danièle speaks with Dr. Emma Levitt about tournaments and the joust in the Middle Ages. Dr. Levitt tells us all about how to score a joust, how the tournament changed over time, and how jousting was used to mend fences during the Wars of the Roses.
This week, Danièle tells the story of one of her favourite queens, Isabella of France, who went from being a child bride to storming England and toppling an anointed king.
This week, Danièle takes on five common myths about medieval peasants.
This week Danièle talks about castles: what they were like, what they were for, and where we get some of the everyday words we use to describe them.
This week Danièle shares three funny tales by Franco Sacchetti, written to entertain Italians during the tough times they experienced in the fourteenth century.
This week Peter Konieczny joins Danièle to talk about some dates and events that historians have used to define the beginning and the end of the Middle Ages, and the mysterious few centuries that some people actually believe didn’t exist.
