Medieval Death Trip
118 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 228 ratingsA podcast exploring the wit and weirdness of medieval texts
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Episodes
MDT Ep. 105: Concerning the Voice of the Golem
April 01, 2024 00:04 - 1 hour - 149 MBWe kick of 2024 with a look at humanity's attempts to recreate itself, first with a dip into the legends of the Golem of Prague, and then an extended discussion of the role of AI in the future of medieval studies and particularly this show. Today's Texts: Eleazar of Worms, Commentary on Sefer Yezirah, fol. 15d. In Moshe Idel. Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions on the Artificial Anthropoid. State University of New York Press, 1990. Letter from Christoph Arnold to Johann Christop...
MDT Ep. 104: Concerning the Abacus and Succubus of Gerbert d'Aurillac
November 29, 2023 03:08 - 58 minutes - 80.9 MBWe conclude our miniseries comparing the legends to the real life of Gerbert d'Aurillac: mathematician, pope, and alleged magician. Today's variant of the Dark Legend comes from Walter Map, and we follow that with a look at the historical Gerbert's contributions to science. Today's Texts: Map, Walter. De Nugis Curialium. Translated by Montague R. James, historical notes by John Edward Lloyd, edited by E. Sidney Hartland, Cymmrodorion Record Series, no. 9, Honourable Society of Cymmrodorio...
MDT Ep. 103: "The Demon Pope" by Richard Garnett
October 31, 2023 22:09 - 34 minutes - 48.3 MBWe interrupt our regularly scheduled Gerbert d'Aurillac series with a special Halloween anniversary detour into a Victorian version of his Dark Legend: the 1888 short story, "The Demon Pope," by Richard Garnett. Today's Text Garnett, Richard. "The Demon Pope." The Twilight of the Gods and Other Tales. John Lane, 1903, pp. 86-98. Google Books. Music Credit: "Mephisto Polka," by Franz Liszt (1882-3), performed by Sofja Gülbadamova used under a CC-BY 3.0 license (MusOpen).
MDT Ep. 102: Concerning the Occult Career of Pope Sylvester II
October 01, 2023 03:21 - 1 hour - 85.3 MBWe pick up our unfinished thread from the Melrose Chronicle by exploring the "Dark Legend" of Gerbert d'Aurillac, who became Pope Sylvester II allegedly through the assistance of the devil. We'll hear one version of this legend as told by William of Malmesbury, and then examine what we know about the historical Gerbert. Today's Texts: 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 Book...
MDT Ep. 101: Concerning Danish Devastations, a Devilish Pope, a Deceitful Duke, and English Decline
July 15, 2023 22:46 - 49 minutes - 68.9 MBIt's back to basics in Ep. 101 as we return to the Chronicle of Melrose to hear about the years surrounding the turnover of the English kingdom from Anglo-Saxon monarchs to Danish ones, including the mystery of the death of King Edmund Ironside and whether or not he was assassinated by a fellow English noble. 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. John of...
MDT Ep. 100: Concerning the Litigious Origins of Printing
May 12, 2023 04:18 - 1 hour - 110 MBFor our 100th episode, we look at one of the technologies that marks an endpoint for the middle ages, the printing press, and consider how Johann Gutenberg may be a prototype for today's paranoid tech tycoons and the lawsuits that so often dog them. Today's Texts: Van der Linde's, A. The Haarlem Legend of the Invention of Printing. Translated by J.H. Hessels, Blades, East, & Blades, 1871. Google Books. Schröder, Edward. Das Mainzer Fragment vom Weltgericht. Gutenberg-Gesellschaft, 1908. A...
MDT Ep. 99: A Valentine's Battle for the Kingship of Man
February 15, 2023 00:29 - 43 minutes - 59.9 MBOn Valentine's Day 796 years ago, brother fought brother for the throne of the Isle of Man, as their fathers and uncles had done before them, another entry in the blood and betrayal-filled saga of the house of Crovan. Today, we hear the family conflict that led to that battle and see yet another king installed. In doing so, we'll meet more Godreds, Reginalds, and Olaves than you can shake a stick at as we take a third dive into the 13th-century Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys. Today's Texts...
MDT Ep. 98: Concerning the Life of Elgar the Hermit and Divine Dinner Delivery
December 23, 2022 22:14 - 41 minutes - 57.7 MBOn this episode, we get cozy for the holidays with a visit to the humble abode of Elgar, Hermit of Bardsey Island. Just don't mind the visiting spirits or food-delivering eagles. Today's Texts - "Account of Elgar, The Hermit." The Liber Landavensis, Llyfr Teilo, or the Ancient Register of the Cathedral Church of Llandaff. Edited by W.J. Rees, William Rees, 1840, pp. 281-287. Google Books. - Gerald of Wales. The Itinerary and Description of Wales. Translated by Richard Colt Hoare, introductio...
MDT Ep. 97: Concerning Three Witches
November 26, 2022 23:41 - 1 hour - 110 MBThis time on Medieval Death Trip, we celebrate Black Friday weekend with some black magic in our belated Halloween anniversary episode. We look at a couple of quite different medieval witches, a Cornish wildwoman from the Life of St. Samson and the famous Witch of Berkeley, as well as a report of a night-hag from the 18th century. Today's Texts - 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....
MDT Ep. 96: Concerning the Relics and Grave of King Oswald
October 08, 2022 03:03 - 47 minutes - 65 MBThis episode we examine the fate of another royal head, that of King Oswald of Northumbria, and the miracles associated with his relics and the dirt from his grave, as reported by the Venerable Bede. Today's Text Bede. Beda's Ecclesiastical History. The Church Historians of England, translated by Joseph Stevenson, 1853. Google Books. References Fowler, J.T. "On an Examination of the Grave of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral Church, in March, 1899." Archaeologia, vol. 57, no. 1, Jan. 1900, p...
MDT Extra: Letters on the Death of Elizabeth I
September 14, 2022 04:27 - 15 minutes - 21.8 MBThis extra minisode of Medieval Death Trip offers a bit of historical perspective on the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II by looking back at accounts of the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. Also, a surprisingly relevant but brief account of the Calendar (New Style) Act of 1750. Text: - Birch, Thomas. Memoirs of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, from the year 1581 til her death. In which the secret intrigues of her court, and the conduct of her favourite, Robert earl of Essex, both at home a...
MDT Ep. 95: Concerning Princely Heads and the Bishop's Monkeys
September 09, 2022 06:46 - 42 minutes - 59 MBThis episode we return to the Lanercost Chronicle (and a bit of Capgrave's Chronicle) to get some serious history concerning the fall of the last native prince of Wales, before getting some a less serious dinner party anecdote about a couple of monkeys. Much hand-wringing is also given to the appropriate pronunciation of the name Llewellyn/Llywelyn. Today's Text - The Chronicle of Lanercost: 1272–1346. Translated by Herbert Maxwell, James Maclehose and Sons, 1913. (Available at archive.org.)...
MDT Ep. 94: Helmbrecht v Sheriff: Eve of Justice
August 21, 2022 22:26 - 1 hour - 93.1 MBThis episode we conclude the story of the peasant lad who spurned a humble farming life to go off live the high life with a robber knight and, as we shall see, did not ultimately get the life he expected. Here is the final part of Meier Helmbrecht. Today's Text Wernher der Gartenaere. Meier Helmbrecht. In Peasant Life in Old German Epics, translated by Clair Hayden Bell, Columbia UP, 1931. Audio Credit: A Clockwork Orange. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Warner Bros., 1972.
MDT Ep. 93: Helmbrecht Returns, or The Dark Robber Knight
August 03, 2022 02:39 - 1 hour - 101 MBWe continue with Part 2 (of 3) of the 13th-century peasant epic Meier Helmbrecht, in which Helmbrecht returns to his family after a year as squire to a robber knight, and cultures clash accordingly. Today's Text: Wernher der Gartenaere. Meir Helmbrecht. In Peasant Life in Old German Epics, translated by Clair Hayden Bell, Columbia UP, 1931. Archive.org.
MDT Ep. 92: Helmbrecht Begins, or How to Become a Robber Knight
July 09, 2022 16:02 - 49 minutes - 67.9 MBIn this episode we learn how important good hair is to becoming a medieval cattle rustler with part one of the 13th-century poem Meier Helmbrecht. Today's Text: Wernher der Gartenaere. Meir Helmbrecht. In Peasant Life in Old German Epics, translated by Clair Hayden Bell, Columbia UP, 1931. Archive.org.
MDT Ep. 91: Concerning Wage Warfare after the Plague
June 08, 2022 02:56 - 40 minutes - 56.2 MBThis episode, we follow up on a question from Ep. 90 about why the wandering worker Thomas Fuller might have fallen in with a criminal shepherd by looking at a pair of vagrancy and labor laws from the economically disrupted decades following the Black Death: the Statute of Laborers of 1351 and the Commons' Petition against Vagrants of 1376. We also learn a bit about late medieval prisons. Today's Texts: Henderson, Ernest F., editor and translator. Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ag...
MDT Ep. 90: Medieval True Crime IV: In the Shadow of the Gallows Pole
May 19, 2022 03:46 - 58 minutes - 80.1 MBWe finish off our Medieval True Crime miniseries with a look at two hangings from the year 1484 and explore some of the practices surrounding and meanings of hanging as a mode of execution in medieval Europe. Today's Text Knox, Ronald, and Shane Leslie, editors and translators. The Miracles of King Henry VI. Cambridge UP, 1923. References Merback, Mitchell B. The Thief, the Cross and the Wheel: Pain and Spectacle of Punishment in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. U of Chicago P, 1999.
MDT Ep. 89: Interview with a Devil
December 22, 2021 02:09 - 48 minutes - 66.6 MBIn this (belated) episode marking our seventh anniversary, we learn about the infernal realms, straight from the devil's mouth, going from a 11th-century Old English text to the 16th-century stage. We also learn why you shouldn't attack your father with an ax and what demonic possession has in common with e. Coli. Today's Texts: Kemble, John M., editor and translator. The Dialogue of Salomon and Saturnus, with an Historical Introduction. The Ælfric Society, 1848, pp. 86-88. Google Books. Fau...
MDT Ep. 88: Concerning the Plight of the Paterfamilias
June 29, 2021 03:36 - 41 minutes - 57.5 MBIn this slightly belated Father's Day episode, we return to the snarky wit of Walter Map as he explains why it's so hard to be the man of the house. Today's Text Map, Walter. De Nugis Curialium. Translated by Montague R. James, historical notes by John Edward Lloyd, edited by E. Sidney Hartland, Cymmrodorion Record Series, no. 9, Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1923. References Jones, Kathleen W. "Mother's Day: The Creation, Promotion and Meaning of a New Holiday in the Progressive Era...
MDT Ep. 87: Medieval True Crime III: Death in the Countryside
May 12, 2021 04:55 - 54 minutes - 75.8 MBWe return from an unplanned semester hiatus with the third installment of our Medieval True Crime miniseries, continuing to explore the 13th-century coroner's rolls of rural Bedfordshire (plus one item from 14th-century Essex), as well as muse on why murder narratives so monopolize our mysteries and how murder was defined in medieval England. Today's Text: Gross, Charles, editor. Select Cases from the Coroners' Rolls, A.D. 1265-1413, with a Brief Account of the History of the Office of Coron...
MDT Ep. 86: Concerning the Meaning of Stones
January 07, 2021 03:32 - 33 minutes - 46.9 MBAs we kick off the New Year, we take a brief diversion from our Medieval True Crime miniseries to explore the world of precious stones and the extraordinary properties attributed to them through a look at the Lapidary of Marbodus and a couple of other short texts. Today's Texts Shackford, Martha Hale, editor. Legends and Satires from Mediæval Literature. Ginn and Company, 1913. Google Books. Marbodus. The Lapidarium of Marbodus. Translated by C.W. King. In C.W. King, Antique Gems, Their O...
MDT Ep. 85: Medieval True Crime II: Concerning Violent Crime in the Coroner's Rolls
December 19, 2020 04:55 - 48 minutes - 67.3 MBThis episode, we continue our Medieval True Crime series with a trip to late 13th-century Bedfordshire as represented in its Coroner's Rolls, as well as hear some inadvertently lyrical legalese from early 14th-century Northampton. Today's Text: Gross, Charles, editor. Select Cases from the Coroners' Rolls, A.D. 1265-1413, with a Brief Account of the History of the Office of Coroner. Bernard Quarithc, 1896. Google Books. References: Hanawalt, Barbara A. "Violent Death in Fourteenth- and Ea...
MDT Ep. 84: Medieval True Crime I - Concerning Miraculous Justice for a Mutilated Priest
November 01, 2020 02:36 - 39 minutes - 55 MBFor our sixth anniversary episode, we kick off a miniseries on medieval true crime, with the account of a particularly brutal assault on a parish priest, with an additional look at medieval treatments for eye wounds, and also learn how a dead man managed to kill the warrior who slayed him. Today's Text: Knox, Ronald, and Shane Leslie, editors and translators. The Miracles of King Henry VI. Cambridge UP, 1923. Guy de Chauliac, Grand Chirurgie. "Description of the Plague." Tr. by William A....
MDT Ep. 83: Concerning Island Kingdoms, Bloodsuckers, and Flesh-Eaters
August 19, 2020 04:42 - 54 minutes - 74.6 MBThis episode, we check in once again with 14th-century traveler Odoric of Pordenone as he takes in the many lands between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, including Sri Lanka, Java, Borneo, Vietnam, and some that remain rather mysterious. Today's Texts: Odoric of Pordenone. "The Eastern Parts of the World, Described." Cathay and the Way Thither, translated by Henry Yule, vol. 1, Hakluyt Society, 1866, pp. 43-162. Google Books. Odoricus. "The Voyage of Frier Beatus Ordoricus to Asi...
MDT Ep. 82: Concerning Plague Persecutions
July 03, 2020 04:25 - 1 hour - 110 MBThis episode, we examine the persecution of Jews that occurred during the plague years of 1348-1350, including the record of well-poisoning interrogations, the pope's attempt to quell the violence, and a Jewish account of the persecutions and resistance. Today's Texts * "Appendix 2: Examination of the Jews Accused of Poisoning the Wells." The Epidemics of the Middle Ages, by J.F.C. Hecker and translated by B.G. Babington, 3rd ed., Trübner & Co., 1859, pp. 70-74. Google Books. * Clement...
MDT Ep. 81: Concerning More Descriptions of the Plague
May 26, 2020 01:07 - 42 minutes - 59.4 MBAs life under quarantine begins to enter a new phase, we continue our survey of plague texts, with a grab-bag of selections ranging from Petrarch baring his soul to a surgeon listing failed remedies to some Paris professors issuing pandemic guidelines to keep the country safe, which include by no means consuming olive oil. Today's Texts * Capgrave, John. The Chronicle of England. Edited by Francis Charles Hingeston, Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1858. Google Books. * Dob...
MDT Ep. 80: Concerning Boccaccio’s Description of the Plague
March 26, 2020 04:05 - 50 minutes - 69.6 MBWe return at last for our first episode of 2020 in the midst of the covid-19 global pandemic. As such, our text for today is the famous description of the bubonic plague as it appeared in Florence in 1348 with which Boccaccio frames his tale collection, the Decameron. Today's Text Boccaccio, Giovanni. Stories of Boccaccio (The Decameron). Translated by Léopold Flameng, G. Barrie, 1881. Google Books. References Keys, Thomas E. “The Plague in Literature.” Bulletin of the Medical Library Asso...
MDT Ep. 80: Concerning Boccaccio's Description of the Plague
March 26, 2020 04:05 - 50 minutes - 69.6 MBWe return at last for our first episode of 2020 in the midst of the covid-19 global pandemic. As such, our text for today is the famous description of the bubonic plague as it appeared in Florence in 1348 with which Boccaccio frames his tale collection, the Decameron. Today's Text Boccaccio, Giovanni. Stories of Boccaccio (The Decameron). Translated by Léopold Flameng, G. Barrie, 1881. Google Books. References Keys, Thomas E. “The Plague in Literature.” Bulletin of the Medical Library Asso...
MDT Ep. 79: Concerning Cursed Christmas Carolers and an Unlikely Bishop
December 23, 2019 23:42 - 29 minutes - 40.5 MBThis Christmas Eve episode, we return to the Gesta Regum Anglorum of William of Malmesbury, to learn hear some legends of Saxony, including some overly boisterous Christmas revelers cursed to continue their revels for a whole year without rest. Today's Text: 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. References Hecker, J.F.C. The Epidemics of the Middle Ages. Translated by B.G. Babingto...
MDT Ep. 78: Concerning the Character of William Rufus and Some Scandalous Shoes
December 20, 2019 09:37 - 35 minutes - 48.8 MBThis episode, we explore a character analysis of an unpopular leader, as William of Malmesbury explains how the virtues of William Rufus transformed into his greatest vices. Along the way, we also learn why pointy shoes are indicators of moral degradation. Today's Texts: 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. Orderic Vitalis. The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy. Vol. 2...
MDT Ep. 77: Concerning Some Demons of the Lanercost Chronicle (and a Revenant)
November 01, 2019 03:26 - 27 minutes - 38.8 MBThis Halloween, we celebrate our fifth anniversary with five terrifying tales of demonic activity from the Lanercost Chronicle. Today's Text: The Chronicle of Lanercost: 1272–1346. Translated by Herbert Maxwell, James Maclehose and Sons, 1913.
MDT Ep. 76: Concerning a Glimpse into 15th-Century School Life
October 23, 2019 04:05 - 30 minutes - 42.4 MBWe return from our hiatus with an exploration of life in Tudor grammar school classroom, as described in a compilation of translation exercises composed for his students by a master of the Magdalen School, Oxford. Today's Text: Nelson, William, editor. A Fifteenth Century Schoolbook: From a Manuscript in the British Museum (MS. Arundel 249). Oxford, 1956. https://archive.org/details/fifteenthcentury00nelsuoft.
MDT Vacation Bonus: Dragonslayer Film Commentary
July 13, 2019 02:38 - 2 hours - 118 MBAs a treat to all of our listeners while the regular show is on vacation for July, here's the commentary track I made for the 1981 film Dragonslayer. This was originally released this past winter just to our Patreon supporters, but now everyone can get have chance to enjoy it. Note that this includes a long introduction featuring a reading of the legend of St. George and the Dragon. If you want to jump straight to the actual commentary synced to the film, you'll need to skip ahead to around t...
MDT Ep. 75: Concerning More Challenges to the Throne of Man
July 01, 2019 03:43 - 40 minutes - 55.8 MBThis episode we encounter another saintly curse, this time at the hands of St. Maughold, the patron saint of the Isle of Man, and on our way to that miracle story, we catch up on the trials and tribulations of the Manx dynasty of Godred Crovan since we last saw them in Ep. 44. As a bonus, we'll also hear the origin story of St. Maughold, a.k.a. MacCuil the bandit, a.k.a., Cyclops, as recorded in Muirchu's Life of St. Patrick. Today's Texts: The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys. Edited by P.A...
MDT Ep. 74: Concerning Bad Bishops, Buried Treasure, and an Unchaste Priest
June 22, 2019 07:31 - 36 minutes - 50 MBThis episode we go to Durham with its greatest chronicler, Simeon, to first hear about the short, shameful, and Cuthbert-cursed 10th-century episcopate of Bishop Sexhelm, and then we pick up about a hundred years later with the similarly flawed bishop brothers, Aegelric and Aegelwin. Finally, we wrap up by seeing what happens when a priest who just slept with his wife gets unexpectedly called upon to perform Mass. Today's Texts: Simeon of Durham. Simeon's History of the Church of Durham. Chu...
MDT Ep. 73: Concerning a Mouse and a Frog
May 27, 2019 21:49 - 1 hour - 86.7 MBThis episode, we turn to another genre of wisdom literature: the fable. We look at four versions of the fable of the Mouse and the Frog from across one-and-a-half millennia, with quasi-classical versions from the Vita Aesopi and the Romulus Aesop and medieval elaborations on the story by Marie de France and Robert Henryson. Today's Texts: Life of Aesop. Translated by Anthony Alcock, Roger-Pearse.com, 4 Aug. 2018, https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2018/08/14/life-of-aesop-translated-by-an...
MDT Ep. 72: An Icelandic Vision of the Afterlife
May 09, 2019 08:01 - 53 minutes - 73.3 MBThis episode we take a look at Sólarljóð, an Old Norse poem that mixes a Christian tour of heaven and hell with the stylings of eddic poetry. We also consider what it might have in common with one of the fugues of the Great Revival. Today's Texts: "Song of the Sun." The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson, translated by Benjamin Thorpe and I.A. Blackwell, Norrœna Society, 1906, pp. 11-120. Google Books. References: Cobb, Buell E., Jr. The Sacred Harp, ...
MDT Ep. 71: Concerning Stained Glass and Notre Dame
April 19, 2019 20:09 - 41 minutes - 57.2 MBAs the recovery process begins after the April 15th fire the consumed the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, we reflect on the event, we learn how to make stained glass from a 12th-century artisan, and we hear about the architectural glories of the cathedral as described by Elizabeth Boyle O'Reilly shortly after the First World War. Today's Texts: Theophilus. De Diversis Artibus / An Essay Upon Various Arts. Translated by Robert Hendrie, John Murray, 1847. Google Books. O'Reilly, Elizab...
MDT Ep. 70: Concerning a Coastal Conflict and Two Visions of the Virgin
April 14, 2019 23:57 - 41 minutes - 57.5 MBThis episode, we return to an old favorite, the Lanercost Chronicle, to hear how Charles of Valois stoked violence between Normandy and the merchants of the Cinque Ports, as well as witnessing the Virgin Mary acting as a celestial attorney. Today's Texts: The Chronicle of Lanercost: 1272–1346. Translated by Herbert Maxwell, James Maclehose and Sons, 1913. [Available at archive.org.] Matthew of Westminster (Matthew of Paris). Flowers of History, Especially Such as Relate to the Affairs of Br...
MDT Ep. 69: The Confession of St. Patrick (Part 2)
March 23, 2019 06:01 - 41 minutes - 57.7 MBWe conclude St. Patrick's Confessio this episode, taking a look at Patrick's education and literary style, as well as the cultural context of missionary activity in the 5th century. We also are left wondering if that money was just resting in his account... (/FatherTed) Today's Texts: Patrick. Confession. St. Patrick: His Writings and Life, edited and translated by Newport J.D. White, Macmillan, 1920, pp. 31-51. Google Books. References: Adams, J.N. An Anthology of Informal Latin, 200 BC - ...
MDT Ep. 68: The Confession of St. Patrick (Part 1)
March 12, 2019 04:03 - 45 minutes - 62.4 MBThis March, we're going back to one of the earliest surviving St. Patrick texts, his own autobiographical Confessio. This episode we'll hear the first half, which covers Patrick's abduction from the coast of 5th-century Britain into slavery in Ireland and continues up to the start of his mission to convert the Irish some thirty years later. Today's Text: Patrick. Confession. St. Patrick: His Writings and Life, edited and translated by Newport J.D. White, Macmillan, 1920, pp. 31-51. Google Bo...
MDT Ep. 67: Concerning a Maiden Seduced by an Incubus, or A Dunwich Horror
February 15, 2019 01:17 - 36 minutes - 50 MBFor Valentine's Day, we have a tale not so much of love, but of supernatural seduction. This is the story of a chaste young woman of the town of Dunwich stalked by a devil, as reported in The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich by Thomas of Monmouth. We also take a look at real and fictional Dunwich (a town of the Lovecraft mythos), and examine what exactly (or inexactly) an incubus was thought to be. Today's Text: The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich, written by Thomas of...
MDT Ep. 66: Concerning a Man Consumed by Mice and Other Plagues
February 11, 2019 05:35 - 40 minutes - 55.5 MBWe kick our 2019 with a return to narrative history, hearing about a terrible way to die and how not to profit off the deaths of others during a plague from William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum, and we also look all the way back to the first book of Samuel to learn how to rid oneself of some particularly uncomfortable plagues from God. We also discover how Raiders of the Lost Ark should have ended. Today's Texts: William of Malmesbury. Chronicle of the Kings of England. Edited by J.A...
Feed Update Announcement
February 08, 2019 01:09 - 1 minute - 2.11 MBListeners! This weekend (Feb. 9-10) I'll be updating many of the descriptions and tags on old episodes in our podcast RSS feed. There is a possibility that some podcast manager apps (especially iTunes) will interpret these changes as a whole lot of new episodes being posted and may try to download them all. As a precaution to save bandwidth, you might go to your settings for this podcast in your podcast listening app and set it to download only the most recent episodes so that you don't end ...
MDT Ep. 65: Concerning Pawns and Politics
December 27, 2018 08:01 - 34 minutes - 47.9 MBIn this final episode in our holiday chess series, we finish off the last pages in William Caxton's The Game and Playe of the Chess, looking at the pawn and the importance of the common people to the realm, and we consider the how to explain pawns becoming queens in a medieval context.
MDT Ep. 64: Concerning the Bishop, Knight, and Rook
December 21, 2018 06:09 - 32 minutes - 44.5 MBThis fourth installment of our holiday chess series finishes off the back rank of pieces: the bishop (or alphyn), the knight, and the rook. We also explore a long-standing Wikipedia beef over rook terminology, and recommend a modern board game that plunges you into the paranoid world of zombie survival. Caxton, William. The Game and Playe of the Chesse. Edited by Jenny Adams, TEAMS Middle English Text Series, U of Rochester, 2009, http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/publication/adams-caxton-gam...
MDT Ep. 63: Concerning the Moves of the Chess King and Queen
December 17, 2018 09:37 - 39 minutes - 54.1 MBIn the third episode of our holiday series of excerpts from William Caxton's The Game and Playe of the Chesse, we learn about how the king and queen move, which was a bit different in the 15th century than it is today. We also consider the difficulty of working out the rules of an ancient game, even when you have the remarkable fortune to find them written down, as seen in the case of the Royal Game of Ur.
MDT Ep. 62: Concerning the Design of the Chessboard
December 11, 2018 02:31 - 39 minutes - 54.6 MBIn this second installment of our holiday series of excerpts from William Caxton's The Game and Playe of the Chesse, we hear about the layout of the chessboard and what it represents. We also look at some of the games that chess replaced in Europe, including the Roman ludus latrunculorum, the Celtic fidchell or gwyddbwyell, and the Norse tafl or hnefatafl. And finally, we consider different ways in which the board of a board game might be constituted.
MDT Ep. 61: Concerning the Invention of Chess
November 29, 2018 08:43 - 43 minutes - 60.5 MBWe kick off a holiday miniseries of chess lore from William Caxton's The Game and the Playe of the Chesse with one version of how chess was invented. We then some historical corrections to this account and also hear one of the earliest written accounts of chess, the Persian Chatrang-namak.
MDT Ep. 60: Concerning How the Dead Man Glámr Terrorized Thorhallstead
October 30, 2018 09:29 - 1 hour - 83.3 MBFor our 4th anniversary, we celebrate Halloween with one of the great tales of the unquiet dead from the Icelandic sagas -- namely, Grettis saga and the story of Grettir's fight with the revenant Glámr. We also recommend three good horror movies that relate to revenants and medieval themes.