We 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.

Concerning the Abacus and Succubus of Gerbert d'Aurillac

Nov 29th, 2023 58m 37s

We 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 Gerbe

"The Demon Pope" by Richard Garnett

Oct 31st, 2023 34m 53s

We 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 TextGarnett, Richard.

Concerning the Occult Career of Pope Sylvester II

Oct 1st, 2023 1h 1m

We 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 Willi

Concerning Danish Devastations, a Devilish Pope, a Deceitful Duke, and English Decline

Jul 15th, 2023 49m 53s

It'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

Concerning the Litigious Origins of Printing

May 12th, 2023 1h 19m

For 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

A Valentine's Battle for the Kingship of Man

Feb 15th, 2023 43m 19s

On 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

Concerning the Life of Elgar the Hermit and Divine Dinner Delivery

Dec 23rd, 2022 41m 43s

On 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 Landav

Concerning Three Witches

Nov 26th, 2022 1h 20m

This 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

Concerning the Relics and Grave of King Oswald

Oct 8th, 2022 47m 1s

This 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 TextBede. Beda's Ecclesiastical Hi

Extra: Letters on the Death of Elizabeth I

Sep 14th, 2022 15m 34s

This 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 o

Concerning Princely Heads and the Bishop's Monkeys

Sep 9th, 2022 42m 34s

This 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

Helmbrecht v. Sheriff: Eve of Justice

Aug 21st, 2022 1h 7m

This 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 Helmbre

Helmbrecht Returns, or The Dark Robber Knight

Aug 3rd, 2022 1h 13m

We 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 H

Helmbrecht Begins, or How to Become a Robber Knight

Jul 9th, 2022 49m 8s

In 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, tran

Concerning Wage Warfare after the Plague

Jun 8th, 2022 40m 39s

This 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 th

Medieval True Crime IV: In the Shadow of the Gallows Pole

May 19th, 2022 58m 1s

We 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 TextKnox, Ronald, and Sha

Interview with a Devil

Dec 22nd, 2021 48m 11s

In 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 fa

Concerning the Plight of the Paterfamilias

Jun 29th, 2021 41m 35s

In 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 TextMap, Walter. De Nugis Curialium. Translated by Montague R. James, historical note

Medieval True Crime III: Death in the Countryside

May 12th, 2021 54m 56s

We 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

Concerning the Meaning of Stones

Jan 7th, 2021 33m 52s

As 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 o

Medieval True Crime II: Concerning Violent Crime from the Coroner's Roles

Dec 19th, 2020 48m 40s

This 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

Medieval True Crime I - Concerning Miraculous Justice for a Mutilated Priest

Nov 1st, 2020 39m 47s

For 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 m

Concerning Island Kingdoms, Bloodsuckers, and Flesh-Eaters

Aug 19th, 2020 54m 1s

This 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 mysterio

Concerning Plague Persecutions

Jul 3rd, 2020 1h 19m

This 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 r