Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse (The Medieval Way)
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle shows how useful medieval history can be in helping us survive the imminent zombie apocalypse.
Medieval Storytime
The Middle Ages are full of amazing tales, both fictional and true. This week, Peter Konieczny joins Danièle to talk about three of their favourite medieval stories.
The First Battle of Lindisfarne: Where History and Legend Meet
Long before Lindisfarne became known as one of the most isolated holy islands in Britain — second perhaps only to Iona — it was an area of great strategic importance.
Join the Navy! The Medieval version
How do you convince men to take a job on a medieval warship?
Medieval Tips to Improve your Hygiene and Manners
The Middle Ages are often portrayed as a time when people were filthy and crude. Did they even care about their appearance and behaviour?
10 Moments in the Invention of Guns and Gunpowder
Here is our list of ten key moments in the development of guns and gunpowder during the Middle Ages.
New Medieval Books: Texts and Translations
Here are five new books offering the texts and translations of medieval sources.
Medieval Geopolitics: John of Paris on why Kings, not Popes or Emperors, Should Rule
In his view, the world was naturally divided into separate kingdoms, like France and England, all of which claimed supreme authority within their borders.
Medieval Reads: The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander
There are many varieties of fantasy Middle Ages, but they all have this path in common. The nature of those works and the genre of those works give us different visions of the Middle Ages.
The Standing Contest between King Charles and Redbad
Can win a medieval kingdom by being able to stand very still (and with just a little bit of scheming)?
10 Things to Know About the Great Famine
One of the most severe crises to strike medieval Europe was the Great Famine. Beginning in the year 1315, much of northern Europe would face years of bad weather, crop failures and widespread deaths from disease and starvation.
The Rise of the Buyid Brothers
The story of the Buyids in Iran and Iraq is an extraordinary tale of the rise from obscurity of three ambitious brothers to dominate the core regions of the Muslim world.
Not Your Average Maiden King: Ingigerðr, Queen of Ambiguity
Far from being a damsel in distress, the Maiden King is a damsel who creates distress
Books about the Middle Ages that are great reads
Looking for a book to read about the medieval world? On this week’s episode of The Medieval Podcast Danièle offers her picks for which books about the Middle Ages you should read.
Swimming in the Middle Ages
Did medieval Europeans swim for fun?
Medieval Geopolitics: Why Kings (and not Popes) should rule
Looking at two texts from the early 14th century that put forth the arguments for total regnal supremacy.
In search of Lagertha, the Warrior Queen
As one of the most aspiring female characters on the show, Lagertha in the TV series Vikings is introduced as the wife of Ragnarr Loðbrók and a renowned shieldmaiden – women who fight fearlessly in the battlefront. But where does Lagertha’s story originate?
Warlords and Dynasties: How Daylami mercenaries came to power in the 10th century
In the fourth part of this series that looks at northern Iran in the Middle Ages, the decline of the Alid dynasty opens the door for Daylami mercenary leaders to seize power.
In Defence of the Society for Creative Anachronism
There’s always been a fraught relationship between medieval academia and the Society for Creative Anachronism
Which books about the Vikings should I read?
There are many books about the Vikings and the Norse world for someone to choose from. Here is a list of books we think are a good reads about the Vikings – ones that are both fairly new and relatively inexpensive.
From peasant to Byzantine emperor: the remarkable career of Basil the ‘Macedonian’
The unexpected rise of Basil and the obscurity of his origins resulted in one of the most striking features of the history of the early Macedonian dynasty: the growth of a myth around his birth, his early life and achievements
Medieval Reads: Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey is rather important in showing us how people responded in the early nineteenth century to the making of history into the mysterious and the dangerous. It shows us the mirror through which many young people viewed the Middle Ages.
Myths about the Middle Ages that are so very, very wrong!
This week, Danièle asked her listeners which myths about the Middle Ages really drive them crazy. From the Flat Earth to daily hygiene, here is our attempt to shed light on some of the most common (but wrong!) ideas we have about the Middle Ages.
How Philip Augustus outmanoeuvred three English kings
King Philip II of France mastered the art of foreign relations, and used his skills against Henry II, Richard I, and John.
