The Black Death and COVID-19 with Winston Black
This week on The Medieval Podcast, with headlines turning once again to stories of the plague, Danièle catches up with Winston Black to talk about The Black Death and COVID-19, what’s different about them, and what we can learn today from looking back on the biggest pandemic in human history.
Coping with Pandemics in the Middle Ages
Medieval people differed from us in their ways of coping with a pandemic, but they felt similar helplessness.
The Medieval Invention of Toilet Paper
With toilet paper, or rather the sometimes frenzied demand for toilet paper, being in the news recently, it is a good time to look at the medieval origins of this very useful product.
Sacred Marginalia: The Gargoyles and Buttresses of Gothic Cathedrals
There are few things which signal medieval architecture quite like buttresses. Those long, arching supports that give cathedrals like Notre Dame de Paris their distinctive silhouettes appeared on many medieval cathedrals across Europe from the twelfth century on
Wara Wara and Apocalypto: Films set in Medieval Central and South America
Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto is a fascinating, if controversial and flawed, film depicting the indigenous peoples of South America just prior to their contact with European conquerors.
Vikings Versus Neo-Nazis: Documentary on confronting racism and misappropriation of history
Medievalists have become increasingly concerned in recent years about the misappropriation of medieval history by Neo-Nazis and far-right groups. A documentary has just been released that shows how medieval-history lovers are confronting these groups, taking place in Sweden.
The Uncanny Face of the Mystic Lamb
A recent art restoration has left people baffled. This is the uncovering of the original face of Hubert and Jan van Eyck’s Mystic Lamb.
Anchorites: Life in Spiritual Self-Isolation
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle talks about anchorites, men and women who enclosed themselves for life to contemplate their religious beliefs. She also explores some of the work of Julian of Norwich, perhaps the most famous anchorite of the Middle Ages.
Medieval Manuscripts: The Golden Bible
Officially it is called Biblia Pauperum, meaning the “Bible of the Poor”. Yet this illuminated codex, with almost 100 miniatures decorated in silver and gold, was definitely not destined for the common people of the Late Middle Ages.
St. Patrick and the Ossory Werewolves
How a tale of cursed werewolves in Ireland finds its way to 13th century Norway.
The Medieval Origins of Quarantine
The origins of quarantine date back to the Middle Ages, an idea that emerged in the wake of the Black Death.
New Medieval Books: The Crusades
Five new publications about the crusades.
Medieval Geopolitics: The Hundred Years’ War: A Tale of Two Crowns
Ultimately, the war was caused by the confluence of a series of events – deeply rooted in medieval concepts of statehood and sovereignty that seem alien at first to modern observers – that eventually formed into a cascade that swept both belligerents (as well as the rest of Europe) out of the medieval era and towards their early modern national destinies.
Living and Loving in Sin: The Remarkable Relationships of Margaret de Gatesden
One exceptional case bears out not only that marriages might not last, but that separation can indeed lead to a happy ending.
Will medieval conferences be cancelled because of coronavirus?
Here is what we know about the statuses of the International Congress on Medieval Studies and the International Medieval Congress.
Medieval Drama
This week, Danièle gets dramatic with a look at medieval drama, how it changed and evolved, and how it influenced later forms of theatre.
New Medieval Books: From Rebels to Effigies
Five new books that medievalists will enjoy!
I sing of the Maiden: Joan of Arc in Musicals and Opera
Many medieval figures and periods are treated in musical and opera and these works offer various insights into the approaches, reputation and reception of medieval history – today, we’re going to look at Joan of Arc.
Carnival vs. Lent: A Food Fight of Epic Silliness
During Lent, medieval Christians were meant to live simply and eat simply, with an emphasis on seafood instead of red meat and treats. And this, friends, is where the fun begins.
Medieval Reads: Raymond E Feist and Dungeon Masters
When a game is based on any period of history, the rules for the game may be based on the designer’s knowledge of history, or they may be drawn from popular history books.
Beguines with Tanya Stabler Miller
Often, people think of the women of medieval Europe as either wives or nuns: women whose lives and property were under the control of someone else. But what tends to be forgotten is that for some women there was a third option: to become a beguine. This week, Danièle speaks with Dr. Tanya Stabler Miller about who the beguines were, and what medieval society thought of them.
The Coronavirus is not the Black Death
The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has sickened almost 86,000 and killed more than 2,900 people, spread worldwide, and caused stock markets to tumble. Analogies to the Black Death, the outbreak of bubonic plague that wiped out between one-half and two-thirds of the population of Europe from 1347–51, were inevitable.
Murder by Poison: A Crime from 15th century Valencia
In medieval Europe, arsenic was stocked as a matter of course along with other medicines. As with other medicines, the poisonous nature of arsenic is a matter of dosage and administration.
Medieval Geopolitics: Gascony and the Causes of the Hundred Years’ War
While the titanic clash of medieval superpowers that took place over 117 years later known collectively as the Hundred Years War would rage from Scotland to Spain and everywhere in between, one place that seems to forever lie at the heart of the conflict are the warm, sunny, and wine-sodden vistas of Bordeaux and Gascony.